Egbo Mon Charles

Writing on Ethnicity and Stolen Opportunities in Public Service: Anti-corruption, Where is thy Reach and Victory?, Prof. Kenneth Amaeshi lamented that “Corruption goes beyond stealing public funds, although it is a major understanding of the word. As much as it is important to curtail the opportunities for embezzling public funds, and bring perpetrators to justice, it is also important to cast a wide net on corruption, and frame it as an act of “stealing opportunities”.

The view of corruption as stolen opportunities can offer a different lens to appreciate the anti-corruption agenda. …….poverty is unfreedom. It is a lack of freedom, because in such situations, choices are limited, and the capability to meet the very few available choices is significantly constrained…. Some people are trapped in poverty because they don’t have access to opportunities. This can be as a result of poor education, lack of access to resources, and inappropriate social networks…….. Good education helps people to explore good opportunities to improve their lot in life…… Notwithstanding, opportunities can still be stolen……. This is a form of corruption that is hardly talked about in the current framing of the anti-corruption agenda in Nigeria.”

The bottom line of this narrative is that the surest way to liberate a generation from poverty is to avail them access to relevant information and  a wide range of choices for entrepreneurship, employability and community development. And,  in what appears to be giving impetus to this, President Muhammadu Buhari while presenting the 2017 budget proposal at the National Assembly, openly admitted that digital skills are essential and as such, ICT as a deliberate policy is slated for priority attention as a key objective in revamping the collapsed economy. He hinted that “…..we also have an ambitious programme for growing our digital platforms in order to modernize the Nigerian economy, support innovation and improve productivity and competitiveness. We will do this through increased spending on critical information technology infrastructure and also by promoting policies that facilitate investments in this vital sector.”

But before then, the UK House of Commons’ Science and Technology Committee published its “Digital Skills Crisis” report in June 2016 and stated that: “digital education and training need to be addressed as a matter of urgency in the Government’s forthcoming Digital Strategy.”

From the foregoing, given the intensity of the global need and demand for digital skills and competencies and of course the consequent emerging ICT revolution in developing nations, there is a logical and gloomy prediction that certain “white collar jobs such as accounting, law, journalism are next in line to see technology remove vast numbers of existing jobs in the next five to ten years.” Computers would assume numerous roles and only the skilled can play competitively and productively fore entrepreneurship, employability and community development. The big question, therefore, is: How ready is Nigeria to fill this yearning gap?

The Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, while speaking on the readiness of the Federal Government to establish in Nigeria an ICT university which will be first of its kind in Africa with one of the campuses in Enugu courtesy of Senator Gilbert Nnaji, cheerfully announced that “we already have what is called the Digital Bridge Institute which is for short term training programmes in six locations across the country and we hope to transform this institute into the ICT University of Nigeria. I am already talking to a lot of operators at the international level, Facebook, Motorola, Ericson, all of them. We are encouraging them to come and adopt the university campuses as their own. Nigerians will, therefore, be equipped with the best skills to look for jobs all over the world. If we have Korean telecoms companies coming to adopt one of our campuses, that will strengthen us instead of going to South Korea. We can have all the training and the number of people who will have the training locally will certainly be more than those who will have opportunities of going abroad to train. So, we feel that the ICT University is one of the big legacies that this government wants to give to Nigerians by adding value to computer science education,”

This aptly explains why Gilbert Nnaji, apparently over-whelmed by the tragic neglect that bedeviled his Enugu-East Senatorial District for-which he aspired to represent them at the Senate had declared that   he would “certainly make sacrifices in order to bridge the gap between electoral promises and fulfillments”.  As such, after being appointed the Chairman of Senate Committee on Communications, he quickly sought ways to avail his constituency of the benefits of Information and Communication Technology. He was convinced that it was only through a broad-based, sound and qualitative technology education that Nigeria can effectively achieve the knowledge-based economy being projected in the Vision 20-20-20. This, he proved by investing energies and resources in the enhancement of education with specific campaigns that secondary schools in the country practically integrate ICT into their curricula,  and he has sponsored a motion on that.  He, however, used his Enugu-East Senatorial District to demonstrate the efficacy of this proposition.

And today, by every standard of assessment, he is among those acknowledged to have keyed into Nelson Mandela’s philosophy that “education is the only weapon to conquer the world.” Despite that the National Assembly has witnessed monumental distractions coupled with government’s  poor budget implementation over the years, Gilbert so far has the following to his credit: All the tertiary schools in Enugu State, both private and public, have each a minimum of 2 ICT mega facilities, including ESUT Teaching Hospital, Parklane.

Over 35 secondary schools spread across Enugu-East Senatorial District have each a modern solar-powered computer laboratory for ICT knowledge and access,  3 units of 3-Classroom Blocks with VIP toilet and hand pump borehole in Community Primary School Amagu-Akegbe, Nkanu-West LGA and a  Modern classroom block and well-furnished Principal’s Office with VIP toilets located at the Comprehensive Secondary School Nkereffi in Nkanu-East LGA. His their projects include, Classroom blocks at Community Primary School, Ibagwa-Nike, Enugu-East LGA: three Rural Information Technology Centres in Neke, Isi-Uzo LGA,  Nchatancha-Akpuoga Nike Town Hall, Nkanu-East LGA and Agbom Community Hall, Onitsha-agu, Amagunze, Nkanu-East LGA:  Two world-class e-libraries, one each at Godfrey Okoye University and University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

He was also instrumental to the  Multi-purpose e-learning facility code-named Bottom-Up project at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH; an ultra-modern Digital Communications Laboratory at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology and four 4 ICT installation for free internet access code-named Wide Area Network one each at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Enugu State University of Science and Technology and Federal College of Education, Eha-Amufu. There is also the  Gigantic Digital Bridge Institute (which is one of the proposed ICT Universities) along Ugwuogo-Opi-Nsukka Road.

   Through his Scholarship and Education Support Programme, he off-set both the tuition and WAEC fees of over one thousand two hundred  Senior Secondary School 3 students selected from the whole public secondary schools within Enugu-East Senatorial District. And interestingly, this scheme has been producing graduates yearly both locally and internationally. Clearly, these deployed facilities by Senator Nnaji have placed Enugu-East Senatorial district at a vantage pedestal for the opportune moment. And primarily, the young school leavers are already being trained  in the field of ICT and digital literacy which is the prerequisite for “productivity and competitiveness” being championed for entrepreneurship, employability and community development in the emerging global market.

Charles writes from Abuja.

They enhance teaching and learning towards qualitative education access.  It is in line with his assertion that when our schools produce graduates who are highly-skilled and very vast in ICT applications, the growing rate of unemployment in the land would be drastically-reduced. Also, these graduates can compete both locally and internationally in the areas of service delivery and wealth creation.

Though investments in education seemingly take time to germinate and bear tangible fruits, the dividends are guaranteed. One should begin to imagine what would become of the zone by the time the  beneficiaries of those interventions are  among the leading innovators and  entrepreneurs as well as drivers of the country’s economy in furtherance of his belief that “it is only through a broad-based, sound and qualitative technology education that Nigeria can effectively achieve the knowledge-based economy being projected in the Vision 20-20-20.” Even in the interim, the zone is clearly excelling in all computer-based examinations given that the students are exposed early and effectively to ICT.

The ICT University campus would equally create job and wealth creation opportunities as economic activities are gradually springing up in the area, in addition to the prospects of global ICT firms such as Facebook, Motorola, Huawei and others doing businesses directly on our soil. Besides, the e-library at the Godfrey Okoye University is being run by the Federal Government and also provides that employment levels one to six statutorily are reserved for the host community, among other benefits. It is expected that the digital communications laboratory at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, would offer similar opportunities in addition to arresting the prevailing capital flight plaguing the country. His sponsored Bill on Postal Sector Reform was adjudged by the Senate as one of the priority business-related bills with  the inherent potential to revamp the country’s economy through wealth creation and revenue generation.

In conclusion,  therefore, one can safely assert that the first four years of Senator Gilbert Nnaji at the Senate were not, after all, “stolen opportunities”. They were strikingly different from his predecessors. At least, he recognised that “some people are trapped in poverty because they don’t have access to opportunities.  It is good that he is doing all he can to provide  these opportunities for people in his Enugu- East Senatorial District possibly because of poor education, lack of access to resources, and inappropriate social network.

Charles writes from Abuja.

The National Assembly’s Conference Committee on the Amendment of the Electoral Act has completed its work on the order of 2019 general elections and has approved that the presidential election would be conducted last.  Elections into the National Assembly would hold first, followed by the governorship and state legislative elections.  The committee concluded that the new sequence would ensure that every candidate is elected on his or her own individual merit.

This new sequence has generated a great deal of public discussion, and opinion seems divided.  The sequence earlier set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was that the presidential and National Assembly elections should be held first on February 16, 2019, while the governorship and state assembly elections would take the rear  on March 2.  The initial resistance of INEC to the National Assembly’s alteration of the sequence has been waived on realising that the Assembly has powers to amend the Electoral Act and has therefore acted within its powers by amending Section 25 of the Electoral Act (2011).

Feelers from the Presidency are that the amendment is viewed with a great deal of misgivings and officials have been quoted as saying that the new schedule would be resisted.  It is feared that not only would the Presidency veto the amended bill, it might encourage INEC to challenge it in court.  Both would have negative effect.

Now, the basis of the fears of the presidency is that there could be a bandwagon effect since the first set of elections into the National Assembly might affect the other elections.  If the presidential election is held first, on the other hand, the reverse would tend to be the case as the outcome would impact the governorship and state assembly elections.

The issue of sequence and the possibilities of its effects is an old dispute which may never go away.  Given an ideal political environment in which there is absence of undue influence, sequence would hardly matter at all.  But Nigerians must not lose sight of what these elections are about and they must firmly set their eyes on the prize: it is for a peaceful contestation for power, devoid of violence and animosity.  It is a celebration of democracy not a mini civil war.  Ordinarily, the aim should always be to get as many citizens as are qualified to vote to the polling booths. 

The last election cycle was disastrous in terms of voter turn-out.  The most important objective of INEC in 2019 should be to drive the voter turn-out for 2019 to its limits, which it can only do by minimising unnecessary disputes, making the elections voter-friendly, facilitating voter registration and ensuring that voters do not put too much effort in the exercise.

We urge Nigerians to work to achieve a tension-free election through the adoption of the natural order of democratic power, an order which rises from the grassroots to the pinnacle.  Section 87 of the Electoral Act now harmonised with the new Subsection 11 on the order and timing for the conduct of primaries of political parties states that “The primaries of political parties shall follow the following sequence (i) the State Houses of Assembly, (ii) The National Assembly, (iii) Governorship, and (iv) Presidential.”   We think that a formula that is good for the primaries should also be good for the elections.

Holding the presidential election last in the sequence has various uses, the most important which is that it would reduce tension to the barest minimum.  The natural order would turn out more voters; it would also reflect better the wishes of the people which, in any case, are what elections are all about.

Tayo Ogunbiyi

The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare’s early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play.

The play tells the story of two sets of identical twins that were accidentally separated at birth but were eventually united after a series of witty events.

Today, the phrase ‘a comedy of errors’ is often used to describe a situation that is so full of mistakes and problems that it seems funny. On that premise, it won’t be out of place to tag our nation as a ‘Land of Comedy of Errors’.  Things happen in our clime that you cannot but remember the famous ‘Charley Boy Show’ where anything can happen.  Ours is a land of lots of comedies. Hardly have you finished savouring the amusing effect of a particular national humour than you are faced with the prospect of another rib-cracking one.  So, it is more of a one day, one comedy scenario.

Few months back, the whole world was given a dose of our characteristic hilarious shows when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) discovered a large sum of money in a house in Ikoyi, Lagos. EFCC operatives allegedly found the cash during a sting operation. Specifically, the operatives uncovered about $38m, N23m and £27,000 from the apartment.  This comes two days after EFCC operatives recovered €547,730 and £21,090 as well as N5, 648,500 from a Bureau de Change operator in Balogun Market, Lagos. Six days earlier, the EFCC had recovered N449, 000, 860 hidden in an abandoned shop also in Lagos. Prior to these discoveries, several millions of cash in different denominations have been discovered in bizarre places such as water tanks, burial grounds, farmlands among others.

While the foregoing scenario might look odd to those in other climes, it isn’t to us here. It simply follows a well known tradition of carefully keeping government fund in ‘choice’ places. Years ago, during the Second Republic, a huge amount of money was discovered at the Government House, Kano. It was then such a big scandal. But, typically, the man at the centre of it all, Barkin Zuwo, the then Kano Governor never saw anything strange about the discovery. In his words: “It is simply a case of safe-keeping government money in government house.”

While he was still in the saddle as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, current Emir of Kano, Lamido Sule Lamido, once alleged that of the $67 billion crude shipped by NNPC between January 2012 and July 2013, only $47 billion was remitted to the Federation Account.  According to him, given all the issues raised, the NNPC needed to produce the proof that the $20billion unremitted either did not belong to the Federation or was legally and constitutionally spent. This was an era when there was a presidential pronouncement that stealing was not corruption. So, it was not really surprising that rather than paid him up for being a patriotic whistle blower, everything was done by the powers that be to get rid of Lamido.  

