Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area of Lagos has urged all contractors handling construction of roads in Oshodi to establish a cordial relationship with the host communities.
The council boss Dawood Olajobi said this during the stakeholders’ forum on the construction of Ogunyinka, and Kalejaiye/Sunday Solola Streets.
According to Olajobi, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has given a directive that councils should involve all major stakeholders in any projects embarked on in fulfilment of the state vision 20:20:57 whereby the state will construct 114 roads in all councils.
Olajobi therefore appealed to the contractors to do in accordance with the state standard, hence the need for supervision and proper monitoring by the stakeholders.
However, the proximity of Sunday Solola street to Kalejaiye street in Ewu ward prompt the approval of three street in Oshodi instead of two.
He implored all contractors to move to site, promising to mobilise them if their work is justifiable.
He urged them to engage the services of artisans needed within their construction site.
Stakeholders in the tourism sector have been advised to exploit ecotourism to develop the host local communities. Giving the advice on Tuesday in Abuja, during an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the Special Assistant to Enugu State Government on Tourism, Mr. Manfred Nzekwe, said ecotourism had grown in influence and importance and should be developed in line with global best practices to boost the country’s economy.
His words: “Ecotourism helps in involving the local community in the conservation of the ecology and biodiversity of the area; this biodiversity, in turn provides the economic incentives to the local community. Ecotourism can help to ensure community development by providing an alternative source of livelihood, which is more sustainable for the people.”
Nzekwe, however, said exploiting the bountiful opportunities in ecotourism required responsible action on the part of tourists and the tourism industry to promote small and medium tourism enterprises. He said ecotourism is a unique subset of the tourism industry, which focuses on the enhancement and maintenance of natural systems via tourism.
According to him, ecotourism or nature tourism is a relatively recent development that has become very popular all over the world and man plays an important role in its survival or its demise. “It involves education and interpretation of the natural environment and Nigeria is blessed with beautiful natural environments, which provide interesting sites for leisure, adventure and other tourism related activities,” he noted.
Nzekwe pointed out, for instance, that the hills, caves, springs, lakes, waterfalls, rivers, forests and wildlife constitute important attractions for people to enjoy. He emphasised the need for Nigeria to preserve its environment and maintain the values left by its ancestors to ensure sustainable development of the country’s heritage.
“Ecotourism, as an alternative form of tourism, involves visiting natural areas in order to learn about them or simply enjoy the scenery; this enables the economic and social development of the host local community. It focuses primarily on experiencing and learning about nature, its landscape, flora, fauna and their habitats, as well as cultural artifacts from the locality,’’ Nzekwe explained.
He stated that carefully planned and operated ecotourism sites, especially the village-based type, would provide direct benefits to the communities, thereby protecting the environment and its natural assets.
“In order for ecotourism to encourage patterns of sustainability, which can benefit local communities, it must be comprehensive and account for the complexities that are associated with tourism. It must account for social, economic and environmental implications in order to succeed. We must therefore, continue to work on and suggest ways to evaluate and grow the practice of ecotourism and sustainable development,’’ he said.
Mixed reactions have continued to greet the call by the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ms. Christine Lagarde, on President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to remove fuel subsidy. For instance, while the call did not go down well with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), the Lagos Chamber of Commerce (LCCI) has thrown its weight behind fuel subsidy removal.
The IMF boss had during her recent visit to Nigeria recommended the removal of fuel subsidy to the Federal Government, arguing that “fuel subsidies are hard to defend.” According to her, subsidies “harm the planet,” as “only seven per cent of the benefits go to the poorest 20 per cent.”
But the NLC disagrees with Lagarde, pointing out that statistics dished out by the IMF MD are at variance with present realities in Nigeria. “I am not sure those statistics are correct. Everyone in Nigeria is depended on oil and gas. Therefore, people will not be able to pay more. Our viewpoint is that the primary purpose of government is comfort. So who will benefit from subsidy removal?” he said.
Wabba said the government can do a lot of other things so that Nigerians don’t suffer. While insisting that IMF is about servicing the capitalists, he said the IMF chief’s recommendation for subsidy removal is to make Nigeria continue to buy refined petroleum products from them (the West).
