The Nation Newspaper

Tag: water

  • Foundation provides water for community

    Foundation provides water for community

    The days of Guinea worm and water-born diseases appear over in Ebonyi State. How? Organisations such as Carter Foundation are sinking boreholes across the state to keep people from sourcing unhealthy water from ponds and streams.

    Carter Foundation is one of the orgnisations leading the fight against Guinea worm and other diseases, simply by sinking boreholes in Ebonyi communities. Another is the Chinedu Ogah Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO).

    This has resulted in the reduction and even eradication of the disease, as the state has not witnessed fresh outbreak of the disease for years now. The eradication of the disease being a welcome development, yet still, there is a snag. Many communities in the state still do not have clean source of drinking water.

    To complement government’s effort in providing potable water for the people, the Chinedu Ogah Foundation has sunk two boreholes in Oriuzor and Nkomoro, two communities in Ezza North Local Government Area of the State.

    Speaking during the inauguration and handing over ceremony at Oriuzor, the founder of the foundation, Comrade Chinedu Ogah commended the people of the community for being law-abiding. He urged them to continue their support of policies and programmes of Governor Martin Elechi-led administration.

    Ogah, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Chiboy Group Limited, promised to assist eligible youths of the community get employment in the state civil service.

    He also advised members of the community to liaise with the local government chairman and the community leader in the area to estimate the cost of their electricity project and forward same to him for quick completion.The chairman of Oriuzor Ward, Hon Cyprian Abaji thanked the foundation for providing the borehole for the people which he said will alleviate the plight of the people.

    He said: “At the Nkumoro Market where Comrade Ogah also inaugurated another borehole, he urged the youth to be law-abiding, avoid thuggery and violence, especially during the forthcoming elections.He said: “Do not allow politicians to deceive you. If they give you guns and other weapons to fight for them, tell them to bring their sons and daughters to join you to carry the guns.”

    He also donated some amount of money to women and youths as part of his poverty alleviation programmes.The traditional ruler of the community, Ezeogo David Nworie expressed his gratitude to the foundation for carrying out the project for the community.

  • Union supplies water to students

    Union supplies water to students

    The Students’ Union Government (SUG) of The Polytechnic, Ibadan (BADAN POLY) Adeseun Ogundoyin Campus, has started distributing water to students and residents of Eruwa, Oyo State.

    The distribution covered Anko, Isaba, Oke-Ola and Sango. The president, Atilola Yakub, said the water distribution project was part of his welfare package for students.

    “This project is aimed at alleviating the sufferings of students caused by water scarcity in this area. We are concerned about the welfare of our students and we would do everything in our capacity to serve their best interests. We cannot leave everything to the school management alone. We know we have to play our part to drive the vision of the institution,” he said.

    Atilola said water distribution would continue as long as water scarcity persisted in the area, stressing that the school management was in support of the project.

     

     

  • Give us water, community tells council

    Residents of Dawaki in Bwari Area Council have called on the council to provide potable water for the people.

    The residents, who spoke with our reporter, stated that the community was known to be located close to the Usman Dam, adding that it was unfortunate that even with the closeness; the community does not have access to potable water.

    One of the residents, Baba Usman said when the provision of water became a problem, some well-to-do residents had to sink boreholes for themselves, saying even at that, the community needed help from the council.

    “People now sink boreholes for themselves. They pay electricity bills and maintain the boreholes themselves. We have our local water source but when more people came to live in the community, they began to mess up the source of water supply. Many get water through the Mairuwas,” he said.

    Another resident, Gloria Ike lamented the huge amount of money she spends in order to get water from water vendors, adding that water which is one of the necessities of life ought to be provided for the people by the government.

    “Every day, I spend at least N400 on water. If I add up this amount in a month, the money would be substantial. We need drinkable water. But for the boreholes which some people sink everywhere, we would have experienced very serious water problem here,” she said.

    Also speaking, Mary Peter, another resident, said apart from providing water for the community, the council should also help in the construction and rehabilitation of roads in the area.

    “The council should try to assist us and talk to the minister and the water board. The water flows under us and goes straight to town and we do not have it. We also need good roads,” she said.

  • Bank provides water in Plateau

    Bank provides water in Plateau

    Management of the Northern branch of Fidelity Bank has established a programme as part of extending a hand of fellowship to government and communities across the 19 northern states where it operates.

