The Nation Newspaper

Tag: system

  • Beyond the system

    •Plan to return to parliamentary system not solution to Nigeria’s problem

    DEBATE over the more suitable system of government for Nigeria has continued to rage since 71 lawmakers last month sponsored a bill to return the country to the parliamentary system of government. They argued that the presidential system is too expensive and complicated to succeed in an underdeveloped, multiethnic and violence-prone country like Nigeria. Addressing journalists at the National Assembly on the matter, the lawmakers said that parliamentary system of government will help achieve economic growth and development in the country. Spokesmen of the group who briefed the press on the issue were Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers) and Nicholas Ossai (PDP, Delta). Others present included  Abdulsamad Dasuki (PDP, Sokoto), Boma Goodhead (PDP, Rivers), Timothy Golu (PDP, Plateau), Gabriel Onyenwife (PDP, Anambra), Sergius Ogun (PDP, Edo), Emeka Ujam (PDP, Enugu).

    “We are 71 bi-partisan members of the House of Representatives, who feel that the parliamentary system of government promulgated by the Lyttleton Constitution of 1954 is the best for Nigeria since the presidential system has reduced us to the poverty capital of the world.”

    According to the lawmakers, “Studies have shown that countries run by presidential regimes consistently produce lower output growth, higher and more volatile inflation, and greater income inequality relative to those under parliamentary ones.” They added that “presidential regimes consistently produce less favourable macroeconomic outcomes which prevail in a wide range of circumstances for example in Nigeria.” They believe that the powers exercised by the executive president are too wide and make consensus building that is often required for economic decision impossible.

     

     

    Why First Republic fell

     

    Although the perceived failure of the parliamentary system in the First Republic accounted for its being jettisoned in 1979, Nigerians have become exasperated over the complexities and complications of the presidential system of government. True, a basic feature of the parliamentary or cabinet system tends to promote regular interaction                                                                 between the executive and the legislative arms of government, with the executive being a subset of the legislature, but the friction engendered under the presidential form in Nigeria can be attributed more to greed and immaturity of the politicians.

    The First Republic, too, fell to unjustifiable squabbles and conflicts within and among the political parties. No sooner was the Union Jack lowered than the Action Group (AG) that controlled the levers of governance in the Western Region implode; with external forces from other parties feasting on the crisis. By the 1964 federal elections, with two major alliances, the United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA) and the Nigerian National Alliance (NNA) emerging, the contest was fierce and it tore apart the fragile arrangement that produced the first post- independence government.

    What had proved the signpost of the cabinet system in other countries, that is the provision for a titular President as Head of State, and a Prime Minister as Head of Government became the sore point of the Nigerian government. Some scholars have since postulated that sharing executive power by whatever formula cannot work in Africa where institutions are weak.

    The question to ask is whether the institutions are now stronger, or the politicians more nationalistic and patriotic. Were this question to be answered in the affirmative, it is doubtful that the presidential system would have failed. We make bold to affirm that, rather than the system being deemed to have failed, the political class has failed the two systems. And, unless a fundamental change of attitude is effected, switching over to the parliamentary system with the present mindset of our political class would be a mere waste of time.

    We commend the legislators who  brought up the Bill since it is in exercise of their primary representative responsibility. Both the Ohanaeze Ndigbo in the South East and the Afenifere in the West, and the political wings sympathetic to them have continued to canvass the change, hence suggesting the need for a more formal reintroduction of the debate.

    It is obvious that such a Bill is unlikely to succeed at this point when legislators are engrossed in politicking. Besides, we are not convinced that such a sweeping and radical change is within the contemplation of the 1999 Constitution that is wholly erected on a strict separation of powers principle. To move from presidential system would necessitate the writing of a new constitution that could only be effected by a sovereign national conference which, for the period of its sitting, would suggest transfer of powers from the legislature to an ad hoc body.

     

    The place of public opinion

     

    The main preoccupation of all patriots should be for a wider base of political participation. The voters should realise that their role does not terminate at casting the ballot, but monitoring the government and ensuring that public opinion counts. Governance would become more effective when structures are lean and mean. It’s not the presidential system that prescribes 40 ministers for a poor country, 36 states, some having as many as 40-member executive councils, and 1,000 other aides. The establishment and keeping of so many agencies, some moribund, have nothing to do with the governance system. Nigerians should start asking questions from their leaders and representatives. We could start by being vigilant on the lifestyles of the politicians and reporting our observations to appropriate agencies.

