Sunday 10th April 2016 by THISDAY Newspapers Ltd

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SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2016 • T H I S D AY T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

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IMF: Nigeria Must Implement Integrated Economic Package, Contain Fiscal Deficit Warns delay could run down buffers, heighten vulnerability

Kunle Aderinokun The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised the federal government to urgently introduce and implement ‘an appropriate and coherent’ set of policies to address the macroeconomic challenges plaguing the country. IMF, which made this recommendation as part of its appraisal in an 88-page Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director on its recently-concluded 2016 Article IV Consultation with Nigerian government, released at the weekend, pointed out that the policy measures, when put in place, could reduce “macroeconomic imbalances while supporting sustained growth and job creation.” The Bretton Woods institution, which its Executive Board on March 31, issued a statement at the conclusion of the 2016 Article IV Consultation with Nigeria, suggested that, “given the large permanent terms of trade shock and the significant adjustment needed, it will be important to initiate in the near-term an integrated package of policies centered around: “safeguarding fiscal sustainability while improving public service delivery; reducing external imbalances; strengthening resilience and

further improving efficiency of the banking sector; and advancing structural reforms.” The fund warned that “delaying the needed adjustment would run down fiscal and external buffers, thereby heightening vulnerabilities.” The IMF explained that, “establishing medium-term fiscal policy goals that support fiscal sustainability is a priority, with a critical need to raise non-oil revenues.” Specifically, it pointed out that, measures should be implemented to: “contain the fiscal deficit across all tiers of government; boost the ratio of non-oil revenue to GDP, through a combination of improvements in revenue administration, broadening the tax base, and adjusting tax rates; rationalise expenditure, including through curtailing of waivers and exemptions, and implementing an independent price-setting mechanism to minimize/eliminate petroleum subsidies.” The measures, it added, should be implemented to also “adopt safety nets for the most vulnerable; and foster transparency and enhanced accountability and an orderly adjustment of sub-national budgets, by encouraging reform of budget preparation and execution and strengthening

public financial management.” Stating that, “achieving external adjustment requires a renewed focus on ensuring the competitiveness of the economy, including greater flexibility in the exchange rate, and a more forward-looking monetary policy strategy,” IMF pointed out that, “the combination of monetary easing, an inflexible exchange rate regime, and exchange restrictions has failed to spur economic activity, while fuelling expectations of currency devaluation, and casting doubt on the authorities’ commitment to their inflation objective.” “This has eroded external buffers and given rise to a situation where the external position is weaker than what would be consistent with Nigeria's fundamentals and desirable policy settings. With the implementation of a credible package of policies to support the adjustment of the economy to the large, permanent terms-of-trade shock, the exchange rate should be allowed to adjust to the underlying fundamentals and exchange restrictions removed, facilitating the diversification of the economy. A forwardlooking monetary policy strategy should be elaborated to help improve its effectiveness,” it added.

The fund categorically stated that, “staff does not support the policies that have given rise to the exchange restrictions and MCP,” adding, “staff urges the authorities to articulate a speedy and monitorable exit strategy for their removal, thus allowing an improved functioning of the foreign exchange market.” This, according to the Bretton Woods institution, would “help narrow the exchange rate spread between the BDC/ parallel and the interbank markets.” It also said: “Advancing structural reforms is also key to a transition to a lower oil-dependent, competitive, investment-driven economy. The authorities have made progress in that regard, especially in anti-money laundering and financial sector supervision. The authorities’ strategy appears appropriate, focusing on: promoting targeted and core infrastructure (in power, integrated transport network, housing); reducing business environment costs through greater transparency and accountability, encouraging value-chain sectors linkages across sectors (agriculture and manufacturing); and promoting employment of youth and female populations. It therefore suggested that:

“Emphasis should be sustained on improving the efficiency of public sector service delivery, accelerating and broadening public financial management reforms, improving effective capacity at sub-national levels of government—and on creating an enabling environment to attract investment. In addition, adopting a sound Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) along with strong measures to tackle theft and corruption in the oil sector, including by applying targeted AML/CFT measures, will help strengthen the regulatory framework for the oil sector and enhance its transparency and integrity.” “Nigeria’s economy has been hit hard by the sharp decline in oil prices. Reflecting the continued heavy dependence of the fiscal and external sector accounts on oil receipts, the oil price collapse resulted in a doubling of the general government deficit, a sharp reduction in public investment, and a transition to a deficit on the current account. With uncertainty about policy direction, foreign portfolio flows slowed significantly, and reserves fell. Growth is estimated to have slowed sharply—reflecting fuel shortages in the first half of the year and less availability of foreign exchange—weakening corporate balance sheets,

lowering the resilience of the banking system, and likely reversing progress in reducing unemployment and poverty. At the same time, inflation increased, ending above the CBN’s medium term target range,” the IMF acknowledged in its staff report. Nevertheless, the fund added: “Given the prospects for oil prices remaining lower-forlonger, continuing risk aversion by international investors, and downside risks in the global economy, the government needs to adroitly manage the immediate impact of the shocks, while implementing structural reforms for economic resilience. Growth is projected to soften in 2016, but could rebound gradually in 2017, assuming the implementation of the measures envisaged in the draft 2016 budget—especially priority infrastructure investments—continued progress with governance reforms in the oil sector, and with uptick in oil prices as currently projected. Key risks to the outlook include lower oil prices, shortfalls in non-oil revenues owing to uncertain yields from administrative measures, a further deterioration in finances of State and Local Governments, resurgence in security concerns, and policy paralysis.”

posals made for the purchase of essential drugs for major health campaigns like polio and AIDS were also removed and the funds allocated to provision of ambulance, which the Ministry did not ask for. The Federal Executive Council meeting also observed that certain provisions made in the areas of agriculture and water resources to further the federal government’s diversification project were either removed or reduced while the funds were moved to provision of rural health facilities and boreholes, for which provisions had been made elsewhere. THISDAY gathered that because of these observations, Buhari was said to be engaging further with the leadership of the National Assembly to resolve them and hoped that it would be resolved for his

assent by the time he returns from his trip to China. ‘’The President is desirous of signing the bill into law so that implementation of the provisions could begin in earnest for the benefit of the people. That is why the moment he received the document on Thursday, a meeting was convened for Friday to immediately start work on it,’’ the source added. Earlier, Senator Mathew Urhoghide in an interview with THISDAY said the National Assembly was constitutionally empowered to tinker with the budget in the interest of the people. He said the budget presented to the National Assembly by the executive was badly done, including the narrative of the budget. He added that what the lawmakers did was to fine-tune the bill.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SCRAPS CALABAR-LAGOS RAIL PROJECT, APPLIES BUDGET TO THE NORTH ing in order to get everything sorted out for the President’s assent. Vice President Yemi Osibanjo, who is the Head of the Economic Team, presided over the meeting. However, at the meeting, the ministers noticed that some key aspects of the budget, which have to do with government’s core infrastructure focus, were removed and the monies slated for them were applied elsewhere. For instance, contrary to the budget proposed by President Buhari for the Lagos-Calabar rail project, the National Assembly scrapped the project which the President had earmarked N80 billion for. The National Assembly approved the Lagos-Kano rail project, which had a proposed budget of N100 billion, and then took N40 billion from the Lagos-Calabar rail project and added it to the Lagos-Kano rail project to make it N140 billion. The balance of N40 billion

was then distributed to projects located in the north, mainly roads – many of which are located in the constituencies of the Appropriation Committee Chairmen in the Senate and House of Representatives, Senator Danjuma Goje and Hon. Abdulmumini Jibrin, respectively. While Goje hails from Gombe, Jubrin is from Kano State. This was said to have irked President Buhari as most of the projects that funds were channeled to by the Appropriation committees, were not even viable as feasibility studies had not be carried out on them Most of the members of the National Assembly were not aware of the alterations by the Appropriation committee, and were surprised when THISDAY spoke to them on the juggling of the budget votes. They viewed the Appropriation committees’ action as an abuse of the trust reposed in them to finalise the details of the budget without reverting back

to them. A source at the FEC meeting held on Friday said, “We noticed that some very key aspects of the budget, which have to do with President Muhammadu Buhari’s core infrastructure focus, were removed. One of which is the subject of the President’s trip to China – the Coastal Railway project – for which a counterpart funding was provided, but which was completely removed by the National Assembly. ‘’The executive is working on two major rail arteries, among other rail projects, to service the northern and eastern part of the country – the Lagos-Kano line and the Calabar-Lagos line. While the Lagos-Kano provision was left untouched, the Calabar-Lagos line was removed. The projects are to be funded jointly between the governments of China and Nigeria. It is one of the main reasons for the President’s scheduled trip to China.’’

THISDAY also gathered that the amount proposed for the completion of the Idu-Kaduna rail project, which was said to have reached an advanced stage was reduced by N8.7billion, a development which according to the source, would make it difficult for the project to be completed. ‘’The other fundamental area noticed was in respect of completion of on-going road projects. While the executive had provided for the completion of all major road projects across the country, the National Assembly reduced the amounts provided and instead included new roads on which studies have not even been conducted’’, the source added. ‘’The amounts provided by the National Assembly for the projects can neither complete the on-going road projects nor the new ones proposed. At the end of the year no significant progress would have been made.’’ In the health sector, the pro-

DSS ARRESTS MASTERMIND OF ABUJA UN BOMBING Nations building in Abuja, on 26th August, 2011,” among several other terrorist activities in different states. According to the DSS, Al-Barnawi participated in terrorist attacks in Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, and Sokoto states, as well as Abuja, which resulted in the killing and maiming of innocent citizens. He was also involved in the kidnapping of two European civil engineers in Kebbi State in May 2011, and their subsequent murder in Sokoto State; the kidnap of a German engineer, Edgar Raupach, in January 2012, the kidnap and murder of seven expatriate staff of Setraco

Construction Company at Jama'are, in Bauchi State, in February, 2013, the attack on troops at Okene, in Kogi State, while on transit to Abuja for an official assignment. The agency said Al-Barnawi would soon face trial in court after the conclusion of investigation. Al-Barnawi’s arrest is seen as a major setback for the terror network in Nigeria, despite the differences between his group and the mainstream terrorist organisation, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. He is believed to be a key terrorist strategist. DSS stated, “This arrest is a

major milestone in the counterterrorism fight of this Service. This arrest has strengthened the Service’s resolve that no matter how long and far perpetrators of crime and their sponsors may run, this Service in collaboration with other sister security agencies, will bring them to justice.” In a related development, DSS alleged at the weekend that members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) were involved in the abduction of five men, Mohammed Gainako, Ibrahim Mohammed, Idris Yakubu, and Isa Mohammed Rago in Isuikwuato Local Government Area of Abia State. DSS said the kidnspped

men were later found killed and buried in shallow graves at the Umuanyi forest, in Abia State, alongside 50 other shallow graves of unidentified persons. DSS alleged, “It is pertinent therefore to alert the general public that IPOB, is gradually showing its true divisive colour and objectives, while steadily embarking on gruesome actions in a bid to ignite ethnic terrorism and mistrust amongst non-indigenes in the South-East region and other parts of the country. Following this act, tension is currently rife among communal stakeholders in the State with possibilities of spill over to other parts of country.”

