The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Whither

  • Stock market: Whither the bulls?

    Nigerian equities are on the decline, despite steady corporate earnings and dividends. Contrary to expectations of post-election rally, the stock market has shown tepid performance. Capital Market Editor Taofik Salako examines the undercurrents behind the bearishness.

    Nigerian equities closed weekend with negative average year-to-date return of 5.95 per cent. On the basis of straight market value, investors in Nigerian equities have so far lost N618 billion this year. It is a market-wide decline that spares no sector. Both the overall market and sectoral indices are pointing at the same direction- a bearish market. With average return of -1.24 per cent in the first quarter, this month has seen significant depreciation in share prices contrary to expectation that the conclusion of elections, corporate earnings and dividends would stem the first-quarter decline and stimulate gradual rally in share prices.

    The All Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), which doubles as Nigeria’s benchmark for stock market valuation, closed weekend at 29,560.47 points as against its 2019’s opening index of 31,430.50 points. It opened 2018 at 38,243.19 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities at the NSE, which opened this year at N11.721trillion, also closed weekend at N11.103 trillion. It had opened 2018 at N13.609 trillion. The stock market has traded for most part of this year negative. Nigerian equities lost N326 billion in January 2019, with average decline of 1.82 per cent. The ASI and market value of equities had closed January 2019 at 30,557.20 and N11.395 trillion respectively.

    In February 2019, investors recorded positive average return of 3.80 per cent, equivalent of about N433 billion in capital gains. The ASI and market value of quoted equities had closed February higher at 31,718.70 points and N11.828 trillion respectively. The market closed March 2019 with a net loss of N156 billion and average decline of 2.135 per cent. Average return so far in April stood at -6.80 per cent.

    Sectoral indices illustrated a widespread selloff with all groups and sub-group indices closing in the red. The NSE Banking Index, which tracks the most active and influential sector, has so far depreciated this year by 5.15 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index recorded average year-to-date decline of 6.99 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index has dropped by 7.19 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index has depreciated by 12.73 per cent while the NSE Oil & Gas Index has so far this year lost an average of 5.88 per cent. The NSE 30 Index, which tracks the 30 most capitalised companies at the NSE, indicated average decline of 6.57 per cent. The NSE Premium Index, which tracks equities large-cap companies quoted on the premium board of the Exchange, showed average decline of 2.14 per cent. Broadly, the sectoral indices showed a slit through the low-priced to mid and high-priced stocks.

    The continuing decline in 2018 has exacerbated the decline at the equities market, which had suffered average decline of 17.81 per cent or about N1.89 trillion in 2018. Average decline in investors’ portfolio over the past 15 and a half months now stand at 23.76 per cent, equivalent to net decline of about N2.51 trillion. The decline since 2018 contrasted sharply with average return of 42.30 per cent or net capital gain of N4.36 trillion recorded in 2017. The continuing decline appeared to have ignored the onset of corporate earnings seasons with the attendant dividends.

     

    Steady earnings, higher yields

    Post-listing rules at the NSE require quoted companies to submit their audited earnings reports, not later than 90 calendar days, or three months, after the expiration of the period. The rules also require quoted companies to submit interim report not later than 30 calendar days after the end of the relevant period. With not less than 85 per cent of quoted companies, using the 12-month Gregorian calendar year as their business year, March 31 is usually the deadline for submission of annual report for companies with Gregorian calendar business year while April 30 is the deadline for the quarterly report. Early filers had started submitting their annual reports in February and the earnings season climaxed by the last week of March to the first week of April. The price indices have shown no considerable share price appreciation for most stocks, despite subsisting dividend declarations. Corporate earnings showed a largely steady performance.

    In the influential banking sector, Nigeria’s most capitalised financial institution, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Plc recorded modest growths in the top-line and bottom-line with pre-tax profit rising by 9.1 per cent to N215.6 billion in 2018. The audited report and accounts for the year ended December 31, 2018 showed that gross earnings rose by 3.7 per cent to N434.7billion in 2018 as against N419.2 billion in 2017. Profit before tax stood at N215.6 billion in 2018 as against N197.7 billion recorded in 2017, representing an increase of 9.1 per cent. GTB is paying final dividend per share of N2.45, in addition to interim dividend per share of 30 kobo, bringing total dividend per share for 2018 to N2.75.

    United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc grew gross earnings by 7.0 per cent to N494.0 billion in 2018 compared with N461.6 billion in 2017. Profit before tax rose by 2.4 per cent from N104.2 billion to N106.8 billion. After taxes, net profit inched up by 1.4 per cent to N78.6 billion in 2018 compared with N77.5 billion in 2017. UBA is paying a final dividend per share of 65 kobo, bringing total dividend per share for the 2018 business year to 85 kobo. At current market price, this translates to a dividend yield of more than 11 per cent, an attractive return by analysts’ consensus.

    Access Bank, which last month consummated a merger with Diamond Bank, grew pre and post tax profits by 32 per cent and 58 per cent respectively. Gross earnings had risen by 15 per cent. Total assets increased by 21 per cent while customers’ deposit grew by 14 per cent. Gross earnings rose to N528.7 billion in 2018 compared with N459.1billion in 2017. Profit before tax rose from N78.2 billion to N103.2 billion while profit after tax increased to N95.0 billion in 2018 as against N60.1 billion in 2017. The board of Access Bank has recommended payment of a final dividend per share of 25 kobo to shareholders, bringing the total dividend per share for the 2018 business year to 50 kobo. The bank had paid an interim dividend of 25 kobo per share.

    Jaiz Bank Plc, Nigeria’s only commercial non-interest bank, grew its top-line to N8.74 billion in 2018 as net profit rose by 55 per cent to N834.37 million. Jaiz Bank’s gross earnings rose by 11 per cent from N7.86 billion in 2017 to N8.74 billion in 2018. Profit before tax increased from N894.01 million to N897.70 million while net profit after taxes rose from N537.12 million to N834.37 million.

    The audited report and accounts of Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) Plc showed mixed performance as gross earnings dropped by 11 per cent from N163.8 billion in 2017 to N145.5 billion in 2018. However, with 113 per cent reduction in credit impairment, net income after impairments increased by 16 per cent from N80.64 billion to N93.5 billion. Profit before tax thus increased by 33 per cent from N13.9 billion to N18.5 billion while profit after tax also rose from N13 billion to N18.1 billion.

    Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc grew its top-line earnings to N222.4 billion in 2018 compared with the N212.4 billion in 2017. Profit before taxation rose by 44 per cent to N88.2 billion as against N61.2 billion while profit after tax rose by 54 per cent to N74.4 billion in 2018 as against N48.4 billion in 2017.

    In the consumer goods sector, Nigeria’s highest-priced stock, Nestle Nigeria Plc will be distributing N46.42 billion to shareholders as dividends after net profit rose by 27.5 per cent in 2018. Nestle Nigeria’s turnover rose to N266.27 billion in 2018 as against N244.15 billion in 2017, representing an increase of 9.06 per cent. Gross profit thus rose faster by 12.94 per cent to N113.92 billion in 2018 compared with N100.87 billion in 2017. Profit after tax grew by 27.53 per cent from N33.72 billion in 2017 to N43.01 billion in 2018. With these, earnings per share rose by 27.52 per cent to N54.26 in 2018 as against N42.55 in 2017. Nestle Nigeria’s shareholders will receive a final dividend per share of N38.50 in addition to interim dividend per share of N20, bringing total dividend per share for the year to N58.50.

    However, audited report and accounts of Nigerian Breweries showed that turnover dropped by 5.8 per cent from N344.53 billion in 2017 to N324.339 billion in 2018. Profit before tax also dropped from N46.57 billion to N29.36 billion while profit after taxes declined by 41.2 per cent from N33.01 billion to N19.4 billion. Earnings per share consequently dropped from N4.13 to N2.43. Meanwhile, Nigerian Breweries has indicated it will distribute the entire net profit of N19.4 billion recorded in 2018 as cash dividends to shareholders. The dividend payout for the 2018 business year, however, represents 41.2 per cent decline on the N33.01 billion payout for 2017, reflecting the decline in the performance of the company.