Ours is a nation of unending jokes. Many have insisted that our survival instinct, in the face of so many mounting pressures, is deeply rooted in our national comedies that are so numerous that it is difficult to arrange them in order of prominence. Years ago, the country’s senior soccer side, the Super Eagles became a butt of joke across the continent when its players had to improvise by cutting off their tracksuits in order not to miss a match against Burkina Faso.  It was later discovered that officials who were to come with the team’s jerseys forgot them at the hotel and unsuccessfully made efforts to retrieve them. To others from different climes, this is odd. But to us, it is good comedy.     

 As if to authenticate the high rating of the country as a land of plenty comedy, new kid on the block,  a sales clerk in the JAMB office, Makurdi, recently added to our long list of rich comedies when she could not account for N36 million she made in previous years before the abolition of scratch cards. While trying to exonerate herself of any claim of complicity in respect of the missing money, She alleged that her housemaid connived with another JAMB staff to steal the money from the vault in the account office through a weird snake.  

Now, while it is true that ours is a land of bountiful comedy, this latest episode seems to have been a joke taken too far. How did the snake manage to swallow such a huge amount of money? How did it unlock the vault? How did it move the money away from JAMB office? Did it crawl or fly? These are logical questions that every sane mind would want to ask. But then, the situation is an illogical one. It is one that defies logic. This is because a ‘spiritual snake’ is involved, and in the spiritual realm anything can happen!

It is, perhaps, in order to confront the issue using the appropriate spiritual approach that the senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Shehu Sani, visited JAMB office accompanied by distinguished ‘snake charmers’. Speaking about his mission to the office, Sani said: “I believe that the contribution I can make is to bring snake charmers from my constituency to the JAMB office and to help them fish out the snake and weed out snakes from their premises.”  Sani further said that if a snake could actually swallow N36 million, one day Nigerians may wake up to say that a snake had swallowed the country’s foreign reserve. “Even if it is a spiritual matter, we believe that these people I brought (the snake charmers) are some of the best snake charmers in the country and they will help in arresting both physical and spiritual snakes if there has been any in the JAMB office.”

 In an obvious response to the weird Makurdi snake event, the EFCC on its official twitter page @officialEFCC added its own colourful dimension to the issue when it twitted that: “an eagle (EFCC) shows no mercy for money swallowing snake(s)”. What the EFCC might, however, have to be really cautious of is that a spiritual snake that is so audacious to have defied a ‘safe’ JAMB vault and could swallow N36 million in one full swoop would be a tough one for any ‘natural’ eagle to contend with.

Since ours is one huge comedy enclave, before long, we shall have another hilarious funny story to deal with. Gradually, the world seems to be taking note of our breathtaking brand of comedy. This is partly why we were once ranked the happiest people on earth.   

Ogunbiyi  writes from  Alausa, Ikeja Lagos.

When the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released the schedule for the 2019 elections last year, I had few misgivings concerning the timetable. The presidential and National Assembly elections had been scheduled  for February 16 to be followed by the governorship, State Assembly/Federal Capital Territory elections  on March 2, 2019.  In one of my articles, entitled, 2019: where are the candidates? I had noted, “I have issues with the timetable …the presidential election is of paramount importance as it determines how the political parties would fare in the other offices being vied for.

Once a particular party wins the presidential election, the bandwagon effect always swing the eventual outcome and performance of the contending parties in favour of the party that had already won the presidency”.  Nigeria should as much as possible avoid such bandwagon effect.

  In announcing the timetable, the Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC, Prince Solomon Soyebi noted that there should be certainty with regards to the timetable for elections as obtained in other countries with advanced democracies. This is where I differ with Soyebi. Nigeria is not like other democracies in election matters or election related-issues. Our own form of democracy cannot be compared to what obtains in advanced countries. In those countries, the political parties are guided by clear cut principles and ideologies. It is easy to know the bent of such parties, this cannot be said of political parties in Nigeria. There are no clear cut ideologies. Most importantly, money is the ultimate aphrodisiac that determines voting patterns in most cases. Winning election depends on how deep your pocket is, that’s why the party in power always come with advantage . The present INEC’s election timetable is a way of giving undue advantage to  the political parties whose candidate wins the presidential election. Why should INEC fix the presidential election ahead of any other election if the idea is not to subtly give advantage to the party whose candidate had won the plum seat? We know in Nigeria, once the presidential election is conducted and a winner emerges, subsequent elections always have a predetermined result in Nigeria. Most states and even voters try to key into the winning party’s train. Though, I am yet to ascertain whether this conveys any special advantage.

Even in the United States where we borrowed the presidential system from, the presidential election does not hold until the last day. The US’2016 election timetable started in March 2016 and ended with the presidential election on November 8. In Germany, it is the same as the General election where the Chancellor is voted for comes last. Even in France, it is not the presidential election first more so the term in office differs. While the French President has a tenure of five years from an original seven-year tenure and is eligible for another term, the Senate has six years. It is only the parliament which has two chambers that has a tenure of five years like the president’s. The reason, most of these democracies have such arrangement, I want to presume, is not to give undue advantage to a political party which would occur if the presidential election is scheduled first.

Thus, the step taken by House of Representatives in amending and reordering the election is commendable. With the amendment, the National Assembly election will hold first, to be followed by gubernatorial and state assembly polls while presidential election would be conducted last. Specifically, the Green Chambers amended Sections 25 and replaced it with 25(1) which reads; the elections shall be held in the following order: (a) National Assembly election (b) State Houses of Assembly and Governorship elections (c) Presidential election. Sections 35, 36 and 87 of the 2010 Electoral Act were also amended.

Indeed, the amended sections 35 and 36 are quite significant especially as it took care of the controversy generated when Abubakar Audu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State governorship election died when he was cruising to victory and his running mate, James Faleke was unable to inherit his vote/victory.

Section 35 was amended thus; if a nominated candidate died in the election process, the next person from the same political party with the second highest votes in the primary election should replace the deceased unlike before which states that, if a candidate dies, he will be replaced by the next contestant with the highest vote. Also, Section 36 now allows running mate of any candidate that dies before the conclusion of elections to inherit the dead candidate’s votes and continue with the process. The amendment was cemented when a committee made up of the two chambers eventually adopted it. But some people are not happy. During the week, some APC Senators took on the leadership of the Red Chambers over the amendment. The Senators, 10 in all, addressed the press and specifically stated their opposition to Section 25 which re-arranged the order of the 2019 elections. They described the amendment and the passage of the bill as illegal. There are also speculations that the presidency is not happy with the amendment. According to reports, the action is viewed as a ‘coup’ against the president. It is also being speculated that INEC is being encouraged to challenge the amendment. Why all these hullaballo over a simple amendment? Is it not just to conduct election into different offices irrespective of which comes first?

If INEC decides to challenge the amendment in court, then it stands to reason that INEC was working towards a specific objective with its initial arrangement. As an ‘impartial’ observer, INEC’s duty is to conduct a free and fair election irrespective of which of the offices come first. So challenging the amendment would send a wrong signal.

Not only that, one of  the responsibilities of the National Assembly is to make laws, whether it is amending an existing law or  making a new one, it is part of the law makers’ statutory responsibilities as representatives of the people. On this matter, they have the support of people like me and the amendment should be allowed.

The political consciousness of Nigerians has unarguably increased since 1999 when the present political dispensation came into force. This consciousness may be traceable to increasing access to education, especially tertiary education by a higher percentage of the populace and easy access to information through all forms of available media, especially the newspaper, magazine, radio, television and the ubiquitous social media.

Since the end of military regimes and the inauguration of participatory democracy in Nigeria, public awareness of politics has grown by leaps and bounds, thus necessitating much citizen participation in the nation’s politics.  A lot of political education has made this important development possible. Since then, we have seen all manner of politicians.

Some are good and some are indeed very bad. But generally speaking, our politics is yet to match the rhythm set by the first republic politicians of 1960-1966 as well as the tone set by the second republic politicians of 1979-1983. We have always comforted ourselves with the quote credited to the late politician and one of the founding fathers of the nation, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, that “the worst civilian regime is better than the most benevolent military regime.”

From hindsight, some Nigerians will agree that we have passed through terrible civilian regimes that may not be even better than military ones. However, the issue is debatable. The Nigerian tragedy stems from the fact that both military and civilian governments have not favoured majority of Nigerian citizens. Whether under khakhi or under agbada, the masses have continued to experience inept and bad leadership. That is why ex-president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has written open letters to some of our leaders to air the masses general discontent with those in power, whether military or civilian. And because ours is a federal system of government, how governance is rated is not always the same among the six geo-political zones, especially at state level where governors hold sway.

A zonal to zonal comparison of governance since 1999 shows that some zones are indeed ahead of the South-East in terms of provision of purposeful leadership. In the South-East, we have had the good, the bad and the ugly in terms of gubernatorial leadership. During this period, the citizens of Anambra State have gotten their political rhythm right and have relatively distinguished themselves equitably well. The same can be said of Enugu and Ebonyi states respectively. Unfortunately Imo and Abia states have taken the rear position respectively. Our prayer is that they get theirs right soon like others.

Enugu since 1999 has witnessed focused development and what can be referred to as continuity in governance. It may have not been perfect, but it has lead to tremendous physical and political development of the Coal City State. From the modest beginning of Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani to great transformation of Sullivan Chime, the incumbent Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is taking Enugu to greater heights.

On assumption of office on May 29, 2015, Ugwuanyi took off from his predecessor’s 4-point agenda namely: physical infrastructure, economic expansion and employment, rural development and service delivery. The governor strongly believes that government is a continuum. He also inaugurated his visionary 4-point agenda: employment generation, social services and good governance, rural development, security and justice.  He also assured the people that his administration will seamlessly marry both policies and carry the people along in his development of the state. Two and half years down the line, Gbugburu, as the governor is popularly called, has not disappointed the people. Rather he is doing more work and endearing himself to the people the more.

If what many prominent Nigerians have said and written about Ugwuanyi are considered, there is indeed no doubt that he is on the right track. Workers in the state have been promptly paid their salaries since Gbugburu came on board. The state, according to available records, does not owe workers’ salaries.  It is on record that his prudent management of state resources coupled with increased internally generated revenue (IGR) has enabled the governor to meet his obligations to workers and pensioners in the state. The governor has done well on road construction, especially rural roads.  He has attracted foreign investments to the state. The state is working in partnership with a Chinese Investment Company to build an industrial market in the 2000 hectares Enugu Industrial Park at the 9th Mile Corner, Enugu.

Every good work has a reward. Ugwuanyi has received so many endorsements for his second term bid that there is no point naming them here. Those endorsements are sure signs that Gburugburu is indeed doing well. The citizens know how to reward a politician that is working hard for the good of the people. They will even do the campaign and ensure that such a politician is kindly rewarded.

His bipartisan disposition has endeared him to more people in the state. His politics of inclusion is working for him. His doors are ever open to both members of his party and the opposition. He ensures that there is much security in the state. He is much involved in the development of state’s health sector. He is committed to the development of agriculture and tourism in the state. Space will not permit me to go into details of this new development. The level of infrastructural development and the development of new urban areas in the state is so much appreciated by his people.

Behind every successful man is a woman. The governor’s wife and Enugu State First Lady, Mrs. Monica Ugochi Ugwuanyi, has stridently complemented the achievements of her husband with her Touch of Life Foundation. Through her project, she has uplifted the lives of men, women, children and indigent people in the state.  She has also provided free cervical and breast cancer screening, enlightenment and treatment to many women and provided some men with free prostate cancer screening and care. She has also offered scholarship to orphans and children of the poor for primary and secondary education.

    The overwhelming testimonies from Enugu and other places show that Ugwuanyi is running a highly focused, visionary and people-oriented government. He should not distract from that honourable path or rest on his oars for there is still more work to be done. He should continue to do more and make Enugu one of the best developed states in the country.

   The people’s dream is that he should take Enugu to the next level beyond what he met on the ground. There is no doubt whatsoever that he has the vision to do so and can equally do so. The governor’s political experience, determination and the people’s support will definitely see him through.

Felix Oboagwina

IN view of your coming appointment with the Nigerian Senate and as you sit atop the country’s security architecture, I feel this compelling need to address this letter to you. I understand that the Senate felt the emergency need to seek your views and inputs on why Cameroon, a country with whom we have no extradition treaty and against all known United Nations Conventions and African Charters on Human and Refugee Rights, should be able to march her gendarmes through our common borders, to abduct so-called political activists and some Nigerian citizens. Unchallenged! Let me wish you luck as you meet justifiably angry senators over this slap to the face of “the Giant of Africa.”

But I confess that I should have really, really done this letter since you made that your recent pronouncement, a pronouncement that has earned you viral vilifications and opprobrium at home and abroad. Emerging from a meeting with your Commander-in-Chief, you told journalists covering the nation’s seat of power, Aso Rock that killings by Fulani Herdsmen were a response to two provocations: 1. Farmers’ encroachment on grazing routes; and 2. States’ enactment of anti-grazing laws. Your submission made it appear like you were justifying the herdsmen’s campaign of violence. If that report accurately captured your mindset and body language, it explains why you and the government have failed to enact a policy even now to send the military to quell the killings. Yet in the same time and space in Benue State, soldiers are easily deployed to hunt down Tiv militias defending their land against these herdsmen’s attacks. Crass nepotism! As if Tiv lives do not matter too!