Wabba stated that if subsidy is removed, Nigerians would be paying more. While noting that most engagements by IMF chiefs are shrouded in secrecy to the detriment of Nigerians currently facing the brunt of economic hardship, he said Lagarde’s advice to Nigeria would be inimical to the economic well being of Nigerians and will worsen the present situation.
“Her advice is not going to take us anywhere. IMF cannot point to anywhere in the world where any good example of its policy has worked; either in other parts of the world or Africa where their conditionalities has worked.
“In most of her engagements, she didn’t make those conditionalities known. The aim is to tie Nigeria to foreign creditors. NLC will not accept this. We want to make it clear that Nigeria is not in short supply of economists who can run our economy,” the labour unionist said.
However, Lagarde’s advice to Nigeria enjoys the support of the LCCI. Conveying the Chamber’s support for the removal of subsidy, LCCI President, Muda Yusuf, said, “Government should engage NLC for the purpose of proper education and enlightenment on the need to fully deregulate the downstream petroleum sector.”
He told The Nation that given the price of crude oil in the global market, petroleum subsidy should not really be an issue at this time. “At current pump price of petrol, it is doubtful whether any subsidy still exists. Therefore, subsidy debate at this time would at best be academic,” he said.
The LCCI chief however, said going forward, the government needs to articulate a clearer policy to stimulate investment especially in petroleum refineries. “It would be difficult to attract investors in refineries if Government continues to fix the price of petroleum products,” he stated.
He further stated that he believes that Nigeria should embrace the modulation model proposed by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. IbeKachikwu. “It is in the interest of this economy and all the citizens that an appropriate policy environment is created to stimulate investment in the petroleum downstream sector. It is important to emphasise that it is these reforms that will attract investors into refineries,” he said.
Capital market operators yesterday called on the Federal Government to stem the gruelling decline that has seen the market losing about N4 trillion in 25 months. The Nigerian equities market has lost nearly one-fifth of its capitalisation so far this year.
At a media briefing on the state of the capital market in Lagos, stakeholders under the auspices of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON) and Association of Issuing Houses of Nigeria (AIHN) said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should create a N200 billion intervention fund for market makers as a short-term measure to stave off the downward trend orchestrated by divesting foreign portfolio investors.
They also called on the government to step in to support the market at any time of steep decline by buying and warehousing shares as this is a common practice in advanced markets where government takes active interest in the performance of the capital market.
Market operators said government should use the platform of the Nigerian capital market for funding of its 2016 budget as well as continuing privatization of government agencies and corporations.
Stakeholders also called on Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to structure unclaimed dividends in a way that they could be reinvested in the capital market.
Market operators said government should take a bold long-term move of instituting a zero interest policy for banks in order to discourage recourse to short-term money market instruments and to encourage long-term savings and investments.
Acting president, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Mr. Oluwaseyi Abe, noted that the Nigerian capital market has been going through challenges that are not uncommon with other markets especially the automated markets which operate in a crest and trough pattern in response to variables in the macro economy and within the market itself.
He pointed out that the current steep decline at the stock market is due to three main factors including adverse macro-economic environment largely due to the drastic drop in the price of crude oil, negative public sentiment which is related to the state of the macro-economy and the retreat of foreign portfolio investors which is related to CBN’s policy on foreign exchange.
President, Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), Mr Emeka Madubuike, explained that the N200 billion intervention fund would provide liquidity to the market makers such that each market maker should be able to access between N1 billion and N10 billion in concessionary funding.
Workers and students of Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, jubilated last Monday following the appointment of Prof Lanre Fagbohun as the institution’s eighth Vice Chancellor (VC). It was a milestone worth celebrating, especially given the crises that characterised the tenure of the past two vice chancellors, Prof John Obafunwa, and Prof Akanni Hussain. They were not allowed to complete their tenure because of constant disagreements with workers and students.
With the way Fagbohun was received by the university community, many are optimistic that his tenure would put paid to crisis in the university and place it on the path of rapid development. They advised him to learn from the past and avoid the pitfalls that caused problems at the 32-year old university.
One of those optimistic of Fagbohun’s success is Prof Abisogun Leigh, the university’s fifth VC, because his emergence was transparent.
“I can assure you that Prof Lanre will perform,” he told The Nation. “Because for the first time, we departed from the old way of taking VC in LASU. The old way was they would probably present all those who qualify during the interview and the visitor who is the governor would then look at some other reasons and pick. He can pick number three or number two. This one, from the story I got, came first; and in spite of all the pressures, he (governor) still picked him.”