     

    Punishment

     

    The legal framework should be made less tolerant of corrupt practices, the justice system supported to be more effectual, and those against whom guilt is established expeditiously made to face stiff punishment. The ongoing debate should rather focus on tweaking the presidential system to suit the Nigerian culture and environment. A near wholesale adoption of the American presidential system without adequate support structures such as a professional civil service and a well trained law enforcement system insulated from politics and politicking cannot produce the expected result.

  • Reducing inequality in healthcare system

    SIR: Inequality in healthcare in Nigeria can be defined as discrimination or imbalance in the medical care of individual citizens of Nigeria. It can also be defined as the unfair share of the medical provisions made available for Nigerian citizens through the Federal Ministry of Health and other department and agencies.

    Nigeria has experienced a great deal of inequality in the healthcare of its citizens whereby certain class of people especially the politicians in Nigeria will spend almost the annual budget of the health sector in medical treatment overseas whereas some people may not have access to the local or domestic medical treatment in the same country. This is as a result of practical application of the policy and system of governance adopted from the 7th commandment of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” by majority of Nigerian leaders, administrators, executive and legislators manning the affairs of our country and health sector in particular. Thus recently, President Muhammadu Buhari spent more than 100 days in an undisclosed hospital in the United Kingdom whereas so many Nigerians with greater and worse health conditions are left unattended to in government hospitals and some have nobody to assist them to gain admission in the hospitals let alone being attended to by our medical practitioners.

    The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), which is the grundnorm made provision in section 33 to protect the individual lives of its citizens. Basically, the right to life cannot be said to be complete if healthcare or equal access to medical treatment among citizens is undermined or relegated to the background. Thus, the challenges of the health sector are aptly described in the National Health Policy 2016 (pages xiii and xiv) respectively as follows: “…the Nigerian health system is weak and, hence, underperforming across all building blocks. Health system governance is weak. There is an almost total absence of financial risk protection and the health system is largely unresponsive. There is inequity in access to services due to variations in socioeconomic status and geographic location. For instance, 11% of births to uneducated mothers occur in health facilities while 91% of births to mothers with more than secondary education occurs in health facilities; 86% of mothers in urban areas receive Ante Natal Care (ANC) from skilled providers, compared to only 48% of mothers in rural areas; and ANC coverage in the North West is 41% compared to 91% in the South East. Other problems related to health services include: curative-bias of health services delivered at all levels; inefficiencies in the production of services; unaffordability of services provided by the private sector to the poor; limited availability of some services, including Voluntary Counselling and Testing(VCT), Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission(PMTCT) and Anti-Retroviral Therapy  ART; low confidence of the consumers in the services provided, especially in public health facilities; absence of a minimum package of health services; lack of proper coordination between the public and private sectors; and poor referral systems”.

    There is urgent need to strengthen the health sector in Nigeria through adequate provision, release and implementation of the annual budget to meet the medical need of every Nigerian and shun inequality in healthcare.

     

    • Gregory T. Okere Esq.

    Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Abuja

  • How to ‘federalise’ party system, by Adetunmbi

    How to ‘federalise’ party system, by Adetunmbi

    All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi explains the importance of political party reforms to make elective platforms respond positively to the aspirations of the grassroots.

    I wish to thank Urban Media Resource Limited the organizers of this forum for inviting me to this form to speak. In particular I wish to thank my brother and friend Kunle Abimbola who personally contacted me for this opportunity to share thoughts with you. Kunle and I met on the Editorial Board of the robust but rested Anchor Newspapers in the early days of the current century. The paper was published by an illustrious son of Oshun and my Egbon Mr. Adewale Adeeyo – a fantastic gentleman.

    When I was asked to speak on Federalizing Political Parties. I immediately called Kunle to ask is this what we should be federalizing and what manner of federalizing are we talking about. I believe the journalist in him told me “I have the floor and the judgement is mine”. So, everything I say here is based on that advice. After all, I have the floor.

    In picking up Kunle’s gauntlet I have reflected on contemporary history, current political developments in the country and took a pip into the foreseeable future. I wish to encapsulate my musings into a number of Reminders and Lessons in order to make my case.

    Reminder 1: We had federalized parties before, we only lost it  

    1. We had federalized political parties up to 1983, the first and second republics offered SW in many respects what we are clamouring for now. During these periods, Nigeria’s political party system, was more localized and organic, they were more efficient and effective organs to deliver good governance and campaign promises.
    2. Since the IBB political reforms of 1991, with its “new breed” formula, the Nigerian party system has been in continuous crisis, when compared with the situation in the First and Second Republics. The tragic bungling of 16 years by 16 years before it lost power and the APC’s present challenge of stabilizing the polity and restoring a virile economy are all evidence of a weak political party system that confirms crisis of political party system in Nigeria.
    3. The proponents of this “federalized political parties” envisions party manifestos that are based on the political geography of the six regions of South West, South East, South-South, North East, North West and North Central.  The idea is to base national elections, on regional charters, driven by key local demands.  Then a central thread, of common pan-Nigeria needs, can then weave all the local needs together.  Conceptually, this is a good idea but experience has shown that it’s better to allow this to evolve organically rather than by a supply side fiat or declaration which in itself is antithetical to the cannons of democracy.