    General Manager and Head North Bank, Fidelity Bank Plc Idris Yakubu gave this indication during the inauguration ceremony of a borehole which the bank constructed for Plateau State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board.

    The borehole is expected to be a water source for pilgrims and people of its neighbourhood behind the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) headquarters Jos. The borehole is the sixth of similar projects constructed by the bank since its existence in Plateau State.

    Yakubu said: “The project was initiated and funded by staff of the Plateau State branch of the bank who volunteered a deduction from their monthly salary through a scheme known as Fidelity Helping Hand Project.

    “The Fidelity Helping Hand Project is an initiative where staff of the bank put resources together to execute project that will be beneficial to the community in which they operate.

    “As a bank, we believe that being socially responsible is the most effective way to bring about change in any society. Taking responsibility is the right way. Indeed, the only way that lives can be touched and enriched in Nigeria today; and if every citizen, be they corporate or individual, can play their part, our country will truly rise above its current challenges.

    “As an institution, we take pride in our humble accomplishments, especially in entrenching the culture of true and responsible citizenship among our staff through constant training and re-training, and undertaking integration exercise in all our business offices. It is this passion for our country and for our people that has motivated the staff-driven initiative, which we fondly call the Fidelity Helping Hand Program (FHHP).

    “Through the programme, we have executed water projects, rehabilitated prisoners, deployed medical equipment and renovated schools and orphanage homes. In the North, we have also inaugurated similar projects in Bauchi, Minna, Sokoto, Jalingo, Gombe, Kano, Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja where we provided water and renovated schools and homes, extending the helping hands required by the beneficiaries.

    “Recently, we handed over five classroom blocks and female hostel block which were renovated by staff of Gombe branch.

    “Members of the staff in Jos branch have moved to support the Plateau State government’s efforts in area of water supply so as to enhance the standard of living of people of the state that have been hosting us this long. This is the third project we have carried out in the state in the last three years.”

    Continuing, he said: “In Fidelity Bank, our philosophy is that we should not sit and wait for government to do it all. We have therefore resolved to undertake similar projects in six other states in the North between now and February next year.

    “I therefore, on behalf of staff and management of Fidelity Bank, handover this newly-constructed motorised borehole to the government of Plateau State for the use of staff of the state Muslim Pilgrims Board, pilgrims and people of neighbouring community.”

    State secretary of the State Pilgrims Welfare Board, Alhaji Salisu Musa said the gesture from the bank is not only a helping hand for government of the state but an upliftment of spiritual obligation of Muslims in the state. He advocated for such gesture to the Christian Pilgrims welfare board.

    Representative of the Plateau State governor on the occasion who is the state Commissioner for Water Resources and Power Alhaji Idi Waziri described the bank as a worthy partner worth of emulation by other corporate organisations in the state.

  • Fun on Lagos waters

    Fun on Lagos waters

    The saying that wherever there is sun and water, tourists flock there is trite in tourism. Sun and water have continued to be the basis for huge tourism revenue for many countries.

    La Campagne Tropicana recently upped the ante in the country’s leisure space by introducing the water sports leisure to the advantage of the enormous water endowments in Lagos State.

    Although the lives of many natives on the numerous islands scattered round the state revolve round the water, they see this gift of nature more as a means of livelihood than a source of exquisite leisure.

    Traditionally, the only period that most of the natives engage in collective and planned leisure on the water is mostly during the regattas that many of the islands and towns in Lagos State hold annually. Epe and Badagry that historically and culturally have deep romance with water normally organize colourful regattas. For Epe people, this could be seen during their annual Ebii Epe festival.

    However, this is changing. Organised leisure activities on water are gradually gaining popularity. Hitherto it used to be elitist with clubs like the Lagos Boat Club, having organized leisure activities on water. On weekends and during holiday periods, it is normally enchanting seeing the way boats from the Lagos Boat Club with with their colourful sail spread out on the lagoon, Along the lagoon behind Ozumba Mbadiwe Street, many who can afford boats go on cruises in their speed boats and water bikes.

    La Campagne Tropicana, however, has come up with an initiative to popularise water sport as a leisure activity without necessary paying so much. At its leisure resort in Ikegun, Lekki , off the Lagos-Epe Expressway, the resort has brought in different types of water sports facilities to offer options to those who may be willing to enjoy the experience.

