Opinion Events that made 2010 memorable By Samuel JaJ'a
uUI?-inthele~~ershipwhichwasthenfullyex·
plOltedand hiJacked Tor the monetary and political gains by a powerful cabal of the HE year 2010 may. hav~ c<?me and gone but President's loyalist lieaded by the first lady, there were certam significant events for TuraiYar'Adua.Thefalloutwasthattherewasa which the y~ar ~ll b~st be remembered in th~ virtual paralysis in the business of governance annals of NI.gena s history. It may not be POSSI- as no one knew who was exact1yin control.lbe bl~ to mentIOn them a.ll but su'!i~e that I have situation became even more confuSing after tried t~ capture what m my opmlOn were the the ailing President was dramatically flown most Significant events tli~t m~de the year back Into Abuja on February 24 from Saudi memorable. For easy of claSSification I have ca~- Arabia under tight security and the cover of egonzed them under the three headmgs; poli- darkness. The whole drama of the President's tics, the econo~y and sports. .. sudden return was shrouded in secrecy and On the political scene the most sl~m~cant the Acting President Goodluck jonathan had eve~t of the year 2010 was the swea~mg m of to quickly postpone that week's Federal ExecPreSident Go?dluc.klonathan as PreSident and utive Council Meeting followin~ this sudden Commander In.Chle ?f th.e Armed Forces of the development. The final dramatic twist came Federal Republic of Nlgena on May 6, 2010. The with announcement of the death of the Presimanners of his political rise and sudden emer- dent in early hours of the morning of May 6 gence as the President of Nigeria have been 2010. ' widely covered in the media. B,!t it is significant The dramatic Court of Appeallud~ments to note that every step along hiS ascendancy to that annulled the Governorship e ectlons rethe PreSidency seemed to bave been orches- suits in Ekiti OsunandDeltastateswouldrank trate~bywhatyoumaytennasaquirkofdivine among the 'top political events of the year ProVidence. . . 2010. Tbe judiciary lived up to its true reputaI~ appeared as If he had a date to keep With tion as the last bastion of hope for the comdeStlny.1'romDeputyGovernorofBa'yelsaStale mon man. lbe aggrieved citizens this time he rose to become the Governor as If that was were the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) not enough he then beca~e the Vice-President.. ~overnorship candidate In Ekiti State, Dr. KayTo defy all the l?ermuta~lOns and further con· ode Fayemi, and his Osun State counterpart, found the skeptiC he agam ~mer!\ed il;s the Pres- Rauf Aregbesola. The elections results of the IdentoftheFederal~p,:,blicof~lgena.Hethus PDP Governors Segun Oni and Olagunsoye became th~ first NI~enan PreSident to come Oyinlola were nullified and the ACN Governors from the Ijaw ethniC stock and South-South were declared the winners. It meant the number of PDP controlled geopolitical zone of the country. lbe other significant political event that oc- States in the South-West had now been pruned curred in 2010 v:oas the death in office of Presi- down to two (Oyo and Ogun). The PDP has dent Umaru Yar Adua on May 5, 2010. It would since the 2007 elections lost control of four be the firsttime in Nigeria that a sitting civilian states three to the ACN (Ekiti Osun and Edo) President would die in office.lbe other past mil- and o~e to the Labour Party (O~do). Delta State ital)' Heads of States to .h~ve di~d in of!ice we~ was In dispute after the Court of Appeal's deMaJor-General j.T.U Agul}'l lronsl assassinated In c1sion annulled the 2007 election results and the military coup d'etat ofJuly29,I966, and Gen- removed the PDP Governor Emmanuel Udueral Murtala ~uhammed ~Iso assassinated in aghan who was close to the end of his first the aborted Dlmka coup d etat on February 13, term in office. The Delta State re-run Gover1976. The events that occurred before the death norship election which held on january 6 2011 of President Umaru Yara'dua had created a vac- returned Uduaghan. '
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!heNigerianeconon;tydidnotf~rewellin2010
With the. economy still strugglin!l to ~«:cover from the Impact of the global finanCial cnsls.lbe downturn in the economy saw massive losses in shares prices on the Nigerian Stock Exchan~e (NSE) an~ the near collapse of some banks I~ 2009. Which led the Governor of the CBN Sanusl Lamido.Sanusi to s~ck the CEO's and boards of~ntercontinental,AfribankOceanlc, Union and FInban.k. !he. banks were further bailed outth~0l!gh the Injection of fr~sh capital of over ~400 billion. It led the CBN to Introduce reforms In the banking industry In 2.010 which me,;,nt stricter controis and gUidelines on finanCial reporting of ban~. The B~ardof the Asset Management C~rporationofNlgena(AMCON)was Inaugurated In 20l0.AMCON set up to buy up the ~d debts from the books of the banks has so far Issued NI.036 trillion b~nds to purchas~ them. . The pnce of crude 011 m 2010 was on the nse most of the year closmg on a high of $90.10 per barrel as at the end of December. It was well within the proposed 2010 budget estimates based on a bench mark crude oil price of $57 per barrel. The relative peace followmg the Federal Government's amnesty to militants in