Being in charge of defence and security, you must have unimpeded access everyday to security reports of all the Intelligence community and allied agencies. Didn’t these reports, some weeks ago, pin the mayhem on foreign cowboys? Those reports must count for something! Before going on to some other things, I shall here like to tackle your two controversial theories.

Fulani and the grazing laws: For your information, sir, killings by Fulani herdsmen predate the grazing laws, whether that enunciated by Ekiti State, Benue State or Taraba State. Ask Retired General Muhammadu Buhari what took him to Oyo State on October 13, 2000 (18 years ago!), when he went to protest what turned out to be reprisal attacks by Yoruba natives against pillaging,  rampaging and murderous Fulani nomads. There was no grazing law back then. Then you may need to speak to Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, who in his defence of the President’s thunderous silence on the scandalous Benue killings, pointed out that President Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure recorded similar incidents with 756 victims mowed down. Need we point out that angst over those unrequited killings partly informed why Benue people voted for CHANGE in the last elections?

Retired Brigadier-General Monsur Mohammed Dan Alli, sir, was there an anti-grazing law between 2013 and 2017, when Agatu in this same Benue State, lost over 5,000 people to killings by herdsmen, who subsequently took over the land and brazenly grazed their cattle on the deserted ancient town, whose inhabitants were subsequently trailed to Internally Displaced Persons camps and again slaughtered in their thousands?

After Agatu, the neighbouring Enugu State’s 482 communities have been forced into this chronicle of unchecked sorrows. Over time, the Middle-Belt and Southern regions have seen killings by herdsmen snowball. In January 2015, the Nkpologu community in Uzo-Uwani of Enugu State came under unprovoked attack, followed in April 2016 by Ukpabi Nimbo community in the same council. Similarly, the Abia State communities of Uzuakoli, Ebem, Akanu, Umuchieze and Abam have suffered. The carnage in Southern Kaduna is well-documented, with Governor Nasir El-Rufai revealing he had to bribe the attackers to lay-off –they haven’t. Zaki Biam in Benue State, Odukpani in Cross River State, communities in Niger State and communities around the Oyo State capital, Ibadan, have come under attack. So have those in Ogun State. Attacks in Ekiti prompted the state to finally enact a grazing regulatory bill.

Rampant killings in Bayelsa and Delta states have been so volatile that farmers are scared off their farms. Barkin Ladi and Bassa LGAs in Plateau recently witnessed sensational violence. After initial killings of indigenes by herdsmen here, soldiers sent to keep the peace abandoned displaced villagers in a primary school building, only for armed Fulani Herdsmen to return and slay 27 helpless women and children in their sleep. On New Year day, about 70 people, including members of the Benue State Livestock Guards, newly-formed as an answer to the Fulani harassments, were killed by militant herdsmen in coordinated attacks on six Benue communities: Tom-Atar, Umenge and Akor villages in Guma LGA (home town of Governor Samuel Ortom); and Ayilamo, Turan and Ngambe-Tiev villages in Logo LGA.

According to Amnesty International, herdsmen killed 168 in January alone. In my mum’s village, Ewu in Edo State, Fulani Herdsmen raped and slaughtered two women farmers they met farming.  This is xenophobia. This is genocide. This is Ethnicnasia; permit my coinage, it reflects the blend of euthanasia and ethnic cleansing. This is Sudan and Rwanda loading.  For all these atrocities, Fulani herdsmen take fourth position as the worst terrorist group on the Global Terrorism Index, after Boko Haram, ISIL and El-Shabaab. Yet you people refuse to label Fulani herdsmen as the world sees them, the fourth worst terrorist group globally –a ticking nuclear bomb! You people prefer to live in denial? A perplexed world sees a complete disconnect between these troubling facts and figures and the attitude and expressions of top government figures like you. You all do not seem to appreciate the danger posed by this evil group in the long term and in the short term. You fail to realize that this could end up turning everyone against the Fulani as an ethnic stock and endanger our fragile unity. The law forbids any recourse to self-help. But if the Fulani can resort to self-help, so can other tribes. After all, what is good for the goose is equally good for the gander. We run the virile danger of descending into a free-for-all,  where every man shall be for himself.

The herdsmen have brought us close to this nightmare. Yoruba folks have a saying that it is better to tame the Iroko plant when it is young because upon developing into a gigantic, full-grown tree, it becomes a deity demanding oblations and sacrifices. This is the time to act. Donald Trump came into power last year and proclaimed America for Americans, promising to erect a wall along the Mexico border. I have no doubt Trump would have tackled the Fulani herdsmen, be they locals or foreigners, with guns blazing. No less is demanded of you, General Dan Ali.

– To be concluded

Aaron Ossai 

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recently raised the alarm that the number of registered political parties in Nigeria had ballooned to 68. Its concerns bordered on the inherent challenges of such surge, which include complicated and expensive logistics. Newspaper editorials and Radio/TV flagship shows have subsequently followed suit, highlighting the implications of the proliferation and thus confirming INEC’s concerns. Indeed, the aggregate of opinions points to the same direction: the party system implosion would put a heavy strain on our already diminished public pulse and electoral process.      

But last week, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State took a reverse lane on the matter, alleging that the “mass registration of new political parties is a deliberate plan by INEC to manipulate elections in three states”, his state inclusive. The allegation, in my view, flies straight in the face of both fact and logic. My fear is, if unproven allegations like these are allowed to fester ahead of the next general election, the outcome may be very sad. The political temperature is already getting high. We don’t need politicians to invoke a volcano, in the interest of us all.        

For starters, I will take a historical look at the implosion in our party system since the beginning of the Fourth Republic. In 1999, there were only 3 parties during the general election. It wasn’t that there were no agitations for more parties, but INEC refused to register them. Human rights activist and legal icon, late Gani Fawehinmi, had dragged the electoral body to the court for his party to be registered. On November 8, 2002, the Supreme Court finally granted his prayers and voided INEC’s guideline which had prevented the registration of more parties.   

The Supreme Court agreed with Fawehinmi that “INEC had no power to make guidelines on how an association can become a political party in so far as the Constitution has covered the field in section 222”, stating that “to restrict the formation of political parties weakens the democratic culture”. This judgement gave birth to the surge in political parties ever since.

Few months after the court ruling, INEC was forced to register 27 additional parties, bringing the number to 30 during the 2003 general election. In the next general poll in 2007, 20 more parties were registered, and by 2011, the number of political parties in Nigeria surged to 63! In an apparent bid to curb this galloping increase, the federal lawmakers empowered the electoral umpire to de-register political parties. Thus, on August 17, 2011, the election body delisted 7 parties and on December 6, 2012, it ceased to recognise 28 more parties. This trimmed the number of parties in the country to 28. The action provoked reactions from the affected parties, some of them accusing then INEC boss, Prof Attahiru Jega, “of exploiting the deregistration exercise to settle personal vendetta with his foes”. Some of them actually challenged this action in court and defeated INEC. Ever since, the surge has rebooted.   

The registration of two new parties on August 16, 2013 brought the number to 30, ahead of the 2015 general elections. On October 21, 2016, INEC registered 10 parties. The latest registration of 21 parties, which increased the number to 68, understandably sparked debates about the challenges it portends for INEC in the next general election. Unfortunately, some politicians, have feasted on this and included it in their ‘battle strategy’, should they lose.

The reality is that the proliferation of parties will not abate unless an amendment is effected on section 222 of the Constitution. The requirements for party registration as contained in the section are so simple that nothing stops a family from registering their own party. According to section 222 of the constitution, all that a would-be party needs to do is to ensure that, “(1) the names and addresses of its national officers are registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission; (2) the membership of the association is open to every citizen of Nigeria irrespective of his place of origin, circumstance of birth, sex, religion or ethnic grouping; (3) a copy of its constitution is registered in the principal office of the Independent National Electoral Commission in such form as may be prescribed by the Independent National Electoral Commission; (4) any alteration in its registered constitution is also registered in the principal office of the Independent National Electoral Commission within thirty days of the making of such alteration(5) the name of the association, its symbol or logo does not contain any ethnic or religious connotation or give the appearance that the activities of the association are confined to a part only of the geographical area of Nigeria; and(6) the headquarters of the association is situated in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.” Those are the six (6) requirements needed to compel INEC to register a political party.

After the Supreme Court ruling in 2002, INEC can’t refuse to register any political association for any other reasons beyond the ones stated above.  It is sad that our lawmakers did not deem it fit to amend section 222 during the recent constitution amendment. Instead, they preferred to smuggle in the ‘order of elections’ for obvious self-interest, even though it was never discussed at the public hearing as specified by the constitution.  

In the United States, for example, for a party to be included on the ballot, it must meet specific requirements in the affected state. A requirement in some states is that you must have 10,000 registered members that are verifiable. So for you to have your logo in a presidential ballot, you must prove that you have 10,000 registered members from each state of the federation. That is why only the Democratic and Republican parties contest in presidential elections. Just imagine amendment to our constitution in the semblance of this proviso. How many of these mushroom parties in Nigeria do you think can show that they have at least 360,000 registered members, with 10,000 from each state? Until our laws are amended, the upsurge in party registration will continue unabated.

Ossai writes from  Abuja

Ismail Omipidan

Death, that five letter word, is inevitable. When it calls…, nothing, just nothing can stop it. Otherwise, my mother’s death could have been stopped. After all, she had recovered, waiting to be discharged from the hospital.

By the Wednesday preceding her death, she had expressed her willingness to go “home” on Friday. No one knew she was speaking in parables. But my older brother, AbdulGaniyu Omipidan, reminded her that she needed to rest and must be very okay, before leaving the hospital. She looked at the direction of my brother and said “well, if you are not going with me, I will go alone on Friday.”

My father died 15 years ago. Incidentally, he died on a Friday too. Friday is a special day for Muslims anywhere in the world. And by Friday February 17, 2017, my mother passed.

Death is one event that is certain in everyone’s life. Whether you are rich, poor, boy, girl, man or woman, it will come. And once it is time, you can’t delay it. If the time has not come, you can’t fast-forward it. Forget about those who claim to have the power of life and death. Nothing happens without the permission of God, our Creator.

Twenty years ago, she told some of us that anytime she was sick to the extent that she could no longer go to her shop, we should know that she was close to her grave. My mother was committed to her business. The business community in Otukpo, where she plied her trade for 51 years before her demise knows how passionate, Hajia Lasisi was about her business. She had no Sunday, she has no Saturday. For her, every day was a business day.

When, therefore, in December 2016, we were compelled to take her to the hospital where for the first time in over 30 years, she was admitted into the place, I was scared stiff for the first three days she was in the hospital. But my joy knew no bounds when she was asked to go home.

However, by January we returned her to the hospital. After about a week again, she was out of the hospital. But when we returned her to the hospital in February, she did not return. But like the two previous times, she was also in the hospital for just five days, before she passed. 

My mother was unique in all respect. Call her a Prophetess, you won’t be wrong. There was nothing she said to us or to anyone that did not come to pass.  From the 80s up till her death, she woke up at midnight to pray to God. She did that on a daily basis, just as she kept religiously to the Monday and Thursday voluntary fasting, weekly. Readers who are Muslims will understand better the point I am trying to make.

If I was going on any trip, I would call her. She would pray for me. Once I reached my destination, she was the next person I usually called after speaking to my wife. And every time I called, the first question she asked was “Have you called your wife?” Next, she would say “We give God the Glory for the journey mercies.”

For the first week after her death, I was crying every day. And till date, there is no day I remember her influence in my life that I don’t cry. And I am not too sure, I will ever stop.

My mother, I would have wished you were still alive, especially because you even told me a week to your death that you were not going to leave us now after that hug on your hospital bed. It turned out to be my last hug from you.  Exactly one week after making that promise you left me. You left us. We became orphans. But I take solace in these words of the Holy Prophet (SAW): “What has reached you was never meant to miss you, and what has missed you was never meant to reach you.”

Taking part in lowering you to your final abode was for me a dream come true. You had always said it, that none of us would go before you. To God be the glory. It came to pass.

One incident that will continue to linger on my memory till eternity is your desire to see my younger sister, who had been married for six years, as at 2017, without a child, put to bed before you passed on. You were consistent and firm in your belief that she will put to bed in your lifetime.

You said it repeatedly, “Khadijat a bi omo lo ju mi se. Mi o ba ti omolomo je, o da mi loju wipe Olohun a gbo ebe mi (Khadijat will be delivered of a child in my lifetime. I have never visited evil on anyone’s child, I am certain, God will grant my plea).” Thank God, she did. You said it would happen. It also came to pass. You saw the baby, the second Hibatullah (God’s Gift) in the family. But the baby will only come to know you through pictures.