Prof Peter Okebukola, who acted as LASU VC in 1996, is also optimistic of Fagbohun’s success at the institution, describing his vision for the school as amazing.
“Early this week, he gave me a copy of his vision statement for LASU. I was amazed at the deep thinking-through in the document and I am convinced that he will deliver on his promises. How do I know? Prof Fagbohun is not a boastful person and is not known to craft highfalutin expectations to play to the gallery. He is superlatively energetic, clear-headed and a good mobiliser of resources, especially human and financial. In the next five years and by God’s grace, LASU will be completely transformed for good.”
However, optimism is not enough for the beleaguered university to get back on its feet and overcome problems of underfunding, regular workers strikes, and students’ unrest. Stakeholders say he must get the cooperation of workers and students if he is to succeed in his role, be resourceful in attracting and managing funds; develop infrastructure, and pay attention to welfare issues.
Once upon a time, LASU enjoyed all these. Pioneer vice chancellor of the institution, Prof Olufolabi Olumide, said he was proud of the institution he left behind after six years in the saddle.
“A university is established for attempts to achieve excellence on the part of the teachers, administration and students and we did that in LASU. To make LASU great again is a task that must be done. That was my slogan then. It was a challenge to start a university right from scratch. The challenge was to build an institution with the pursuits of excellence having in mind what we want to do to produce graduates who will fulfil that prospect. And to the best of my ability I did. I look back on those days with satisfaction. It wasn’t easy. I was assured that it would not be easy by the person who headed the government but with a lot of help from those whom I appointed at the time, foundation staffs and the students. I think we made progress.”
Redeeming LASU’s battered image
If Fagbohun is able to maintain peace and a steady academic calendar during his tenure, he would have achieved a deal, says Taofeek Sekoni, a 400-Level student of Psychology, who is urging the new vice chancellor to maintain peace.
“Since I have been in LASU, it has been one problem or the other, both internally and externally. Now that we have a new VC, I think the university’s condition should be stable and progressive. If he is able to manage the situation and carry out necessary reforms and projects, he may be fortunate to enjoy his tenure. For him to have a successful tenure, he should try to identify the bad eggs in the system and take care of them,” he said.
Sola Borokini, in her final year studying Industrial Relations and Personnel Management, added that he should repair the institution’s image.
“He should promote a good image for the institution and try his best to keep the school peaceful. He should find swift solutions to any rift or grievance. Swift solutions will avoid escalation to a full-blown crisis,” she said.
To promote peace, Okebukola said fagbohun should avoid what would make workers go on strike. He also advised the students and workers to avoid strife.
“Our new VC should foster industrial harmony so that the guns of strikes will remain silent at least for a long time to come, perhaps 20 years! This can be achieved through staff and student unions coming to the realisation that this is a new dawn for LASU where we all need to sheath our aluta swords and restore the good name of the university through exploring dialogue to the fullest,” he said.
Promoting healthy relationship with workers
From his experience dealing with workers’ union issues as vice chancellor, Leigh advised Fagbohun to be transparent and treat all unions as equal. He said he succeeded in getting their cooperation because he never hid the institution’s financial status from them and met their needs according to priority. This was important, especially as the school started running the part-time programme during his tenure.
“I made them to understand that all these unions I would treat as equal even if I belonged to ASUU (Academic Staff Union of Universities). So what I did was that I listened to all their demands. Thank God I was able to create school of part time and money began to flow into the account of the university. I asked my bursar every Friday before we left office by 4pm, the financial status of the university must be on my table and I would take it home and bring it back on Monday. I would distribute to my officers at the management meeting, so that we will take a firm decision, this is how much has come in, this is all our requests, which one are we taking first.
“After the meeting I would call the three union leaders and I would distribute the same documents round and analyze it with them. Records don’t lie. Then I would throw the question back to them, ‘out of all these requests, how do we prioritize?’ Prioritizing would make the unions to be equal.”
Having worked in LASU for 31 years, Mr Latif Rashidi, of the department of public law, said transparency would help the new Vice Chancellor succeed with workers and was a sore point between the unions and past vice chancellors.