    The proprietor of the resort, Otunba Wanle Akinboboye, said it is part of the efforts of the resort, as a top player in the tourism industry in the country, to continue to offer leisure options for guests and tourists that would make them have an unforgettable experience in Nigeria.

    He talked about the reason behind the acquisition of these sports facilities for leisure on water.

    “Lagos State is a state of aquatic splendour. I believe that we must take advantage of our advantage so that we can have an advantage over other people. One of the advantages we have in Lagos is that of aquatic beauty. We must not only utilize this for transportation alone, but for tourism activities in the area of water sports. That is the reason why we at La Campagne Beach Resort are taking advantage of the fact that we are sandwiched between two different water bodies- the fresh lagoon water and the salty sea water from the Atlantic Ocean- to make sure we create something totally unique that we add to the tourism product delivery of Lagos State and Nigeria in general.

    “Water sport is a tourism activity that most of us partake in when we travel to the United States of America, Europe, Dubai and so on. We believe strongly that we must strive on a regular basis to be at par in order to be competitive with the international tourism delivery by providing as many activities as possible for tourists. It is not only about comfortable hotel rooms. They all have comfort in their homes because it is a middle-class activity. It is not only about good food. We are not saying all these other aspects are not important, but we must create activities for tourists that will keep them busy from the minute they land till their departure. As a matter of fact, we must make sure that they borrow money to stay an extra day by creating as many activities as possible.”

    Wanle said there are different kinds of water sports fracilities available. He said: “We have virtually everything: jet ski, hydro-bikes, towables and many others. We have towables for one person; there are also towable for two and so on.These towables come in different sizes and shapes and give different feels on top of water. Some of them have a gliding feel; some will take you above the water slightly, you fly in the air and land back safely on the water. This is for the more adventurous traveller and leisure seekers.

    “We also have all the safety devices for these sports and kayaking too. We have the special kayak vest and helmet for safety purposes. We are doing this in accordance with international standards .

    “Although the idea is to offer exciting holiday and leisure experience to inbound tourists, the whole idea is also to make Nigerians have the opportunity to enjoy some of the natural endowments in their country.

    “Before you start talking about international tourism, you must develop your local tourism. I am glad to mention that a lot of people have come to the resort for the past one week-local tourists, business tourists and those on conference tourism. During their leisure time, what they have enjoyed the most at the resort are the water sports. After their retreat and bonding exercises, they have enjoyed gliding on the lagoon water and other water sports.

    “I will expect that during the yuletide season, many local tourists visiting the resort will enjoy these facilities. That is why we are introducing them now so that a lot of Nigerians and Africans that are in Lagos and even those in Ibadan, Kaduna and Port Harcourt, should come and experience water sports.”

    La Campagne Tropicana is one of the unique resorts in the country with upscale accommodation facilities and numerous options for relaxation, ranging from relaxation at the beach front facing the Atlantic ocean, engaging in outdoor pleasure like horse riding, swimming both in the swimming pool and fresh water, outdoor barbecuing and many others.

     

  • Rivers of troubled water

    Rivers of troubled water

    The Rivers State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Felix Obuah, fired the first salvo, when he accused Governor Rotimi Amaechi of insincerity in the water projects across the state’s 23 local government areas, especially in Ogoni’s four councils.

    The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report on Ogoniland was submitted to President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja in August 2011, but the recommendations are yet to be implemented, with UNEP raising the alarm over water pollution/contamination and presence of cancer-causing benzene in the drinking water in Ogoni.

    The UNEP Report recommended many measures to help ameliorate the sufferings of the Ogoni people, following the contamination of their environment and the groundwater in Ogoniland, as a result of crude oil spills.

    Ogoni people in Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme local government areas, particularly those residing in Ogale–Eleme, pleaded with the Federal Government to quickly address the water pollution and other recommendations contained in the UNEP Report, since they could not trust the Anglo/Dutch oil giant, the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).

    Shell was sent packing from Ogoniland in 1993. The renowned environmentalist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and eight other Ogoni activists, were hanged at the Port Harcourt Prisons on November 10, 1995, during the regime of the late Gen. Sani Abacha. This led to a crisis, which made Ogoni people decide that Shell would never return to their land. The oil company is yet to return to the area 20 years after.