CBN: OUR OFFICIALS NOT FLYING PRIVATE OR CHARTERED JETS He said “All accounts still point to the fact that the Emefiele's mother's burial was a model in cost-cutting and an uncommon demonstration of his modest, ‘made in Nigeria’ philosophy.” He recalled that for several years in the past, the bank had used private and official chartered flights in making urgent travels to meet needs in remote, not-easily- accessible locations or in cases where timing might be critical to matters of urgent national importance. The practice, he noted, was in place long before the assumption of office of Emefiele, and that it is on record that the past two CBN governors actively used chartered private jet services to meet urgent national assignments. Okorafor said: “Indeed,

in recognition of this critical need in its smooth operations, the CBN had in the 1990s acquired a dedicated jet for this purpose and for urgent currency movement. This was however taken over by the military administration when there was a more urgent need for it at the State House. “Thereafter, the CBN occasionally used the chartered services of private operators and those of the Presidential Fleet when available, both of which were paid for.” The statement added, “Emefiele and indeed other principal officers of the CBN have religiously maintained the modest disposition of using regular flights, including doing several trips by road to and from different parts of the country.”

T H I S D AY SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 10, 2016

SUNDAYNEWS

News Editor Abimbola Akosile E-mail: abimbola.akosile@thisdaylive.com, 08023117639 (sms only)

ExpertsSayLowBroadbandPenetration, HarshEconomy,ResponsibleforDecline in Mobile Internet Subscription Emma Okonji

WE FEEL YOUR PAIN L-R: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in Kano to commiserate with the people over the Rimi Market fire incident, in Kano...yesterday

Jonathan, Ijaws Bid Alamieyeseigha Farewell • As Niger Delta governors shun funeral Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa

Defying a downpour which lasted several hours yesterday, thousands of ordinary people of Bayelsa state marched out to pay their last respects in honour of the late ex-governor of the state, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha. Curiously, none of the governors of all the nine Niger Delta states, the oil-producing area, for which cause the late politician became popular, was present at the ceremony, except the governor of Imo State, Mr. Rochas Okorocha. Apart from Okorocha, whose arrival elicited a loud ovation, governors of the region who were absent at the occasion were the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike; Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, and Cross River Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade. Other governors who neither attended nor had any representative at the event were Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State; Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia

State; his Akwa Ibom counterpart, Udom Emmanuel, and Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State. Perhaps, to also underline the sharp political division in the state, neither ex-governor Timipre Sylva nor Timi Alaibe, a former Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Managing Director, who was prevailed upon to step down for Sylva during last year’s primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC), were present. The deceased, who as governor championed the ‘resource control’ battle against former President Olusegun Obasanjo was also called the GovernorGeneral of the region for his role in the implementation of the 13 per cent derivation. Alamieyeseigha was buried in a prepared tomb in his compound at Amassoma, Southern Ijaw local government yesterday afternoon after he was eulogised by those present at the ceremony, including the acting Peoples Democratic Party chairman, Mr. Ali Modu

Sheriff, a former governor of Taraba State, Mr. Jolly Nyame, and ex-President Goodluck Jonathan. The host, Governor Seriake Dickson; minority Senate Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio; former governor of Jigawa state, Sule Lamido, and a senator representing Delta South, James Manager were present at the event. At the commendation service which held at the Church of Nigeria, (Anglican Communion), Diocese of Niger Delta West, St. Stephen’s Church, Amassoma, Jonathan described the circumstances of Alamiyeseigha’s death as ‘bitter’ “Death is a necessary end, but the time and circumstances could leave a lasting memory, especially when it is bitter. We must all die, but the circumstances of Alamieyeseigha’s death leave a bitter taste in the mouth”, the former president said. Recalling the state of Bayelsa when the deceased politician took over in 1999, Jonathan noted that the state was under

PDP, APC in Supremacy Battle as Abuja Residents Vote in FCT Election • REC rules out inconclusive poll

Onyebuchi Ezigbo, Senator Iroegbu, Damilola Oyedele, Jaiyeola Andrew, and James Emejo in Abuja

Elections in the six Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) took place yesterday amidst poor turnout of the electorate in almost all parts of the capital city of Abuja, with voter apathy evident in almost all the areas visited by THISDAY. While monitoring the election in the FCT, it was observed that most voters stayed away from the polling units with

only a few number coming in trickles to perform their civic duty. The reason for the low turnout of eligible voters recorded in almost all the polling units varied from poor sensitisation, lack of interest in the governance at the third tier, the biting fuel scarcity as well as disenchantment by the populace over the state of affairs of the country. The situation was further compounded by a heavy downpour which started in the afternoon thereby preventing the voters who would have

trekked to their polling units from exercising their franchise. At the same time, fuel crisis continued to take its toll on the social lives and activities in the FCT, with many residents defying the order restricting movement to besiege petrol stations in search of fuel to buy. Although, the petrol stations did not open for business until the end of voting by 4 pm, but motorists considered it more important to queue at the stations waiting for the time than to go and cast their votes. Howver, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the FCT, Prof. Jacob Jatau, has reassured stakeholders that from

siege from armed youths who had taken over the state. “I was deputy governor to Alamieyeseigha. The state was under siege at the time. Because of the tension, election had to be postponed in Bayelsa alone by one month. When we took over, there were two governments in Bayelsa, the one headed by Alamieyeseigha and the other by militants. He had a vision for social integration, peace and infrastructure and then education, because without it, you cannot move forward. “Alamieyeseigha was determined to make sure we live in peace. As a deputy governor, we went into the creeks to meet the youths, even without security. At a time, our helicopter was hijacked and taken to a different location”, he said. He added that subsequent governors have continued to build on the legacy left by the late governor in terms of infrastructure in the state. In his remarks, Sheriff bemoaned the condition of the people of the Niger Delta, noting that Alamieyeseigha was passionate about the region. the way things transpired so far, there may not be issue of inconclusiveness elections as was witnessed in elections in other states like Kogi, Bayelsa and Rivers state. Speaking to journalists in an interview in Abuja shortly after voting got underway, Jatau said the election has been very peaceful and violencefree. “I don’t think we are the one to avoid re-run. We want to urge every voter to be peaceful and I believe that is what actually lead to re-run, when there is violence and you have to cancel some polling units, then there is possibility of re-run but if everybody is peaceful and we work together properly I believe there won’t be any rerun or inconclusiveness.

Nigerians have rued the recent drop in mobile internet subscription from 97.8 million in November 2015 to 93.6 million in February 2016. According to experts’ opinions, the drop could be a combination of reasons, and paramount among them were low broadband penetration in the country which is currently put at 10 per cent, despite the federal government’s projection of 30 per cent broadband penetration by 2018. Nigerians are skeptical about the country achieving the 30 per cent broadband penetration by 2018, going by the slow penetration rate currently being witnessed by Nigerians. Apart from low broadband penetration, some experts are of the opinion that the harsh economic situation in the country, may have contributed immensely to the decline in mobile internet penetration in the country. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), had at the weekend, released the current statistics on mobile internet penetration, which showed a decline in the number of Nigerians that access the internet through their mobile devices like the mobile phones and tablets. According to the release on NCC’s website, total mobile internet subscription rose to 97.8 million in November 2015, which was the highest ever since the inception of GSM operations in Nigeria in 2001, but the figure dropped to 93.6 million in February this year. Industry experts are of the view that several factors may have been responsible for the decline. President of the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Lanre

Ajayi, told THISDAY that the drop in mobile internet subscription could be as a result of the harsh economic situation in the country, where everyone is now cutting down on costs. He said Nigerians have started prioritising their needs and cutting down on most of their expenditure as a result of the harsh economic situation in the country. He however said it was also possible that the telecoms services, which include data services have improved in the country and that people have decided to reduce the number of internet subscriptions they initially had across all network operating companies. According to him, “Nigerians are known for multiple internet subscriptions for fear of poor internet service delivery from various network operators. Today the situation has improved and people are beginning to stick to only one internet service provider, as against the multiple internet subscriptions they do in the past, just to sample the network that provides the best and cheapest internet service.” Others who spoke in anonymity, blamed the decline in mobile internet subscription on poor implementation of broadband policy in the country. According to them, broadband availability drives internet accessibility and since the internet penetration rate is slow, which is currently put at 10 per cent penetration, there is every tendency that mobile internet penetration would be affected. They warned that unless the NCC and the federal government come up with measures to boost internet penetration in the country, the mobile internet subscription would continue to nosedive.

No Supreme Court Ruling on AA Bosses’ Assets Contrary to media report, there is no Supreme Court ruling mandating the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to seize assets of the chairman of AA Group, Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu. THISDAY had recently reported that AMCON seized choice properties belonging to Aliyu after a Supreme Court ruling against the businessman. Following the report, lawyers to AA Properties and Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu,

Messrs Falana and Falana’s Chambers wrote THISDAY insisting that there was no Supreme Court ruling on Aliyu’s assets. Court papers obtained by THISDAY showed that AMCON’s action was based on the order of a Federal High Court Abuja, contrary to an earlier report that it was a Supreme Court ruling. The court papers showed that the order was given by Honourable Justice E S Chukwu of the Federal High Court Abuja.

Falana to Speak on Child’s Right

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana SAN, will on Tuesday, April 10, speak on the fundamental issues of child rights in Nigeria at the public presentation of a new book titled, ‘Nigeria: The story of a Giant’. The presentation of the book written by Kayode Fabunmi, a Nigerian author and poet will take place at the Elysian events hall, Caaso Bus/Stop, Alagbado, Lagos by 11:00 am. The event will hold under the chairmanship of Special Apostle Aderemi Awode, the Chairman/CEO of Chemstar Paints Limited, who is also the book presenter. The Olu of Ojokoroland, HRM Oba Oluwalambe Taiwo will be the royal father of the day while the book will be reviewed by a former national secretary of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Mr. Tanko Okoduwa.

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OPINION Not Waving, But Drowning

It has become imperative to deregulate the downstream petroleum sector, argues Gabriel Eshorioamhe

ntil the persisting fuel shortages that have almost brought the country to its knees in the last few weeks, many Nigerians did not know the significant role played by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in the downstream sector by completely deregulating the importation and pump price of diesel. It has therefore become imperative that Nigerians appreciate former President Obasanjo for his courage and political will in deregulating gas oil, otherwise known as diesel while in government. What most Nigerians may not know is the importance of diesel to the country’s struggling economy. The banks, industries, telecom companies and the agricultural sector rely mostly on diesel to provide their services to the people. Nigerians may as well not be aware of the glaring fact that lorries and heavy-duty vehicles which use diesel are the only effective means of transportation the average Nigeria farmer, business men and industrialists employ to move their goods, farm produce and even livestock from farms, industrial sites, and from one part of the country to the other. Had diesel been unavailable like petrol today in the country, the economy would have collapsed and the country grounded. Nigerians are not feeling the impacts of diesel scarcity today because it is available for lorries to move food items and other essential goods and commodities available to the citizens. This is as a result of Obasanjo’s leadership foresight in this direction. The present crippling petrol scarcity in the country would have been staved off had the present administration heeded the wise counsel to liberalise and completely deregulate fuel importation and allow the forces of demand and supply to determine its price, rather than going for the confusing price modulations whose effects in the proper management of petrol value chain have been neither here nor there, and in strict terms, a mirage. Regulating petrol pump price and importation in a country of about 160 million people is like government insisting on regulating the life of its citizens. It is a wrong-headed policy which is further proved by the peace and abundance the deregulated diesel market has brought to its users and the country. Those close to the present administration would have taken their time to weigh the

options and advise the president appropriately. The price modulation abracadabra does not stick. Total deregulation is the way out and the time is now. Someone must remind the managers of the Nigerian downstream petroleum sector that the few countries that still regulate fuel importation and price do not have our population. Besides, our governments and people lack their level of discipline, probity, accountability and sincerity of purpose. For one, public transport system works well in those countries. Rail and water transportation run smoothly well. Here in Nigeria, the reverse is the case. You either own a car or your are dead. Canada today is committed to a market-based approach to determine prices for crude oil and fuel. While it relies on competitive markets to determine the price their citizens pay for fuels, it wasn’t always so. From the 1970s to the early 80s, Canadian consumer prices for gasoline (petrol) and other fuels were subjected to government price controls but the system failed as it is failing in Nigeria. In 1985, a significant agreement was reached by the Canadian government and