    In the insurance sector, emerging results showed improved performance, although most results in the NSE’s most populous sector are being delayed by regulatory reviews due to conversion to International Financial Reporting Standard 9 (IFRS 9). Custodian Investment Plc, the insurance-based holding company, reported that gross revenue rose by 16.6 per cent to N50.2 billion in 2018 as against N43.1 billion in 2017. Profit before tax rose to N9.5 billion in 2018 compared with N8.9 billion in 2017. The company is paying N2.65 billion or 45 kobo per share as cash dividends for the 2018 business year. Shareholders will receive a final dividend per share of N2.06 billion, representing a dividend per share of 35 kobo, in addition to N588.19 million or 10 kobo per share earlier paid as interim cash dividend.

    In the industrial goods sector, Nigeria’s largest quoted company and Africa’s largest cement company, Dangote Cement Plc will be distributing N272.65 billion to shareholders as cash dividend for the 2018 business year, an increase of 52.4 per cent in cash dividend. The increase in payout came on the heels of 91 per cent growth in net profit to N390.33 billion. Shareholders will receive a dividend per share of N16 for the 2018 business year as against N10.50 paid for the 2017 business year. Audited report and accounts of Dangote Cement showed that turnover rose by 11.87 per cent from N805.58 billion in 2017 to N901.21 billion in 2018. Profit before tax increased slightly by 3.87 per cent to N300.81 billion in 2018 compared with N289.59 billion in 2017. Tax gain of N89.52 billion boosted net profit after tax to N390.33 billion in 2018 as against N204.25 billion recorded in 2017, when the company paid taxes of N85.34 billion.  Consequently, earnings per share jumped from N11.65 in 2017 to N22.83 in 2018.

    In the oil and gas sector, emerging results showed steady growths, despite volatility and poor margins bedeviling the sector. Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc reported that turnover rose by 65 per cent from N138.28 billion in 2017 to N228.39 billion in 2018. Profit before tax jumped by 499.4 per cent to N80.62 billion in 2018 compared with N13.45 billion recorded in 2017. However, with taxes of N35.75 billion paid in 2018 as against tax gain of N67.66 billion in 2017, profit after tax dropped to N44.87 billion in 2018 compared with N81.11 billion in 2017. Earnings per share thus dropped from N143.96 in 2017 to N79.04 in 2018. The company is paying a dividend per share of $0.05, the same payout for 2017 year.

    In the healthcare sector, May & Baker Nigeria Plc grew turnover by 6.08 per cent from N8.06 billion in 2017 to N8.55 billion in 2018. Profit before tax stood at N817.91 million while profit after tax rose from N336.62 million to N585.20 million. The company is paying N345.05 million as cash dividend for the 2018 business year, representing a dividend per share of 20 kobo. The dividend payout of 20 kobo represents a dividend yield of 8.0 per cent on the company’s recent rights issue’s offer price of N2.50.

    While some companies reported declining performance, many hitherto ailing companies such as Chams Plc, have reported rebound. Chams recovered from a loss of N1.27 billion in 2017 to a profit of N380 million in 2018.

     

    Macro-economic environment

    While infrastructural gap and policy coordination remain major challenges, most forecasts expect the economy to stagger forward. Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 2.38 per cent in fourth quarter 2018 from 1.81 per cent in third quarter 2018. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects Nigeria’s growth at 2.1 per cent in 2019, to rise to 2.5 per cent in 2020. If the crude oil price rises and non-oil revenue picks up, growth rate could be higher.

    “For Nigeria, what’s very important is the oil price. So, to the extent that other global risks transmit into a weaker oil price or there are other developments that are oil market specific, this would be a factor weighing on Nigeria. We expect a growth recovery; growth was reasonably strong last year and we think that things will improve a bit going forward. We cut our forecasts for 2019 precisely because oil prices are going to be a bit weaker than we expected last time we did the forecast,” Division Chief, Research Department, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Oya Celasun said.

    IMF had earlier predicted growth rate of 2.02 per cent for Nigeria in 2019. It, however, raised the need for major policy decisions to boost revenue position and reduce operational inefficiencies including removal of subsidy, increase in tax revenue through increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) and excise duties and removal of tax incentives, major decisions with serious political implications. The idea of an increase in VAT has already been generating strong opposition, including from some stalwarts in the ruling political party. Will the government have the will to push through the reforms? Many believe the composition of the new cabinet will determine the direction of economic policy.

    Managing Director, APT Securities & Funds Limited, Mallam Kasimu Kurfi, said investors, especially foreign investors that contribute more than half of transactions at the Nigerian stock market, are waiting for clear economic direction to determine their investment priorities.

    Financial Derivatives Company (FDC) Limited noted that the stock market performance appeared to be weighed down by macro concerns rather than the valuation and performance of quoted companies. “Market sentiment has been driven by profit-taking and sell pressures, despite positive earnings. Typically, there is an inverse relationship between interest rates and asset prices. A reduction in interest rates would push up price of assets such as bonds and equities,” FDC said on the back of continuing price decline after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reduced the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 50 basis points from 14.00 per cent to 13.50 per cent.

    “Sentiment remains fundamentally weak in the equities market; this is not anticipated to change in the immediate as a result of rate cut. The gradual recovery in the economy is slow paced and may not support an overtly bullish earnings expectation in the short-term,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

     

    Waiting for the next push

    There is almost analysts’ consensus that the continuing decline at the stock market is a reflection of the macro-economic uncertainties, despite reduced political risk. Kurfi noted that foreign investors are waiting for the composition of the executive cabinet, the completion of the tenure of the CBN Governor and renewal or appointment of a new CBN Governor, the policy direction of the new CBN administration and the passage of the 2019 national budget.

    “These are very important for the direction of the economy, especially the capital market. These are the reasons our stocks are still going down after elections. We need the blueprint on economic policy for the next level as well as the drivers for the economy, together with the president’s statement; these will promote market activities,” Kurfi said.

    Chief Executive Officer, Sofunix Investment and Communications, Mr. Sola Oni, said many investors that offloaded out of fear that the last general elections would lead to breakdown of law and order are possibly adopting wait and see attitude, especially foreign portfolio investors that are so risk-averse.

    According to him, the state of the economy is also still tenuous, despite the positive gradual recovery indicated by many forecasts.

    “As long as quoted companies are operating in a weak economy, the market shall continue to serve as barometer of the underlying concerns,” Oni said, noting that investors sometimes look beyond corporate earnings in making their investment decisions.

    National President, Constance Shareholders’ Association of Nigeria, Mikail Shehu, said that political risk remains a major consideration as post-election activities have not given strong comfort about political stability, a situation compounded by spate of insecurity across the country.

    “Every investor will like to look at all these factors before taking decision. We can only expect the bulls back after May 29 (after the inauguration of the president), when we start to know the direction of the new government,” Shehu said.

    He noted that the major drivers for economic growth and capital market recovery are political stability, capable hands, stable policies and generally enabling environment.

     

    When will the bulls return?

    The outlook for the market in the immediate to short-term remains uncertain. Most pundits see a tepid performance in the second quarter, but the strength of the recovery lies in key macro-economic decisions. “The outlook for second quarter largely depends on the state of economy. This is more reason why the government should address the issue of infrastructure gap and create enabling environment for the economy to bounce back,” Oni said. “The second quarter will not be different from the first quarter, it could even be worse,” Kurfi said.

    Analysts at Cordros Securities said the market needs positive catalysts to sustain a rebound, opting for a cautious trading in the meantime. Afrinvest Securities said the outlook in the near term remains bearish. FDC noted that given the quantum of foreign portfolio investors in the Nigerian market, the ongoing monetary normalisation in developed economies such as United States  (US) could further trigger capital flow reversals in emerging markets, including Nigeria. Managing Director, Trust Yields Securities Limited, Alhaji Rasheed Yussuf, said there is need to develop the trading capability of the domestic investors to enhance liquidity and reduce the vulnerability of the stock market to foreign portfolio fluctuations.

    He urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the CBN to work with the market operators for the reintroduction of margin loans in order to address current liquidity challenge. According to him, one fundamental problem of the stock market, apart from structural issues, is liquidity and the market may not witness any meaningful growth until the issue of liquidity is resolved. Shehu said the government needs to constitute the board of SEC and appoint substantive management for the apex capital market regulator to demonstrate its seriousness about the market.