“If the unions are saying N100 million is our arrears, he should tell us, ‘Look, LASU purse only has 10 million, so we can pay 10 million in 10 places; please take it like that.’ LASU workers are not lions, we know the situation in the country, and we would listen. It is not all about telling lies and postponing our issues. Don’t make false promises.
“The management would then claim there is no money and then you would see the management buying new cars worth millions of naira; VC buying new apartment worth hundreds of millions of naira and the unions have information and documents to this effect,” he said.
The issue of equality is what Pelumi Olugbenga, 200-Level, History and International Studies advised the new vice chancellor to promote in LASU. He said favouritism created problems for his predecessors.
“He can avoid the mistakes of the past by studying critically their errors and what made them fall. An important one is the creation of cronies and allies by the staff. Some of the past VCs gave preferential treatment to some staff members. It is widely known that a house divided against itself cannot stand. So prof Fagbohun should endeavour to treat all staff equally, without fear of marginalization and victimization,” he said.
• Fifth LASU VC, Prof Leigh
To promote equality, Prof Leigh advised Fagbohun to be humble in relating with workers and students.
“A vice chancellor is the leader but he is not an imperial king. Anybody who views himself as the know all and be all will fail. Some are older than you but by some reason you are the VC. You must be able to carry them along and in doing so, subjugate even your own interest. You have to amend your point of view to carry out some of the things. It takes a lot of diplomacy and ability to bring your personality down a little bit. If you want to show I am Number one here all the time, one will get into trouble. That is where I feel the last two administrations failed,” he said.
Mr Salman Yunus, who works in the university’s department of foreign language, believes that Fagbohun has started well in managing workers’ relations.
“He has started well. Unlike the previous VCs, he came in with the mind that he has come to meet human beings. With the mind of peace and that he welcomes new ideas. He has spoken and we have listened to him. We were happy about the plans he told us he has. He was concerned about peace and unity. If he can maintain his stand on that, he would be fine,” Yunus said.
Infrastructural development
LASU is in need of an infrastructural rejuvenation. Workers and students are urging the vice chancellor to work on the inter-campus road network, rehabilitate decaying facilities and provide new ones.
Ridwan Abdul-Kareem, 100-Level Law student, said: “I think the VC should prioritise the repair of our roads to facilitate easy transportation,” he said.
Pelumi seeks the rehabilitation of the Faculty of Arts, while Sola advises him to complete ongoing projects.
Prof Okebukola urged the government to help the university in this regard.
“Capital development also needs attention. I am sure the owners of LASU will not be delighted at the glorified secondary school look of the university. Governor Fashola did excellently well in laying the props for improved physical facilities. Governor Ambode needs to speedily complete the senate, library and other buildings that Fashola started,” he said.
Funding
For LASU to do well, Okebukola says the institution needs to enjoy funding better from the government, like in the past.
He said: “First is for Lagos State Government to narrow the funding gap between what the university needs to run as a world-class institution and what it is presently getting from its proprietor. Surely, the university should be able to generate funds to support proprietor subvention but not with having to look for a whopping differential of N50 million every month to augment salary grant from the state government! When I was acting vice-chancellor of the institution, the same government under Colonel Buba Marwa gave us N12 million every month when the wage bill was N6.5 million. Previous administrations in LASU before my time also had the total wage bill paid by the same Lagos State government. The university creatively sought additional funds for overhead (running) costs. That was why LASU could at that time, boast of the best Faculty of Law and several other academic programmes. So, we need Governor Ambode to carry the full wage bill of LASU and we will surprise him with our sterling performance in delivering quality university education.”
• First LASU VC, Prof Olumide
However, Prof Olumide also advised the vice chancellor to be creative about generating funds internally.
“Education is not cheap; higher education costs money, either side must understand that. They should find efforts where they can generate funds. We won’t leave everything to government.
“There should be commercial sector of the school. We had LASU farms. We had LASU Guest Houses. We were going to go into tourism on a high scale. When I drove past the guest house sometime back, I was almost in tears because it was no longer functioning and it was ridden with weeds and shrubs and then all I know is that we were aware.
“Under my leadership we had luncheons where business men and men of goodwill attended and at the end I spoke. Many of them brought out their cheque books and they were going to start writing cheques but the commissioner said no they would have this properly organised in the ministry to raise funds and so on, nothing came out of that, still we pursued other means of getting help. We continued with our commercial venture.”