    Reminder 2: We have always debated mainstream politics, it just went full circle. 

    1. The organizers have branded this meeting Southwest to Abuja: A Midterm Appraisal. This is a very strategic subject and I hope the political mangers of the region one of which is the Governor of Osun State Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola are listening with rapt attention.
    2. Advocacy for mainstreaming the region into the Federal Government has always been with us. From the Awolowo-Akintola era to the periods of Ige-Olunloyo, Ajasin-Omoboriowo, Afenifere/BAT-Obasanjo. These are four mutations of the same contentious philosophy of “let’s be part of the center and get into the honey pot”.
    3. It’s evident that the ongoing 5th version is most consensual and least contentious. I guess that’s because the critical mass of the people spoke their mind and had their way without the so called Federal might that surreptitiously and brutally enhanced the 4 previous ones.
    4. Let me deepen my perspective assertions with some historical evidence. The advocacy for mainstream “come and chop” politics muffled progressive call for true federalism in 2003 under the guise of “Obasanjo is our son” let’s support him. That satanic unitarist enterprise ushered in an era of the worst electoral heist that swept the region for 8 years from 2003-2011. Only Lagos state survived the holocaust due to the singular exceptional visionary leadership of BAT of Lagos at that time.
    5. During these 8 years, the region became an occupied territory a police state of sort, intense partisan intimidation by so called “federal might” and a cesspool of corruption, mass disinformation and deceit. It’s easily arguable that the SW retrogressed politically during this era. It took 40 months of severe legal battles and substantial fatalities in human and material terms to restore popular political leadership in Ondo, Ekiti, Osun. It is the gravitas of these reclamations that led to full restoration of progressive federalist political leadership again in the SW in 2011 when the dissolved ACN and its proxy, Labour Party took charge in SW. No sooner we had this total control than visible cracks reared their heads in Ondo and Ekiti resulting in a differentiated Mimiko and the re-emergence of Fayose.
    6. We’ve again reclaimed Ondo with unhealed post-election wounds and the fate of Ekiti hangs in the balance. The election is around the corner. From all indications, there’s a lot to be done to achieve meeting of minds amongst principals that are currently shadow boxing. Ekiti election is yet another opportunity to restore SW to the pre-2003 era of a truly regional political block to reinvent and renew itself for another round of federalist advocacy. I hope we’ll rise above the myriad challenges of ego, control and embrace collective ownership and totally restore our region to a federalized political that the owners of this platform advocate.

    Lesson 1: The so-called conservatives have had three rounds of mainstream political alliances with palpable evidence which historians will evaluate.

    Take away: The memories of these experiences remain and the people will compare with the outcomes of the ongoing experience.

    Lesson 2: It’s takes a long time, energy, money and human lives to reclaim political thought leadership and electoral victories. Each time it happens it leaves in its trail indelible loss of ethical values, public trust and generational elite division.

    Take away: We have a new chance to take back, but this will not happen with the seeming passivity and lack of constructive engagement with wide stakeholder bases that pervades the air. We need a truth & reconciliation exercise, we need healing and we need a new bonding to be able to face the centripetal hurricane that is gathering and will surely hit the country soon. Is the SW prepared and united to push back?

    Reminder 3: The current mainstreaming did not drop from the sky it was midwifed by progressives and must therefore take responsibility for it. 

    1. Let’s me speak quickly about the ongoing and current version of the Progressives-midwifed Mainstreaming of SW with the Federal Government. One of the prime midwives of this baby is Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.
    2. I must admit that I neither have a close personal relationship nor deep knowledge of the person of our charismatic Ogbenni Rauf. Nonetheless from the much that I know about his passion for human liberty, right to good life by ordinary people and the practical demonstration through his policy choices as Governor, in education, health and social welfare plus his unabashed public identification with the person and ideology of Papa Awo, I can safely attest that he’s a man of honour and a high quotient of public good.
    3. Despite these good sides, there is still more he can do to ensure that broken bridges are rebuilt and a fresh round of healing happens.

    Lesson 3: Should the SW be advocating true federalism mid-term into the tenure of a federal government it provided the tipping point to install or should we be measuring and celebrating milestones on the road to actualizing it. We probably assumed and took it for granted that we all were on the same page.