Deregulation has been embraced by progress-oriented countries in order to lessen public sector mismanagement. They chose a liberalised and totally deregulated market that ensures adequate supply of products. Apart from Canada, countries like Peru, Argentina, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, Mexico, Venezuela and USA have systematically dismantled their state-run oil companies through deregulation

other stakeholders in their oil and gas sector. Part of the agreement was that price control by the government was removed to ensure that sufficient supplies of petroleum products were available at the most competitive price. The Canadian government, just like others, does not regulate oil price. Under the terms of the Western Accord of 1985, the government agreed to remove oil price controls. The total deregulation of the oil and gas sector eventually increased the flow of investment in Canada’s petroleum industry, resulting in its development. Canada became committed to a market-based approach to oil pump prices. This means that the government relies upon competitive markets to determine prices. Aside matters of national emergency, the Canadian government has no jurisdiction over the direct regulation of retail fuel prices. The Canadian government chose not to exercise a regulatory authority, relying instead on market forces. Deregulation policy has been embraced by progress-oriented countries in order to lessen public sector mismanagement. They chose a liberalised and totally deregulated market that ensures adequate supply of products. Apart from Canada, countries like Peru, Argentina, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, Mexico, Venezuela and USA have systematically dismantled their state-run oil companies through deregulation. Deregulation of the downstream sector of the Nigerian petroleum industry, as conceived in 2003 during the Obasanjo administration involved the removal of government’s control on petroleum products prices and the removal of restrictions on the establishment and operations of refineries and oil depots, while allowing private sector players to be engaged in the importation and exportation of petroleum products and allowing market forces to prevail. Again, if total deregulation is implemented, the pressure on Forex will be reduced as those hiding under fuel import to seek foreign exchange will be out of business. If we fully deregulate the business, investors will come in and build refineries and employ our teeming youths. The time to take courageous decision on the downstream petroleum sector is now. ––Eshorioamhe wrote from Lagos

Mobilising For a Future Without Oil

Chijioke Nwaozuzu argues the urgent need to diversify the economy

n 2009, Margaret Atwood wrote a piece entitled “The Future without Oil” for a German Newspaper, Die Zeit. In that famous article, she said “it’s not climate change, it’s everything change”. That piece which is as relevant today as ever, presents us a picture of a possible future of an earth when fossil fuel is no more; and thus prompts us to ask ourselves this pertinent question – what do we wish to create for ourselves today and for our future generations? For years, Nigeria and some other African countries have depended on crude oil revenue for running their economy. While it is not a crime to benefit from natural resources such as oil, over dependence on a mono-product for satisfying immediate needs without thinking of the future, presents potential of catastrophic consequences- as is evidenced today. African countries, like other resource-rich jurisdictions, have had series of windfalls in oil revenue, yet with minimal impact on the ordinary citizens owing to fiscal recklessness exhibited by some governments during periods of oil boom. In Nigeria for instance, petroleum accounts for about 90% of foreign revenue, yet, it only contributed about 14% to national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Over- reliance on crude oil as a major export revenue earner beclouded development of some other productive sectors, which even contribute more to the GDP. Furthermore, the over- reliance on crude oil, whose price is prone to vagaries of or volatility in the international oil market, exposes African nations to uncertainties in revenues, especially in periods of burst – as is the case today, leaving most of the economies with minimal revenues to fall back on. While the current oil glut is biting export-dependent African nations hard, other crude oil rich countries which had strategic plans for the future – like Norway, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, etc., have less to worry about, because they all made provisions for the uncertain future. Such futuristic strategy is what differentiates them from their African counterparts, some of which engaged in saving some of their resource revenue for the future generation, in what is called the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF). Today, some of these stabilisation funds from oil revenues are running into billions of dollars, which would provide economic stability for those economies in the future, should oil run out or is replaced by another resource. Even though some African nations have made effort at averting the potential uncertainties inherent in the commodity market (as a result of boom-bust cycle), by establishing Excess Crude Account (as is the case with Nigeria) or Sovereign Wealth Fund, it has only achieved mixed success in creating the framework for savings during high oil price regimes.

Where successes was recorded in savings, it helped to smooth government finances and budget, attracted international agencies, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to back fiscal reforms (as in Nigeria); it has however not proved a good mechanism for ring-fencing savings as it did not have a legal provision for sharing of revenue amongst government tiers. This in itself is a major flaw of the savings programme, as it was not directed to the future, but for immediate sharing between the various tiers of government. As a consequence, there has been large- scale theft, funds misapplication and mismanagement as is the case with Nigeria. The aftermath of the above failure was the initiation of the Sovereign Wealth Act in 2011, intended to invest oil earnings during windfall periods into infrastructure development as well as providing funds (stabilisation funds) for the future generation. Even with this, the fund has been beleaguered by issues of transparency in its management. This is not peculiar to Nigeria alone, as some other African countries (like Libya) have had their share of funds mismanagement. In spite of this absurdity, there should be a renewed effort on the part of the government at providing for a future without oil. The oil sector creates fewer job (about 1%) in the case of Nigeria, and the instability of revenue from oil could impact overall growth of the economy (through changes in government spending), fiscal and external reserves position and employment. Diversification here implies development of the non-oil sectors (e.g. agriculture, manufacturing, services, etc) and reducing oil dependency, as well as creating a non-oil economy that has the potential to sustain a high level of government revenue and creating more jobs. It is imperative for the governments of oil dependent economies to begin to diversify their economic base in order to reduce exposure to the inherent volatility and uncertainties which characterise the international crude oil market; improve private sector employment opportunities; drive up productivity; and strategically establish the non-oil sector of the economy which in the future would act as a ‘safety net’, when revenue from oil may become insignificant. To diversify the economy and thus reduce over-reliance on oil revenues, there is urgent need for national development plans geared towards boosting human capital development, rapid and consistent industrial expansion with the capacity to employ skilled labour, as well as mobilising the service sectors which has the capacity to boost revenue for the countries. To realise these goals would require a stable economic environment devoid of high inflationary trends, a business environment

that is strengthened and liberalised such as would encourage trade and foreign direct investment, a deepened financial sector, as well as expanded and fortified educational system. These will impact and support private sector- driven economic activities especially in the non-oil sectors, thereby providing job today and for the future generations. There is no doubt that complete diversification of the economy from oil to non-oil sectors is a difficult task, however timely implementation of adequate policies will help in its achievement. Lessons of such policies and diversification efforts could be learnt from countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Mexico, which have been able to implement diversification of their economies from oil, with huge successes recorded. These countries did not only create favourable business and economic environments, but also focused on quality upgrading as well as encouraging their firms to develop export markets. In the case of Nigeria, over the years government revenues or finances have been handled with high level of fiscal irresponsibility by government officials, characterised by misuse and mismanagement of revenues from crude oil exports, thereby jeopardising infrastructural development goals on the nation. Today, the era of fiscal irresponsibility has to be jettisoned, and addressed as a misnomer of the past in order to garner ample revenue for driving sustainable development initiatives for our future generations. Furthermore, government should as a matter of importance, strengthen the agencies responsible for the management of the Sovereign Wealth Fund, to insulate it from political pressures and interests. The objective of good tax systems is to guarantee long- term fiscal stability of government programmes and policies. Thus, appropriate tax administration is necessary to ensure that tax payers comply with the provisions of tax laws and that the funds derived therefrom are paid into the government coffers. Over the years however, tax systems in developing countries have had mixed results. It has been estimated by the Global Financial Integrity that outflows from developing countries due to tax avoidance/evasion and illicit financial flows amounts to about $1 trillion each year. This is especially rife in countries with weak tax collection institutions/systems. ––Professor Nwaozuzu is deputy director at Emerald Energy Institute for Energy & Petroleum Economics, Policy & Strategic Studies, University of Port Harcourt (See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 10, 2016

LETTERS

Dogara and The North-East Donor Conference

he Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has been making calls for the convening of an international donors conference that would holistically tackle the economic and infrastructural needs of the northeast part of Nigeria which has borne the brunt of the six-year violent uprising from adherents of the Jama’atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda’Awati Wal Jihad, known commonly as Boko Haram. Dogara first made the call in a motion he personally sponsored in August last year on the urgent need for rehabilitation, recovery, reconstruction and resettlement of the violence ravaged region. Since then, at every fora, the Speaker has continued to champion the plight of the north east while arguing that the region

Dogara

deserve global attention as a member of the international community. His call is in line with what has been happening since the end of the World War II where international conferences like that were held for Western Europe

and Japan which were rebuild following adoption of the American Marshall Plan, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, Gaza and recently for Syria. There is therefore no reasons why it can’t be held for the northeast of Nigeria. This is the

kind of patriotic zeal that comes when true visionary leaders are allowed to lead. It should be noted that the scale of devastation, destruction and damage in the region far supercedes what happened in some of the countries and regions listed above and the international community didn’t hesitate to come to their aid. The region, even before the violence erupted years ago, is one of the poorest in the world. A recent report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said Borno State alone has lost trillions of naira in economic terms while no fewer than 20,000 people were killed even though most of us who come from the north east strongly believe that the number of casualty is much higher. All one needs to be convinced is to take a trip

OSUN LCDAS: MATTERS ARISING

t’s no longer news that some 31 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), three Area Councils and two Administrative Offices were recently created in Osun State by the Rauf Aregbesola-led administration. As Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure in the Bola Tinubu-led administration when Lagos State had its LCDA experience, one can safely state that Aregbesola has garnered experience sufficient enough to help him drive the newly-created lower-tier administrative units in Osun State. At a period of global financial failure like this, fears on the part of the people cannot be said to be misplaced. It is therefore comforting to know that the governor has assured Osunians that the new councils were created primarily to bring “development to the people”, manage “the markets”, and generate “more revenues, amongst others.” Good also that he has allayed the fears of human and material resources with which to power the third tier of the administrative structure, taking into consideration the socioeconomic and geo-political realities on ground in the country. With these additional administrative council areas in place, one expects that local government administration will be brought nearer to the people. Again, while not conceding its comparative edge in administrative purposes over the building of a pattern of dominance, it will also go a long way in removing some of the inconsistencies and confusions associated with local government administration. And, since the system is participatory in nature, opportunities for broadening the potential for societal capacity building, accountability, transparency and openness cannot be overlooked. Above all, the glorious roles of our traditional

rulers as the embodiment and custodians of their community’s customs and traditions, which successive constitutions have tragically failed to appropriately clarify, will by this laudable step become enhanced. However, beyond the politics and emotions usually associated with great ideas like this, the question before careful political observers is: has the governor breached any law of the land by creating these lower administrative centres? In my unlearned estimation, the ‘inchoate’ judicial pronouncement of the Supreme Court in the case of Attorney General of Lagos State v Attorney General of the Federation (2004) 20 NSCQLR 90 on the operation of Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in Lagos State and, by extension, Nigeria has settled that! This is even as Nigerians are of the view that the refusal by the National Assembly to do the needful as required by law tends more towards the political than the altruistic. I have commented in one of my previous interventions that being a governor and a paymaster is a matter of choice. Without doubt, each has its rewards. But it depends on how one wishes to live and be remembered! Harvey Firestone put it beautifully when he wrote: “The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.” Needless to repeat that Aregbesola has opted for the noble path of serving his people with all of his might and has so far discharged his responsibilities creditably. Essentially, while the benefits derivable from the governor’s action should not be lost on Nigerians, kudos must be given to the government that has, in spite of all odds, been struggling to meet the demands of its people, especially at a time when what