In spite of your age, and the distance, you travelled all the way by road from Otukpo to Gusau, in Zamfara State for the naming ceremony. You only returned to Otukpo a day to Eid-el-Kabir. And that became the last naming ceremony of any grandchild you will ever attend. O ma se o. That you graced the event was heart-warming for me.

I hope I will one day stop weeping over your demise as I can no longer  continue this tribute because tears is already flowing freely again. Any time I am going to Otukpo, I always have the feeling that I will see you. But I have been there six times since February 17 last year without seeing you.

I will be in Otukpo today again for your first year remembrance prayer. I wish you were still around to serve me my favourite food. Interestingly, my wife has since taken over your role. She bribes me with it whenever necessary.

My mother, Iya Musili, Iya Gbogbo aiye o d’igba. May  Allah continue to grant you and my late father Al-Jannatul Firdaus.

ADEMOLA ORUNBON

IN 418 BC, Herodotus, the Greek Philosopher who is known as the “father of history”, said “a man who does not know anything about the events that took place before he/she was born will remain forever a child.” And precisely in 1957, Sir Ahmadu Bello said the following: “We the people of the North will continue our stated intention to conquer the South and dip the Quran into the Atlantic Ocean after the British leave our shores”.

Three years later on 12th October, 1960, he went a step further by saying the following words to the Parrot Newspaper; “The new Nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our great grandfather Usman Dan Fodio. We must use the minorities in the North as willing tools and the South as a conquered territory and never allow them to have control over their future.” “I will allow Balewa to go and become Prime Minister (PM), and lead the unbelievers of the south whilst I stay in the North and lead the faithful.”

The above statement is a pointer to the fact there is no way you can look at the herdsmen’s atrocities in this part of the country and give the President a clean bill of health, not because he sponsored or instigated the Fulani herdsmen to kill innocent souls but because of his own reputation of not tackling security issues with swiftness since he got into office. President Muhammadu Buhari is more or less a victim of his own reputation.

We all remember how we condemned and blamed former president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, for his nonchallant attitude towards the Boko Haram insurgency, and most importantly, his vacillation when the Chibok girls were kidnapped. PMB should know that security of life and property of every citizen of this country rests on him. He should, in a jiffy, react to this murderous killing of innocent farmers across the country, and if the President cannot stop these rampant killings by bloodthirsty Fulani herdsmen under his watch, he should wonder how history will remember him.

In not less than two days, herdsmen destroyed University of Ilorin multi-million naira research farms and the training farms with cattle belonging to unidentified herdsmen, according to the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Sulyman Abdulkareem. He said that they went to the extent of uprooting tubers of cassava for their cattle to feed on, which stopped students from researching or training on the farms again, because the herdsmen destroyed everything they planted for reaseach.

Again, they even went ahead to sack Ondo council secretariat and chased out the workers at the Akure South Local Government Secretariat over a disagreement. They went to the extent of macheting  council workers. It took the intervention of the Ondo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Gbenga Adeyanju, and the Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Mr. Pedro Ideba, who swung into action by deploying their men in the council, before the situation was brought under control.

  Fellow Nigerians, there comes a time in a man’s life when he has to reflect deeply and evaluate his age to know how old he is and try to approximate how many years are left, given the nation’s life expectancy figures and the fact that death is inevitable, as the unexpected does happen frequently in our clime. It is, therefore, time to take stock of the gains of yesterday and not the pains of yesterday. We should put our eyes on the path ahead which is more glorious, brighter and better, rather than the ugly past, reflecting on those killed during the Jonathan administration by the Boko Haram by the mouthpiece of this government is amounting to telling the present administration that Fulani herdsmen have the right and total justification to murder farmers across the country.

It is time to act together and call a spade a spade to put our houses in order, fight Fulani herdsmen collectively to a standstill and let them realise that what they are doing is totally erroneous and uncalled for.   

Nigeria, as a nation, is facing its fair or unfair share of global challenges that are overwhelming even greater nations of the world. But, if we can stand together as a nation and fight together, we shall overcome the storms, because greater is he that is with us than he that is with our enemies. Issues like Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen, corruption, nepotism, favoritism and the rest should henceforth be stopped. We should permit the government to apply the 2014 National Conference resolution made during GEJ’s administration and not let the efforts of our great fathers and those that came together, spared their precious time in drafting the Confab report, go to waste. If the recommendations of this confab are implemented, the issue of Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen and the rest will eventually be nipped in the bud naturally.  In unity is where our strength lies. Division of any form is not the solution to our problem as some tribes, ethics, religions, perceptions and regions believe.

   We are all students of history. There were people who fought to keep this country one and in peace, in person of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Sir Ahmadu Bello and others. We must, therefore, pass this inherited peace to our generations yet unborn. We all have a stake in this nation. It is not about a group of people; it is not about any religion; it is not about an individual; it is not about positions;  it is all about our dear nation, Nigeria. Nigerians should come out en masse to fight against corruption, nepotism, favoritism and the rest. It is in this country that a mysterious snake reportedly swallowed the sum of N36m belonging to the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), and the person involved could not account for the said sale of form worth N36 million to students seeking university admission. Let’s ask ourselves, what exactly does the smell of the natural currency do to snakes? How nutritious is paper currency to snakes?     

“I pledge to serve Nigeria with all my strength, so help me God.” Thus, goes a line of our National Anthem. But, when we victimise a fellow Nigerian because of his religion, political belief, tongue and/or tribe, then we have neither respect for, nor shown it for the genuine emancipation our forefathers fought. Rather than immortalise them in our actions, we victimise them with our inactions by the way we deal with those we should protect.

How can we comfort those orphaned by senseless killings carried out by those who don’t have respect for the sanctity of life? No amount of compensation will fill the vacuum created in the hearts of the victims who always keep vigil expecting the return of their loved ones that will never return by dint of circumstances beyond their control.

These agonies are caused by our selfishness. We pursue elusive things of life, like buying/building gigantic houses, becoming business tycoons, living lives of affluence with family members, establishing businesses abroad and here in Nigeria, all of which are vanity upon vanity.

All around the world, first time records are being made. There are new scientific discoveries; new architectures take the place of old ones. Yesterday’s trends/fashions become outdated as years roll by. And, when death completes the circle of vanity of life, even the most cherished possession of the dead is left behind.

  The absurd in Nigeria is more perplexing than what any mind can dream of as a work of fiction. Respectability and accountability died in Nigeria long ago and there are no differences between statesmen and those who seek to execute us. There is neither honour nor integrity in governance in Nigeria, and the more our democratic culture regresses, the easier it gets for our leaders to empty their bowels right on our heads.

Orunbon writes from Oke-Posun, Epe, via, orunbonibrahimademola@gmail.com

What we really need in Nigeria today is attitudinal change even towards our culture, religious belief, tribes and tolerance. The more we tolerate ourselves, the more we stay together as one entity and do things in common. We need no sentiment of power, and we should drop the habit of looking at each other as Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo. We were colonized together and given independence by Sir. Lord Lugard in 1960 all together, so why the sentiments? Let’s be united to move this country forward.

          In Nigeria today, it seems hope is running low, there is so much anxiety about who takes over power. But our success as a nation is not about who takes over power or what happens inside the State House. It is about what happens inside our houses; that is where the society starts from. It starts with me and you – a peaceful Nigeria starts with me and you. It is our collective destiny to live beyond 2019. Nigeria shall live beyond 2019.

FELIX OBOAGWINA

State’s Right to Make Laws: Partly, you blamed these killings on the anti-grazing laws. Let us assume, without necessarily agreeing, that the states did provoke these attacks through enacting livestock regulating laws.

For your information, sir, states DO have a constitutional right (duty, in fact) to make laws for themselves. Believe it or not, despite the unitary bastardisation of our Republican Constitution, it still allots that kind of power to the states. In the specific, the Constitution, the grundnorm of all laws, and the parameter against which all laws must be tested, in Section 4(7) concerning the responsibility of states, posits that: “The House of Assembly of a State shall have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the State or any part thereof ….” I guess this provision formed the peg upon which some states in the North adopted Sharia law.

General, have you studied these laws to see if they are totally loaded against the Fulani? They are not anti-Fulani but anti-open grazing, open grazing that has resulted in preventable losses of lives. For example, not only do the Ekiti and the Taraba statutes forbid open grazing in favour of ranching, they went further to protect herders by specifically forbidding cattle rustling. By the way, people who are not Fulani also own cattle; and they do not graze openly.

Feudalism of over federalism: Your address to the Aso Rock Press corps ignored the urgency this issue deserves. This was the same way that the Boko Haram issue was politicised and allowed to fester until it mushroomed into the global dimension it has assumed today. What is most troubling for people like me is the fact that all key government functionaries are speaking one language, a language that belittles this festering genocide but fires blames in the direction of every stakeholder except the parasitic Fulani herdsman and his cowherds. It makes it sound like you are endorsing Fulani feudalism over national Federalism. Are you not in essence saying that the shepherd is lord over the farmer?

The Fulani have their roots and their homes. If the global climate change and desertification have combined to push the herdsmen to seek greener pastures Southward, they must approach the host communities with decorum and civility. But the Fulani are not the only victims of climate change.

South-East and South-South Nigeria suffer flooding, erosion, mudslides, ocean surge and coastline erosions, all of which unleash harsh effects on people and property. Those displaced do not go on the rampage against their new hosts. If Fulani cannot graze on grasses without destroying farmers’ crops and killing farmers, they should be compelled to stay back home in their native lands.

Or do you also subscribe to the 97-5 percent formula of the President? Like him, do you too believe that those who gave him the most votes should be satisfied at the expense of areas who gave him fewer votes? Or does your stance reflect the lopsided arrangement in the Security Council? Like many other Nigerians, I wonder if this problem would not have received its deserved urgency were the Security Council otherwise constituted.

Today, we have a council composed of a preponderance of Muslim Northerners, a composition that is a clear affront on Section 14(3), which demands that, “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria… ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few States or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies”

Where are our real Fulani? But, are these the real Fulani of my childhood? I remember growing up between Lagos and Ibadan. Those days, the sight of the Fulani herder with his cattle sent us kids into frenzied singing: “Malu gongo, labalaba gongo.” The Fulani man, with his wide-brim hat, sheathed dagger and amulets strapped to his arm, would smile and wave at us, directing the cows from doing us harm, as we kept a safe distance from their huge horns and hoofs. Their women came, hawking wara and fura.

Those were the Fulani we knew! Who are these ones armed with AK47 rifles? Did the DSS not say the other day that these are foreigners and mercenaries from the wars in Mali and Chad and Libya? They are ISIS and ISIL. And yet they are being allowed to dig in, take root and turn Nigeria into the next theatre of war.

General Dan Alli, you must speak up and act tough. God forbid the heavens to fall, sir, people will always remember you as the Minister of Defence who provided neither defence nor security. Israel invaded Lebanon in 2006 to recover two slain soldiers whose bodies were abducted by Hezbollah. This feat mirrored 1976 when Israel invaded Uganda to liberate a hijacked airplane forced to land at Entebbe Airport with Israelites on board.  Israel demonstrated that Jewish lives mattered. Such is the stuff that breeds patriotism! Oppositely, your posture and the Commander-in-Chief’s insinuate that non-Nigerian Fulani in Nigeria rate above non-Fulani Minorities Nigerians.

This posturing (and your posture on the Cameroon agitators, by the way) contradicts not only our Constitution but international laws like the 1993 “Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious or Linguistic Minorities.” Its Article 1 proclaims: “States shall protect the existence and the national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories and shall encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity.”

Violation is enforceable by the International Criminal Court, ICC’s prerogative of detection, arresting, extradition and punishment of persons guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, as adopted by the General Assembly Resolution 3074 (XXVIII) of 3rd December 1973. This statute can be invoked not only against the herdsmen and the Cameroonians, but against you and the President –anytime, for time never runs against crime.

What is the way out? Government must construct a paradigm shift that not only makes these demons realise that they no longer have official backing but that they will be confronted OFFICIALLY! This, Mr. Defence Minister, is the change that must begin with you and your Commander-in-Chief. I wish you well.

Oboagwina writes from Lagos.

FELIX OBOAGWINA, A JOURNALIST, WRITES FROM LAGOS

Adekunbi Bakare

Across the globe, especially in the developed world, the idea of specialized courts has proven to have enhanced the performances of their judicial processes and this has made these countries reference points for quick dispensation of justice, fairness and functional legal systems. Indonesia and Malaysia provide interesting case studies on this. They established constitutional courts, administrative courts, commercial courts, land courts, fisheries courts and tax courts.

The recent disclosure by the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Opeyemi Oke, that over fifty percent of cases in Nigerian courts today borders on corrupt practices and sexual abuse is not only shocking but calls for a more strategic approach to reverse the status quo. While the volumes of court cases continue to increase on a daily basis, the number of available Judges to preside over these litigations remains grossly inadequate; in fact, the few Judges are sometimes confronted with the challenge of administering cases that do not fall within their core scope of jurisdiction in the absence of a specialist Jurist. The challenges posed by these developments are multifaceted, ranging from skyrocketing court cases, non-appearance by litigants, unavailability of witnesses, inadequate judges, ceaseless adjournments and many more.