    Lesson 4: Determination and management of the priorities of government of political alliances are done in pre-alliance negotiation not after it. This is why the concept of agreement is invented. If we had used that, by now we would be measuring performance against it and not making appeals.

    Take away:  The progressives midwifed SW and mainstreamed it into the current FG. The performance of this unprecedented progressives led FG will be compared with the past ones as basis for future choice. At mid-term we can’t trade blame, we must work at what is missing and make it work otherwise how do we differentiate between conservatives and progressives’ capabilities to evolve a workable FG that works for all.

    My closing shot on the type of federalizing we need

    1. My four years in the 7thSenate 2011-2015 opened my eyes and led me to the conclusion that the future progress and prosperity of Nigeria lies in the states and the regions.
    2. States must drive growth, create jobs and improve the livelihood of the people, its simple logic that the aggregate of state performances in the social and economic sectors that adds up to national performance.
    3. To achieve this, we need to “federalize” census, surveys, GDP, Education, agriculture, power generation and many of the responsibilities that is solely apportioned to the Federal Government and allow the states to have a wider field of play and therefore localize citizen engagement and leadership accountability.

    (Footnotes)

    Being Talking points of Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi at Conference on the second anniversary of the South West in national governance held at Auora events centre Oshogbo on September 15, 2017.

  • Lagos to host confab on e-payment system

    To boost shopping and other electronic payment system in the country, a summit on Point of Sales (PoS) terminal transactions, speakers will converge in Lagos  September 29, 2017.

    The programme which is an intervention to address the gaps noticeable in the expectations of stakeholders and the reality in the PoS business sector of the payments system has been put together by one of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) licensed Payment Terminal Service Provider (PTSP), Global Accelerex Limited.

    The Managing Director, Global Accelerex, Mr. Tunde Ogungbade, said the motivation behind the summit is the need for stakeholders to jointly address issues mitigating the achievement of optimum performance and results in the PoS business in the country.  Going down memory lane, he said effective and full-scale introduction of PoS terminal as a recognised channel of transaction occurred with the introduction of the cashless policy by the CBN in 2012 and that prior to this time, transactions via the PoS occurred in trickles. The introduction of the cashless policy gave rise to a lot of interest in the PoS business with resultant investment by various stakeholders – banks, terminal suppliers,PTSPs, Payment Terminal Application Developers (PTADs), payment card manufacturers etc. However, few years down the line, a review of the performance of the PoS sector revealed a very wide margin between stakeholder expectations and realities in terms of performance, adoption and of course Return on Investment (RoI) in spite of the potentials and the opportunities available in the industry- PoS penetration is still low as there is need for more devices with innovative retail offerings.

    He said summit would be held on a quarterly basis as an intervention designed as a platform to address the noticeable gaps in the PoS business in Nigeria as well as to promote the adoption and usage of innovative PoS solutions in order to achieve the objectives of attaining sustainable growth in the sector.

    Notable leaders of thought and industry experts invited as resource persons at the summit include – Dr Doyin Salami from Lagos Business School, Mr Musa Jimoh – Deputy Director, Banking & Payments System, CBN, Mr Sarafadeen Fasasi – Chairman, Association of Mobile Money Operators, Mr Prakash Keswani, the Managing Director – Artee Industries Limited (SPAR), the Managing Director, Hard Rock Café and Mr Tunde Ogungbade, Managing Director, Global Accelerex.

    Participants at the summit will include representatives of all major stakeholders – banks, terminal manufacturers, merchants, system aggregators and regulators among others.

  • Bridging the gap in healthcare system

    Bridging the gap in healthcare system

    Nigeria medical industry has continued to suffer shortage of professionals.  Emigration of health personnel compounds the challenges as a sizeable number of physicians, nurses and other medical professionals are lured out of the country in search of lucrative jobs in developed countries because of our broken down healthcare system, inadequate infrastructure and poor compensation packages.

    For instance, statistics shows that in 2005, 2,395 Nigerian medical doctors practiced in the United States (US), and 1,529 in the United Kingdom.

    Similarly, most people living in Nigeria do not have access to good quality healthcare services.  Where it is available, it is too expensive for the average earner to afford.  Even at that, the rich and highly placed in government and private sectors do not have confidence in the available healthcare system.  Due to their discontentment with the poor quality of available medical facilities, they boost the medical tourism of United Kingdom, United States, Canada, India and South Africa instead of helping to grow the local medical care.

    These imbalances in our health system may have justified the establishment of Thompson & Grace Medical University (TGMU) and allied health services by Thompson & Grace Investment Limited (TGIL) in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.  At a health seminar the held at the Le Meridien Hotel, Uyo, President/Chief Executive Officer Dr. Isaac Thompson Amos said  “the justification for the establishment of the Medical University and its sister entities in the proposed Medical City is to promote and enhance medical education, clinical research and delivery of global standard healthcare in Nigeria, and indeed, Africa.”