Fagbohun’s plans
The VC has described his appointment as the dawn of a new era in LASU. Fagbohun, who spent 19 years as a lecturer in LASU before moving to the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) in 2010, said he would revitalise the institution.
“There are some imperatives that are captioned in my vision, to bring peace to this environment so that we would be able to attract funds, the very best in the development of this institution. A critical component level of that strategic imperative of mine is development of scholarship across the board, faculties, colleges and schools of the university,” he said.
Mindful of the strategic position of Lagos as economic capital of West Africa, experts and researchers have called for softer migration laws in Lagos State and other parts of Africa that are experiencing serious immigration challenges.
For four days, stakeholders in immigration issues converged on Ota, Ogun State for the 2015 conference of the West Africa Migration Development and Regional Integration (MIGDEVRI) programme which held at Covenant University (CU), Ota, Ogun State. They urged governments across the continent to comply with stipulated protocols of free movement of persons, right of establishment and residency of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). National Coordinator of the programme, Dr Oluyemi Fayomi urged the Nigerian government to strengthen all necessary institutions to comply with the ECOWAS protocols to curb bottlenecks posed by security agents, including Customs and Immigration officers, among others when people are trying to cross borders.
Fayomi, a Lecturer in Political Science at Covenant University, said the conference whose themed was “Migration, Mobility and Development in Africa,” aimed at proffering academic and scientific solutions to migration challenges in West African countries by setting up scientific and professional discussions among West African Francophone and Anglophone academics and policy actors on the links between migration, mobility and development, with emphasis on original and empirical researches.
Researcher of International Development Studies of Roskilde University, Denmark, Prof. Eric Hahonou said: “People always view migration in a negative connotation, especially with the migration crisis in Europe. But with this workshop, we want to show that migration has positive impacts on societies. It allows people to transfer technology, culture, ideas; religious beliefs and make good economic impact on the host countries. It also has positive impact on the citizenship aspect.”
He urged governments across the world to desist from rejecting immigrants because “there are extremely high risks involved when countries promote xenophobic ideas. Not only will it damage the people, it will also damage the economic aspect. There would be loss of economic value, because they would be difficult to access and create a gap that will be difficult to fill. So it is important to realise the added value of people coming together.”
Prof. Hahonou, who is the Director of the International Migration Institute at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK), added that migration can only lead to problems when resources and facilities are not available in the migrants’ home countries, thereby hindering immigration.
Meanwhile, Technical Advisor of the ECOWAS Department of Free Movement, Corinne Massardier decried non-compliance of ECOWAS protocols by member states, even as he appealed for better co-operation and funding assistance.
She said Director of the Department, Sanoh N’faly has begun to implement mechanisms to monitor compliance of the free movement protocol in eight member countries. She noted that having begun in other countries would commence in Nigeria next year by planting free movement buses at the borders of ECOWAS member states, with which migrants could move freely without encountering unnecessary checks and Customs’ challenges.
Massardier said the buses would bear ECOWAS identification tags, therefore allowing its occupants free access into the country.
Sub-themes examined at the conference included South-south mobility and West African Higher Education; mobility and informal sector; mobility and sub-regional economic and financial exchanges; mobility brakes and hassles; mobility and family strategies; cross border trade of women and mobility in the oil and mining regions, among others.
Stakeholders from the three senatorial zones of Abia State have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to re-appoint Senator Chris Adighije as the member representing the state at the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
The stakeholders, including a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Tony Ukasoanya, Senator Onyeka Okoroafor, Abia North and Hon. Ngozi Ulunwa, Abia South, said re-appointing Adighije will give the state quality representation.
The group said Senator Adighije has done well since during the period he has represented the state at the commission, stressing that his record of achievements has helped to boost the image of the state.
The appeal was part of the resolutions of a one-day meeting of the stakeholders held in Umuahia, the Abia State capital where they said the re-appointment of Adighije was not subject to discussion or a zonal matter.
Highlighting his achievements to include bringing positive changes to the state in line with the change mantra of the present administration, they stakeholders said re-appointing him would bring more development to the state.
Reacting, the Abia State Government stated that the nomination and recommendation of its representative at the RMFAC is and remains the prerogative of the Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu.
A statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Godwin Adindu said the governor has not nominated anyone to represent the state in the board of RMFAC.
The statement added that the governor will nominate and recommend a representative at the appropriate time. He said nobody should pre-empt or prompt him to do things at the wrong time.
The statement reads: “Nobody or group should make any claim in this regard and purporting it to have the seal of the Abia State Government, as the governor has not nominated anyone for the job.
“This clarification has become necessary given a media report which alleged that some unnamed and faceless political stakeholders from the three political zones have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to approve the re-appointment of Senator Chris Adighije as the state’s representative at the RMFAC.
“The governor has not given any support or endorsement to any political group or the so-called ‘political stakeholders’ to speak on his behalf on this matter. The government is not aware of any forum convened to make representation for Adighije for his re-appointment.
“This report is a ruse and a contraption aimed at positioning Senator Adighije for a position where the candidate is only but an ambassador of the state and therefore must emerge as an endorsement of the state.”
The night began with guests dotting the red carpet of R & A City Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos; while guests being ushered into its beautifully lit hall by delectable young ladies became common sight as the night proceed into a joint welcome address given by the President of Electronic Media Content Owners Association of Nigeria (EMCOAN), Mrs. Debbie Odutayo and Mr. Wale Adenuga (Chairman, Board of Trustee, EMCOAN). Mrs. Odutayo stated in her welcome remark that the night was aimed at networking and unwinding with a view to moving the industry forward while narrating the events of the birthplace of EMCOAN at a content owners forum in Ghana some years ago.
She was quick to praise her members, the media content owners by saying “media content owners are a vital part of the entertainment industry because without them there would be no interest in the mass media”. She also put in a word on digitalization saying, “as our nation gears up for the giant stride of digitalization, it is of utmost importance that we come together to ensure the most successful transition”.
The representative of the Registrar of Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) Alhaji Garba Kankarofi in his speech also commented on digitalization stated that, “Digital broadcasting has become an issue following the proposal by the government to grant migration from analogue to digital broadcasting. This must be seen as a challenge by EMCOAN. This body has to brace up to technological demands of the system as well as be prepared to cope with increase in content as may be required. I have no doubt that you will meet the challenges of digital broadcasting”.
In between both speeches, guests were treated to musical renditions as well as the master compere YAW cracking up the guests to make the hall come alive. Also, the event had EMCOAN present a special birthday gift to the Managing Director, Mediareach OMD (Mr. Tolu Ogunkoya) who was represented by Mr. Yinka Adebayo and Mr.Alaba Fadero respectively.
Also, Mr. Emeka Mba, the Director General of National Broadcasting Commission(NBC) who was represented said in his opening remarks that “a lot of efforts has been put in place to ensure that Nigeria meets up with the set target date for Digitization, calling for support and the need for all hands to be on deck to ensuring a successful transition from analogue to Digitization.”
During the course of the evening, wine and expertly catered cuisine were served while comedians like Baba De Baba, the Still Ringing team; a hilarious duo that mimic clergy men and give funny interpretations in Yoruba language etc and musicians like the petite but powerful YEMMY (The soul singer), R n B Sensational, Jason Blue, Dance Group called Born 2 Succeed all thrilled the audience endlessly.
The dinner was supported by Lifemate, STAR Times, Mediareach OMD, Our Daily Manna, OSTEO while media supports came from WAPTV, R2TV, RAVE TV, BETV, Primetime Entertainment, REEL E Magazine and programmes of all members.
Mindful of the strategic position of Lagos as economic capital of West Africa, experts and researchers have called for softer migration laws in Lagos State and other parts of Africa that are experiencing serious immigration challenges.
For four days, stakeholders in immigration issues converged on Ota, Ogun State for the 2015 conference of the West Africa Migration Development and Regional Integration (MIGDEVRI) programme which held at Covenant University (CU), Ota, Ogun State. They urged governments across the continent to comply with stipulated protocols of free movement of persons, right of establishment and residency of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). National Coordinator of the programme, Dr Oluyemi Fayomi urged the Nigerian government to strengthen all necessary institutions to comply with the ECOWAS protocols to curb bottlenecks posed by security agents, including Customs and Immigration officers, among others when people are trying to cross borders.