    But there is a consensus on the attractiveness of the Nigerian stocks. Afrinvest Securities said Nigerian equities are the most attractive among the major African markets. “Yet, we believe the market has been far compressed and remains attractive for equity investors; although we expect foreign investors to chair this effort. … we are convinced the next phase is a bullish run,” Afrinvest stated.

    Cordros Securities stated that “stable macro-economic fundamentals and compelling valuation remain supportive of recovery in the mid-to-long term”. Oni said the long-running depreciation in share prices has opened up opportunities for discerning investors to build up their portfolios. “The bull is always at the back of the door,” Oni quipped, noting that the market at every point presents opportunities for a discerning investor.

    Head, Corporate Communications, NSE, Mr Olumide Orojimi, said the Exchange is committed to long-term growth of the market through financial literacy and investors’ education. According to him, the Exchange is committed to helping to grow a financially responsible generation through various initiatives and collaborations.

    Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Capital Assets Limited, Mr. Ariyo Olushekun said Nigerian equities are undervalued and attractive, adding that the fundamentals are supportive of a rebound this year. As the market totters hither-thither, the bulls may be behind the door, but it will take concerted efforts by all to tickle the bulls to sustained rally.

  • Whither Nigeria?

    SIR: Nigeria’s parlous economic and technological state is not unconnected with its politics as well as democratic culture which throw up dishonest, incompetent and unpatriotic politicians as leaders of the country. It is our sad lot in this country to be saddled with political leaders, who are destitute of political cum economic ideologies, probity, foresight, and vision. No country can grow beyond the dreams and visions of their national leaders. Political leaders imagine and envision the types of countries they want to build. But, here our past political leaders got into the top most political post in the country either by happenstance or through our egregious culture of the imposition of leaders on the people.

    Thankfully, now, Nigeria has enjoyed nearly two decades of uninterrupted civilian leadership with one political party handing over power to another. And, the country didn’t descend into fratricidal civil war as expected by millions of Nigerians.

    But, what do we have to show for the existence of civilian regime in Nigeria? Since the inception of the fourth republic, three civilian presidents had taken turns to lead: Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, and Goodluck Jonathan. Against the background of our humongous human and material endowments, they could be said to have done little to better our lot as a country.

    That’s why President Muhammad Buhari’s campaign slogan of change resonated with us; and we voted for him. His ascetic nature coupled with his spartan disposition and zero tolerance for corruption won us to his side. But, is his incapacity to transform Nigeria to an economically and technologically developed nation-state not obvious to us now?

    Today, millions of Nigerians, who are university graduates, are either employed or unemployed. Daily, they pound our streets in their disintegrating shoes and threadbare clothes searching for non-existing white and blue collar jobs. Those disillusioned and disgruntled Nigerians constitute the pool from which Boko Haram, IPOB, and other dangerous groups can recruit their members.  An unemployed person, who is hungry and angry, is a tool that can be used by either an insurgent or separatist groups to achieve their selfish and divisive ends.

    Nigeria, as it is currently constituted, needs re-making, as it is drifting aimlessly and dangerously like a ship without a captain. There is infrastructural rot in our country, electricity supply is still epileptic in the country, our educational system is dysfunctional, and our health care delivery system is nearly comatose. So, with all these teething problems, wither goeth Nigeria?

    • Chiedu Uche Okoye,

    Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State.

  • Whither the “coordination” orchestra?

    Apseudo-storm kicked off when President Muhammadu Buhari started his current medical vacation to London.

    In his letter informing the National Assembly, he wrote that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo would do presidential work in the president’s absence, but signed off the Acting President would “coordinate” government activities.

    To a country that ripples with bad faith, a media that craves eternal sensationalism and a people that daily choke on mutual suspicion, no matter how specious, that was tantamount to throwing a red rag at a rampaging bull!

    And did the polity go on rampage!  Early English literature spoke of disputatious England, humming and quaking in high polemics, over the right way to break an egg!

    Well, contemporary Nigeria, of the 21st century, is not much different — except that the subject is much more banal; and the methodology is much more emotive!

    But in the midst of the loud but empty hubbub, Acting President Osinbajo, always a rare study in focus, went about his job, undistracted from friend or foe.  And what’s he doing now?

    Is he not coordinating the presidency as the president himself would have done, in a Nigeria that though has some systemic challenges, is nevertheless sapped with contrived chaos by some vested, if satanic, interests?

    When Nnamdi Kanu started running his hate-filled mouth, his offending breath baiting and scalding all non-Igbo with equal-opportunity hatred; and the so-called “Northern youths” responded measure-for-measure, and 2017 Nigeria was looking eerily like 1967 Nigeria, with all the Armageddon to follow, it was this same “coordinator” that went to work.

    Quietly and methodically, he lowered the tension and cooled the political temperature. Now, what’s that — lowly “coordination” or savvy presidential work?

    That half-solved, Bukola Saraki’s Senate raised fresh belligerency, which the sensation-loving media immediately latched on to.  They wanted Ibrahim Magu, the EFCC czar sacked and pronto!

     

    The plot seemed immaculate.  With the president still indisposed, they figured the Acting President was very weak, so they could stampede him to achieve their nefarious goal.  And to up the ante, Eyinnaya Abaribe, the senator from Abia, played the ultimate scarecrow: the spectre of Saraki suddenly becoming “acting president”!

    But how did the “weak coordinator” of their whims handle it?  With the hardy moral grace of a toughie, who just crushed a senatorial coup, sending the plotters slithering like scorched snakes!

    He called their bluff in no unmistakable way.  Just as well!

    The moral in all this?  No, not Osinbajo as new presidential strongman.  Not Osinbajo, gloating over real or imaginary enemies.

    But Osinbajo as serious study in focused leadership and unstinted loyalty to the president.  Just imagine what would have become the Buhari Presidency, were Osinbajo some devious fellow and vain character?  How would our country have coped with the needless additional tension?

    That is, of course, the big lesson to the Senate (indeed, the National Assembly) and the sensational press.  Be focused on your work.  Be loyal to your country.

    Is that too much to ask of the Senate and the media, in these trying times?

  • Whither our values?

    •Something must be wrong for people to make a mockery of ex-LG chair trekking after tenure

    As the debate for political and economic restructuring of Nigeria rages on, some have opined that a change in values may well be more crucial and most urgent. They posit that the Nigerian of today is devoid of any positive trait or distinguishing persona.

    Many therefore argue that to set the country aright once again, we must first interrogate what represents the Nigerian personality, his character and his ethos. What for instance does an average Nigerian consider to be the standard behaviour and guiding principles? What are the irreducible minimum codes of personal values he holds dear?

    This need for introspection has been triggered by an interview in which Dr. Ferdinand Anikwe, director-general, Centre for Black African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC) noted how people mocked him for not owning a car after serving as a local government chairman. According to him, it did not matter that he was adjudged the most outstanding chairman in the country during his time.

    “I came out trekking after serving as local government chairman. I couldn’t afford a car. They were paying me N800.00 and it was not possible for me to buy a car with it. That was the position… I was trekking, I was boarding public transport; people were making jest of me.

    “They knew I did well. The people who were laughing were saying, ‘Look at this man, are you the only man on earth? You think you will change the society?”

    This is the story of Dr. Anikwe as recounted by him and it is the sorry tale of Nigeria. Over the years, public service which ought to be largely selfless and a patriotic call to duty has become the ‘best’ and the most ‘lucrative’ job in the land. It has come to be an accepted norm in the country that everyone elected or appointed into public office is assumed to have become instantly well to do.

    The higher up the job, the more feverish the expectation of plenty; and indeed the ‘richer the public official gets, the more he is applauded. Though no one is in doubt about the source of the sudden wealth, all seems fair even when it concerns the pillage of public treasury.

    Conscience has dulled if not completely faded in these climes it seems; that holy umbrage and sense of righteous indignation no longer exist. People in government are hardly held to account; they too do not care about transparency while instruments of checks and balances have been breached to a state of ineffectuality. Thus in Nigeria all the guards have been let down and the man in public office is at liberty to help himself most copiously to the common wealth. What he therefore makes away with would depend on his craving and rapacity.