    At the seminar themed: How Education, Health, and Medicine can be transformed to benefit Nigeria and Africa, which attracted mostly academia in medical institutions of learning in Nigeria, Dr. Amos disclosed that TGIL has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a German institution, University of Hamburg (UKE) at the office of the German Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Bernhard Schlagheck in Abuja to enable his Group partner with UKE who would “consult in the design and operation” of the TGMU.  He said that the import of the seminar is primarily to sensitise the participants and various stakeholders, and get their buy-in into the Group’s dream of promoting medical tourism in Nigeria.

    Commenting on the partnership at the seminar, Prof. med Uwe Koch-Gromus, Dean of the Medical Faculty of the University of Hamburg (UKE), Germany, noted that “the UKE, Hamburg, Germany and TGIL, Nigeria, signed the MOU to enable both organizations to harness resources for the development of academic cooperation in international medical education in areas of mutual interest and expertise, adding that the “collaboration established will enhance the intellectual life and cultural development at both institutions, and will contribute to increased international cooperation.”

    Dr. Amos disclosed that the partnership would enable both parties to jointly “develop and provide structure, curriculum and practical program as well as administrative and management processes for the Medical University and Specialty Hospital.”  He said that these medical facilities are established to provide “training and support in capacity building in the areas of medical education, clinical research and healthcare delivery processes and procedures as well as healthcare management and administration.”

    He is optimistic that medical university will produce “increased number of highly trained and competent physicians, other healthcare professionals and facilities to meet the health needs of a rapidly changing Nigerian society.”

    Against this background, he called on all the governments and relevant governmental agencies to support the dream in the areas of provision of basic infrastructure such as roads, water, electricity, security, license issuances, permits, approvals and all other relevant facilities that are germane to actualize “our dreams and birth the nation of our collective medical and health dreams.”

    More significantly, the medical projects will help tackle the cavernous gap in the provision of state-of-the-art medical facilities and adequate healthcare for Nigerians.  It will be one step closer to achieving that dream to have world-class health facilities in Nigeria, thus reducing the need to travel abroad for medical treatment.  But the challenge lies on the readiness of the various stakeholders including the three-tiers of government to support this laudable project.

  • Nine million investors yet to join electronic-dividend system

    Nine million investors yet to join electronic-dividend system

    •SEC urges investors to take advantage of free registration

    About nine million investors are yet to sign on to the electronic dividend payment (e-dividend) system, where dividends will be paid directly by corporate registrars to the bank accounts of investors.

    Nigeria’s apex capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), at the weekend confirmed that about 2.2 million investors have so far mandated their bank accounts for direct payment of dividends through the e-dividend platform.

    There are  more than 12 million investors in the stock market. Minority retail investors account for more than 80 per cent of the domestic investors’ base, although they account for lower turnover. Institutional investors, including pension fund administrators (PFAs), insurance companies, investment banking firms, stockbrokers, dealers and high networth individual investors among others, account for the larger percentage of transactions.

    The latest transactional report by the NSE indicated that retail domestic investors account for 38.5 per cent of total transaction value by domestic investors last May.

    Many sources in the know said the large number of unregistered investors for the e-dividend might have been responsible for the extension of the June 30, 2017 deadline for the cessation of dividend warrants and adoption of the full e-dividend option by SEC.

    SEC had announced the extension of the deadline from June 30, 2017 to December 31, 2017, citing numerous requests received from the investing public.

    In a circular at the weekend, SEC however, insisted that the deadline of December 31, 2017 “will mark the end of conventional issue of physical dividend warrants to shareholders of public companies in the Nigerian capital market”.

    The Commission stated that it has also decided to continue to underwrite the cost of e-dividend enrolment till December 31, 2017, implying all unregistered investors will also be able to enroll without any payment within the six-month period.

    “The advantage of the e-dividend is not only to enable investors collect subsequent dividends electronically, but it allows all accrued dividends to be credited to investors’ bank accounts. This will stem the rising unclaimed dividend in the capital market,” SEC stated.

    The Commission noted that the extension of the deadline and free registration underscored its strong focus on market development and enhancement of investor confidence.

    “All investors in the Nigerian capital market are therefore advised to take advantage of this extended grace period by approaching their bankers or registrars for enrolment before the deadline,” SEC said.

    SEC had in November 2015 launched the E-Dividend Mandate Management System (E-DMMS) in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) and other stakeholders. The E-DMMS is an E-dividend payment portal that ensures the payment of dividends directly into a shareholder’s account.