Fayomi, a Lecturer in Political Science at Covenant University, said the conference whose themed was “Migration, Mobility and Development in Africa,” aimed at proffering academic and scientific solutions to migration challenges in West African countries by setting up scientific and professional discussions among West African Francophone and Anglophone academics and policy actors on the links between migration, mobility and development, with emphasis on original and empirical researches.
Researcher of International Development Studies of Roskilde University, Denmark, Prof. Eric Hahonou said: “People always view migration in a negative connotation, especially with the migration crisis in Europe. But with this workshop, we want to show that migration has positive impacts on societies. It allows people to transfer technology, culture, ideas; religious beliefs and make good economic impact on the host countries. It also has positive impact on the citizenship aspect.”
He urged governments across the world to desist from rejecting immigrants because “there are extremely high risks involved when countries promote xenophobic ideas. Not only will it damage the people, it will also damage the economic aspect. There would be loss of economic value, because they would be difficult to access and create a gap that will be difficult to fill. So it is important to realise the added value of people coming together.”
Prof. Hahonou, who is the Director of the International Migration Institute at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK), added that migration can only lead to problems when resources and facilities are not available in the migrants’ home countries, thereby hindering immigration.
Meanwhile, Technical Advisor of the ECOWAS Department of Free Movement, Corinne Massardier decried non-compliance of ECOWAS protocols by member states, even as he appealed for better co-operation and funding assistance.
She said Director of the Department, Sanoh N’faly has begun to implement mechanisms to monitor compliance of the free movement protocol in eight member countries. She noted that having begun in other countries would commence in Nigeria next year by planting free movement buses at the borders of ECOWAS member states, with which migrants could move freely without encountering unnecessary checks and Customs’ challenges.
Massardier said the buses would bear ECOWAS identification tags, therefore allowing its occupants free access into the country.
Sub-themes examined at the conference included South-south mobility and West African Higher Education; mobility and informal sector; mobility and sub-regional economic and financial exchanges; mobility brakes and hassles; mobility and family strategies; cross border trade of women and mobility in the oil and mining regions, among others.
The Chairman, Zinox Tecnology Limited, Leo Stan-Ekeh, at the weekend, advised President Muhammadu Buhari to convoke a town hall meeting with all the stakeholders in the economy to chart a way out of the economic meltdown.
Speaking with Information Communication Technology (ICT) editors at the Lagos Head Office of the firm, he lamented that companies have been sacking workers in response to the depression in the economy, adding that if the president organises a forum for all stakeholders in the economy to brainstorm, the he will use the forum to appeal to companies to stop the gale of sack going on in the country.
He warned of grave consequences ongoing retrenchment have on the economy as its social implications will be difficult to manage.
According to him, if the president sits with business leaders to change their ostentatious life styles in line with current economic realities, they will listen to him, stressing that the same gesture should be extended to the citizens.
He said: “There is trouble in the global economy and Nigeria as a major player is also not exempted. The country is in very bad shape because entrepreneurs, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) owners and other players in the economy are technically out of business because they cannot access foreign exchange to do their business.”
He said the Federal Government could raise $30billion in promissory notes from multinational companies such as Shell, Chevron and others, stressing that the firms will be ready to put the money on the table.
According Stan-Ekeh, when the private sector puts such money on the table, they see themselves as stakeholders in the economy and would monitor how the money is spent because they are also responsible to shareholders whose interest is in returns on investment (RoI).
He lamented that the Nigerian corporate was losing face in the international community, warning that if this continues till March, less than one per cent will still be around.
He urged President Buhari to also tap into the limitless opportunities inherent in the information communications technology (ICT) industry, arguing that the sector has capacity to displace revenue from oil.
He said: “I see a bigger picture, a stronger economy and a path way to economic recovery if President Buhari convokes a meeting with the CEOs and the citizens, appeals to them. “Now, if the president appeals to employers indirectly, he is appealing to shareholders because shareholders are expecting their dividend so they now know that what would have declared at huge profit to make them happy, a percentage will be directed to managing the economy.
“If we continue to sack people, retrench people, the total challenge is more expensive. If there is no Boko Haram, the money spent on Boko Haram would have been used to train people, build infrastructure. So the nation benefits for doing this; when the president appeals, the nation listens.”