    This modus operandi has grown on the citizenry over the years and they have largely become so inured that many do not know the right and proper conducts anymore. In fact, as showcased above in Anikwe’s encounter, a public official is held in utmost disdain should he fail to enrich himself while in public office.

    His family members, friends and associates also expect him to share the cake with them as generously as he can. It does not matter that as a public official he is on fixed salary and allowances, almost everyone who knows him would track him down and make all manner of financial demands on him as if the national treasury were his personal property.

    This is one of the tragedies of modern Nigeria and it is a major reason why development has been perpetually stumped. We surmise that we must consciously change our values and orientation as regards public office and expectations from public officials. In other climes, any public official living above his means is immediately put under the searchlights. We must elect to start doing likewise here too.

     

  • Nigeria’s democracy: Whither party supremacy?

    Nigeria’s democracy: Whither party supremacy?

    The inability of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to broker a truce in the face-off between the Presidency and the National Assembly has impeded the administration’s resolve to work towards fulfilling some of its campaign promises. As a party that has control of the two arms of government, the APC’s failure to rein them into accepting its authority has put a question mark on its cohesiveness. This was the focus of a recent seminar at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Plateau State, TONY AKOWE reports. 

    One issue that has occupied public discourse in recent times is the need to return to the era when political parties had firm control of the affairs of its elected representatives, both in the executive and legislative arms of government. Since the return to civil rule in 1999, political party supremacy has eluded Nigeria’s democratic practice. The parties, especially those with elected representatives, have been at the mercy of those they sponsored to political offices. The parties have been under the firm control of the executive and the cabals that call the shots from behind the scene.

    The lack of party supremacy is more evident today than any time in the nation’s political history. Appointees of President Muhammadu Buhari have suffered humiliation at the Senate, which is dominated by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    In a bid to expand the discussion and offer solution, the nation’s foremost policy think-tank, the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, brought together experts and political actors to discuss the issue and chart a way forward. Setting the stage for the discussion, its Acting Director-General, Jonathan Juma, said unfortunately the concept of party supremacy has been interpreted to mean so many things, including placing the political parties above its members, democratic institutions and even the national constitution.

    He said: “There is no doubt that the cohesiveness of each political party in parliament would contribute to efficient and effective government. Parties can help to articulate group aims, nurture political leadership, develop and promote policy alternatives and present coherent policies pectoral alternatives. Politicians within the same party tend to be more responsible to one another than.

    “However, the influence of political parties tends to encroach into the parliamentary standing orders or even what is laid down in the letters of the law. The scale of this influence may differ, depending on the party’s impact on the work of the parliament and in the conduct of its members. Proponents of expanded intra-party democracy seek to move parties in the direction of more inclusive decisions. Parties with high degree of intra-party democracy are generally highly institutionalised, because they have rules that spell out the qualifications for participation.”

    The Country Director, the International Republican Institute, an arm of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Sentell Barnes, said party supremacy is only relevant if there is a smooth-working relationship between political parties and the legislative arm of government, which is considered the bastion of representative government. He said political parties, having provided the channel for the election of lawmakers, are expected to develop a framework which will ensure that they enact laws and policies towards fulfilling the party’s electoral promises.

    But, former Senate President Ken Nnamani said the problem in Nigeria stems from the fact that the party system has not developed as it ought to. He said: “Many legislators don’t understand how to be good party members and remain effective legislators. The concept of a legislator as a trustee can help us develop a framework to harmonise the idea of an independent legislator who is also a good party man. In other words, parliamentary independence is not incompatible or conflictual with the notion of the supremacy of the party, so far as we understand the proper workings of the two concepts.”

    Nnamani added: “The supremacy of the party does not mean that the party bureaucrats should dictate to the legislators how he should do his work. This will obviously undermine an important pillar of constitutional democracy — the independence of the legislature. It does not mean that the leadership of the legislative house should be annexed to the headquarters of the political party such that the members of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) should determine proceedings in the legislature. The ‘legislator-as-a-trustee’ means that at every moment, the legislator should employ his best reason to determine how he votes in the chambers.

    “But, in making up his mind on the issues in the chambers, the legislator may consult the leadership of the party for major decisions and insights. This is why there are party caucuses in the legislative house. It is from the leadership of the caucus that the party influences the legislative chamber. It is not a matter of issuing diktats and reading riot acts. This is why we need resourceful and skillful managers in the leadership of the party. The party leaders should be persons who command respect among party members, such that legislators from the party will naturally look up to them for guidance. The role of the Whip in the legislatures is to ensure coordination and direction of members towards the legislative agenda in the ruling party and the opposition party. In this regard, the problem is not necessarily the disobedience of legislators as mu h as the absence of a clearly-defined and well-communicated legislative agenda.

    “The relationship between legislators and their party leadership is not based on personality or personal issues. It is based in the party’s policy platforms which become the ruling party’s legislative agenda. Where such agenda is robustly promoted by the leadership of the party, there will be little room for disagreement between the party and its legislators. If there is no such agenda and harmonious relationship is promoted on account of personal feelings and opinions, it is not going to be sustainable. Legislators will easily resist the idiosyncrasies of party leaders, but will be very amenable to well-argued party policies and programmes.”

    Former Speaker of the House of Representative, Ghali Umar Na’Abba said party supremacy refers to a principle where the interest of a political party supersedes that of a member. He said: “It presupposes that even in the legislature, one must act according to the dictates of his party. It is pertinent to note here that in all the above narrative, there had been no involvement of any political party. This was the type of system we practice. Party supremacy in the legislature cannot work. Party supremacy is inconsistent with the constitution. The constitution has delineated power for each branch of government. It is however desirous that a political party be able to work hand-in-hand with its congressional members.

    “In our desire to make our system work, we must define how much of checks and balances we require that can guarantee human rights, liberty and good governance. There is the public perception that the executive branch at all levels seeks to always have a legislature that is pliant and subservient and thus easily controllable. It is foolhardy and short sighted in a democratic regime to govern with a legislature that is not autonomous and independent.”

    Former Deputy Senate President Ibrahim Mantu said while party supremacy means the party has the final say in the administration of its affairs, this is premised on the fact that the party is supreme over its constituents and that every member is subjected to the supremacy of the constitution of the party represented by its various organs. He said even though all the political parties in Nigeria have party supremacy enshrined in their constitution, the leadership of the parties have hijacked that supremacy from the people and the organs.

    Mantu said: “From 2003, governors cutting across all political leanings took over total control of party affairs, particularly in giving people tickets for various elective offices. If one is not on the governor’s line up, no matter how infectious his popularity may be, he would not see the light of the day. People would queue up in the hot sun or in the rain for a whole day without food and water, voting for candidates of their choices only for those they elected to be dropped by the governors and replaced with their surrogates. So, supremacy of the party becomes supremacy of the governors.

    “The party must be seen to achieve positive results that no individual can achieve. The people will recognise and appreciate the party supremacy with the evidence of its positive development of the agenda. The Nigerian nation has seen the worst of all sorts of bad governance. We acknowledge that there is corruption all over the world, but our type of corruption is uniquely different. There is element of greed in our brand of corruption. In other words, we are greedily corrupt. As we approach 2019, we must put our house in order. We, the politicians have sinned against Almighty God, the giver of power and have sinned against the very people God used to endorse His anointment by voting us into power. Our sins have reached saturating point and the natural law of gravity would bring everything down to ground zero. We must therefore purge ourselves and be on our knees to ask Almighty God and the good people of Nigeria for forgiveness.”

    However, Prof. Jibrin Ibrahim of the Centre for Democracy and Development, Abuja, believes that Nigerian democracy is suffering from a series of accountability challenges that has made consolidation of constitutionalism and good governance difficult. He argued that political parties are not accountable to their members who voted for them. He said: “Since 2011 elections, the integrity of the vote has been improving in a remarkable manner. The direct implication of the emergence of credible elections is that citizens matter because it is their vote that determines who gets into power in the executive and legislative branches.” He placed the problem facing party supremacy in the country today at the doorstep of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    He said: “One of the most serious challenges in our democracy is that party bosses have very little or no control over their elected members in the legislature and executives. The original sin was committed in 1999 when the then newly elected President Olusegun Obasanjo declared himself the leader of the party, thereby usurping the power of the party chairman. Once he did that, sitting governors in the state declared themselves party leaders at the levels. Party executives then became simple figureheads without real power or influence.”