    It is believed that the steps taken by the Commission would help to reduce the increase of unclaimed dividend which stood at N117 billion as at December 31, 2016.  Out of this figure, N86 billion was in the custody of the paying companies while N13.7 billion was in the custody of the registrars. From November 2015 when the SEC flagged-off the campaign on e-dividends to February 2017, about N42.2 billion has been paid to investors from the backlog of unclaimed dividends.

    SEC Director-General, Mounir Gwarzo, had recently said efforts made by the Commission to ensure that the era of stale dividends and huge unclaimed dividends in the market become a thing of the past have started achieving result with the e-dividend registration system.

    “In this country, we have never had this kind of initiative that has reduced unclaimed dividends like we had today. Apart from the investor getting his dividends where ever he is, that investor will be able to get dividends that in the last five years he has not been able to get. The e-dividend is for the interest of retail investors,” Gwarzo said.

  • Transforming the transport system: The LAMATA example

    It seems that all too often many Lagosians are more than familiar with the unending gridlock on Lagos roads.This causes commuters to be more strategic in planning their movements. In many cases most Lagosians will not want to be caught on the Lagos Island from 4pm for fear of getting stuck in the popular Third Mainland traffic snarl.

    Considered the sixth largest city and one of the most rapidly urbanising metropolitan areas of the world with a population of over 20 million inhabitants and an annual growth rate of nearly six per cent, the state is one of the world’s mega cities. This rapid urbanisation and exploding population combined with the poorly executed development plans and poor infrastructure is one of the major reasons for the numerous transportation problems and continuous traffic gridlock in most parts of the state.

    Geographically, the metropolitan area of Lagos is also fast spreading, now extending beyond the borders of the state into the neighbouring Ogun State in the north. Commuter trips are therefore growing both in length and number.

    This population compared to the infrastructure in the state makes it a difficult task for the government to continue maintaining and providing adequate infrastructure for every resident within the state as the sprawling urbanisation has pressurised infrastructure to breaking point. The resultant effects have been increasing traffic congestion, worsening state of roads disrepair, deteriorating physical attractiveness and comfort of road-based public transport and high transport fares.

    The absence of effective rail and water mass transit system and the over reliance on road based transportation system has contributed to the number of road accidents recorded, increasing rates of traffic-related emission and atmospheric pollution.

    However, this has not deterred the state government from addressing and improving the complex transport situation in the state. One of the cardinal and strategic efforts made was the creation of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) to coordinate transport policies, programmes and actions of all agencies at different tiers of government within the State.

    LAMATA is envisioned to provide a strategic planning platform to address long neglected transport needs of the metropolis and co-ordinate activities of the different executing agencies to provide a common and consistent basis for implementation.

    This led to the formulation of the Strategic Transport Master Plan (STMP) aimed at transforming the  transport sector beyond its current challenges. The plan identifies possible transport infrastructure and services required to meet growing travel demand for the state by 2032. This plan will be achieved under the Lagos Urban Transport Project (LUTP) 1 and 2, which is the phased implementation of the state government transport sector policy and strategy designed to resolve main issues identified by various studies conducted by the state government with the World Bank between 1988 and 1996.

    The LUTP 1, the first phase of the project was implemented between 2005 and 2010. It had five major components, which roughly correspond to the six-point transportation strategy of the government. These include Institutional strengthening and capacity building, urban road network efficiency improvement, bus services enhancement, water & Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) promotion and rail mass transit. One of the land mark projects implemented under LUTP 1 was the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Lite system, a 22km partially segregated BRT corridor from Mile 12 to CMS.

    The LUTP 2, a follow-up of phase of LUTP 1, has as its major objective to improve the capacity to manage the transport sector in the Lagos metropolitan areas and enhance efficiency and effectiveness of the public transport network, through a combination of traffic engineering measures, management improvements, regulation of the public transport industry, and expansion and enhancement of BRT system.  It has four major components, which include institutional development and capacity building, improvement of public transport infrastructure and enhancement of traffic management, improvement of the state metropolitan road network and Project management and monitoring.

    The implementation of LUTP 2 led to the extension of the BRT corridor from Mile 12 to Ikorodu and the launch of 434 new Air Conditioned BRT buses in November 2015 by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode. Thus far the BRT extension project has transported over 60 million passengers between its launch in November 2015 and last April creating more than 1000 more jobs in the state. Another feat achieved under this project is the upgrade of 44 bus shelters including the newly constructed Ikeja bus terminal,rehabilitation of WEMPCO road in Ogba and Akin Adesola road on the Island.