Unlike other legal issues, sexual abuse is an offense that requires speedy judgment considering its vicious effect and irreparable emotional damage on its survivors and the possibility of grooming more potential abusers if stringent punishment is not meted out to the perpetrators to serve as deterrent to others in a swift and appropriate manner. In the same vein, the issue of corruption is also another monster that has left the country in a state of perpetual underdevelopment up till now. One cannot dispute the fact that if the war against corruption is won, so many other things will start falling in their rightful places for all Nigerians.

Demonstrating its resolve to signal a tougher warning to individuals and masterminds of sexual abuse and corruption, Lagos State Government recently inaugurated special Sexual Offences and Corruption Courts to solely administer corrupt cases and sexual related issues. In addition to this, core professional lawyers on issues relating to sexual abuse and corrupt practices have been designated to preside over cases in these courts. 

According to statistics, there are over 500 cases of financial crime pending before the High Court, the bulk of which have now been assigned to the Special Offences Courts. The introduction of the Special Courts will make it possible for other regular courts in the State to concentrate on other legal issues. It will aid quick dispensation of justice in these courts.

In an article entitled ‘A Five Year Analysis of Police Records on Sexual Related Offences in Lagos State, a study documented the sexual offences reported at the Metropolitan Lagos State Police Commands from 1999 to 2004. It was stated that a total of 691 sexual offences were reported during the period.

Although there are legislative instruments to combat the menace of domestic/sexual violence, they have become almost ineffective in curbing the rising tide of sexual assault. In Lagos alone, the number of reported cases of sexual offences has increased significantly, at present, there are about 600 pending sexual offences cases in the High Courts and these do not include those filed in the Magistrates Courts.

Several amendments have been made under the existing Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 which were borne out of the understanding of the lawmakers that sexual attacks in recent times are becoming rampant and more perverse. One of such amendments is the provision of life imprisonment for sexual abuse or defilement of a child and the removal of the clause that a person could not be convicted for the offence of sexual abuse or its attempt upon uncorroborated testimony of one witness.

Another boost for the war against sexual abuse and corrupt practices in Lagos State is the already existing DNA Forensic Lab. Issues of denial or lack of scientific evidence which had in the past paralysed the efforts of the law to determine who a real sexual offender is and subsequently bring the person to book would no longer impede effective delivery of justice.

In addition to this, the Lagos State Government also operates a mobile court where some minor cases are tried swiftly. Lagos has a Special Task Force for land matters, the Citizens Mediation Centre, and the Public Advice Centre among several others. All these agencies provide different legal services in line with the prison decongestion drive of the state government such that only severe and serious cases actually get to the regular courts. The efforts of these agencies are also being complemented by the Ministry of Youth and Social Development, the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, WAPA, as well as the Lagos State Sexual and Domestic Violence Response Team, DSVRT.

The establishment of the Lagos Special Courts further bring to the fore the renewed attention which the State Government is paying to the elimination of all forms of heinous crimes against humanity. These Special Courts will, among other functions, fast track the trial of identified special cases and encourage the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other relevant bodies like Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to expedite the investigation and prosecution of such cases.

Although the possibility of totally ridding the society of these vices remains a very long term vision, one way to ensure that the society follows the path of civility is by ensuring that the legal system works and is sensitive to the needs of the survivors. When a perpetrator of rape receives the sentence of life imprisonment as provided for in Lagos State, it sends a clear signal to perpetrators that such actions would not be tolerated in the society. It will also encourage more survivors to break their silence which will in turn lead to more perpetrators being prosecuted. 

 Bakare writes from Lagos. 

It is high time we realised that sexual abuse does not only affect the individual. It affects the family and the community at large. Collectively, we need to give support to the survivors while ensuring that perpetrators are held responsible for their criminal acts according to the law. 

As the journey towards a corruption and sexual abuse free Lagos has resumed, the vision of a more prosperous Lagos is not only feasible but would be swiftly accelerated with a more functional judicial system that will instill confidence in investors for a handsome return on their investments in the State.

Adekunbi Bakare, is Public Affairs Officer, Lagos State Judiciary, Ikeja.

Edidiong Esara

I dare not watch that thing called Big Brother Naija. It is Vanity Fair extravaganza. Textual snippets of the show make it obvious that the viewership is not worth my while. Neither will one take the unenviable role of analyzing and decrying its immoralities. That would not stop it from being a commercial success.

Reality show is what they call it; and reality is what it brings to homes. It is reality that immorality is the in-thing. Depravity is appealing, immorality makes sense, wantonness sells fast.  So you are not to blame, BBNaija, for showing people what they love to see. To be rich and relevant in today’s world, you must patronize the craze. That’s why rectitude is not a welcome theme in most shows and that’s why the BBNaija winner goes home with 100,000 Dollars, while champions at intellectual competitions would get a pittance.

How many corporate sponsors want a part of contests that challenge individuals to higher heights of creativity and industry? They would rather splash millions on popular jamborees of depravity. Promiscuity, violence, wickedness, rebellion flood the screens; and we have come to accept them as reality!

Nevertheless, we can create for ourselves a better reality. Chastity is a virtue, righteousness is pleasurable, and obedience brings peace. Virginity stands tall as a priceless virtue to be held dear. It is a beautiful thing for a wedded one to find that the spouse had kept herself for him, himself for her, in spite of the temptations. Just as brand new cars are preferred to used ones, marrying as a virgin is best – a mark of temperance and maturity.

Any researcher who says it is disadvantageous to stay away from sex until marriage must be working for the Devil’s Research Institute. Folks do not need premarital coital practice, as if marriage would be a competition. It is gratifying to begin and grow together, learning in the process to accept each other just as they are, and reaping the peace that true love brings.

Marital chastity makes more cohesive families, and children of chaste parents have better chances of growing into well-adjusted individuals. Non-sexual friendship and platonic love is still ideal. Males and females can be friends devoid of romantic commitments, thereby discovering the real essence of the other gender. Friendship was meant for mutual love and care, not a selfish lusting after the other’s body. So, let society and its means of cultural expression begin to celebrate true love rather than the lecherousness represented in BBNaija.

While social media have created room for adulation of self for achieving nothing, society can improve the quality of lives by developing young minds for a brighter future. Parents, put off that TV and let your kids get to work with their brains.

The mental and physical energy of the youthful age should be redirected into positive, creative thinking. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he”, the Bible says. You are what you think, and a good gauge of who you are is the sum of your predominant thoughts.

Thoughts come from what we learn by seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling and touching – our senses. To become a man or woman of worth, you direct your thoughts to what is good by seeing and hearing correct values. The entertainment industry of this world is not cut out for such positive learning, so it is a disaster that parents delegate their child-rearing roles to the television, and youths fritter away their time watching TV or posting junk on social media.

Young Nigerians need to turn away from sights and words that stir up unholy thoughts or passions. Instead, they should develop their mental capacities by following formal and informal courses of training in life skills. They need to find mentors in practice of works that interest them and put their minds into learning their art, science or technology. They could play musical instruments, learn an art such as painting, practice science with a scientist in his laboratory, play with computer applications or learn to work with their hands such as in carpentry, welding or sewing.

They need exercise of the mind in critical thinking as they gather raw materials for their thoughts from books. These would be avenues for their creative energies to be unleashed rather than expend their mental power on media-espoused fantasies. A child is never too young to begin learning – it is the method of instruction that differs between ages.

Crime is the outgrowth of a depraved moral state. Peace hangs in a balance until that potential criminal embraces rectitude as a way of life. Those who for selfish interest whip up tribal, religious and ethnic sentiment to get others out of their way or get benefits for themselves must know that a man reaps what he sows. Our minds need redirection to thinking on right values – love, honesty, compassion, selfless service, industry and the like. Leaders owe God and humanity a duty to groom the followership on morals and community spirit.

Political leaders in Nigeria are extremely powerful. They could use that massive influence to teach by example dedication to duty, patriotism, integrity, justice, fairness and everything that is good in God’s beautiful world.

The fear of God is the safest guarantee for building a sound mind. By adhering to the tenets of Christ as enunciated in the scripture, the young Nigerian learns correct values that counteract immorality and set their minds to pursue the things that are pure, lovely and true in life. Religion, when purged of selfish appurtenances of men, enhances formation of desirable attributes that will build a better Nigeria.

These are alternative realities higher than the upside-down values of modern society portrayed by the entertainment industry. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. One who watches, hears and thinks always about what is good, pure, lovely and true will produce good character that makes for peace and development in society. That is the reality that Nigerians should create for themselves.

Esara writes from Ritman University, Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State via edidiongesara@gmail.com

Jerome-Mario Utomi                                                                                            

The Eko Convention Centre, Lagos, venue of the meeting was lavishly decorated to impress, and it did impress. The participants were corporately kitted; men and women alike. All seated in such a manner that could be mistaken for, fresh law graduates being called to the Nigerian Bar or shareholders at an Annual General Meeting (AGM). They listened to the various speakers with disciplined attention and said little; with exchange of banters/pleasantries coming at intervals.

Certainly, it  was neither a meeting  of  lawyers nor  shareholders but a collection of chief executives and representatives of different oil firms from the nation’s up, mid and downstream sectors united by a  2–day West African International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (WAIPEC), hosted recently by the Petroleum Technology Association of  Nigeria (PETAN).

 As expected, the meeting featured well-crafted topics for discussion, all geared towards moving the industry forward as well as increasing the market shares of the participating organizations. But then again, like every other oil and gas related gathering in the past, the speakers were unanimous in silence about their operational base: the Niger Delta.

This development further supports the long established belief by  the Niger Deltans and civil society organizations (CSO) that Niger Delta in the estimation of these multinationals is an endangered specie strategically marked for extinction, using neglect and abandonment as a formidable tool. To the oil Majors, so far the eggs are secured, the condition of the goose that lay the eggs becomes secondary. A recent visit to the region supports this assertion.

What is more, while the exchange of banters/pleasantries was on in Lagos, poverty, disease and illiteracy walked the creeks, rivers and estuaries of the Niger Delta. While the oil giants were looking into the future with high hopes, the people of the region bemoaned their fate in their sorrows and their hardship.  And while the oil chiefs were in Lagos singing the ‘songs of Solomon’, the Niger Deltans were back in the creeks studying the ‘book of lamentation’.

Equally regrettable is a shocking discovery that most of the multinationals find it more convivial getting entangled in legal battles with the host communities as against imbibing good corporate citizen attributes. In the words of the creek dwellers, these operators go to the extent of inciting troubles between the elders and the youths using financial inducement.

The trip also presented a majority of  these organisations as neither interested in the practice of  ‘equal sorrow’ nor ready to abide by the tenets of corporate social responsibility (CSR)  as they eloquently preached everything about good corporate citizenship, but are inept in its practice. Vivid examples to support this position  abound.

First, as you read this piece, the Ogonis are  waiting patiently like a dove for the promised cleanup of their environment devastated by the activities of the Dutch Oil giant, which has lasted for decades despite the African Commission’s decision in the case of SERAC vs. Nigeria (Ogoni case) handed down almost two decades ago. And the UNEP Report recommending a total clean –up of Ogoni land.

 In the same vein, the people of Bielema/Offoin-Ama, Akuku-Toru Local Government Area also in Rivers State have joined in chanting this chorus of highhandedness and neglect orchestrated by the oil giant. They accused the company of operating with neither a human face nor best practice in dealing with the host communities, particularly in the provision of basic social amenities.

Correspondingly, the people of Odimodu/Forcados communities are still fighting to overcome the trauma suffered in the hands of another oil company in an oil spillage case that spanned for 17 years before justice was given in the communities’ favour.

But their environment, eco-system, remain destroyed while the economic activities have since been disrupted.

Tragically unique is the deplorable situation of the Erovie community in Ozoro, Isoko North Local Government of Delta state, after its ordeal in the hands of another company in a case between Hon. OdegholorAbikelegba vs, Federal Ministry of Environment and others that was on endlessly. These communities have since resigned to fate and handed their situation to God almighty. 

Bemoaning the fate that has befallen the people of the region, critical stakeholders believe that the Federal Government and the oil companies are responsible for the woes  of the Niger Deltans as they listen without being attentive to the excruciating situation in the region. This state of affairs, they explained, is responsible for the youth’s restiveness, eco-system destruction and high unemployment rate.

Buttressing the above point further, some pointed to the non-implementation of the Akure-accord as a pragmatic example of a government that is lacking in political will to enforce the development of the region. Others seem to nurse the opinion that the Federal Government has not opened the 16 points development agenda as drafted by the Pan Niger Delta Development Forum (PANDEF) and handed over to it. The Federal Government and its agencies were roundly accused of incoherence and lacking in coordination.

Indeed, the situation in the region has further served as a proof that ‘poverty of our leaders certainly does not mean material poverty, but lack of commitment to duty, lack of vision and greed characterised by corruption’.