    Also blaming Obasanjo for the problem between the legislature and the executive, Na’Abba who had a running battle with the former President and failed to secure re-election thereafter, said the quest to have a legislature that is subservient led to the current state of affairs. The former speaker said Obasanjo’s decision to impose a leadership on the National Assembly and the resolve to fight back by the lawmakers is responsible for the relationship that has existed between the two arms of government since 1999. He traced the origin of the crisis to Obasanjo’s decision to change the date of the inauguration of the National Assembly from June 3, 1999 to June 6, to allow him ample opportunity to manipulate the election of the Senate President, thus paving the way for the emergence of Evan Enwerem as Senate President, instead of Chuba Okadigbo that was preferred by most senators.

  • Whither the Nigerian state?

    SIR: “I stand for a Conservative government because I believe that the state was made for man and not man for the state,”was one of Margaret Thatcher’s campaign slogans, to put her Conservative Party in the hearts of the people and against the Labour Party long before she became the greatest post-war Prime Minister Britain has ever produced. Labour in her estimation shirked in its duties to the British people.

    I watch events elsewhere and see how liberalist policies are tearing societies apart, from abolishment of prayers in public places even in countries founded under religious precepts, to freedom of speech taken too far leading to religious radicalisms, gun rights, etc., etc., and I can’t help but shake my head at the weakness of state.

    I hear irredentists somewhere campaigning for separate sovereignty with gusto, tearing the state and other people with piquant opinions about her and them.

    It is worrying because many people of my acquaintance who have joined the fray were educated in Nigerian institutions of higher learning (provided by the state), won scholarships offered by the state to other Ivy Leagues outside our shores, even came back to work in state-owned institutions but yet still denounce the state.

    Many who do not enjoy stately benefits are more nationalistic than many who enjoy these benefits provided by the state.

    Who has ever fought the state and succeeded? All through history men negotiated with the state when push came to shove.

    Now is the time for the state to act stately. Why is the Fulani onslaught not yet check-mated?

    When did the Fulani trade sticks and knives for guns? We are in the 21st century, there are no more empires to conquer. It is the collective responsibility of state’s administrators and the police to help the federal government in nipping this malaise in the bud.

    These days, when I read about the atrocities attributed to the Fulani, I dare to ask; are these fellows the Fulani, I saw as a growing child who were so unassertive, minding their own business?

    These days, when I read about the ritual dens in Nigeria with people caught with human heads and political persons larking about discussing everything else but the onslaught, I do wonder.

    These days, when I walk around hearing dangerous hate speeches denoting that our problems are caused only by a section of the country, I can’t but shake my head.

    When I am told about the man-eating communities in Nigeria, I can’t help but say we evolve badly.

    When I hear of people killed at elections, women and children killed where I am now and governmental persons dismiss it as only a cult war, I can’t help but wonder. Then you are tempted to ask: how come most of these so-called benefactors of the cultists are never apprehended by the state?

    What is happening to the Nigerian state? Every man jack in Nigeria today threatens the state and gives it ultimatums. Even folks with tainted image and no history. Man was made for the state and the state must rise up quickly to condemn all acts by man that are not friendly to the body politic.

     

    Simon Abah,

    Port-Harcourt, Rivers State.

  • Whither the good old naira?

    Whither the good old naira?

    The naira has literally had a run of bad luck lately what with its diminishing value, especially in the naira exchange rate vis-à-vis other legal tenders, fueling fears that the already battered and bruised economy may slide further, reports Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

    If you place any naira note side by side with other hard currencies like the dollar and pounds sterling, you can easily spot the difference between the three in terms of shape and size, texture and colour. But while the other hard currencies are highly priced internationally, the naira, most unfortunately, is not even worth the paper on which it is printed. Put bluntly, the naira is just a worthless paper!

    Downward slide of the naira

    The naira which has been weakened considerably largely as a result of regulatory headwinds caused by the Central Bank of Nigeria may have experienced its worst depreciation in years.

    Specifically, at the weekend, the naira fell to its lowest from N265 to N278, the worst since its introduction in 42 years. This is quite at variance with its value in December 1980, exactly 35 years ago, when the naira was one dollar and eight cent.

    The fall of the naira to N278, The Nation gathered after deposit money banks cut the amount individuals can spend abroad.

    Although The Nation gathered from bureau de change operators that the naira exchange rate was N260 per dollar at the close of business on Tuesday, the parallel market exchange rate rose sharply to N270 per dollar in Lagos, indicating N10 depreciation.

    In the FCT, Abuja, the parallel market exchange rate rose from N262 per dollar to close at N273 per dollar, indicating N11 depreciation.

    Confirming this development, BDC operators attributed the sharp depreciation of the naira to further reduction in the weekly dollar sales by the CBN.

    Specifically, President, Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe said although the CBN increase the number of BDCs it sold dollars to from 1,170 last week to 2,270, it however reduced the amount of dollars sold to each BDC by 60 percent from $30,000 to $10,000.

    “The bureaux de change operators were denied access to the forex window because of their failure to file documentation backing previous purchases,” Gwadabe said.

    But the Director of Communications Department, CBN, Alhaji Ibrahim Mu’azu, said the BDCs segment is not the window for accessing foreign exchange for importations.

    “We did not withdraw their licence; we only assumed that they have exhausted the foreign exchange position. So, whenever they come with returns, we can continue to disburse to them. Naira can exchange for N250 or N500 at the parallel market, but not at the BDCs and they cannot sell at that amount because they officially regulated margin. It only happens on the roadside.

    “Why would a Nigerian with genuine demand for foreign exchange resort to patronising roadside operators that is costly instead of a licenced BDC operator, who by rule establishing it cannot sale above N205 per dollar given the current official rate?” he added.

    CBN requested that all bureaux de change operators submit accounts showing their dollar usage at the start of each week before they can access more dollar supply.

    However, the official exchange rate has remained within the range of N196.97/$1 and N197/$1 since 21 July, 2015 till date. After opening at N197/$1 last Monday, the official exchange rate depreciated to N196.97/$1 and stayed at the same rate till the end of the week. Also, interbank market rate opened at N199.10/$1 last Monday and equally declined by three kobo to stay at the same rate till the end of the week.

    Nigeria has withstood mounting pressure to devalue the naira since March, defending the currency against events ranging from the crash in oil prices to being booted out of one of the world’s biggest emerging-market bond indexes. The defense may not hold for much longer.

    A record 6 trillion-naira ($30 billion) budget for 2016, and the prospect of more borrowing to pay for it, will increase demand for imports and swell the amount of local currency in circulation, making it harder for President Muhammadu Buhari’s government to hold the exchange rate, according to Credit Suisse Group AG and Investec Ltd.

    While the naira is all but fixed at 197-199 per dollar, prices of forwards suggest traders expect it will weaken 11 percent to 222.5 in three months and 23 percent to 258.5 in a year.

    Unlike other oil exporters such as Russia and Colombia, which have let their currencies depreciate, Africa’s top producer has starved banks and their customers of foreign exchange in an attempt to prop up the naira. “Key to the naira’s outlook is the expansionary fiscal policy next year that will see government ramping up expenditure and possibly borrowing from domestic banks,” Chris Becker, an analyst at Investec in Johannesburg, said by e-mail.

    “If this happens, domestic demand will rise and so will demand for imports and dollars. Devaluation may still be 12 months away, but if our scenario plays out, we could comfortably see the interbank rate moving to levels of 250 or higher.”

    The naira fell 21 percent between then and early February to a record 206.32, before Emefiele introduced trading curbs that kept the currency in a narrow band and stemmed the rout.

    In June, he went further by stopping importers of around 40 items from toothpicks to glass and wheelbarrows from buying foreign exchange.