the restive Niger Delta region saw an Increase in crude oil production which by May 2010 was about 2.08 million barrels per day. There was also the supplementary budgetanil proper Impleme'.'tation became the albatross of Government With not much to ~how in terms of visible s.igns for the huge capital and recurrent expenditures of the 2010 budget. Manufacturing and agricull\fral which are tJ:le real sectors of the economy did no~ fare well m 2010, the high costs of production due to the lack of adequate power supply continues to be bane of manufacturers. As most manufacturer's have to rely on diesel to meet their energy demands_ SME's (Small and Medium. Enterprises) still find it difficult to finance their busmesses and are struggling to stay afloat, the collapse of many micro finance l:ianks in 2010 further compounded the woes of the many SME's. The Agricultural Sector also had its own tale of woes in 2010 and did not fare much better after floods
from heavy down pour of rain devastated farmlands in Lagos, and Ogun States. A dam break in Sokoto also devastated farmland in the State. With most fanners yet to fully benefit from the Federal Government N400 billion agricultural loans scheme while subsistence farming still remains the most common fann method among fanners. The F1FA World Cup in South Africa would rank as the greatest sports event of 2010. For the first time in history the World Cup was held on African soil and the host, South Africa did not disappoint the world. Despite the initial security concerns and fears expressed in some quarters that South Africa may not be prepared to host the World Cup in 2010 the South Africans put up a spectacular show to confound the critics. The World Cup in South Africa was applauded by F1FA as one of the best ever organized World Cup tournaments in history. Tbe rich culture and diversity of Africa was on display for the entire world to see. The Organizing Commirtee of South Africa 2010 led by its President Danny jordan de· serves special commendation for all their ef· forts to ensure that all stadia and facilities were ready on time and were in good condition for the world's greatest sports spectacle. The tournament was hitch free to the delight of FIFA and the South African World Cup Organizers. However, for Nigerians it was bitter disappointrnentat the dismal perfonnance of the beloved national team the "Super Eagles' who were the super flops of the tournament. In their worst ever performance at a World Cup they were booted out in the first round without winning a single match. All the African teams except Ghana did not make it past the second round. It was only Ghana that restored Africa's pride at the World Cup mak· ing it to the quarter finals and only missing a semi-final berth by a hair's breadth. lbeyear2010isnowhistorybuttheseevents are what made the year a memorable one. • Jaja lives in Port Harcourt.
Agriculture, central to economic growth By Victor Oshisada OST Nigerians are not happy with Nigeria. Most of us are enrageil with the country, 6ecause of the thoughtlessnesscum-selfcentredness of our "dealers" who are masquerading in the costumes of leaders. Our leaders are dealers, or more appropriately, merchants in deceptions. Ancient Rome was a world power. History teaches us that Rome rose and Rome fell. It rose when ancient Romans were patriotic. But the Republic began to fall with the decline in their patriotism. So, it seems with Nigeria and its leaders. Meaning what7 Nigeria is a country where we eat whatever is available (junk foods), but not what is desirable. We eat merely to satisl'y hunger, fill the empty and yeaming stomachs, but not to satisl'y our nutritious needs and enhance the health - wholesome foods. A case in point was a recent newspaper. story that a woman slumped atOjodu-Berger bus stop,l.agos, evidently for poor feedings that resulted to llI-health. Heaven knows how many of her ilk are collapsing yet undiscovered, all over the country. Yet, we have leaders in governments. These leaders fonn the apex of a pyramid. Anybody who has seen a pyramid shall notice that the small pointing apex stands in a contrast to the large triangular base,lndicating that the poorly-fed compatriots preponderate over the richly-fed - ironic and pitiable contretemps_ Yet these leaders are having the daring effrontery and bare-faced bravado of demanding for the supports of the hungry and mal-nourished people in the forth-coming electionsl These cheats do not seem to realize that the electorate are hungry. What have they achieved in tenns of developments in the previous decades of rulerships7 Nothing, except hocuspocus to pull the wool over our eyes_ Food is basic to man's existence, besides housing and clothing. This reminds me of the comments by one Polish man in the services of the Federal Ministry of Works (Water and Sanitation) in the 1980S. Looking at both left and light along the LagosIbadan Expressway on our way from !kenne-Remo, Ogun State, the man from Poland blustered out: "Your country is rich in wide expanse of land, yet you complain of food scarcity. In my country, Poland (central Europe l, we do not possess as much land, but we are not lacking in (oods. What are your Governments doing to prOvide leadership in a~culture7". Nonplussed, I sat"back; to ponder over his remaiks- "What are your