comes into the state’s coffers from the Federation Account is not even enough to pay for 20% of the state’s workforce. Progressive-centric propensity notwithstanding, sentiments and emotions are essential ingredients of politics. So, how long is an ‘inchoate’ journey of local government creation and who do we blame for the fate of Lagos State? Why are we our own enemies and where are those powers that are using the good things of life to deny the South its pride of place in Nigeria? Even, if our fathers have eaten sour grapes, for how long shall the faults and evil propensities of the parents, not only transferred to the children, but also punished in them? Where are the popular superstitionists and perennial deal-fixers who are using the good things of life to curse us in the South? In like manner, where are the professional pacifists who see and take Osun State as a gorgeous hall and concert room where sorrows are carelessly danced away? As a matter of fact, who would ever have thought that the road linking Ijebu-Jesa with Ijeda-Ijesa which had become impassable to motorists since the early 1980s would take more than two decades to fix? Olusegun Obasanjo spent eight years as Nigeria’s president but ended up as the worst enemy of the South. Goodluck Jonathan, another victim of good luck, spent six years without caring a hoot about righting the wrongs of his lord and master. Ernest Shonekan who, from all indications, was only anointed for snail and tortoise assault on our psyche did not even stay long in office to fulfill his pseudo-democracy destiny. Come to think of it, close to threescore years after independence, Nigeria remains a strange nomenclature mendaciously concocted by her colonial manipulators. Like

a barber’s chair, motioning perpetually without any monumental movement, dear country is fast becoming a disintegrating enclave, a culture of discordant policies and a hutment of prosperity in a quicksand of adversity; nothing but a game of dubious smartness, or smart dubiousness. Little wonder every shed and hamlet in the North is shredded as local government areas while towns, even cities in the South are falsely lumped together as one local government. For instance, I observed during my national youth assignment in 1997 that what constituted Talata Mafara and Bakura Local Government Areas in Zamfara State hardly extended beyond Talata Mafara and Bakura townships and I doubt if the situation has changed. ––Abiodun Komolafe, Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State

to some of the villages recently liberated in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States. Communities were not only totally razed to the ground, but one is left with no option than to conclude that the insurgents were all out to annihilate every living being in the affected areas. These fundamentalists succeeded in leaving to waste large swathes of territories in those states, especially Borno which happened to be the epicentre of the violence. Right now, over 2.2 million Nigerians are living as internally displaced persons (IDPs) in several states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory, while thousand others are refugees in Cameroon, Chad and Niger Republic. Again, the number of IDPs is far more than the official 2.2 million. To buttressed Dogara’s call for an international donor conference, UNHCR Representative to Nigeria, Ms Angele DikongueAtangana, during the UNHCR 2015 stakeholders’ briefing of the commission’s representation in Nigeria, urged donors and partners to take a trip to the ‘field’ to be aware of the level of destruction and a better understanding of the situation. This is because there are dozens of villages in the northeast that have been totally destroyed. The case of the attack on Dalori is still fresh in our minds where reports said entire village was laid waste. The enormity of the task ahead in rebuilding the area, especially the cost is something that even the federal government might not be able to shoulder hence the call for the donor conference. This much was also agreed by the Chairman, Presidential Committee

on Northeast Initiative, Lt. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd) recently, when he said that conservatively, over N2 trillion will be required in the short-term to rebuild areas devastated by the Boko Haram insurgency. This is just for the short term measure! He added that the rebuilding of the region would require the cooperation of all, considering that the magnitude of destruction was beyond the means of the federal or state governments. He further noted that rebuilding the Northeast would demand maximum cooperation and resources. “Rebuilding the Northeast is one of the biggest and most complex challenges that Nigeria is facing today. To hold government or any one agency alone responsible for this task is to underestimate the enormity of the problem. The task would involve massive reconstruction of physical infrastructure, much of which have been totally destroyed and, of course, the more challenging one, which is the rebuilding of peace and social cohesion,’’ he said during the opening of a two-day security seminar, organised by the Alumni Association of the National Defence College. The rebuilding efforts by the governors of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa are mere drops in a vast ocean of needs. For example, Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima has been building some houses in Bama and other local governments. But without help from outside to address the destruction in over 20 local governments that were intermittently occupied and destroyed by the insurgents, the efforts would not go far. Turaki Adamu Hassan, Abuja

WINNING THE WAR AGAINST CORRUPTION

orruption in government has continued to deprive many Nigerian workers from earning their salaries in many states. The recurring hardship associated workers and the public sector pensioners in receiving their salaries and pension entitlements should be laid at the doorsteps of political office holders, civil servants, and some of the workers themselves who aid and abet corruption. The giving of recognition to looters nationwide through award of chieftaincy titles by traditional rulers is also not helping matters in checking corruption in the society. When I read about President Muhammadu Buhari’s revelation that 27 out of the 36 states in Nigeria are again unable to

meet the payment of workers’ salaries, I pondered over the development and came to the conclusion that it is high time workers and pensioneers owed salaries and pensions trooped out in the affected states to ask what have come of the billions of the statutory monthly allocations to their states. The issue of giving further bailout loans for payment of workers’ salaries should be stopped forthwith. The president should concentrate on making life worth living for millions of povertystricken masses who are dying of hunger in the midst of plenty. It has become pertinent for the people in general to rise to the occasion by giving their unalloyed support to the administration of PMB through channeling

of useful information to the federal government as to where looted money by public office looters have been invested, in or outside Nigeria. The looters of this country’s wealth are not ghosts; they are people who live in our midst and who buy from the same market with the downtrodden in the society. It has also now become imperative that the masses should be actively engaged in asking politicians and public office holders the source(s) of their stupendous wealth. The passage of the Whistle Blowing Bill into law and the establishment of a special radio station for phone-in programmes will go a long way in the exposure of the corrupt elements in the society. Odunayo Joseph, Mopa, Kogi State

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R •APRIL 10, 2016

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Behind the Scene at NEC Retreat Peter Haruna

t the recently concluded National Economic Committee retreat that took place in Abuja, some of the state governors in attendance commended the initiatives of the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, which were aimed at assisting the states address some of the economic challenges facing their people. The minister, in her paper titled Revenue Generation & Fiscal Stability, identified some areas of governance through which the governors can manage their resources in a manner that will reach all categories of people in their states. According to media reports, the paper dealt with issues like the need to plug all the loopholes in financial management, need to embark on data management and recommendations on how to make Universal Basic Education fund trickle down to the people. Apart from the emphasis on the resolve of the Federal Government to stimulate the economy with the planned injection of N350 billion and the prospect of job creation, which the payment of government contractors is bound to engender, the financial blueprint unveiled by Mrs. Adeosun indeed calmed the governors who had complained loudly over their poor financial positions. As an observer, I believe one of the take-aways from the minister’s speech was the need for the states to plug all the loopholes in government finances in the face of the dwindling revenue from the centre. And to my mind, the first signal that states are heeding the advice is the speed at which some of them are using the Bank Verification Number programme to fish out non-existent workers from their payrolls. As at today, a number of states have put mechanisms in place to sanitise their payrolls and the list include that of Bauchi, which is probing payment of salaries to 10,000 ghost workers in its system. The state governor, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar even went a step further, saying culprits will not escape prosecution. In Enugu State, Government in its resolve to checkmate ghost worker-syndrome in its public service, has directed the immediate biometric capture of its workforce and pensioners using Bank Verification Number (BVN). Similar exercises are taking place in Ogun, Kogi, Lagos, Osun and other states of the federation as state governments move to stop wastages and fraud. Another important message from the minister’s speech was the need for state to invest in data management. The exercise, based on media reports, will not only give the states a fair idea

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo addressing the guest at the National Economic Council Meeting retreat of age distribution in their states, but it will also help in planning. The new proposition So, one can understand why the governors are pleased with the minister especially when Mrs. Adeosun came up with a more convenient arrangement for the disbursement of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) fund with the aim of making the proceeds trickle down to every Nigerian irrespective of his/her social status. She had suggested a downward review of UBEC counterpart funding by states so that they can access about N58 billion. She had sought the support of the governors to get a legislative approval to reduce state’s counterpart funding from 50 per cent to 10 cent. And according to the minister, “with that money, we could possibly address around 1,000 of the worst classrooms in each of the 36 states and rehabilitate them and, of course, this would also create jobs and economic activity.” With this in mind, it means that artisans like carpenters, bricklayers, painters among others will begin to earn money and commerce will take place. This is possible because the minister has insisted that the money to be disbursed must get to the hands of the poor . Many state governors had expressed their frustration in accessing the UBEC fund as the poor state of finances of many states made it

difficult for them to make available their 50 per cent cut of the counterpart funding. This was recently put in a better perspective by the Executive Secretary of the commission, Dr. Ahmed Modibbo Mohammed, when he recently lamented the failure of state governments to access the funding provided by the scheme. Apparently, his worries came on the heels of the concerns being raised that 29 states of the federation, and the Federal Capital Territory have failed to make use of N80.9 billion available to them as Universal Basic Education grant. The money, from N177.6 billion total grants available to all 36 states and the FCT, has remained with the UBE commission for years. According to UBEC, each state is entitled to N4.8 billion, and only a few have collected their allocations in full. With the minister’s proposition, therefore, some state governors have promised to look into the opportunities in UBEC since the fund is designed to trickle down to different categories of people like artisan, civil servants, among others in terms of access to education. Commendation For those of us who have been noticing the way state governors have started implementing some of her suggestions, especially after the retreat, we weren’t surprised that the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, had led other governors

and their aides to give the Finance Minister a standing ovation not only for her oratory and impeccable rendition, but of course for what has been described as a clear understanding of the dire financial situation in the states and the resolve of the Federal Government to make some concessions. “This is a good presentation. This minister has done well. “We are going back to our respective states to implement these programmes and I believe things will be better especially in a period of low federal allocations. I’m very impressed with the programmes she just highlighted and I can say she has my support totally,” the governor declared amidst a thunderous ovation. The relief on the faces of some of the governors in attendance was underscored by the fact that some of the commentaries that followed Mrs. Adeosun’s presentation were showers of praises and little clarifications on a number of subjects including the funding of the Universal Basic Education programme. I therefore have no doubt that the minister is delivering at all levels and she is also touching the states. I strongly believe that if the states and the federal government totally key into her programmes and suggestions, the Nigerian nation will be better for it.

–Haruna is an Abuja-based policy analyst.