    Those measures dried up liquidity in the currency market, leading JPMorgan Chase & Co. to ditch Africa’s biggest economy in September from its local-currency bond indexes for developing nations, which are tracked by more than $200 billion of funds. Barclays Plc soon followed suit with its equivalent indexes.

    Investors have blamed Emefiele’s policies, which are backed by Buhari, for exacerbating Nigeria’s economic slump by deterring foreign investment and preventing businesses from buying essential imports. Growth is set to ease to 3.2 percent this year, the slowest pace this century, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.

    The blame game

    Expectedly, the ruling class and the opposition party are trading blames for the parlous state of the economy, especially the depreciation in the naira exchange rate.

    The All Progressives Congress has argued that the incomprehensible mismanagement of the economy under the immediate past administration of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is largely to blame for the naira’s misfortune.

    Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had in a statement last week attributed the mindless looting of the national treasury under the immediate past administration responsible for the increasing weakness of the naira against the greenback.

    Muhammed apparently responded to a statement credited to the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekwerenmadu, which suggested that businesses may collapse in the next six months because the Buhari administration has mismanaged the economy.

    Plausible reason for naira depreciation

    The CBN governor while defending the continued fall in the value of the naira, attributed it to factors beyond the control of the CBN and the federal government.

    This, he said, informed part of the reasons the central bank chose to devalue the naira few months ago, rather than continue in the defence of the nation’s currency from the external reserves.

    Emefiele, who spoke at the bankers’ dinner organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria in Lagos a fortnight ago, disclosed that the bank had spent a huge chunk of the external reserves in defending the naira from falling, adding that the best thing to do is to devalue it.

    He said although the decision to devalue the national currency would come with pains, it would lead to benefits in the long run.

    The CBN boss stated, “The CBN took the decision that it would be sub-optimal to continue to heavily deplete the country’s reserves in defending the naira. This decision was appropriate because neither the central bank nor the federal government is in control of the major factors causing the depreciation of the nation’s currency.

    “In fact, the Russian central bank has abandoned its defence of the currency and allowed the depreciation of the currency, but only after it was said to have spent over $90bn in defending the currency over a couple of months.”

    The CBN governor also noted that in recent time, Nigeria had faced a simultaneous dwindling supply of the dollar and rise in demand.

    This, he said, had led to a rise in the price of the dollar at both the interbank and Bureau De Change segments of the market.

    Speaking further, Emefiele claimed that the underlying factors that led to the dwindling supply of the dollar were mainly global and not country specific.

    The factors which he said were beyond the CBN and the government included the fall in the global oil prices, the end of the United States Quantitative Easing programme and the global fall in the price of other export commodities apart from the crude oil.

    In the view of some traders who spoke on the fall of the value of naira, the devaluation may have been caused in part by scarcity in the market as well as the CBN forex restriction policy.

    “We are not coping with the diminishing value of the Naira. Maintenance is there to look at; salaries would have to be paid. We just have to cope. Things will turn around very soon with this government.”

    Discordant tunes over depreciation of the naira

    Igwebuike Silvanus, who trades on textile materials at the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex, said most importers were at the receiving end of the scarcity of forex and the weakening of the naira as they have had to spend more. “It is my sincere hope that the issue around the suspension of some bureaux de change would be resolved, otherwise dollar shortage may persist in the market, leading to further depreciation of the naira.”

    Many of these traders like Silvanus import their items from Europe. While recounting their ordeal, majority of them said some of their goods are still abroad as the previous price they purchased those goods have increased by 10-20 per cent.

    According to them, the high exchange rate is hindering them from bringing their goods into the country. These merchants explained that they often place orders, change the currency to the dollar and send to the company they are purchasing from but the increment in exchange rate has become a barrier.

    One of the traders, Mr Ikechukwu Ugwu, said he imports office shoes, particularly in the second quarter of the year, but that he would have to wait a while to see if the rate dollar would fall. “If I import shoes and start selling at N13, 000 or N15, 000, my customers will refuse to buy because the original price for the shoes is N8000 or N10, 000. The additional N7000 and N4000 mean a lot to customers and I will not sell to lose either,” he said.

    Another importer of Italian party wears, shoes and bags Mr. Emeka Urama told The Nation that he didn’t intend to import soon. He said his customers would have to make do with what was available. He said items or designs and a set of jewelry which used to cost N20, 000, will go for N25, 000 while those that cost N30, 000 would rise to about N40,000.”

  • Museum at 70: Whither the museum service in Nigeria

    Museum at 70: Whither the museum service in Nigeria

    On November 11, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) celebrated 70 years of the museum service in Nigeria. The choice of Esie Museum for the anniversary was hypocritical for many reasons, including neglect.

    What has Esie Museum to show for being the first museum in the country? Established in 1945, following the discovery of over 800 soapstone figures, Esie Museum has been a victim of neglect as its infrastructure, which is an apology, is still not too different from what it used to be in the past. It would have been better for the money used for the celebration to be utilised to improve on the physical development of the museum being the first in Nigeria. It is shameful that the first museum has not advanced from its primordial state when others after it have received preferential attention.

    But the pertinent question is, what is there to celebrate, considering the decadence into which the inexperienced and ignorant leadership, past and present, that have passed through the system after the exit of  Prof Ekpo Eyo has plunged the museum service?

    Against the backdrop of the expectation of an efficient and effective museum service, rather than celebrating, it should have been an  occasion for sober reflection and stocktaking for the management of the museum institution and the Federal Ministry of Culture, Tourism and the National Orientation Agency. They needed  to have pondered over some pertinent questions in view of the low ebb the establishment has sunk over the years since the departure of the ‘fathers’ of the museum service in Nigeria, which terminated in the glorious epoch of the late Eyo, the first indigenous Director of the Federal Department of Antiquities and later Director-General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments.

    In fact, the heart bleeds anytime an x-ray of the state of the museum service is undertaken, which had experienced what  can be referred to as El dorado during the tenures of Kenneth C. Murray, Bernard Fagg and Eyo. May their gentle souls rest in peace.

    It is a fact that when Eyo, an archaeologist and museologist, was at the helm of affairs at the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, the members of the staff and the public spoke of the institution in glowing terms. His tenure witnessed the rapid development of the museum service in all facets, including but not limited to infrastructural development, capacity building, appointments based on competency, care of collections, scheduling and maintenance of monuments, exhibitions, including travelling exhibitions and staff welfare.

    The same cannot be said of the present leadership, which is a round peg in a square hole, judging from the state of affairs in the institution which exudes a catalogue of woes.

    In a television interview recently on the reasons for the celebration, the Director-General, Mallam Abdallah Yusuf, said: “Because the National Commission for Museums and Monuments is still existing.”

    What a puerile and naive response from the Chief Executive Officer of a research and intellectual institution. Perhaps, he is correct either from the standpoint of his own assessment or because he has not improved on the state of the institution since his assumption of office about six years ago.

    At the last count in 1986, when Eyo was retiring, there were over 53 scheduled monuments across the country, all in good condition. Today, the story is different as the number of monuments across the country can be counted on the finger tips as the majority, including those in the Museum of Traditional Nigerian Architecture (MOTNA), have deteriorated and have disappeared from the earth surface. A visit to the museums’ collection storage across the country, particularly Lagos, Jos and Benin, will make a true museum professional weep. No thanks to the tenterhooks of neglect by the museum leadership. The installed air conditioners have long broken down while the usual regular fumigation of the collections storage aimed at preservation to deter agents of deterioration is a thing of the past. If it is not possible to improve on the status quo, must the  facilities or activities be allowed to deteriorate or stopped? It is worthy to note that other West African countries with whom Nigeria entered the museum service, such as Ghana, Mali and Niger, are growing in leaps and bounds while we are retrogressing. An example, the Museum Centre in Jos, established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultured Organisation (UNESCO) in the 1970s, for the training of museographers, that used to attract patronage from museums in other African countries has become a caricature and a laughing stock since its metamorphosis to the Institute of Archaeology and Museum Studies (IAMS). It no longer enjoys patronage from West African and East African museum institutions because of its appalling standard. The school can be likened to a living dead.