    The BRT extension project yielded specific results, which include average public transport waiting time reduction from 30minutes to 10minutes, journey time savings from 120 minutes to 30 minutes, road traffic journey time reduction from 120mins to 55mins, bringing average transport cost down from N300 to N190.

    The Wempco and Akin Adesola roads projects solved the annual perennial road flooding along the corridors.

    Under these projects, an affordable transport fare has been created for the populace; also infrastructure provided is socially inclusive with ramps and stairs for the different classes of public transport users, reduction in carbon dioxide (co2), reduction in public transport related accidents and increased satisfaction with public transport.

    LAMATA is committed to the delivery of the STMP, the roadmap towards providing an integrated multi-modal public transport system for the State.

    The improved transportation infrastructure and services delivered by LAMATA under LUTP 1 and 2 have significantly contributed to the overall achievements and successes recorded by the state government.

     

    Balogun writes from Lagos

  • Reforming Nigeria’s rail system

    When British colonialists built the first railway in Nigeria in 1898 linking Lagos and Abeokuta in the old Western region, which is today’s  South-west Nigeria, it was only Britain, the United States of America and a few other countries that had such facilities at the time. Naturally, anyone would expect that almost 119 years down the line, Nigeria should have built an excellent National Rail Network with latest models of fast-moving trains seen in the developed economies, but that is not the case here.

    Paradoxically, while many countries that started train services long after Nigeria have perfected that mode of transportation by using it for efficient human transportation and bulk cargo haulage, our system remains in a near-comatose state. In countries like Germany, France, United Kingdom, even in South Africa and Egypt, for instance, underground and surface rail tracks are linked to the seaports, airports and land borders. This ensures efficient movement of people and facilitates quick distribution of needed goods like machinery, bulk cargo like cements, wheat, fertilizers, precious stones, perishable and non-perishable food items like tomatoes, cows and medicals, among others.

    In South Africa, the Metrorail operates commuter rail services in the major urban areas. The Metrorail system consists of over 470 stations, over 2,220km of tracks and carries over 1.7 million passengers daily. In the United Kingdom, trains are preferred to buses and, in some cases, planes, due to efficiency. If you want to travel to France from UK, many prefer trains to planes on daily basis. In all these countries, modern light rail, monorail and latest electric trains are rapidly replacing the old locomotives. According to global records, Europeans and Asians operates the fastest high speed trains in the world, as seen in Shanghai maglev, Harmony CRH 380A and Targo Avril. Some go as fast as 360km/hr, making them excellent alternatives to air transportation.

    But unfortunately, today Nigeria still relies heavily on the slower locomotive trains (some as slow as 35km/hr) that pollute the atmosphere. Worse still, the country is yet to develop hubs and spokes system for the trains to ensure total coverage of Nigeria. The railways remain a major revenue earner for operators and government alike. It is also a major employer of labour, which informs why developed nations seek to sustain and improve the sub-sector. Some transport analysts have described our railway services as a monumental disgrace, attributing its perennial wobbly and sorry state to blind politics, corruption, unchecked graft, ethnic differences and other challenges. They insist the railway sector should be well-developed as Nigerian roads are death traps, while air travel remains elusive to the masses due to their weak purchasing power.

    A retired Director of the Transport Ministry once said that some haulage cabals, in their selfish bid to take over the lucrative inter-state transport/haulage business, masterminded the systematic killing of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) so that their businesses could thrive. They did not want to compete with the railway, especially for the haulage of heavy goods. Trains will definitely be more efficient and cheaper. They bribed their way to ensure that successive Transport Ministers and Managing Directors of the NRC were their anointed candidates. So the transport cabals worked with these political appointees to make the railway sub-sector moribund. This is so because every year funds earmarked for rail track mordernisation through the budget were squandered. Rail tracks were never maintained, while some of the tracks have been washed off by erosion and all that. The trains were in a comatose state. Many of the coaches have been abandoned for decades to rot away. Yet if you go to the NRC office at Ebutte Meta, you will see activities, but no productivity. They languish there doing nothing but feeding fat on the perennial system rot.

    For many decades, the nation’s rail system has been starved of the political will to move it to the next level.  The last administration of President Goodluck Jonathan did some work to revitalise our rail system. Some experts noted that the revamping of the sector by the last administration was more of a political campaign strategy than a long-term repositioning effort. They alleged that the quality of the rail tracks and coaches deployed were not top-of -the-range as the lion’s share of the NRC funds was diverted to finance campaigns. With the lack of political will to sincerely revamp the sector, massive graft was allegedly uncovered.