    The UNEP Report stated: “ The most serious case of groundwater contamination is at Nisisioken-Ogale in Eleme Local Government Area, close to an NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) product pipeline, where an 8 cm layer of refined oil was observed floating on the groundwater, which serves the community’s wells.

    “The drinking water from the nearby wells in Nisisioken-Ogale is contaminated with Benzene, a known carcinogen (cancer causing), at levels over 900 times above the World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline.”

    In the Amaechi’s administration’s determination to proffer solution to the water challenge in Ogoni, pending when permanent solution would be found, the Rivers state government decided to be sending water in tankers from Port Harcourt, to the various communities in Ogoni, especially the mostly affected areas.

    Obuah, however, expressed shock over the development, saying: “How can Amaechi be sending water in tankers to Ogoniland from Port Harcourt, in spite of the far distance, instead of ensuring permanent intervention through massive water projects? Rivers people can now see their governor’s deceit and lack of commitment to a just cause.”

    The Rivers Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, however, admonished the peace-loving people of the state not to take the PDP chairman seriously, but to ignore him and his politics of desperation.

    Semenitari insisted that Amaechi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) remained committed to the development of the state, describing the Ogoni water intervention as temporary, since permanent solutions were being worked out.

    In August this year, Amaechi inaugurated in Ogoniland, $4.5 million Eleme Regional Water Project, financed by the SPDC, which the oil giant said was in response to one of the recommendations contained in the UNEP report, to remedy the benzene contamination of the groundwater.

    Shell’s spokesman Joe Ollor Obari said in Port Harcourt on December 4 that: “The Eleme Regional Water Project was funded exclusively by the SPDC and executed by the Rivers State Ministry of Water Resources.”

    Speaking at the inaugura

    tion of the water project at

    Alesa-Eleme, Amaechi said the scheme, which covers 43 communities in the five clans of Ogale, Alode, Agbonchia, Alesa and Aleto in Eleme, would provide potable water for the Ogoni people, as part of the measures to save lives, following the dangers enumerated in the UNEP Report.

    The Rivers governor also lauded the SPDC, which he said, supplied potable water to the people of Eleme, saying: “UNEP Report recommended eight emergency measures, including immediate provision of potable water to the impacted communities, to mitigate health risks.”

    In spite of the efforts, the leadership of the PDP is still critical of the Amaechi’s government, accusing it of not showing enough commitment to give Rivers people potable water.

    The NGF chairman, on December 2, at the Government House, Port Harcourt, while receiving the members of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Water Resources, accompanied by Executive Directors of the Niger Delta Basin Development Authority was also unsparing of his critics.

    Amaechi urged the federal lawmakers to summon the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and Minister of Water Resources, Stella Ochekpe, and investigate the circumstances surrounding the seizure of the World Bank and African Development Bank (ADB) loans, approved by the National Assembly for the provision of potable water for the people of Rivers State.

    He noted that the Rivers government had fulfilled all the requirements to receive and benefit from the loan scheme with the World Bank and ADB, stressing that his administration was ready to allow the finance minister to award the contract to any person of her choice, to provide potable water for Rivers people.

    The NGF chairman said: “The people who are dying and deprived of the potable drinking water are Rivers people, who do not have water in their homes.”

    “In fact, if you whisper to those agencies (World Bank and ADB) that she (Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala) has refused to sign-off, a woman of that international standard, maybe she wants to join the fray of quarrel. It is like two wives quarreling over a husband.

    “It is embarrassing; completely embarrassing for somebody who has been Managing Director of the World Bank to neglect the impact water has on the citizenry. We are prepared to allow the Minister of Finance (Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala) to award the contract to any person she wants. We are only interested in the provision of potable drinking water for our people.

    “The National Assembly has approved it and we have fulfilled all requirements with the World Bank and the ADB. We are now at the point of release of the funds for execution of the water projects for our people, and she (Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala) has refused to allow the release of the funds to us.

    “The Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is using her position to undermine the safety and health of the people of Rivers State. I cannot afford to give all Rivers people bottled water, but all I can assure you is to ensure the provision of potable drinking water and the Minister of Finance has refused to release it. They want Rivers people to die.”

    The Rivers governor also stated that his administration could do an assessment of the people who had been infected with water-borne diseases, if the finance minister wanted the Rivers government to do that, for her to see what she had been doing to Rivers people.