    Apart from the care of collections and the maintenance of monuments, including MOTNA, other areas that need attention, such as the primacy, integrity and ethical considerations of the collections, appointment of dedicated and knowledgeable staff to leadership positions, with round pegs in round holes, relevant staff training and development, vigorous ethnographic research/archaeological excavations across the country, matched with corresponding publications, settlement of antiquities vendors to discourage illegal trafficking, pursuit of aggressive educational programmes in all the museum stations, are, to past museum professional employees, including the author, who have seen it all in the museum service, mindboggling questions begging for answers.

    There is no gainsaying that things have gone awry in the National Commission for Museum and Monuments; a situation that calls for urgent intervention to stem the tide of decadence. To watchers of the commission, it is not surprising that this is so because the leadership of the ministry that is expected to be a watch dog did not help matters because of pecuniary gains. There have been unabated calls from the workers for the ministry to beam its searchlight on the institution’s leadership. Instead, the ministry allegedly busied itself witchhunting whistle-blowing union officials for speaking out against the leadership.

    The oddity at the commission has been laid bare in the public ‘court’ as a Macedonian call for anticipated salvage.  The leadership of the new the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, under which the NCMM will function in the new dispensation, should take  action to prevent an imminent collapse of the museum service in Nigeria.

    A stitch in time saves nine!

     

    • Akanbiemu is the resident curator, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta.

  • Whither is Buhari really taking Nigeria?

    President Buhari, and many spokespersons for his presidency, are saying that the Buhari presidency will eliminate corruption and strengthen the unity of Nigeria. That Buhari is seriously set against corruption is not in doubt. That he is already weakening corruption in significant sectors of the public service is self-evident – and that is a commendable accomplishment. But the millions of Nigerians who wish that Nigeria should attain true unity, survive as a country, and go on to prosper, are waiting to hear what President Buhari intends to do about a sustainable basis for the unity of Nigeria. I am sure that most Nigerians regard this as more important than the war against corruption.

    For a start, by appointing nearly all the non-ministerial officials of his presidency from the North and virtually excluding parts of the country, Buhari has aroused fears among very many Nigerians about his true intentions for Nigerian unity. Anyone who wants to know how worried Nigerians are becoming about this should just look in the media, especially the social media on the worldwide web. This is not a partisan issue at all; as many members as non-members of Buhari’s party are voicing concern. Even some northerners are voicing concern. The growing question is this: Is Buhari leading us back to the same old path of “unity” that was designed to be enforced by an Arewa North domination? Certainly also, it does not help that the formal organization of the president’s party, the APC, is given scant regard in the president’s actions. Does this portend that the president will be leaning mostly on some hidden back-door advisers and organs of his own, rather than on the political party that procured the votes of Nigerians, the party that promised CHANGE to us all? Does the quest for unity, for democracy, and for accountability, not demand that the open, constitutional, and formal establishments and processes of governance be openly upheld and employed for our country’s government?

    But there is a much more important issue – namely, the constitutional structure of our federation. I mean the need for restructuring our federation in such a way as to ensure harmony among our various peoples, and in ways to ensure that each federating unit of our federation shall be able to develop its resources competently, provide for its citizens, conquer poverty among its citizens, and make its own kind of contributions to the overall prosperity of our country. I am not urging President Buhari to implement, or not implement, the decisions of the National Conference that his predecessor organized. What I urge him to do is to recognize that this issue of sane restructuring of our federation is the issue that will determine whether Nigeria shall be stable, and whether Nigeria shall survive as one country; and then I urge him to do something about it immediately. In all his public utterances, including his address to the country on its 55th anniversary, he has artfully evaded making any kind of statement on this issue. He must not continue to evade it. His whole legacy hangs on what he does about it.

    The basic truth of our country’s existence is that ours is a country consisting of many different nationalities – each living in its homeland, with its own culture, desires, and self-image. In recognition of these facts, the founding fathers of our country bequeathed to us at independence a federation in which the federating units (called regions) commanded the powers with which to develop their domains. By using those powers, those regions pushed our country admirably along the path of progress and prosperity.

    Unfortunately, the political leaders controlling federal power at independence wanted the Federal Government to have unrestrained control over the regions – because they wanted their own particular Hausa-Fulani ethnic nation to control all of Nigeria. They started by disrupting the Western Region. They did succeed in disrupting the Western Region, but the effort generated unexpected side effects, and Nigeria’s whole governmental system more or less crashed. That gave the military the audacity to take over. Under the mostly northern military command, a northern political and military axis gradually distorted the federal structure, subdued all powers and all resource control to the federal establishment, and subdued the federal establishment to northern control. The Federal Government became a ponderous, incompetent and hugely corrupt entity presuming to micro-manage all aspects and all corners of Nigeria, and the states became mostly impotent entities incapable of doing much for the well-being of their citizens. In the context of this monstrosity, corruption took over the life of Nigeria, and poverty and hopelessness became the lot of the overwhelming majority of Nigerians. And this is how matters still stand today.

    The demand for the restructuring of our federation is therefore a desperately important demand. It is about how to restore progress to our country and give all Nigerians a chance to hope again. Ultimately too, it is about whether our Nigeria will, or will not, survive as a country.

    Those who are involved in this mission of saving Nigeria by demanding federal restructuring must never cease pointing out the example of India, a country that is very similar to Nigeria in ethnic composition. At independence in 1947, inter-ethnic conflicts threatened to break up India. The far northern provinces seceded and became independent countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh, and the rest of the country seemed to be headed towards disintegration. Large numbers of Indians who wanted their country to survive embarked of a vigorous demand for a proper structuring of the Indian federation. The Indian politicians gradually yielded to these voices and saved their country by sensibly restructuring their federation on the basis of ethnic nationalities, and by devolving a lot of powers and resource development to the states. The larger nationalities became states; contiguous small nations joined hands to form states. India became a union of 28 states, each state designing its own internal structure and constitution. India then redistributed powers between the federal and state authorities, giving to the states control over their resources, and much more to the states than to the union in all revenue allocation. India did not only survive; it began to prosper.

    Some of those who oppose the restructuring of the Nigerian federation usually voice the accusation that a desire to break up Nigeria, or to secede, is the real motive behind the call for the restructuring. Many who make such accusations are just “smart” politicians playing clever games – politicians who are using these accusations to hide their secret personal or ethnic agendas and vested interests. They are merely trying to obstruct.

    However, there are some Nigerians who honestly and sincerely fear that using our nations as basis for the states of our federation could lead to secessions and the breaking up of our country. Some prominent Indians had the same kind of fear about India in the early 1950s too; but those fears have never materialized. Instead, India stabilized and grew stronger, because the nationalities became more comfortable about being part of India. Most Nigerians who want their nations to secede from Nigeria today are simply tired of Nigeria’s confusion, insane inequalities, corruption, and conflicts. If Nigeria becomes a more orderly and stable country, most of today’s desires for secession are likely to vanish – similar to what happened in India.

    In summary, there are two options facing us Nigerians.  If we leave our federation as it is now concocted, with an irrational states structure and a federal authority that controls all aspects of our lives and virtually all our country’s assets, the obvious contradictions, and the inevitable deprivations and conflicts, will break up our country sooner or later. If we courageously do what the Indians did, and restructure our federation, using our nationalities as basis for state formation, and giving significant amounts of responsibilities, resources control and funding to the state authorities, the chances are that our country will survive and thrive.  This is a matter over which every Nigerian must step forward and speak up. President Buhari must take the lead.

  • Nigeria at 55: Whither education?

    Nigeria at 55: Whither education?

    Today marks Nigeria’s 55th Independence anniversary. It is the first Independence celebration by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    The anniversary is coming when the list of would-be ministers is being made public.  Expectations are high as Nigerians wait for the promised change by the government.

    Nigerians have divergent views on Nigeria’s achievements since becoming independent on October 1, 1960.  Some, like Mr Bode Adeboye, an entrepreneur, think there is nothing to celebrate about education, which he noted is plagued by corruption – like other areas of national life.

    “For me, I do not think education has really improved compared to where we are now.  The issue is certainly corruption; it has eaten deep into the affairs of the country. If only Nigerians and also people at the helm of affairs could see beyond selfish interest and greed, by now, we would have been celebrated as one of the developed countries in the world.