Rising Unemployment Rate Raises Fresh Concerns begin to happen once they overcome these hurdles.” The latest unemployment figures by the NBS show that a total of 22.45 million of the total labour force of 76.96 million were either unemployed or underemployed in Q4 compared to 20.7 million in Q3 and 19.6 million in Q2. According to the Unemployment/Underemployment Report for Q4 2015, which was released by the statistical agency, the number of unemployed increased by 518,102 persons, resulting in an increase in the national unemployment rate. Statistics further showed that 1.02 million persons in the economically active population had joined the labour force in Q4. The informal sector of the economy recorded the highest number of intakes with 227,072 jobs or 61.5 per cent of total figure in Q3, though experts believed the potentials of the sector was far unutilised and largely neglected by government. The current foreign exchange crisis rocking the economy has further raised concerns about unemployment situation in the country as companies resort to laying off of staff to be able to survive. Furthermore, the exclusion of 41 items from accessing forex at the official window of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) appeared to have weighed heavily on the affected entities-most of which had closed shop, thereby further dampening

Buhari

the unemployment situation. Although experts who spoke to THISDAY, concurred that diversification of the economy was a sure way to boost employment generation, the seeming lack of clear economic blueprint by the present administration among others could further create disappointing unemployment outcomes unless urgent steps are taken

to address the lapses in term of policy decisions and implementation. Also, speaking to THISDAY on the disappointing unemployment report for Q4, Chief Executive, Global Analytics Ltd, Mr. Tope Fasua, said the apparent delays by the present administration in coming up with economic blueprint was weighing on job creation. He said: “I think it’s really obvious because whereas they’ve been talking about job creation but you see how long it took them to settle down and then to appoint ministers and even up till now, the issue of economic policy is still in the realm of conjecture. “There are different ways the government can create jobs; in Nigeria, what we’ve seen in the recent past is a scenario where they try to create jobs through construction...then we’ve also seen the rhetoric in the area of private sector creating the jobs, so if you look at both ways, construction hasn’t been doing very well, they are laying off big time, a lot of the projects in the past were not immediately continued with, some them are under probe and even the ones that are not under probe have not been funded, the budget hasn’t kicked in. He added: “And then if you look at the private sector, it is going through that strain as well - so where’s the work going to come from? That’s the reason, in fact, someone will probably

argue with the NBS to the extent that they are saying unemployment rate is about 10.5 percent; what that means is that it’s only one out of ten Nigerians that wants to work but not able to find employment - is that true? “What about the issue of underemployment...? I think we should take statistics with a pinch of salt. I don’t put a lot of premium on such figures bandied around. The bottom line is that both the private and public sectors are going through a lot of stress right now, people are leaving jobs more than people are getting employed. Only recently, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, launched the Bank of Industry (BoI)’s N10billion-Youth Entrepreneurship Support (YES) scheme aimed at developing the entrepreneurial capacity of youths and providing start up loans at concessionary interest rates to execute their business plans. The initiative further targeted to generate about 6,000 jobs annually and several other initiatives. Although, the Q4 estimates may not have taken into account the most recent interventions to boost employment generation, there are increasing concerns that the current policy direction of the present administration may be discouraging foreign investments needed to boost jobs locally.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R •APRIL 10, 2016

SUNDAY INTERVIEW

Shobanjo

BIODUN SHOBANJO

We See Opportunities where Others See Challenges

The recent acquisition of 25 per cent equity in Troyka Holdings Limited, Nigeria’s foremost marketing communication group, by Publicis Groupe, world’s renowned marketing communication group, is epoch. The man at the centre of the transaction and Chairman of Troyka Holdings Limited, Biodun Shobanjo, shares with Kunle Aderinokun the overarching effect the partnership will have on the marketing communication industry and the economy

hat does the recent acquisition of 25 per cent by Publicis Groupe in Troyka mean to Troyka, to the PR and advertising industry and the economy? For Troyka, it is a highpoint in our journey. We started 36 years ago, as an indigenous enterprise and by that singular action, we are part of a global organisation. An organisation

that operates in 108 countries, with 76,000 professionals and suddenly we are part of that organisation. To the industry and the economy, I believe that the beliefs of the partnership will include access to superior and better skills, access to knowledge, to tools processes and system. Those are things we believe we impact what we deliver to clients across the six companies that are involved. Due to the fact that it cannot be a closed shop, people are going to

interact with each other. To the economy, if we can impact our clients businesses the way we envisage, it will bring growth and expansion, because it may occur that a client who is saying that based on his own knowledge and efforts, he is only able to do certain things. We also see the possibility that goods may begin to cross border, indigenous and multinational brands we work on. You find that such goods may begin to cross a territory, therefore that it

is more volume, more sales, revenue which we are generating for clients that we are going to work with. So all these would impact the economy, again we would bring in more people to share this knowledge with. The more people we bring on board, the more impact it will have on clients that want to impact themselves. We see very exciting time, a major impact on Nigeria economy and most importantly, we are

Cont’d on Pg. 24

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 10, 2016

SUNDAY INTERVIEW We See Opportunities where Others See Challenges

They (Publicis Groupe) needed to put the money in a place where democracy is taking root, where there will be free enterprise, with a government fighting corruption and other vices and they needed to be sure of the organisation they were investing in. All of those critical factors, corporate governance, integrity and a whole lot were available within our own system. This was kind of things they were looking for, therefore the fact they could find the marriage, it did not matter if we were privately or publicly owned, they felt they could invest in the company. This was how we did this deal expecting an explosion in the quality of service delivery and the quantum of what we are able to unleash on the marketing communication industry as we go along. Publicis Groupe is a publicly quoted company and your company Troyka is a privately owned business. Can you share how you able to negotiate this deal? Firstly, it took us over three years to get to this stage, where policies could invest. Due to the fact that they needed to carry out all the necessary due diligence and we were also having discussions, because it was a two-way issue. Being a publicly project company, it meant that they had to be very careful where they put shareholders’ fund, that is very important. And, what were the determinants? They needed to put the money in a place where democracy is taking root, where there will be free enterprise, with a government fighting corruption and other vices and they needed to be sure of the organisation they were investing in. All of those critical factors, corporate governance, integrity and a whole lot were available within our own system. This was kind of things they were looking for, therefore the fact they could find the marriage, it did not matter if we were privately or publicly owned, they felt they could invest in the company. This was how we did this deal. What is this deal targeting to achieve? The primary goal is for us to bring something uniquely different to the clients that we work for. Everything, the sole of our enterprise is centred on the ability to make our clients’ brands winners. In a fiercely competitive environment how can you ensure that every company that you work for

Shobanjo

will be number one or number two using marketing communication to help that client achieve that. Therefore it is assumed that the brand itself will be the right brand, but you need to put the support, all of those support mechanism you needed to put from a marketing communication perspective needed to be upgraded. This was the focus, which we need to up our game, to ensure that whenever the client goes whether it was New York or Lagos, the same quality or service, and standards will be applicable and that is exactly the things we are aspiring to do. If you visit our offices in the next three months, you will notice that things have changed, even physically. Mentally and intellectually, we will hope that in the next three months, people will begin to notice change in the quality of our people. I’m aware that Troyka is a household name in marketing communication in Nigeria. So I’m just wondering where you are expanding to, because I know there are six companies in the marketing communication group. I also wonder why this deal and again, why did you accept the proposal, in the first instance? The mistake we all make is to continue to benchmark what we do here. We do not to benchmark what we are doing with local environment; we want to bench it against the best. That is the motivation. We are looking how our company can rank among the best in our area of business. So let take it beyond this country, if you are to take each of those six companies, and compare it to any company in those areas of business, how do we rank? So, from the first day we started our business, we have always said that we didn’t want to be the typical Nigerian company, we want

to rank among the best, so, that was the motivation. Secondly, we embarked on this deal because we wanted a company with which we can share the same ideology. Publicis Groupe was started by an individual 90 years ago, Marcel Blanchet, that is the name of the individual. He ran the company successfully well and he started when he was 20 years old. By time, he retired; he handed over the company to the person running the business presently. The daughter of the founder is the chairman of the board presently and his grandson is a member of the board. Therefore for us, we can identify with that. When you look at a lot of Nigerian companies started by hardworking Nigerians and those companies died after their founders died. Publicis Groupe is a very good example to look at. The company is publicly owned and quoted, but it was started by an individual 90 years ago. For us it was important to lay the foundation for the future of this enterprise while the founders are still live, so that if the present founders die, hundreds of Nigerians will continue to gain employment within these sectors. Speaking about managing businesses and creating a legacy for others coming. How does Troyka manage businesses with these harsh economic conditions and weather the storms? I think firstly is the ability to try and weather every storm; we have had three storms in the course of our operation. But what we have always done was to adapt. As I said earlier, our client survival is very important to us. Once they survive, we survive; there is an umbilical cord that ties both of us. The second thing we have done is to adapt to the changing

needs of the time. Today, whereas a lot of people see challenges, we see opportunities; indeed, a lot of clients are seeing opportunities. What the challenge of today requires is to begin to look inwards. Where are those Nigerian products (goods and services) that we can convert to brands, which the consumer can then begin to invest in. We need to go back to the Nigerian taste where are those clients that we will have self-belief in rice that is grown here as opposed to rice that is imported. So we can brand those rice and market them. This is where we want to anchor, our focus will shift to things manufactured locally. So that we can support those who play in that area and immediately build very strong brands that the Nigerian consumer can invest in. We have been through that before, and we are willing to go through it again. It shows absolute belief in Nigeria. What are the secrets and strategies driving your company? There is no secret about what we have done, 36 years ago we started with one company, 18 people. When you look at just our marketing communication arm only, we employ well over 300 people, when you add the other businesses, as a group we employ close to 19,000 people. You are aware that we own a security company that is a very large employer of labour. It employs about 18,000 people. We still have two or three other companies. The important thing is to look at opportunities, where people see challenges, we see opportunities. The opportunity that we see is to help our clients. When you look at marketing communication company, it was initially one, but because of the specialised needs for clients in specific areas, we had to go and invest in those areas,

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R •APRIL 10, 2016

SUNDAY INTERVIEW We See Opportunities where Others See Challenges so we can continue to support our clients. Every area we have invested in, is to add value to our clients. This is what is behind the growth we have witnessed. As an expert, can you please give your opinion why SMEs, that are private companies, are making low impact on the economy? If you start a small company, there are chances that very serious players will not partner with you. If you play in that small environment, it will be very difficult to impact society and the community. Your desire must be to fast track your growth rate, if you don’t do it quickly, there is a likelihood that you will remain small. So you have to quickly build traction, so that you can move from small, medium to big. It is the logical way to go. It is only the medium and large scale companies that impart society. Sir, don’t you think if we have aggregates of small companies and the policies are right, they can make much impact. For instance, we have small companies that are in thousands, while the big companies are in hundreds. Sir don’t you feel that they can make much impacts by controlling 90 percent of the economy. When you look at the place where the small medium scale industries play, they tend to operate like cottage industries. When you aggregate their strengths, they can. But you when you look at the mega of the companies, those are the ones that act as catalyst for a lot of things. So, each has its own responsibility and contribution to the economy. But there has to be the enabling environment for the SMEs to strive, even the bigger organisations need to the right environment to optimise their own potentials. Looking at the issue of govern-

Shobanjo

ment and its policies, you are in the business of communication and you have been able to attract direct investment into the economy, which we have not seen happen in your area. So what do you think is making it difficult for Nigeria attract investments into the country?