It has  consequently   brought poverty, illiteracy and diseases as its resultant effects  to the people of the region;   forcing  many children out of school not because of their unwillingness  to learn , but occasioned by non-availability/provision  of schools in the region by the government.  In the light of the above, it has become pertinent that government draws a modern regulatory/monitoring lesson from a well-documented account of the youthful Paddy Adenuga’s strong move to buy Chevron Netherlands, A story I view as a must-read for all. Part of the account which is relevant to this discourse read in parts;

 ‘Essentially, the Dutch government required all operators to restore their areas of operation back to how nature intended – which meant all infrastructure had to be removed at the end of production. The cost of this is what is termed “abandonment liability” or “abandex’.  I doubt if such framework exists in our space.  Surprisingly also, if the above is coming from the Dutch government, the homeland of Shell Petroleum Development Company, why is Shell finding it difficult to comply with a similar demand in Nigeria?

Sadly, if we are unable to develop a monitoring framework as demonstrated above, which I  consider a challenge we currently face, chances are that the much celebrated Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), despite the superlative result it is crafted to achieve, may go the same way as other policies formulated in the past. 

In reality, there is no single answer to the multi-faceted plight of Niger Deltans, but the place to start is to address government’s insensitivity and failures. 

 To effectively confront this scourge, the federal government needs to take responsibility and come up with steps for a strong, aggressive   leadership by addressing the issues of weak regulation on the parts of its ministries and agencies, tackle the oil companies lackadaisical handling of the environment, and  ensure compliance by the oil firms with the implementation of the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMOU) entered into with host communities.

Another key point raised by the stakeholders that may guarantee a fast-tracked development in the region is the call for  immediate relocation of the headquarters of  (both private and government-owned) oil companies to the region . It is my view that such step will add up to a new relationship while soaking up the existing tension.  Again, a government agency such as the National Oil Spill Detections and Response Agency (NOSDRA), in my opinion, has no business being in Abuja since the chunk of its responsibility is in the Niger Delta region. In the same manner, implementing the 16 points agenda as submitted to the government will be a right step in the right direction.

A compelling point we must also not forget is the call by stakeholders on all other oil companies to emulate the Chevron Nigeria Limited template in community engagement. A template  that deals directly with the host community. An approach the communities claimed has worked perfectly in the area of infrastructural development but still requested that Chevron gets well funded,

   Though faced with interminable socio-economic and environmental challenges, one thing is sure. Niger Deltans are troubled but not despondent. This is a situation that makes it easy for them to be  managed and contained if only the Federal Government could come up with a plan and the will to tackle the challenges as currently faced by the people of the region.   

Jerome-Mario, Editorial Adviser, SpringNG.com writes via; jeromeutomi@yahoo.com

Nze Nwabueze Akabogu

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recently rolled out its timetable for the forthcoming general election scheduled for February 2019 amid ominous signs of a looming national catastrophe. The dark clouds are once again fast gathering momentum occasioned by the unprecedented level of general insecurity which has lately enveloped the country. Never in the history of Nigeria have we witnessed such level of general insecurity of dangerous dimension now prevalent in the country albeit with the possible exception of the dark period of the devastating civil war that ended about fifty two years ago.

     The alarming security situation facing the nation today portends great danger of monumental proportion which might lead to total chaos and anarchy unless urgent and decisive action is taken by the political leaders to stem the dangerous slide to the precipice. The myriad of both security and political challenges facing the country are better imagined than described and, as such, Nigeria’s political leaders must brace up to the challenges and tackle the ubiquitous monsters head on before they consume the entire nation.

     Just at a time when the highly dreaded Boko Haram Islamic insurgency in the North East region that had taken a huge toll on both human and material resources seem to have been effectively contained by the Nigerian Armed Forces, another extremely deadly group, the so called Fulani herdsmen who are armed to the teeth with highly sophiscated weapons including AK47, pump action rifles and rocket launchers, are rampaging over the entire country killing, maiming and destroying property of innocent and defenceless citizens in their homes and farms without any challenge whatsoever by the nation’s security forces whose primary responsibility is the protection of the lives and property of citizens against internal or external aggression.

     The recent reported case of the horrendous attacks in Benue State by this terrorist gang masquerading as Fulani herdsmen, in which over seventy innocent people where gruesomely murdered in cold blood and many more grievously injured as well as property worth millions of naira were destroyed, poses a great threat to the cooporate existence of Nigeria.

     From all available empirical reports, the perennial attacks by this terrorist gang called Fulani herdsmen have both religious and political undertones, even as these mindless attacks were often directed against non-Muslim communities across the Middle Belt region as well as parts of Southern Kaduna and Taraba States. The above scenario is equally commonplace in Southern States of the country where these armed gangs often carry out their heinous act of carnage, raping and maiming innocent citizens all in the name of grazing their cattle in people’s farms.

     It is a matter of deep regret, however, that the Federal authorities whose primary function is the protection of lives and property of citizens have maintained a rather nonchalant attitude in the face of the incessant attacks. This rather unfortunate and embarrassing situation has emboldened the Fulani terrorist gangs to continue in their dastardly act of unleashing mayhem on innocent citizens. The various political and religious leaders as well as civil society organizations across the nation have already condemned the mindless killings and called for urgent and decisive action against the perpetrators and their sponsors.   

     It is sad, however, that the country is also witnessing an upsurge in other forms of criminality such as cultism, armed robbery, kidnapping, assassination etc, particularly in volatile States like Rivers, Delta, Lagos, Ondo and Kaduna. It is incumbent on the Federal authorities to quickly checkmate the ugly trend by providing adequate security for all citizens.

     A situation in which certain wealthy and powerful individuals in society are usually provided with mobile policemen as their personal security as well as serving as domestic servants to these individuals is embarrassing. It is a serious dent on the image and integrity of the country and must be stopped immediately by the authorities.For many years, now, well meaning Nigerians have called for the immediate stoppage of this shameful and disgraceful practice of deploying police personnel as private security guards to wealthy individuals who constitutionally are not entitled to police security. Regrettably, however, the Nigeria Police High Command has up till date bluntly refused to respect these wise and patriotic demands. The current strength of the Nigeria Police which today stands at the ratio of one policeman to about six hundred Nigerians as against the global acceptable ratio of one policeman to about two hundred citizens is grossly inadequate and as such incapable of confronting the country’s mounting security challenges. The Fulani herdsmen menace as well as the unprecedented upsurge in criminal activities in the country require all police personnel to be mobilised to confront the problem.

     It has become imperative, therefore, that the Nigerian Police as well as other security agencies must adopt pro-active measures to deal with the mounting security challenges and not remain complacent only to adopt the proverbial fire brigade approach after colossal damages must have taken place. The wise adage says that prevention is far better than cure.

     The lack of social justice, equity and fairness in running the affairs of the country has recently compelled the alienated and marginalized sections of the country to call for a re-negotiated Nigeria or a restructuring of the terribly unwieldy Nigerian State which will be able to serve the collective interests of the diverse ethnic nationalities that make up the entity called Nigeria based on the principle of true federalism as was bequeathed to us by our founding fathers. The present military imposed anti-people and unworkable constitution must be jettisoned in order to allowed the people of Nigeria to freely fashion out a truly people’s constitution that will satisfy their yearnings and aspirations.

     It is needless to emphasize the point that Nigerians have never had it so bad in terms of the unacceptable lopsided appointments by the Buhari administration which came into office three years ago with the populist slogan or mantra of change. Many key and high profile appointments were made by the administration without due regard for the cherished principle of federal character as enshrined in the constitution. It is incomprehensible and most regrettable that despite the strong protests by well meaning and concerned Nigerians against the lopsided appointments, the administration has remained adamant and displayed the height of insensitivity to the people’s feelings and has continued with the rather unjust policy.

     It is instructive to observe in this piece also that since the creation of Abuja Capital territory over three decades ago when the seat of power was permanently moved from Lagos to Abuja by the erstwhile military regime, all the substantive Ministers of the Federal Capital Territory have always come from the Northern section of the country till date. It must be noted, however, that the original idea or concept of carving out a virgin land as Abuja Federal Capital Territory with the appropriate appellation as “the center of unity” was envisioned to give all sections of the country a sense of belonging in the affairs of the country.

     It is inconceivable and an affront to the collective psyche of the Nigerian people that no Southerner has ever been considered fit and qualified to hold the position of substantive Minister of Abuja Federal Capital Territory in the history of Abuja as the modern capital city of Nigeria. The Southerners have always been considered only fit enough to hold the position of junior or Minister of state for Abuja Federal Capital Territory.

Akabogu (JP) writes from Enugwu-Ukwu, Anambra State

Osebumere Odia

It is pretty obvious now, that there is a deliberate massive infrastructure renewal drive across Lagos. What may not be so obvious are the deeper implications of this drive, which we will try to highlight with a few examples. But more importantly, we will shed some light on the imperative of government becoming more efficient in generating the resources to fund these projects.  For many years, Oshodi was best characterized by traffic jams, crime and disorder.

Today, Oshodi is undergoing an overhaul on a huge scale. It is being turned into a modern transportation hub, defined not only by connectivity but also by convenience. In due course, Lagosians needing to be transported to any part of Lagos may simply converge at Oshodi. Because it is a transportation hub, it is innately a commercial melting pot. In addition to the intelligent network of road exchanges that are being constructed with Oshodi as the locus, therefore, high rise structures are also springing up. By the time the developers take their leave, Oshodi would have been linked directly to the Lagos International Airport through the International Airport road, a road which is undergoing its own massive transformation into a 10-lane expressway. The bedlam of old would have been transformed into a modern transport interchange, not unlike Victoria Station in London.

There will be shopping malls, cafés, cinema halls, and lots of other commercial outlets and conveniences in Oshodi.  Creating order on the Oshodi axis will be enhancing commuting and economic transactions and make the economy far more productive. In addition, social and commercial activities in Oshodi will create livelihoods for many people including some who may have otherwise been disposed to crime. The overall economic multiplier effect will be considerable. If you live in the Ogba-Agege axis, chances are that you will spend an average of six to seven hours in traffic everyday especially if you work on the Lagos Island. The reason is simple. Population growth on that axis has long exploded beyond what the infrastructure in that neighborhood can cope with. As the population has surged, so has the number of motor vehicles and physical structures in that axis. The Agege-Ogba axis is a nightmare to traverse on a typical workday.

Today, a process to redress that problem is ongoing. As was done recently on the Ajah axis and the Abule-Egba axis, respectively, both of which shared similar problems, a flyover is undergoing frenetic construction on the Agege axis of Lagos.

When concluded, it will considerably enhance the commuting experience in that axis, and mitigate the congestion challenges.  Besides roads, bridges and other physical infrastructure, another area where the state is aggressively working to make a difference is power. The state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has vowed that round-the-clock electricity availability would be achieved in the state over the next 12 months, via what the state calls the embedded power project. Essentially, it would be distributing independently produced power to residents and businesses within the state.

When this eventually happens, Lagos would have fully unlocked the value and potential in the unbundling of NEPA/PHCN. We can only imagine by how much, regular and predictable power will impact the businesses of artisans and small enterprises including hair/beauty salons, business centers, bakeries, hospitals, supermarkets and dozens more.  Elsewhere, Lagos is investing in security. There have been huge investments in street lighting and security-bolstering equipment, facilities and manpower. A Lagos Security Trust Fund has also seen the corporate world contributing funds and equipment towards synergizing government efforts. A “neighborhood watch” initiative, which is a community policing strategy, was inaugurated not long ago.

The above and more are some of the elements that have long helped to set Lagos apart from its contemporaries as a state that is truly working. These achievements are largely attributable to skillful generation of revenue internally.   The recent infographic report by BudgIT the civil society watchdog, regarding the capacity of states to meet recurrent expenditure obligations on the basis of their internally generated revenue is instructive. Of Nigeria’s 36 states, Lagos was at the head of only 4 states which generate enough revenue internally to fund their recurrent expenditure obligations.  Lagos, however, needs to better manage and communicate its IGR regime for better outcomes into the future.   Only last December, for instance, Mudashiru Obasa, Speaker of the Lagos House of Assembly lamented that only 300,000 properties of the more than two million taxable properties in Lagos, actually pay Land Use Charge in the state. Land Use Charge is a property tax that if well consolidated across the state, ought to empower the government to become more impactful at restoring infrastructure. Poor taxation efficiency has meant that despite the famed IGR success over the years, only a small fraction of taxable adults and businesses in Lagos actually shoulder the entire tax burden of the state.

In contending with the challenge of better efficiency in its taxation regime, Lagos must embrace more creativity. It must strive to be more systematic and painstaking in its enumeration of taxable citizens, businesses and properties. In so doing, it needs to avidly deploy technology. Modern GPS systems can assist with property identification and enumeration for instance. Instructively, recent news reports indicate that Lagos will now employ software in ensuring that sales taxes deducted from patrons of hotels and entertainment outlets are promptly remitted to government. Its sundry ministries departments and agencies need to join forces to ensure that constant enumeration of people, businesses and institutions produces reliable harmonized data not only for taxation but also for full scale development planning.

Government also needs to aggressively communicate its successes to enable citizens appreciate the connection between these successes and the taxes which they are required to pay. In so doing, government has a duty to engage citizens who are irked by the fact that while they pay their taxes and levies promptly, on the micro level, development does not appear to get to them as rapidly as it ought to. There are many, especially in the more remote parts of Lagos, who lament that despite paying their taxes, they are still required to pay such levies as “transformer levies” for new transformers or repair of damaged transformers in their neighborhoods.