    But in recent times, it has not been business as usual. With what the current minister is doing there and his appointments in the railway sub-sector, things are taking shape and our railway sector is coming back to life.  This is why these cabals are not happy with the current Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi. They were most unhappy with President Buhari because of this appointment. President Buhari has vowed to clean the rot in the NRC as his administration intends to use train services to open up businesses at various agrarian towns and villages that have been denied access to modern transportation, with the construction of Lagos-Ibadan rail project and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano that will eventually terminate in Lagos and that of Lagos to Kano. Then with Calabar-Port Harcourt-Aba-Onitsha-Benin-Lagos rail project being undertaken by the Chinese Government, I believe for the first time we have seen a political leader who has the political will to do the needful in this sector. I believe this sector will create over one million jobs, both formal and informal jobs.

    With reference to the specific Lagos-Kano and Calabar to Lagos rail projects, I will like to state that the two projects are very important projects to the Nigerian masses, and I believe that is why this present government included them in 2016 and 2017 budgets. We in the South- east who travel almost every day by road will like these projects to be completed. We will be very grateful if President Buhari completes Calabar-Port Harcourt-Aba-Onitsha-Benin-Lagos. I believe when it is completed, these routes will be the busiest of all. If Lagos-Ibadan rail project is completed, I believe it will reduce the populations in Lagos and the cost of housing will come down. This is because if I am from Ogun, I do not have any business living in Lagos.  When I know that with the fast train I can be in Lagos in the next 30 minutes, why pay heavily for rent in Lagos. It can equally help to reduce accidents on our roads and save our environment from pollution.

     

    • Paschal, a public affairs analyst, sent this piece from Awka
  • UBA, Orange Group partner on payment system

    UBA, Orange Group partner on payment system

    United Bank for Africa Plc  and leading European and African telecom operator, Orange have announced a strategic partnership to deliver innovative financial services across Africa, with an agreement to jointly collaborate on the promotion of Orange Money.

    Both UBA and Orange have a history of financial services innovation and their joint commitment to Africa makes them natural partners. Orange Money enables customers to transfer money from their mobile phone to other account holders domestically and abroad; as well as providing bill payment and other customer focused solutions. UBA is a leader in electronic banking, for both individual and corporate customers, and with presence in 19 African countries and over 14million customers in Africa, has one of the largest pan-African banking networks.

    A Memorandum of Understanding was signed today in Paris by Tony Elumelu, Chairman UBA Group, Emeke Iweriebor, CEO UBA Africa and Marc Rennard, Chairman and CEO, Orange Middle East and Africa, committing both institutions to collaborate on the delivery of innovative and convenient payment options to customers and implement a range of mobile financial services in African countries, where UBA and Orange Money platforms operate.

    Both Groups recognise the extraordinary revolution occurring in the digital banking space and are committed to providing customers with service excellence, built around efficient and trustworthy platforms. “We are delighted to see the fruition of this partnership, which is capable of revolutionising mobile money payments across the continent and is very clear evidence of UBA’s commitment to Africa’s development and delivering financial inclusion to Africans” Tony Elumelu commented.

    “UBA, with its extensive network on the continent and large customer base is the banking group of choice for us in this project and we are delighted with this partnership” Marc Rennard stated

  • Financial terrorism and crime-friendly judicial system

    SIR: Any country that wants sustained joy and decent life for the citizens must put down a sound structure that will guarantee substantial compliance with constitutional provisions.

    Regrettably, both the Nigerian constitution and judicial system were designed to encourage financial terrorism. Why should political office holders that have served for few years be entitled to such ridiculously huge severance packages while unfortunate civil servants that have served for 30 years and above are often owed pension stipends at times for several months.

    Another aspect of our national malady is the judicial system where a case can drag for over 20years from the high court to the Supreme Court. Any country that wants to make progress must ensure sanctity of sanctions. Cases that warrant sanction within 60 days are dragged for years and eventually abandoned.

    While petty thieves are often jailed, high profile cases involving billions of Naira are often subjected to several adjournments and in several other instances reassignments. It is unfortunate to observe that several politicians and others that have held sensitive positions in private and public offices are enjoying their loot while their cases continue to linger in courts or in fact completely abandoned.

    Junior criminals carrying guns about may become future political leaders if they are not promptly tamed and positively engaged. Once these junior criminals are caught and charged to magistrate courts, the usual procedure is application for bail, granting of bail, adjournment and case abandonment.

    We refuse to effectively control population and put in place a conducive atmosphere for job creation while thousands of students graduate from colleges without any job.

    The huge number of outstanding warrants in the prison yards may be directly proportional to the background record of those charged with that responsibility.

    Our leaders must wake up and effect massive review of our constitution and judicial system.

     

    • Akin Olojo,

    Ilesa, Osun State.