If you start a small company, there are chances that very serious players will not partner with you. If you play in that small environment, it will be very difficult to impact society and the community. Your desire must be to fast track your growth rate, if you don’t do it quickly, there is a likelihood that you will remain small. So you have to quickly build traction, so that you can move from small, medium to big. It is the logical way to go. It is only the medium and large scale companies that impart society

I think before now, corruption was a very major factor, there were concerned about the ability to deepen democracy. They looked at leadership, but then they look at other issues such as infrastructure. We have the advantage of population, but it takes much more than population; you need to create the infrastructure. You need to create the infrastructure. You need to make the ability to run businesses conducive so that those investors can so take their money out in the event that they have made profit and want to take their money out. All those infrastructural deficiencies need to be addressed. Those are things militating against people coming into the country. Everybody is discussing devaluation, I don’t want to engage in any issue of devaluation because I’m an economist, though there are two schools of thoughts on the issue. There are those that are canvassing for currency devaluation. While the other school of thought is saying that you don’t have to devalue, if you increase your productivity, and you begin to look at things you can produce on your own, your currency will become strong. But at the end of the day, they all play, the investor needs to be sure that what is been invested, will equivalent to what is received at the end of the day. Those are issues and problems that have worked against us in getting FDIs. One must give credit to Publicis Groupe that they did this deal at the time they did. Like I said earlier, it is a total belief in Nigeria and the leadership, there is absolute confidence in those who have built this company called Troyka; so it basically ratifies what we have to do and encourages everyone to come, particularly those in our own industry. Having

sealed

this

deal

Publicis Groupe, are we going to see a rebranding of the Troyka Group? And, looking forward, in the next five years, where do you see Troyka? Rebranding? What’s in a name ? I think people should understand that what Publicis invested in is the brands that are here before they camepeople know Insight, people know Quadrant, people know Mediacom, they know all our companies. So we don’t necessarily have to change our name and if we feel that we want to either choose name or change name, when we get to that bridge, we will cross it but there is no hurry at all. And like I said, what’s in a name? and the garb does not make the monk; it is what we are able to deliver that is important to the world. So far as they know that this company is partly owned by Publicis Groupe, we are disseminating that information, it really doesn’t take anything from us. That is number one. Number two, I wish I could tell you where Troyka will be in the next five years, but we hope that we will have been able to consolidate our position. Having said that, I am one of those who always say being number one is not a birthright, you have to fight for it, people have to fight for it. If you look at your industry, for instance, at one stage in this country, the newspaper was Daily times but that’s not the situation now. Except you are able to defend your turf and you stand for what you rightly have to be, others are going to take it from you. This kind of partnership that we have will help consolidate our position in the market and we will still continue to remain the number one marketing communications group but we have to earn it, it’s not going to be a tea with party, we have to really work for it.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R •APRIL 10, 2016

BUSINESS/ENERGY

The lingering fuel shortages across the country have impacted untold hardships on Nigerians

Why Fuel Queues Persist

Chineme Okafor, in Abuja, writes on why queues at filling stations have refused to go in most states and what is being done to address the issue

“T

his is probably the most challenging issue since I took over as GMD and Minister of Petroleum, and the reality is that a lot of us even within the Company (NNPC) do not know why this is so and so for those who don’t know, I’ll first go through why you have this situation,” said the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, in a podcast message to workers of the state oil firm, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Friday on Nigeria’s fuel scarcity which has gone on for months now. In trying to explain to the workers the reasons why there is still scarcity of petrol and long queues of vehicles at service stations across the country, Kachikwu said that the situation was not an accident. He went on to list some of the factors that had overtime contributed to keep the situation at the level it is now. Kachikwu attributed past huge subsidy debts, shortage of foreign exchange for oil marketers to import petrol, subsequent drawback of private oil marketers to import under such unfavourable condition and the heavy burden which all of these have imposed on the NNPC, as the reasons why petrol scarcity has lasted this long in the country. “First, on resumption in August, we had a very major problem on our hands. Because subsidies, N500 billion, close to N600 billion, hadn’t been paid over a one year period, and so the majors, everybody who was importing had begun to very quietly reduce the levels of importation that they had,” he added. According to him, “and although I struggled very hard and got the Assembly approval and the President’s approval to eventually pay a good portion of that subsidy somewhere in November, by then it was too late.” Too late, he said, “because although they (marketers) got the money, they didn’t have access to foreign exchange so the critical reason, main critical reason why you have this supply gap today is that although NNPC has its own 445,000 barrels allocation of crude and is meeting its own, the individuals who should provide the balance are not bringing in any product.” Usually, the NNPC provides about 40 per cent of the country’s daily consumption capacity of 40 million litres of petrol while other marketers make up the balance of 60 per cent. Since the marketers have been unable to access forex even with their past subsidy payments, Kachikwu said the NNPC has been shouldering the nation’s petrol needs singlehandedly. He also said in doing this, the corporation has tried to

devise innovative means, but these means eventually failed it because it didn’t have the capacity to go that solo run. “And so, we’ve had to be very creative over the last four and five months, until we basically ran out of options and the sort of creativity that we put in the space was forward buying, forward purchase, forward crude allocations, and also, just to bring in more product, because we saw NNPC transit from a 45 per cent provider to suddenly 80 per cent, and about this month really to 100 per cent provider of petroleum products in Nigeria,” the minister stated. While indicating that it is indeed a miracle that the country’s petrol supplies had not dried up and the country perhaps shutdown from lack of energy, he said: “That was not sustainable, we didn’t have the capacity, we didn’t have the funding, we didn’t have access to the products, we didn’t have the foreign exchange. So, in very many ways, it’s surprising that we’ve even been able to survive this long.” Although he had overtime given contradictory timelines when he expects the scarcity to end, Kachikwu however said that there are key elements that would need to be done to overcome the present situation. The country, he noted would have to find a way to provide forex for oil marketers to import products, fix her pipelines networks which integrity have been greatly impaired, and throw private initiatives (deregulate) to the downstream sector as a long term solution. “So, the key element has been, how do we find

Kachikwu attributed past huge subsidy debts, shortage of foreign exchange for oil marketers to import petrol, subsequent drawback of private oil marketers to import under such unfavourable condition and the heavy burden which all of these have imposed on the NNPC, as the reasons why petrol scarcity has lasted this long in the country

foreign exchange for those who eagerly want to participate in the stream, who have been doing this traditionally, to get into the space, buy their products, come in, distribute. That’s something we’ve had to work on,” he said. He also noted: “Of course, the second problem was incessant pipeline disruptions. Literally, if you look at the statistics of this year, versus last year, we’ve had almost two times the number of pipeline interventions and disruptions than we’ve had over the last two, three years, in this year and that for us is very disturbing.” “Now, we’ve thrown a couple of ideas on this. The first thing that I have tried to do is, for the first time in this country, I have been able to convince the upstream companies to provide some forex buffer over the next one year for those who are bringing in products.” In that regard, Kachikwu disclosed that he has tied, Total Upstream to Total Downstream, Mobil Upstream to Mobil Downstream, Agip ENI to Oando, and Shell to Conoil, thus putting $200 million of forex availability out for the marketers to import products. He also said that he has made some inroads into the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to get some more forex allocation to marketers to help stabilise the situation. All these, he said are expected to begin to impact positively on the situation, “because fuel queue, don’t make any mistake about it, is the single most difficult item, which if not solved can bring down the polity and can create a mayhem here.” He said that the pipelines are also being recovered to ease the free flow of crude oil and products to their destinations. “What that has done is that for the first time in over eight years, we’ve been able to capture back system 2B all the way to Ilorin. For the first time in over six years, we were able to pump crude from Escravos into Warri and we were able to pump oil from Brass into Port Harcourt. “And we were able to pump from Warri right into Kaduna, with a few skirmishes here and there. This is the first time in over 10 years we’ve been able to accomplish this. We accomplished this by not spending money, but owing obligations,” he said. But even with the biting situation, Kachikwu still remained hopeful that the end is quite near. “So, it’s been a very difficult work, very challenging, we’re getting to the solutions, the first few cargoes are beginning to come in and I think by the second week of April like I said, we should be hopefully out of this queue situation,” he said while urging the corporation’s workers to take up the gauntlet and help him overcome the situation.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R •APRIL 10, 2016

BUSINESS/ENERGY

A transmission station

When Power Supply Crashed to Zero

For more than four hours on Thursday, March 31, Nigeria plainly had no electricity on her grid to distribute to homes and businesses because the entire system collapsed. Chineme Okafor writes about the issues surrounding the unfortunate development

n February 2, 2016 the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) announced that the country had recorded a peak power generation and transmission mark of 5, 074 megawatts (MW). That record, however, did not last long as on-grid power generation and transmission soon fell below 4000MW. Since then, the situation has refused to improve and instead further dipped until it got to zero 58 days after the new height was announced by the TCN. Specifically on Thursday, March 31, between the hours of 12.35 and 3pm, Nigeria had no electricity to supply to her industries, homes and offices as the country’s power system crashed to zero from a system collapse that was linked to the tripping of a transmission line and poor gas supply. According to the TCN, the collapse which ensured that none of the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) got any power for distribution to their customers, was caused by the tripping of the Osogbo/Ihovbor and Ihovbor/Benin 330kV transmission lines. The tripping, TCN said, resulted in the loss of about 201MW of electricity generation from the linked Ihovbor power station in the Delta. That development further meant that there was a generation/load imbalance in the system and the sudden decline in system frequency and of course the collapse. The TCN said that before the collapse occurred, total grid generation was about 3,196MW and that the low generation at that time was due to shortage of gas supply to generating plants in the south of the country. According to the TCN, Nigeria’s transmission grid is characteristically susceptible to system collapses when generation is below 3,500MW and the available spinning reserve capacity is low.

The TCN by this disclosure admitted that the transmission system has remained rather poor despite government’s repeated claims of massive funding of key transmission projects across the country to reinforce its strength and enable it meet up with expected generation growth. While the TCN said it was working hard to improve on the system’s stability, which it said had seen the country record substantial reduction of collapses from 22 in 2013 to 9 in 2014 and 6 in 2015, such developments like that of March 31 remind one of experts’ initial doubts over the capacity of the TCN to deliver on its mandates in the power sector. Currently under management contract

The ability of TCN to catch up with generation availability and also keep pace with future expansion will depend on its continued access to financing for its huge capex needs and also its ability to execute and rigorously monitor project implementation to high professional standards

of Manitoba Hydro International (MHI), the TCN has reportedly struggled to find finances for key transmission projects that would strengthen the country’s grid. The company has also continued to grapple with internal management squabbles, which has greatly contributed to the failure of MHI to have a firm grip on its operations. In as much as a substantial number of the system collapses, both partial and major, which TCN record are attributable to low system generation due majorly to gas supply issues, the ability of the TCN to also manage the system well has often remained in doubt especially amongst industry operators. Potentially, the transmission system is still considered by the sector as its weakest link. Overtime, inadequate transmission infrastructure has been underlined as being responsible for stranded capacity, a distinctive occurrence in the grid, while significant investment needed to upgrade the transmission system and keep it at pace with the expected growth in the generation capacity and consumers’ expectations of improved power supply, have rather come in trickles or mismanaged due majorly to poor project planning and execution by the TCN. Having kept for itself the TCN, these experts expect that the government would do well to find for the segment sustainable means of financing its operations and projects. As at the last count, the government said approximately $2.7 billion would come the way of the TCN from sources that include bilateral partners to fund its transmission expansion projects. The government noted in this regard that such funds would come in the form of loans from the World Bank-$700 million; JICA- $200 million; African Development Bank (AfDB)-$370 million; as well as the expected $1.65 million proceeds from the sale of NIPPs plants; EXIM China’s $500

million and other contractor financed turnkey projects worth $1 billion. Also in his 2013 judgment of the TCN, former chairman of the Technical Committee of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), Peterside Atedo, said at a forum on financing the power sector reforms for economic development, which was organised by ‘The Bankers’ Committee’ that transmission was yet to live up to its responsibilities in the sector. Atedo had said then that: “Transmission is the “life-blood” of this entire electricity eco-system and it is also potentially the weakest link at present. I am reliably informed that, currently, stranded capacity due to transmission evacuation constraints is in the region of 100MW. The other weak link is gas supply and gas transportation. “The ability of TCN to catch up with generation availability and also keep pace with future expansion will depend on its continued access to financing for its huge capex needs and also its ability to execute and rigorously monitor project implementation to high professional standards.” Responses from industry stakeholders on the status of TCN also indicate that not much has changed at the company, hence, the need for the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, to look closely on TCN and the transmission network. “The transmission should be possibly handed over to at least two serious groups from China in the form of long term concession of Build Operate and Transfer (BOT), so that they can sit down and design for us very functional transmission system which they can manage for maybe 20 years and transfer back to the government,” said one of the industry experts, Mr. Dan Kunle. Kunle, however, stated that, “ownership of the transmission network must always be retained by government because it is a natural monopoly.”