Others complain that they are still required to pay levies before their earth roads are graded, while others still complain about lack or scarcity of social services in their neighborhoods including health centres, and even police posts.

Lagos needs to revive the use of conspicuous outdoor hoardings beside road construction works, which proclaim that “tax payers’ money” is “in action”. Citizens must be increasingly prodded to see the impact of their taxes, if not directly on the streets in which they live, then at least in the major access roads that connect their neighborhoods and other aspects of life in the state that impact them directly and indirectly.  Government should also show citizens pictorial visualizations of completed projects. Doing so could considerably assuage not only the inconvenience associated with the ongoing construction, it will significantly whittle down the resistance people may have against paying taxes.

Paradoxically, despite its efforts at infrastructure renewal, Lagos clearly still has a huge unmet need in these areas. Huge investments are still required in such areas as roads, bridges, schools, healthcare, public transportation, security and many more.   Hopefully, with an increasingly adroit taxation regime, government will speedily redress these areas where it has under-invested over the years.

Skc Ogbonnia

THE handshake across the Niger summit has come and gone.  Though the event was fraught with strategic shortfalls, the move ought to be encouraged by all, because disunity in Southern Nigeria has been a stumbling block to Nigeria’s democracy.

Here is why and how. A definite problem that dogged the Nigerian democracy for ages was lack of dynamic opposition due to proliferation of political parties. This phenomenon contributed to systemic dictatorship and, by consequence, a history of power abuse. The god of democracy came to the rescue by provoking the creation of the All Progressive Congress (APC). Unfortunately, however, the desired outcome has been elusive because of another dimension of dictatorship in form of primordial ethnic tyranny.

The gist is that disunity in Southern Nigeria has emboldened a minority group in the North to assume absolute authority in the affairs of the nation. Instead of the government of the people by the people, Nigeria has become a government of a Northern oligarchy by the oligarchy and for the oligarchy. The result has been an absence of the checks and balances central to an effective democratic governance and, of course, continued abuse of power.

Think of any debate or policy on Nigeria, be it constitutional amendment, restructuring of the country or what have you. When all is said and done, the final decision is hardly based on the salient points raised through the debates but simply on what the North wants, whatever that north means. Worse still, instead of the “North” considering the opinions or the needs of the Northern masses, the final say in the region—or rather Nigeria as a whole—is typically the sole province of the Northern oligarchy, a clique of wealthy Northern traditional leaders and retired army generals.

The problem does not end there. The Northern oligarchy exploits the disunity in the South to a satanic proportion. Notice how the “North” embraces notoriously corrupt Southern politicians once they claim solidarity with any vision of the oligarchy. Also consider that any consequence for corrupt elements in Nigeria depends on the degree of their relationship with the same shameless plutocrats.

The cumulative effective is a whistling impunity in the land, and no region has been insulated from the after-effects. The most unfortunate, however, is that the innocent Northern masses are the worst victims.

The solution is where projects like the “handshake across the Niger” come in. Similar to the path to effective leadership in a multiparty democracy, there is the need for regional equipoise between the North and South. Such approach has the potential to checkmate the perceived Northern hegemony over the South, reduce culture of impunity and, consequently, allow genuine development in the country.

In short, the handshake across the Niger is designed for the South to emulate its Northern counterpart to finally demonstrate common sense in terms of unity. For instance, though the North is made up of a multitude of ethnic groups, the region typically speaks with one voice through central organizations.

In other words, instead of masquerading with beggarly ethnic antiquities, such as Ohaneze Ndigbo, Afenifere or the various Niger Delta outfits, the entire South should simply promote central bodies akin to the different umbrella Arewa groups. The Southern leaders must be careful to avoid a fall before the rise.

The recent handshake across the Niger is a bold step forward, no doubt, but its strategy is tangentially myopic. Such strategy has already given rise to the emerging nickname, “The Igbo/Yoruba Summit”, which is enough to create peppering mistrust among the minorities in the South.

It can be misconstrued as sowing seeds of socio-cultural hegemony—so soon—by the Igbo and the Yoruba over not only the smaller ethnic groups in the South but also other like minds in the true North. That is why the Southern leaders must learn to embrace umbrella southern organizations over tribal charters.

One hardly hears of Hausa Union or Fulani Assembly. Neither does one hear of separate fora for North-West, North-East or North-Central governors or their legislators.

What we know is North or Arewa, an Hausa term for the north, not minding that the region is far from being monolithic, ethnically or religiously.

The South should also guard against unrepentant sycophants who, in attempt to curry favor from the Northern oligarchy, will stop at nothing until the vision for southern unity is frustrated. That is precisely how they frustrated the original Southern Governors Forum initiated in 2001 by the visionary Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Unity in the South must not be seen as a coup against any group. It is only a means to an end; the end being the overall unity of Nigeria and effective democratic leadership. It can also be convenient to continue to heap blames on the Northern oligarchy and its minions—most of whom are the beneficiaries of bad leadership in Nigeria—for thwarting unity in the South.

But that is foolhardy. The blame lies squarely on the South, which has historically allowed itself to be used to frustrate the desired Southern unity.

Ogbonnia writes via skcogbonnia@firsttexasenergy.com

Ikeogu Oke

IT should not surprise us. That a snake would swallow. Cash in a country so rich. It sought use for money.
 Even animals in a zoo Know the use of money.
That it builds and keeps their cages, And feeds their beastly souls. And the snake is the one They send to hunt for cash.
– Ikeogu Oke, “The Cash Snake”

The snake that recently swallowed N36 million kept in the offices of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in Markudi was not the first of its kind to interfere that remarkably in the affair of humans. In the Garden of Eden, one of its ancestors, a snake that could speak and was full of guile, played the key role in The Fall of Man. As stated in the book of Genesis, it managed to convince Eve, Adam’s wife, to eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil in disobedience to God, even after God had warned the first couple that they would die any day they ate the fruit. Think of a snake so cunning and mischievous that it could convince the matriarch of humanity to eat what would then amount to the fruit of suicide!
The encounter between Eve and the snake took place in Adam’s absence. And as soon as she reunited with Adam she offered him the forbidden fruit and managed to convince him to eat it. And both, having eaten it, realized that they were naked, to God’s chagrin.   And for foiling what seemed to have been God’s plan to keep humanity in an ideal place, a garden, a pristine bower of innocence where humans would roam naked like other animals, the snake, you might say, got its comeuppance. God cursed it, together with man and woman. God declared that it would thenceforth live without limbs. “Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field;” God fumed. “On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life.” God also ruled that the snake’s offspring and those of humans would always be at loggerheads. And that the snake’s descendants would bite those of humans whenever the opportunity presents itself, and the descendants of humans crush the heads of the snake’s offspring underfoot as often as possible.Over the intervening millennia millions of casualties, dead or injured, have piled up on both sides of this endless confrontation between humans and snakes. And not a few snakes have strangled humans and swallowed them whole like the JAMB cash, even though there is no record, to my knowledge, of any human having swallowed a whole snake, dead or alive. So, between snakes and humans, we should know who is winning the war, especially in terms of enacting the bizarre, even without any snake having taken it to the point of swallowing millions of cash belonging to one of our government agencies, and by implication humans, and disappearing without trace.
In passing, it must be said that the snake that deceived Eve has been rightly condemned for its role in the Fall of Man, by which is meant God’s expulsion of man and woman from the Garden of Eden for the sin of disobedience. However, I think it would be wrong not to acknowledge the silver lining in the cloud of that deceit, especially with regard to how things evolved in the post-Eden world. For, since the first couple realized that they were naked and needed to wear “clothes” after eating the fruit whose consumption the snake introduced to them through Eve, resulting in God producing “clothes” for them, it then follows that the world owes the origin of its highly lucrative textile and fashion industries to that snake, which crept limbless out of Eden and into improved versatility, possibly flicking its tongue in contempt of the curse placed on it by God.
And as a proof of the improved versatility, it has since evolved from a mere fruit-plucking reptile into the only creature that can swallow its own kind whole. And what’s the use of limbs when, without them, a snake can run faster than most limbed creatures; and can climb to the top of the tallest trees faster than most limbed creatures, for fun or in search of prey; and its menu is comprised mainly of limbed creatures including man, its sworn adversary on account of the divine curse? And when the lack of limbs has not prevented it from reaching the farthest ends of the earth? And when one of its type has evolved – a development that even Darwin should find intriguing – into the cash snake, to which I would ascribe the genus Pythonidae Moneytarius, able to swallow N36 million of public funds without distress, it becomes indisputable that its species has scored the ultimate triumph in adaptability. Which other creature can do this? Even God must be amazed that the same creature that thwarted Him in Eden has also subverted His curse by contriving to become not the eater of dust He wanted but one of earth’s most successful predatory carnivores.
But there are more reasons why the cash snake should be for us an object of appreciation, besides wonder. Its feat reinforces our Central Bank’s case for a cashless economy. The snake wouldn’t have bothered about an ATM card because it would know that it would need the owner’s PIN to access the cash, and given the almost non-existent probability of its discovering the PIN let alone cashing N36 million from an ATM with the N100,000 seal on daily withdrawals. So our Central Bank can draft the snake into its campaign for a cashless economy. Imagine how effective it would be to persuade our citizens to accept a cashless economy with the message “BEWARE OF THE CASH SNAKE! GO CASHLESS!” laid beside the image of a snake swallowing wads of Naira notes.
And for those who may be wondering why a snake would swallow N36 million of public funds – even in a country so rich it sought use for money – it is to show us Nigerians that animals know the use of money unlike us, especially those living in zoos and game reserves. They know that money is useful for their feeding and for building and maintaining their cages and other facilities. So, like I said in the above epigraph, the cash snake is the one they send to hunt for cash (to fund their welfare). And we should appreciate its risking its life in the service of the animal world and what its mission says of the type of organization that exists in that world compared to our country. Also, we should be appreciative that, as it did recently by being the first country to appoint dead people to public office, ours has made history again as the country where the cash snake was first identified.

Oke writes from Lagos

There is every reason to believe that all is not well with our nascent democracy and by extension our party politics. The quarrels over 2019 election among the various politicians and stakeholders across the country are enough pointers that we are heading to a rough-rough fight. From Kano to Kaduna and Imo and perhaps some other states, things are falling apart for the ruling party.

From what one can see, there is danger ahead except things are done the right way and promptly too. Kaduna State has always been in the news for good or bad reasons since APC came to the scene in May 2015. It was in this state that over 20,000 teachers were sacked in one fell swoop for allegedly performing poorly in a test. That is not even the issue now.

Kaduna State’s main headache now is the muzzling of the opposition even within the same party. You can call it intra-party squabbles or whatever you like as William Shakespeare advised in one of his plays. The impunity came to height this week (Tuesday, February 20) with the demolition of the headquarters of a faction of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna by the order of Governor Nasir El-Rufai administration.

It was reported that the incident took place at an unholy hour of 5 am under the keen supervision of the governor and heavily armed security operatives. Kaduna’s ugly episode is a sure sign that the road to 2019 election will be too rough and bumpy. According to media reports, the office located at 11B Sambo Road, GRA Kaduna, belonged to Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi representing Kaduna North in the National Assembly.

Before the demolition exercise, the faction had given El-Rufai a six-month suspension over alleged anti-party activities. In the demolished building was the secretariat of the factional Kaduna Restoration Group, led by its chairman, Danladi Wada. In most of the 36 states of the federation, the party in power is in deep crisis. What is unfolding in Owerri, Imo State over succession war is a clear case in point.

We noticed such crisis in Rivers State of recent. Those in Delta have theirs. I can go on and on to illustrate the deepening crisis in the ruling party. I have my doubt that the Ashiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led team will perform wonders in reconciling the aggrieved members of the torn party. Where will the team start? The problems are enormous. The demolition has attracted outrage across the country. The action can be interpreted as persecution or impunity carried too far. 

But the El-Rufai camp has insisted on the rightness of its action. El-Rufai’s Special Adviser on Political Matters, Uba Sani, has explained that the office in question was demolished because Hunkuyi owed ground rent due on the duplex.

Even while the dust raised by this demolition is yet to settle down, Hunkuyi on Wednesday alleged that El-Rufai is threatening to demolish another of his house located at Inuwa Wada, Ungwan Rimi, Kaduna for failure to pay N31.4 million ground rent for the property within 30 days.

Those who know the law have argued that failure to pay land charges or ground rent is not enough excuse to demolish a building. They have also argued that there are procedures to follow before a governor can revoke and demolish a person’s house under the Land Use Act. There are other civilized ways of recovering rents from landlords that didn’t pay.

Demolition as far as I know is never one of them. The premises can be sealed off after giving the owner of the building enough time to pay. The owner of the building can be charged to court and given a fair hearing. But there is no evidence to show that the Kaduna State government has exhausted all avenues for rent collection before embarking on violent demolition of the property.

There is also no evidence to show that the victim of this highhandedness has been afforded the right to fair hearing as enshrined in Section 36 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) by the Kaduna State government. The ongoing bizzarre drama in Kaduna State does not augur well for our democracy. The leaders of the APC must call El-Rufai to order and stop him from further demolition of people’s houses in the guise of politics.