    Chairman of the House of

    Representatives Committee

    on Water Resources, Aliyu Ahman Pategi noted that members of the committee were in the state, as part of their oversight functions, to verify the execution of various water projects of House members and Senators and to ensure there was value for money.

    Pategi said: “We are also here to ensure that the Niger Delta Basin Development Authority (NDBDA) that is charged with the responsibility in ensuring the zonal intervention of projects of House members and Senators carry out its functions, not only in the best possible manner, but to ensure that the projects are not abandoned and are beneficial to our people.”

    While appreciating the people of Rivers State for their loyalty and commitment to the Amaechi-led government, Pategi lauded the Rivers governor on the giant strides and remarkable achievements of his administration, in the provision of world-class infrastructure and speedy development of the state.

    Pategi added: “Despite the challenges, we have noticed quite remarkable projects. We saw the monorail project and the dual carriage roads, which can only be found in Abuja, among other capital-intensive projects. I am proud of the projects in Rivers State.”

    The Rivers chapter of the PDP, however, alleged that the loan being sought by the Rivers government from the World Bank would not be utilised for the water project, but would be spent on the activities of the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), which Amaechi and four PDP governors had just defected to.

    The ruling party urged the members of the National Assembly and the Federal Government not to yield to Amaechi’s request for loan for water project, stressing that it would be diverted into politics.

    Rivers PDP, through the Special Adviser to the Chairman of the party, Jerry Needam, said: “Considering the financial strength of Rivers State, as one of the top beneficiaries from the Federation Account and the rising Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), as well as the Governor’s revelation of saving one billion naira monthly, the state should not be crying for loans to provide drinking water, to a point that Rivers people are threatened by water-borne diseases.

    “Amaechi has been in office for six years. If he regards water as a priority, he would have provided water for the people of the state, because he has been receiving enough funds to execute development projects in the state.

    “Amaechi has borrowed more money than all the past governors of the state put together and in addition, if truly the Rivers State government has improved in its internal revenue base, as claimed, then the governor has no justification to solicit loan from external funding agencies, for it to deliver development projects to the people of the state.”

    The ruling party also expressed displeasure over the over N1 trillion loan facility accessed so far by the Amaechi’s administration, from which he alleged that projects on the ground in Rivers state did not show such funds had been judiciously applied.

    It stressed that if the NGF chairman had actually been saving N1 billion monthly, the state ought to, in his six years on the saddle, have a reserve of N72bn, an amount that would not allow the state pant for loan to enhance service delivery.

    Rivers PDP also stated that it was aware that the Rivers government had annually been budgeting over N7 billion to the state’s Ministry of Water Resources, while demanding clarification on what the huge allocation was used for, stressing that all water taps in the state had remained dry.

    It said: “Rather than actual in

    vestment and application of the

    funds in water resources in the state, the Governor is seen to have preferred financing white elephant projects with questionable contract values in Rivers State. These projects include the Monorail, Justice Karibi Whyte Specialist Hospital, Greater Port Harcourt City and the Rainbow Housing Project, among others.

    “The Rivers governor has, rather than provide befitting development facilities and infrastructure for the people of the state, sold out or leased important institutions and state-owned ventures and assets for 30 to 50 years, to some officers and cronies in the name of Public Private Partnership, including Delta Hotels, Obi Wali Cultural Centre, Olympia Hotels, General Hospital, Port Harcourt, Njemanze Waterfront and Risonpalm etc.

    “We wonder what Governor Amaechi will be using the loan for, when he has not given proper account of the funds he has received from Internally-Generated Revenue and the previous loan facilities he has accessed, in the name of development of the state. Amaechi’s intention is to further impoverish and defraud the state of its resources and ensure that his successor inherits huge loans and other liabilities to settle on resumption of office.”

    Rivers Information Commissioner Ibim Semenitari, however, stated that Obuah and his co-travellers have simply displayed ignorance. She urged Rivers people to ignore them, maintaining that Amaechi remains focused on developing the state and would not be distracted by the enemies of progress.

    Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has denied blocking the loan, making not a few wonder where lies the truth. For now, what is clear is that many in Rivers do not have water to drink, despite being surrounded by water.