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R •APRIL 10, 2016

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Breaking the Ghost Worker Rackets

Olaseni Durojaiye examines the ghost workers syndrome, the mechanism put in place by the Federal Government to fight the scourge and how the malaise stunt socio-economic development

hen President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, All Progressives Congress (APC) promised to block all leakages in government revenue and cost centres as one of the tactics to rev up the country’s revenue in the face of dwindling oil price and fund its budget, many did not envisage the enormity of the revelations that the ghost workers saga has revealed across the states of the federation. In fact, not many were aware that the country was losing as much as it was losing to the cartel behind the scam. No doubt the ghost workers racket has for long lurked around the nation’s civil service sector whether at the local, state or federal government level and the perpetrators annually cream off millions of naira from government coffers into their private pockets for jobs not done. However, what appeared to be news is the alarming number of ghost workers on the payroll of government and the colossal amount lost to the perpetrators of the act, which one analyst described as “anti-productivity.” The discovery may also have revealed how technology can better organise how the civil service is run if adopted. Besides constituting economic sabotage, THISDAY gathered that the act was capable of truncating government plans as government continues to lose scarce resources, which could have been put to better use. For instance, while a recent report by the Boston Consulting Group identified infrastructure, education, health, governance and civil society as areas that require immediate attention and outlines the root cause of these challenges and a series of actions that can drive meaningful progress, some observers opined that what is lost to ghost workers would make meaningful impact if channeled into the small and medium enterprise sector. Others argued that the over N2 billion, which was saved by the federal ministry of finance can set up at least one cottage industry in each of the country’s six geo-political zones, which will in turn have a multiplier effect on the livelihood of the beneficiaries. Taking the Lead The Federal Ministry of Finance takes the credit for the recent onslaught to fish out ghost workers from government payroll. In late February, the ministry announced that it had eliminated 23,846 ghost workers from its pay roll, thus saving about N2.293 billion monthly in what would have been thought to be remuneration to real workers from government’s coffers. The feat was achieved through the Bank Verification Numbers (BVN)-based staff audit and enrolment to the integrated payroll and Personnel Information System ( IPPIS). The decision to scrutinise the workforce was in line with the government’s plan to block leakages in government and eradicate corruption to the barest minimum. Besides, observers contended the exercise became more exigent as personnel costs represent over 40 per cent of total government expenditure. Speaking on the matter, Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the Minister of Finance, Festus Akanbi, said besides eliminating ghost workers “the Federal Government is also taking actions to pursue recovery of salary balances in bank accounts as well as any pension contributions in respect of the deleted workers. This involves active collaboration with the concerned banks and the National

Pensioners undergoing biometric verification exercise

Pension Commission, PenCom,” adding that “this will ensure that all payments are accurate and valid. Requirements for new entrants joining the Federal Civil Service have also been enhanced to prevent the introduction of fictitious employees in future. The ongoing exercise, which is part of the cost-saving and anti-corruption agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, is key to funding the deficit in the 2016 budget, as savings made will ultimately reduce the amount to be borrowed,” he stated. States Take a Cue Perhaps due to paucity of funds arising largely from the sharp decline in federal allocation to the states, some states government saw wisdom in following in the footsteps of the federal ministry of finance. The staff audit that followed, whether done through a contracted independent consultant as was the case of Niger State or through the now trending biometric technology coordinated by a committee set up by government as is the case of Kwara State, the result has been one discovery after the other. And, as the number of states that have adopted the ministry of finance model increases, so does the discoveries both in number of nonexistent workers and revenue. In Nassarawa State, consultant handling the exercise across the 13 local governments of the state has uncovered about 1,600 ghost workers. This, arguably, is the least number so far recorded. According to reports, the exercise would save the state N83 million monthly and could rise to N990 million yearly. Speaking on the exercise while presenting the report to the state governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, Executive Director of Skye Bank Plc, Mr. Idris Yakubu, the consultant that carried out the exercise, stated that, “during the exercise we were able to recover over N83 million monthly and if government will implement this it will also run into N990 million yearly,” he stated. Similarly, in Niger State, the government recently announced that it had uncovered 7, 000 ghost workers in the payroll of its 25 local governments. And like in the other states, conduct of biometric staff

verification facilitated this. According to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, preliminary reports showed that 3,394 are fake Local Government staff while the rest are teachers in primary schools in the state adding that the exercise became necessary following the huge salary bills that the state government had to contend with following the implementation of the N18, 000 minimum wages. Interestingly, observers noted that the prevalence of ghost workers in the public sector demonstrates the tardiness in the sector arguing that such would not occur in the private sector as the sector is given to more thorough ways of doing business. However, while banks seem to be the conduit, civil servants, investigations have revealed, are usually behind the scam as they are the ones that send compiled lists to the banks. Besides, the exercise at the ministry of finance also revealed that several conduit accounts were traced to a single BVN during the verification exercise

The Federal Government is also taking actions to pursue recovery of salary balances in bank accounts as well as any pension contributions in respect of the deleted workers. This involves active collaboration with the concerned banks and the National Pension Commission, PenCom

lending credence to the assertion of a Lagos-based economist, Rotimi Oyelere, that “payments to ghost workers always find their way into the pockets of elite civil servants.” How to Deal with Ghost-worker Syndrome Observers all noted that the scam constitute economic sabotage and a drain to the scarce resources of government at the different tiers. THISDAY investigation also revealed that the money lost to perpetrators of the scam is always huge, pointing out that, if not lost, it is capable of aiding development in the country. They added that besides ripping the state off, the perpetrators often become very influential and capable of distorting government’s developmental plans. According to Oyelere “ghost workers impact government and governance negatively. What it means is that government is paying for inactivity; that is government is paying people who are not contributing to output, which is against the economic principle of cost benefit. Besides, the money usually finds their ways into the pockets of some elite civil servants who think irrationally and who are capable of distorting government policy, Oyelere stated. Interestingly, while some observers contend that the prevalence reinforces the need for a national identity card to be put in place, arguing that it will check such fraudulent practice, others disagreed. Those who disagreed opined that a national identity card will only reduce to a level it cannot totally eradicate it, arguing that criminal minded people are always a step or two ahead of the society. “Logically, it is persuasive to share that opinion that a national identity card scheme will eradicate the ghost worker syndrome; but then, people with criminal intentions are more prepared than those who are not. National identity card can be cloned. Even in more technologically advanced societies, people still use other people’s credit cards fraudulently. Criminals are usually one or two steps ahead of society,” stated, public affairs analyst, Sina Loremikan.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R •APRIL 10, 2016

BUSINESS/TRANSPORT

Stakeholders Seek Fresh Options to End Apapa Gridlock

With the failure of the federal government to address Apapa gridlock, stakeholders are canvassing new options such as the release of money owed the contractors handling the trailer park and road rehabilitation projects, including the relocation of the tank farms to Badagry where a new deep seaport is being planned, reports Francis Ugwoke

or about a decade, the Apapa gridlock has remained without a lasting solution. Yet, Nigerians have witnessed three successive administrations that made frantic efforts to address the problem without success. The administration of late President Musa Yar’adua made efforts to tackle the problem, engaging some contractors to work on the road from Mile 2 down to Apapa port through Tin Can Island. The Goodluck Jonathan administration had sustained that effort, but as at today, the contractor could only carry out rehabilitation work up till Coconut Bus Stop, a stone-throw from Tin Can Island port, where work stopped. Now, from Coconut area through to Tin Can Port and to the Premier Port, Apapa, has remained a no-go-area for small vehicles. No one, who knows the road very well will ever venture to take it when going into Apapa. The Tin Can road has remained a death-trap with port holes and taken over by trucks going into either Tin Can first or second Gate . Both sides of the road are bad and only trucks use the road, the result of which includes regular felling of containers loaded on trucks. Commercial buses heading to Apapa from Oshodi or Mile 2 area have their final bus stop at Coconut because of the bad state of the road. Passengers going to Tin Can or Apapa from Coconut have had no choice all these years than to patronise Okada (a local word for commercial motocycles) riders, who are having thriving business as a result of the crisis. For those going into Apapa with cars, the only road has been the Ijora Lilypond bridge. For motorists from Badagry, Festac Town and Satellite Town, they have to go through Orile Iganmu or Boundary, Ajegunle . To access Apapa from these two places, Orile or Ajegunle, takes not less than three hours, depending on the state of traffic for the day. What it means is that for a journey of less than 5-7 minutes from Mile 2, they have to spend more than three hours on the road. Apart from the federal government , the Lagos State Government made efforts to address the problem, yet the gridlock has remained . From time to time, it would appear that the gridlock had abated, only for a worse situation to come up again. Between January and up till middle of March , it appeared as if the situation improved, but not so as has been witnessed in the past two weeks or so. For those who go to Apapa with their vehicles, the gridlock is unpredictable. One could just run into it and remain there for hours. The Unending Apapa Nightmare For residents, business owners and workers in Apapa, expectations were high that the present administration would be fast in addressing the Apapa nightmare considering the importance of the premier port to the national economy. Apapa houses the biggest port in Nigeria with its contribution put at about 75 percent of the total revenue the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) , Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), among others make annually. The contributions of these agencies to the Federation Account are high. With the dwindling revenue from oil, so much is expected from the sector this year.