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Governments doing to provide the leadership in agriculture?". The question is I?ertinent. It IS my conSidered opinion that our various past Governments failed to provide the leadership in fonnulating positive policies. If they have, such policies are not pursued in earnest. Agriculture is the science and practice of fanning In the widest sense. It includes the productions of all types of crops, the rearing of livestock and the care of the soiI: ft is one of the oldest practices dating back to tens of thousands of years. As long as Nigelia ignores agriculture, so long shall we remain hungry.lbe development of a~cultural sector is essential in order to overcome poverty ana hunger. Crops are of two types--cash and food crops - which successive governments have ignored since the commercial productions of petroleum began in the country in 1958, with 4,000 barrels per day, and exporting the same from Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Ever since, attention has turned from food and cash crops productions to focus on petroleum, occasioning pervasive corruption in all the strata of Nigerian society. Hunger is evidently written in the faces of citizens, as the corollary to oil discovery. The situation could not be so, had there been sensible leaders in this counuy.ln May, 2010, Nigeria's Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) estimated that Nigeria's crude oil reserve would not last beyond 25 years at the current rate of depletion, according to The Guardian, November 11,2010. Amidst this gloomy expectation, our leaders are indifferent. Revenue from petroleum is not judiciously husbanded. Structural utilities are m ruins. And agriculture Is neglected. I feel apprehensive for Nigerians and Nigeria, if it still subsists by.the year 2040. Now that the oil is flOwing, nothing sensible is attained. What happens when it runs out in 25 years' time? How does the situation arise? And what can we do about it? Really, what provokes my ire is the fact that lice, which is now our staple foOd, is an imported item that heavily depletes our foreign reserve. lbere Is no effort to cultivate It in commercial quantity for domestic consumptions. If our leaders, in all the tiers of government, had their senses in the right places, they would reverse the poverty trends by making agricUlture their centre of focus. Today, fanning is concentrated in fewer hands. The old hands have eitherretired from the land or dead, whilst the youths are now -operating as bus conductors or "agberojapero" at the garages. Land policy is not encouraging.
Willing and prospective fanners cannot just jump on to another man's family land to till the soil without communal tunnoil ensuing. lbe ancient traditional system with hoes and cutlasses still prevail, instead of mechanization. In the old Western ProVinces (later, Western Region), pupils were exposed to agriculture in school farms, why not reVive the system, instead of allowing the youths to rot in frivolities or utter idleness. Man must feed before thinking of cash crops for exports. Recently, in an interview with the News Agen'}' of Nigeria in Cotonou at an international symposium on the 50th Anniversary of African Independence, a lecturer in the DeI?artment of Agricultural EconOmiCS, Obalemi Awolowo University, IIe-Ife, Dr. Bamire Adebayo, said that agriculture remained the foundation _ for an over-all economic growth, but noted that this was nM " '. fully utilized in Africa. He pointed out that critical challenges hiniler accelerated agricultural production and productivity in Africa and that millions of peopre in the region were reporteil to be chronically hungry and more millions of children are malnourished. "Despite the challenges, Africa has the potential to become the major bread basket of the world. Africa has suftlcient agrlculturai potential with vast natural resources that can be managed to be able to feed the world", Dr. Adebayo said. Indeed, I am In substantial agreement with him. But what efforts are made by our Governments, federal and states? History pa~es are replete with the teachings that in the Near East, spreadmg to Mes0r.0tamia, Egypt and China, agriculture developed when their eaders could pull up themserves by their bootstraps. Ancient Egypt developed irrigation, croll rotation and livestock breedings. lbe Romans, too, were gooil fanners with their agricultural treatises. What legacy Is Nigeria bequeathing to Africa,like the aforementioned countries? Nigerian leaders in governments have a lot to learn from modern Israel, as far as agriculture is concerned. Our youths can be sent to Israel to understudy its system. In spite of its involvements in perennial and devastating wars with its neighbours since their return from the Dlaspora, Israel is able to sustain itselfin food production, beginning with its lcIbbutz( Communal farming centres in Israel) where arid land is made productive. Nigeliamaynotbeanaridcountry,but~liticalwill,asaspring
board to invest in agriculture, is essential to economic growth. So, let it be. • Oshisada, a veteran joumalist, lives in Ikorodu, Lagos State.