  • FG decries poor access to water, sanitation

    THE Minister of Water Resources, Sarah Ochekpe, has decried poor access to safe water and basic sanitation in most rural areas.

    She said this informed the adoption of Community – Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) to promote proper hygiene in rural Nigeria.

    Ochekpe spoke at the 2013 Global Hand Washing Day with the theme: “The power is in your hand” in Abuja.

    The minister, who was represented by the Director, Irrigation and Drainage, Mr. Joe Kwanashie, explained that approach has been adopted as a tool to address the challenges.

    She said: ”It has been found out children under the age of five suffer most as the mortality ration is 157 out of 1,000 births, which to us are unacceptable as it is preventable through act of hand washing.

    ”Children living in households exposed to hand washing promotion with soap or ash had half the diarrhea rates of children living in controlled neighbourhoods.

    “Hand washing can prevent the transmission of a variety of pathogens, it may be more effective than any single vaccine and therefore highly recommended.”

  • Water good for health

    Drinking four glasses of water early in the morning has been recommended as a therapy to ward off diseases and ensure good health.

    A traditional medicine practitioner, Dr Lambo Adebisi said two to four glass cups of water when drunk immediately after getting out of bed can ensure wellness and longevity.

    According to him, this practice has worked for the Japanese over the years as a form of curative and control measure for preventing diseases.

    “Water as a form of treatment has been found useful by the Japanese Medical Society (JMS) as a 100 per cent cure for headache, arthritis and tuberculosis. Also, meningitis, diabetes, constipation, epilepsy and fast heart beat, among others.”

    Adebisi, who is a naturopath, advised people to stay away from food or drink 45 minutes after taking the water in the morning.

    This, he added was to ensure that the water drunk flushed their system of toxins and free radicals.

    After breakfast, they should not drink water for two hours, he said.

    Adebisi said the sick and elderly should start with two glasses of water until they are able to drink four glasses every morning.

    “For high blood pressure, four glass cups of water should be consumed every morning for 30 days, gastric 100 days and diabetes for 30 days.

    “People who have constipation should drink as prescribed for 10 days, cancer 180 days while those suffering from tuberculosis need to consume water for three months.”

    He said water was potent and had no side effect, stressing that it was good whether hot or cold.

    “Hot water removes slug in the intestines, thereby ensuring clean bowel,” he added.

  • Financialism : Water from an empty well (3)

    As we observed in the first two parts of this piece, this book posits a fundamental distinction between capitalism as a an economic system of private investment in the production of goods and services for profit and financialism as the investment of money in the multiplication of money for the limitless pursuit of profit for its own sake without an underlying base in actual concrete production. The authors, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Brian Browne, argue that financialism is a monstrosity that perverts, distorts and chokes capitalism and precipitates economic collapse. In identifying an unusual and unorthodox nexus between the highly advanced American economy and the still largely underdeveloped Nigerian variant, the authors contend that the excesses of financialism are the root cause of recent economic and fiscal crises in both countries with serious negative implications for millions of their citizens. The seventh chapter of the book, which examines how ‘Financialism Trumps Capitalism’ is thus critical for understanding the text’s central thesis. Here the authors trace the history of the ascendancy of financialism and what they describe as ‘the demise of capitalism’ in America and Nigeria as well as its destructive systemic effects in both countries.

    In the tenth chapter of the book, the authors offer concrete policy proposals for ‘defeating financialism’ and rescuing capitalism from its feral jaws. They argue that America and Nigeria have taken different paths to arrive at the current ‘similar degeneration’ and warn that continuing on the same path of deepening financialism will limit opportunities for millions and worsen poverty even though the powerful political elites will profit enormously from the resultant collective economic misery. The challenge of America, they argue, is to tame financialism in order to revive a genuinely productive economy. They thus advocate a new industrial policy for America that will involve government support for vulnerable yet critical industries, modernization of the country’s infrastructural platform as well as substantial government subvention for research in new technologies “that promise a new wave of industrial processes and the invention of new materials and products”. To regenerate America’s productive capacity, the book also advocates detailed educational, financial, fiscal and even political reforms for that country.