Going by his past records as a minister, it appears El-Rufai has obsession for demolition of houses. Those who lived in Abuja during Chief Olusegun Obasanjo civilian administration can understand my drift. The politics of Kaduna State under El-Rufai cannot be said to be one of the best in the country. It has been everything but good and excellent. It has polarized the state the more.

The governor must change his style for goodness sake and know that we are in a civilian regime and not a military government. In a multi-party democracy, the right to dissent is guaranteed. Nobody should be victimized based on his opinion or disagreement with the status quo. Disagreement is part of politics. It is sad that El-Rufai’s unbridled demolition is taking place in a country that has a national housing deficit of over 17 million units. One demolished building adds or even compounds our housing problem. Our governors must come up with creative ways of solving problems and not being destructive.

We should start defining the kind of democracy we want in this country and the characters that we should entrust with power. We have had enough with pretenders and impostors and people that should not see the corridors of power. If our democracy has become militarized, then something must be done urgently to rectify it.

Militarization of our politics will obviously lead to crisis of epic proportion. The ongoing impunity in the land under a change government is to say the least undesirable. We borrowed the present presidential system from the US but the way we practice it is quite different from the way Americans practice theirs, although Donald Trump is turning things upside down.

We borrowed some aspects of the system without internalizing how it works for them. In fact, we borrowed the name and left its real ingredients that make it work. A democratic system that turns out dictators even at state level must be interrogated. We have had enough of these state emperors. We cannot continue to pretend that our model of democracy is still good.

Transparency International’s latest report on Corruption Perception Index 2017 released Wednesday, revealed that even under the change regime, corruption is still going on. It says that corruption in the last one year has worsened from what it used to be. The organization has confirmed what we know. From snake guzzling millions of naira now to monkeys that eat millions of crisp naira notes in N1000 denominations.

We are never tired of using animal metaphors to cover our misdeeds. El-Rufai must be restrained from the muzzling of the opposition in Kaduna State and his threat to demolish more buildings in the guise of failure to pay land charges or rents.

Gregory Imoh

By March 2018, Saleh Dunoma would have spent four years as Managing Director/CEO of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). His appointment came following  widespread dissatisfaction by many airport users who had  bemoaned the continuous poor state of the nation’s airports despite the billions of naira sunk into their rehabilitation, remodeling and reconstruction by the  Federal Government.  Dunoma was, therefore, handed the  immediate task of speeding up work on all the airport  projects that were ongoing at that time. His choice was  certainly a case of putting a round peg in a round hole.

Dunoma, who obtained a BSc (Hons) degree in Building  Engineering in 1979 from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria,  had been involved over the years (although at what could be described as an ordinary staff level) in the  conceptualization, engineering designing, and construction  of most of the airports.  Sadly, as he resumed work, the country was soon to be hit by a severe cash crunch.   

Some contractors handling most of the airport jobs had to abandon site owing to huge debts owed them by the government. But  his employers would not take the paucity of funds as an  excuse for any form of non-performance on his part. No one  cared to listen to such an excuse as to the fact that some  of the airport projects were even operated under a Joint  Venture (JV) scheme and requiring counterpart funding, and  for which the Nigerian government was defaulting  in its  cash call obligations. Wherever he  could find the funds, Dunoma’s assignment was to ensure  that 22 of the Federal Government-owned airports scattered  across the country were given a massive facelift to assuage  the pains of airport users. 

I recall running into Mr. Dunoma a few weeks after his appointment in April 2014. He was undertaking a tour of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos,  accompanied by other airport workers.  I was on my way out of Nigeria to Dubai, UAE. The Lagos international airport  that day was an eyesore. It was one of those bad days that  the air-conditioning system failed to provide the needed cooling effect to soothe its sweating   travelers. In fact, that day, even the partially impaired  didn’t need to strain his or her ears so much to hear the complaints by Nigerian airport users on the decay or dearth of basic facilities at all of Nigeria’s airports. The litany of the rot ranged from  filthy toilet facilities, absence of decent car parks, heavy presence of touts, poorly  lit airport environment, insufficient security, epileptic  power supply, poor access roads within the airport premises, poor passenger processing facilities, as well as  non-functional air conditioners, escalator,  lifts and  conveyor belts, among others.  Most passengers that day had expressed their  frustrations – as well as a sense of shame – that the decay at the country’s various airports brought on  citizens.

A soft-spoken man, I  listened to him address the airport workers and others who  had come closer to him with reassuring words. There would certainly be an improvement in facilities in the days and months ahead, he said. As he spoke, he wore a face devoid of  any smile, an indication that he was also grieved by the problems air travelers go through at the nation’s  airports.

I took him serious. In  this type of task, a man should always be given the chance  to first prove himself; judgement can only be passed with  the passage of  time. In the case of Dunoma, I had set a two-year time limit to assess his performance. But fate  would only permit my return to the country after nearly four years of his reign as the FAAN boss.

On February 10, 2018,  as I touched at down the Murtala Muhammed International Airport,  Lagos, I was stunned by what I saw. And it started with the  ambiance of cleanliness that greeted me right from the arrival hall, through immigration and security checkpoints,  up to the exit doors of the terminal building. Incoming  passenger processing and profiling was made faster and easier with more desks/ counters provided for DSS and  Nigerian Immigration officials. The conveyor belts were

working perfectly. When I expressed some level of  apprehension on the safety of my luggage, a security  official who was present at the luggage pick-up point quickly countered my fears and informed me that the issue of  pilfering of passenger luggage had been checked with the  total coverage of the airport terminal building with functional closed circuit television (CCTV). “There is no hiding place for a thief in this airport,” he said.  “There are CCTVs everywhere within the airport terminal to pick out such a criminal. Things have changed,”he  added. 

True to his words, it  didn’t take long for my luggage to come out. As I  stepped outside the airport, family members who came to pick  me up, like many others, were accommodated under a tent with  chairs provided to aid their comfort. In the past, such  persons coming to pick up passengers would have been left to stand outside and under the mercy of the elements. And I did  not notice the presence of the usual Lagos airport  touts; they had disappeared. A believer in Public Private  Partnership (PPP), Dunoma had worked assiduously with a private firm to erect a new and befitting car park for  motorists at the Lagos international airport.  I was very  impressed with the new multi-storey car park. It has eliminated the gridlock along the road leading into the  Lagos airport arrival terminal and has indeed proved a more  befitting edifice for an airport of the MMIA status.

  Similarly, the facilities that aid passengers traveling abroad through the MMIA have  also received a facelift. Keying into the Ease-of-Doing  Business initiative of the Federal Government, the various screening desks at the MMIA (Customs, NDLEA, Quarantine,  Immigration etc) have been collapsed into one – new electronic scanners which have been mounted at the entry  doors of the airport now perform that task. More counters  have also been created for the airlines. These days, you  simply clear yourself with the airline,  get a boarding  pass and proceed to complete the Immigration formalities, and proceed  to board the aircraft.  It is the acceptable  trend at international airports across the world. I was glad  to have witnessed this at the Lagos international airport for the first time.  

But it was not just about  the MMIA Lagos. I moved through the Murtala Muhammed Airport  domestic terminal one (MMIA), the Owerri, Enugu and Abuja  Airports during my short stay in Nigeria, and I must confess  that indeed I noticed a remarkable transformation in these airports. Duty staff are now properly identified by uniforms and official cards and all off duty staff were no  longer found in the terminals. Officials at the airports  have also stopped the disgraceful act of openly soliciting or receiving bribes from passengers. There are still power  failures, but less frequent now.

Imoh writes from Lagos.

THE present governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode is someone I greatly admire. Like I have always said, he is a governor in a hurry- in a hurry to change the landscape of Lagos with commendable development. When he first came in and embarked on the light up Lagos initiative, many thought it was a fluke that the darkness would soon return on the streets. But critics have been proved wrong. Lagos is still lit. I have driven on the road on few occasions without remembering to put on my headlamp. That is just one of the many achievements of Governor Ambode.

Most people who come into Lagos from the Lagos-Ibadan expressway would hardly recognize the new Berger bus stop with its anger-inducing traffic gridlock which could stretch as far as the beginning of Kara bridge on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. He had been able to find a permanent solution to the problem.

The same can be said of the Oworonsoki end of the Third Mainland Bridge. A permanent solution had been found to the traffic that keeps motorists on the Third mainland bridge for hours.

One thing is quite clear; Governor Ambode has upped the ante in governance with his developmental strides. If Lagosians says Governor Ambode’s predecessor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, present Minister of Works, Power and Housing did well, his achievements pale into insignificance with what Ambode has done in less than three years as governor. 

But critical issues have come up with some of the ongoing works especially in areas of road construction. Most importantly, the governor needs to rein in the construction companies who have become extremely arrogant and unfeeling with the way they have gone about their work. I have made certain observations to a few friends in the present administration in the state, on this. There are many road constructions presently going on on the mainland, linking different areas and putting less pressure on the major highways, which is quite commendable. Some of such roads are around the Agbado-Oke Odo Local Council Development Area (LCDA). The long stretch of the AIT road is now becoming a dual carriage of four lanes. This is linked to Amikanle axis towards Old Otta road and ultimately linking up with Command, towards Ipaja-Ajobo LCDA axis. When completed, it would provide alternatives for commuters and motorists going to Ipaja, Ikotun axis even as far as Cele, Okota areas, without going through Iyana Ipaja. Unfortunately, the arrogance of the construction companies is alienating a lot of people to the good work of the Lagos government. Apart from blocking some of the roads and not providing alternatives, the dust haze due to the construction is causing havoc in the areas where construction works are ongoing. When we were growing up and roads were being constructed, the construction companies ensured that the roads were always wet. Their water sprinklers were regularly used to ensure that the dust haze did not disturb residents in those areas where the construction was being done. The exception is the rule today, it’s like the construction companies are telling the people to shut up and cease complaining since the work being done is for their good. Yes, when completed, the new roads would serve the people well. But must they all die in the process or left with legacies of disease before the construction ends?  Most of the houses in the axis are covered in dust.

A similar scenario is playing out around Oshodi   where major constructions are ongoing with the construction of drainages, building of BRT lanes and the expansion of the International airport road. Access roads have been blocked without commensurate alternatives. Where there are access roads, they are in poor state, leading to unending logjam; ultimately, a whole lot of man-hour is lost. Examples of such are the access roads from Oshodi local government through Oshodi road and the Post Office which has been blocked. The alternative through Ewenla and Seinde Callisto roads leading to Charity bus stop and ultimately, the Apapa-Oshodi expressway which had been accessible to motorists has also been blocked. If you are around that axis, the only way to go is through Mafoluku community, to link up with the airport road with its own traffic congestion, due to the airport road construction. There is Agege, where a major fly over bridge is being constructed.  Though it has its own problem, good alternatives have been provided, unlike the others. From Anthony bus stop, it takes about two hours to get to Oshodi-Oke, a distance of less than three kilometers. It is a crazy scenario, all rounds.

Speaking with a Lagos-based, UK- trained engineer recently, he was of the opinion that things could have been done differently if the state had adopted what he described as   Value Engineering. He explained the concept thus; “a process where all the relevant professionals come together, usually at the end of the design stage to ascertain a few issues but mainly deliberate on construction methods and processes. Things like diversionary routes, public notifications, time of travel would be delved into in details and an efficient system to streamline construction with minimum interference with the travelling public would be the end product”. But should the governor be blamed for the loss of man-hours occasioned by the construction? Not at all. The governor only sees the super structure.  The little, finer details should be the responsibilities of the Ministries of Works and Infrastructure, Transportation, Physical planning and lastly, Urban Planning and Development. It is the combined inadequacies of these ministries that have led to the suffering that Lagosians go through in traffic gridlock on daily basis. My friend suggested that the aggregation of all the roads being constructed in the same axis is poor practice. The state should have picked unconnected roads to work on instead of embarking on road construction in the same axis. Work on the roads should have been a 24-hour exercise and this should include Saturdays and Sundays. Thus a project that would have been done in 18 months would be completed within nine months. Would this not have been a desirable alternative considering what Lagosians are going through now? My friend explained the loss thus; ‘let’s assume Lagos population is about 20 million and half of the population are children, the old and infirm   and we assume the rest of about 10 million are workers. If we conservatively estimate that Lagosians spend two hours daily in traffic-one hour in the morning and another hour in the evening. Taken with N18, 000 minimum wages, two hours in traffic would amount to N140 loss. With a working population of 10 million, we can thus assume a loss of N1.4 billion daily. Imagine what this would amount to if the construction work continues for about a year. The government should look into this. As a palliative, alternative roads should be patched up and made better. LASTMA officials should also be deployed along some of these problematic areas to move traffic.

To readers of NIGERIA ON MY MIND

Today’s opinion will be the last of NIGERIA ON MY MIND. I want to thank the many readers and those that have followed my concerns for our country on this page.

     Their support and encouragement, through telephone calls and text messages, have helped also in shaping some of the views expressed here. We do not have to share the same views all the time, but the ultimate is to have a better country. But now other assignments call, also in the service of Nigerians.