    “It is not as if governments have not been doing anything. A lot of money has been invested in the sector; but it has hardly been used to achieve its purpose. We are marking 55 years of independence when, in actual fact, it calls for no celebration,” he said.

    A lecturer of Lagos State University, Prof Biodun Akinpelu argues that education is in shambles.

    “Today, it is no exaggeration that education has crashed beyond imagination,” he said.

    Mr Abayomi Badru, who runs a tutorial centre in Ikorodu, Lagos, lamented that the deterioration in the education sector is evident in the increasing number of private institutions in operation while public schools are going down.

    It is not all bad news, says those who submit that there are milestones in education worth celebrating.  Prof Offiong E Offiong, immediate past Education Commissioner in Cross River State, said education today is better than two decades ago.

    “I would not say the achievements so far have not been commendable. It has marked departure from what we saw 20 years ago – and whether people want to see it or not – all indices point to the fact that there is improvement in education. But I think it may not be as what a typical Nigerian is expecting,” he said

    Mr. Kehinde Ojo, former Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology in Ekiti State, said the education sector has expanded opportunities to many people since 1960.

    Ojo said the fact that many pupils and students produced by public schools in Nigeria are making waves in different fields all over the world is an indication that Nigerian education has fared well since independence, despite the many challenges.

    He said: “The goal of education at independence was to produce men and women who would take over from the colonialists and administer our country after the colonialists might have left.

    “It is also aimed at producing men and women to rub shoulders with their counterparts all over the world and free education was introduced in the Western Region and Eastern Region.

    “This gave every child of school age the opportunity to have access to education and many pupils were given the opportunity they wouldn’t have had in the first instance.

    “And this created more opportunities with the establishment of more schools like teacher training colleges, modern schools, secondary schools and primary schools which were financed by the government.

    “The establishment of these schools produced leaders in states, academia, business and church and this opened opportunities to Nigerians to take over from colonialists.

    “I want to say that education has fared well in Nigeria despite the challenges because the products of these schools are rubbing shoulders with the very best around the world”.

    Professor of Drama and Theatre at the University of Jos (UNIJOS), John Illah, agrees with Ojo.

    “It has been one tremendous growth in all sectors of Nigeria since independence. In the education sector in particular, great improvements have been recorded. For instance, in 1948, there was only one University College in the whole of Nigeria, but today, we are not only talking of government universities, we are also talking of private owned universities. All districts in Nigeria today have more than one secondary school; most villages have primary schools. The Nigerian education sector is meeting the country’s manpower needs,” he said.

    However, those respondents who agreed that education has improved noted that there were many challenges that needed to be addressed.

    Prof Akinpelu said the level of degeneration in education was deserving of rescue mission akin to the fight against the Boko Haram Insurgency.

    “For me, it is not about President Buhari looking for where to fix it, but rather declaring a state of emergency in the sector. Today the federal government is making progress in its renewed aggressiveness in tackling terrorism and I advise that education should be approached in the same manner,” Akinpelu added.

     

    Challenges to be addressed

    To remedy the problems in the sector, educationists have advised President Buhari and the new minister he appoints for the education sector, as well as government at the state level to focus on eliminating corruption, implement policies, re-train public school teachers, improving quality assurance, curriculum among other measures.

     

    Policy implementation

    Prof Offiong believes that policy-wise, Nigeria has the template to achieve excellence in the education sector.  Rather than formulating new policies, he suggested that the government focuses on implementation.

    “In my opinion, the policy and the manpower that we have in the country can successfully drive education and bring the Nigerian education system at par with what is happening in emerging developed countries. Some of these policies are well thought of and the experts we have in the country in education are people who are also making a lot of impact beyond the Nigerian shores. So we truly have what is takes, but what is lacking with due respect, is very strong political will. We must not politicize education. If we can separate education from politics, that will be able to pave way for a more enduring and relevant education system in Nigeria,” he said.

     

    Re-branding public school teachers

    Though Mike Johnson teaches in a private school, he wants the government to focus on improving public schools, particularly re-training their teachers or purging bad eggs from the system.

    He said: “My main focus is the public schools. The fact that it is a government school does not mean it should be taken for granted. Most of these schools do not have quality teachers. Government should not just employ anybody just to give him a job; we are talking about moulding our future. Most of these public pupils, even at SS3 level, cannot express themselves properly.  Some of the teachers too are not even fit for the job. The fact that all hands are not equal should not be used as an excuse to make the less-privileged pay for being poor. I want the government to really look into this, if you are subsidizsing education, place some value on it.”

    Offiong also called for training at the basic and secondary levels because they are the foundation.

    “At the basic level of education which is the primary level essentially, we still have a lot of teachers that need to be retrained and those who do not have what it takes to be in the system should be well advised. The foundation is very critical, because once the child is not given adequate foundation; he or she cannot also perform better in higher levels,” he said.

    For a teaching workforce that would deliver, Akinpelu suggested that the government should learn from former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, who employed and trained over 13,000 teachers.

    “If the new government must walk its talk with its ‘change’ slogan, it should take a cue from former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi who, during his tenure, recruited  13,251 teachers into public schools in the state.

    “I was one of those recruited from Lagos to conduct training for those new teachers and we were on ground there (Rivers) for the exercise for a whole month. That is an example of a government committed to lifting education,” he said.

    Like Rivers State did, Dr Lanre Adeyuyo of the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED), Ijanikin, urged the Federal Government and others to recruit more teachers to address the acute teacher shortage.

    “At the basic level, many of the public schools suffer congested classrooms. That challenge can be addressed if government recruits more teachers. Unfortunately, teaching job which used to be the last resort, is now becoming scarce. The situation is further compounded with government policy that once you are above 30 years, you cannot be employed for teaching,” he said.

     

    Monitor private schools

    Conversely, proprietor of Little Saints Montessori School, Ilupeju, Mrs Bukky Fadayomi, thinks government needs to do more about regulating poor quality private schools.

    “I think that right now, the government should not permit any new school.  Schools without standard should not be in operation.  The ones in existence, they should see that they are on their toes.  There should be a lot of inspectors going in.  I have seen Lagos State government training its teachers.  However, a lot of private schools are afraid to train their teachers.  Private schools should wake up.  The teaching profession admits any rubbish.  This should stop.  We have a lot of schools that government needs to say if you want to run a school, do it right; if not, close shop,” she said.

     

    Regular curriculum review

    The current curriculum has been lauded for its robustness and entrepreneurial bent.  Ojo said the curriculum should be reviewed once in seven years to keep it relevant.

    “Education should be tailored towards needs, and the curriculum should constantly be reviewed every seven years so that it can be relevant in this generation.

    “The planners should look into the issue of using local languages to teach pupils in their first three years in school.  In China, Chinese is used to teach their pupils, in Japan, Japanese is used to teach their pupils, in Germany, German is used to teach their pupils, in France, French is used to teach their pupils while in England, English is used as the language of instruction.

    “We are losing a lot by failing to use our languages to teach our children because before you know it, these languages may go into extinction.”

     

    Improve funding

    More funding for the education sector would go a long way to improve education, says Dr Lanre Aiyejuyo of the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Ijanikin.

    He warned that continued poor funding would only result in poor quality education.

    “In recent times, we’ve had proliferation of public institution; unfortunately these institutions suffer poor funding and this results in poor quality. Only a few of our public institutions are consistent and devoted.  Unfortunately too, private universities are taking the shine off public institutions. Most of those in their faculty are retirees from public institutions, who are willing to work; therefore the quality of education is high,” he said.

     

    Learn from International best practices

    Mr Joseph Ayeni, CEO of Simplex Business Solutions, a software development company, noted that Nigeria’s education sector would develop if the government could learn what the top countries in education are getting right.

    “Development cannot just happen one day and it is not by chance.  It has to do with what we do. What are we ready to do? We talked about slogans: the youths are the leaders of the future. These children, are they going to be competing with their counterparts in other parts of the world, in South Korea, China, Poland, Finland, UK and others? Some of the countries I have called make up some of the top 10 countries in education globally.  We should look at what they have done to be among the top 10 position in the world and do it also,” she said.