    For Nigeria, they identify the challenge as that of “shedding financialism in order to build an industrial base”. Here again, they advocate a National Industrial Policy that will protect the country’s few existing industries, markedly improve electrical power generation, focus on new ventures in light manufacturing, seek foreign direct investment that produces jobs for Nigerians while shifting from subsistence to commercial farming including the establishment of commodity exchange boards that guarantee minimum prices for farm produce. They equally advocate the remodelling of Nigeria’s educational system to place emphasis on technical skills and education as well as far reaching reforms in the financial, fiscal, land tenure, health sectors. In this regard the authors conclude that “If both nations do not take the path of reform soon, they may forever foreclose themselves to the possibility of turning their inaccurate claims of greatness into something resembling the truth”. The sections of the book that deal with economic theory and policy are largely inaccessible to the general reader and may be understood only by experts in the field. Although they claim that they write not as academics but as laymen willing to bring fresh insights into a subject that has lost touch with reality, the language is such that may be readily digested mainly by the academic and professional economic/financial elite. Perhaps many of the ideas in these specialized sections could have been more simply communicated to enable easy comprehension by the average reader.

    For the non- economist or financial expert, chapters three to five of the book are easily the most interesting and stimulating parts. These are the chapters that provide the philosophical and intellectual bases for the economic postulations and ideas advocated by the authors. The student of politics will be particularly fascinated by how the book links its caustic and unsparing critique of the Social Contract theorists – Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau – to their fundamental disagreement with the excessively individualistic and anti-state phobia that undergirds financialism. The authors question the contention of the Social Contract theorists that the state evolved as a mechanism of curbing the brutish individualism they believed characterized the ‘state of nature’. They are particularly harsh in their critique of Hobbes who perceived man as basically evil, selfish, belligerent and violent thus rendering the ‘state of nature’ short, nasty, solitary and brutish. In his own case, Locke considered the state of nature as being governed by reason but argues that increasing complexity of society led to disruptive irrational acts by individuals that necessitated the creation of government through a social contract. Even though Rousseau admitted the existence of the family in his own conception of the state of nature, the authors believe that he drained the concept of family of all emotional ties while also perceiving man as basically amoral and lacking in foresight.

    The authors dismiss the whole concept of the state of nature and man’s perceived innate destructive individualism as ahistorical and entirely mythical. Man, they argue, is not just individualistic, he is more fundamentally a social animal. Rather than evolve as a solitary individual, they argue that man evolved as a member of a group, namely, the family. They detect a negative attitude towards the state by the social contract theorists who see it not necessarily as a positive construct, but as a necessary evil to curb man’s aggressive instinct and protect society from mutual self-destruction. This suspicion of the state and its role in the society, they believe, provide the philosophical underpinning of financialism with its emphasis on individualism and limited government among others. Of course, the critical reader may contend that the authors do not necessarily differ fundamentally from the social contract theorists they so strongly criticise since they equally advocate “a greater role for government in shaping and sustaining financial and economic activity” given what they describe as “the dynamic complexity of government in society”. It would appear, for instance, that the Hobbesian notion of the state of nature and the necessity of the state as ‘Leviathan’ does not differ markedly from the authors’ notion of the negative effects of excessive individualism and the need for remedial state regulation of the economy.

    This book argues that active government intervention and regulation of the economy is a necessary condition for the health and sustenance of capitalism. The authors argue vigorously against the ‘myth’ of human rationality and an infallible, self-regulating free market on which the whole edifice of modern economics rests. Man, they argue, does not necessarily act rationally most times and government has a responsibility to act as a safeguard against the tendency of the free market to be indulgent towards man’s natural proclivity for greedy pursuit of excessive material acquisition at the expense of the collective good. The authors are not anti-capitalist. They seek to save capitalism from itself. But is financialism not a logical outcome of the profit motive that is the driving force of capitalism? Well, you must read the book and make up your own mind. But there is so much in this book to stimulate deep reflection on the human condition and the nature of society. It is worth your money and time.

  • Ondo to partner Fed Govt on water

    The Ondo State Government has said it would partner the Federal Government to boost water supply in the state.

    Governor Olusegun Mimiko spoke in his office yesterday while hosting the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe.

    Mimiko hailed the President Goodluck Jonathan administration for completing abandoned water projects, particularly the Erusu Dam in Ondo North.

    He said the Dam would provide adequate water for the people and the Arigidi Tomato Factory.

    Mimiko said his administration would partner the Ministry of Water Resources to complete the Owena Multipurpose Dam.