Apart from the Customs Service which has given itself a revenue target of N1trillion, the Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, has given both NPA and NIMASA an annual revenue target of N500 billion each. With this, many expect that anything affecting the sector ought to be addressed. How to Address the Gridlock by Senators, NPA The Minister of Works, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN, had sometime last year raised concern about the road and many expected that the federal government will complete the rehabilitation of the road leading to Tin Can and Apapa soon with the passage of this year’s budget by the National Assembly. While in office as Lagos State Governor, Fashola tried his best to address the gridlock. He had collaborated with the former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who supervised the Presidential Committee on the Port, but the problem has remained unsolved. In October last year, the Senate had at plenary session called on the federal government to consider long-term plans to end the problem of the road. The Senate called for a technical redesign and expansion of the Apapa-Ijora-Iganmu-OrileMile 2 access trunks and the Apapa/Tin Can-Mile 2-Oshodi corridor. The motion was moved by Sen. Oluremi Tinubu and co-sponsored by 106 senators. The senators also called on the NPA to reactivate the rail links for evacuation of containers and petroleum products from the ports. To Senator Tinubu, the perennial logjam on all access roads in the Apapa maritime corridor has negative consequences for Nigeria’s economy. Tinubu had said: “We should be mindful of the huge national security and the human and environmental risks of the present traffic situation in the Apapa maritime axis; It causes deadly fumes and the falling of containers as a result of the bad roads”. Describing the motion as timely, Senate President Bukola Saraki ,had urged relevant stakeholders to also “look at how the railways will be used to convey containers and petroleum products, as well as moving of petroleum products through the pipelines.” He added: “If the pipelines were working there would be no need for a tank farm in Apapa as we have today. When

committees are constituted, the committee responsible would oversee this issue for a lasting solution”. The Managing Director of NPA, Habib Abdullahi, on the other hand also in December raised his voice for the provision of adequate rail lines to link the Lagos ports and other major cities. Addressing the members of the Senate Committee on Marine who visited as a follow-up to the motion from the Senate, Abdullahi said his organisation was the most affected. He recalled that in the past, cargoes from the ports were moved to other parts of the country through rail. He urged relevant agencies to do something by reviving rail links to the ports, promising that his orgnisation was ready to complement the efforts of other agencies saddled with the responsibilities of providing rail links. The former Governor of Zamfara State, Senator Yerima Ahmed Sani, during the visit expressed concern that the situation had remained the same. Incidentally, most of the top government officials touring the Apapa port are taken round with boats from Marina so that they usually do not experience the problem going through Ijora bridge. When they opt to go on road, some of them drive against traffic on one-way, with their security details and siren-blaring convoy. Menace of Tankers One of the things that have contributed to the Apapa traffic menace is the presence of tanker drivers who park on the roads, bridges leading to the tank farms indiscriminately. This is one major problem that both the Lagos State Government and the Nigerian Navy have tried to solve without success. Sometimes, it would appear the problem is over only for it to resurface. Last year, the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, had threatened to sanction the truck drivers who park on the road leading to the port, but this did not work. He had disclosed that the state government was going to set up a special task force to deal with tanker drivers who violate the order against parking on the bridge. While the order appeared to have worked for some time with the Naval personnel and LASTMA officials taking charge and controlling traffic, the situation later became worse. Ambode is unhappy that the trailer park located near the Tin Can Island part which has been under construction for seven years was yet to be completed by the federal government. He had appealed to the President to do something so that the contractor who had abandoned the job for lack of funding could come back. Similarly, other members of the National Assembly who visited the ports had also urged the Works Ministry to release fund owed the contractors handling the trailer park and the Tin Can road project so that they can complete the job. State of Rail Links to the Ports In all the ports in Lagos, only Apapa has a rail link which is supposed to be moving containers to the Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Kaduna. But sources said the rail service is not operating optimally. A source said the rail operates once in a while moving few containers, as against operating weekly or daily. The rail service was resuscitated about two years ago. Apart from Apapa, Tin Can Island port does not have any functional rail link.

Panacea for Apapa Gridlock, by Stakeholders As a way out of the Apapa gridlock, stakeholders are of the view that President Muhammadu Buhari should order the release of the money owed the contractors handling the road projects in the area as well as the trailer park under construction. Releasing the fund, according to Alhaji Auwalu Ilu, Managing Director of Ilutex Nigeria Limited, a firm of stevedores, will facilitate early completion of the two projects. Similarly, frontline freight forwarder and President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Customs Agents (NCMDCA), Mr. Lucky Amiwero, holds the view that NPA should do something about rehabilitating the access roads in the port area. Amiwero said doing this will go a long way in saving containers that are falling off the trucks while moving out of the ports. NPA recently moved to limit the number of trucks entering the nation’s ports by registering only road worthy ones. This measure according to the General Manager, Western Ports of the NPA, Chief Michael Ajayi, was for security and safety purposes. Ajayi said the NPA would register only trucks that are certified as road worthy to operate in the Lagos ports, saying this will check the incidence of breakdowns of such vehicles along the Apapa access road. Another stakeholder and former Chairman, Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), Iju Tony Nwabunike, was also of the view that another approach to address the traffic congestion in Lagos would be for all the tank farms to relocate from Apapa to other safer places. Relocation of the tank farms, Nwabunike argued would mean that all the tankers coming to Apapa would simply stop coming, a situation he said would create room for free traffic and safety of life and property. He said that the nightmare created by the gridlock was such that President Buhari needs to act to address once and for all as part of the change agenda of his administration. Nwabunike said: “Apart from the traffic congestion in Apapa that has wreaked havoc on businesses, made residents uncomfortable, the presence of tank farms in Apapa is very risky considering the security implication with insurgency in the country. So the tank farms need to be relocated to safer places with less human traffic for the sake of residents, other business owners and workers in Apapa. This government should take this serious considering the security of life and property. You may also wish to know that because of the tank farms and the attendant congestion, value of properties has fallen in Apapa, and until this problem is addressed, owners of properties in the area will continue to experience depreciation in value. So government needs to act fast”. President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Eugene Nweke, said government should consider relocating the tank farms to Badagry because of the planned establishment of deep seaport in the area. With a large expanse of land that will be made available for the deep seaport project, he said, a large portion of the area could house all the tank farms in Apapa. Since the deep seaport is planned to accommodate any type of vessel, Nweke said vessels coming to the seaport could easily discharge to the tank farms.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R •APRIL 10, 2016

BUSINESS/PERSPECTIVE

Buhari, Kachikwu and the Oil Cabal

Ken Ugbechie

he Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, has come under a blizzard of attacks from different interests these past weeks. The man who also doubles as the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been given various options by his traducers: apologise to Nigerians, resign his appointment or flood the market with petroleum products particularly premium motor spirit(PMS) in a matter of days. The agitation is understandable. There is anger in the land. There is crisis of expectation. The teeming Nigerians who voted for change are yet to experience the dream change they voted for. The same litany of ills that assailed the people during the years of the Peoples Democracy Party (PDP) has continued to haunt them a clear ten months into the life of this administration. Poor electricity supply, fuel queues, bad roads, high cost of living, growing unemployment and job cuts among others still signpost the daily grind of the people. In the midst of such pent up anguish, one man has been singled out for vilification. Dr. Kachikwu’s offence was that he told Nigerians the stark, unvarnished truth about the fuel situation in the country. By his allusion to the fuel supply challenge not disappearing overnight, he unwittingly incurred the wrath of a people already incensed at the turn of events since May 29, last year. It was only natural that the people hit back at him in the most unkindest and cavalier manner. But it was not fair he has to take all the flaks for all the ills of the moment. A critical examination of the criticisms against Dr. Kachikwu throws up two diametrically opposite groups. Those who are genuinely angry at the system that has denied them access to the good life and those who are railing at the minister because he has refused to do their bidding by allowing them to continue to cheat through the system; a practice from the old order. It is this cartel of crooks that has, unfortunately, dominated the media space. Though fewer in number, their collective voice is loud and because they possess the means and the money, they have not abated in their bashing even when it is glaring that the fuel supply situation is improving and tending to normalcy. Yet, what is lost on most Nigerians is the intent of this few; the real reason why they are attacking a minister that is daily reforming Nigeria’s oil and gas sector which has a history of inefficiency, lack of transparency and corruption. Kachikwu is undertaking major reforms in the sector, he has arrested the shady, opaque processes that hallmarked operations at the NNPC in the past; he has trimmed the powers of some principalities in the sector who colluded with some staff of NNPC and adjunct Directorates to defraud the nation. The minister has dared the cartel of crooks in the industry and one should not be surprised that they are fighting back using the alibi of ‘fuel crisis’ to push through their agenda. Nigerians should ask at this moment, why do they want Kachikwu to quit or to use the exact words of some of his denigrators, “resign now”? The answers are not far-fetched. Kachikwu since his arrival at the NNPC and as minister of state has never hidden his intent to stamp out corruption in the sector. He has not only stood in the way of these crude merchants but has also blocked the hitherto gaping holes through which this mafia of oil mandarins had siphoned the nation’s money over the years. But Kachikwu must stay the course. The minister, a first class lawyer with long-standing experience in the global oil

Buhari and gas sector, should know that it is the nature of man to resist change. It is even more so if these men are profiting from the system you are striving to change. In the instant case, just a few Nigerians had been profiting from the rot in the nation’s oil and gas marketplace. This was the rot that had been exposed by all audits, forensic and otherwise, carried out by KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in separate inquisitions. It was a rot deliberately created, sustained and oiled by a few money bags. This rot has thrown up fly-by-night billionaires who do little but earn so much. To add to the desperation, a few politicians who felt a sense of entitlement to the national till as compensation for their contribution towards birthing the new government have added more fizz to the sizzle; they want Kachikwu out because he has not allowed them to take control of the sector. To the ordinary man on the street, petrol crisis is the issue; but this is not true. Without the reforms of today, fuel queues will return tomorrow and the days after. Fuel crisis is historical, it has always surfaced at different times in the past. This happened because previous government failed to address critical issues; they failed to rein in some of the stakeholders who seized the opportunity of absence of good corporate governance in the system to commit monumental fraud that ultimately hurt the system and has kept the problem of petrol scarcity recurring. The fact that over 50 years of oil exploration in the country we are still stuck in the muddle of subsidy, forex shortage, fuel importation (for an OPEC member nation), and fuel scarcity is because in the previous years we failed to do what was necessary and germane. We failed to plan towards a possible future of drought. That future is now and the nation is not prepared for the attendant shocks hence it has been drifting in and out of one crisis or another. This is why President Muhammadu Buhari should ignore the calls from a section of stakeholders to shove Kachikwu aside. In fact, the President should be suspicious of such persons. They are the people who do not want change; they want the old corrupt order to subsist just so they would continue to harvest to the very hurt of the nation.

Kachikwu The President wants to change the way things are done; he wants to end the culture of corruption ravaging the nation; he wants to reform the oil and gas sector so that receipts from the sector would no longer find their way into private pockets and accounts but remitted to the federation account; Kachikwu is doing just that. He has said no to those who operate from the axis of evil and corruption. He should stick to his gun no matter the pressure. This is not the first time that a Nigerian has brought a genuine breath of fresh air into a sector. In July, 2004, Professor Charles Soludo, then Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor rolled out what may go down in history as the most ambitious reform in the nation’s financial sector. It was aptly called consolidation of the banking sector in which banks were given 18 months to raise their capital base from N2 billion to N25 billion. Some powerful persons kicked against it; they sponsored a barrage of media attacks against Soludo. The general public did not get the hang. They did not understand why Soludo would suddenly change the rule of the game; but Soludo, himself a first class economist, knew what he was doing. He was on a mission to strengthen the banks and take them out of the grip of family ownership. To meet up the deadline and the baseline of N25 billion, the banks had to go public to raise funds. Those who could not raise the required capital went into mergers or were acquired by those who could. That masterstroke took the banks away from traditional and unhealthy family ownership, a toxic and strange arrangement that had sent many banks in the past into the cesspit of insolvency and ruining the fortunes and future of depositors. It was painful then though for these banks and their managers. Today, by benefit of hindsight, Soludo was absolutely right. The banks are bigger, more ubiquitous, more stable and more efficient. The critics of Soludo have buried their heads in the sand. This should encourage Kachikwu. The reforms he is undertaking at the moment are the enduring pillars that would sustain the oil and gas sector tomorrow. He should endure the criticisms and the sponsored media lynching. He must make the sacrifice today for a better tomorrow for

Nigerians. It is the nature of reform; it is a painful process that leads to a terminus of pleasure, stability and confidence. This aspect is not known to ordinary Nigerians. They see only the fuel queues but they don’t see why the same fuel queues of yesteryears still dot the landscape today. They don’t see the war being waged by Kachikwu against the club of powerful potentates who want a continuation of the old, messy, dirty order. In Nigeria, nobody initiates reforms and expects a free, easy sail. In a recent interview with Le Monde, the former Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said that the fight against corruption was at the root of the kidnap of her mother with the abductors demanding her resignation on live television. When asked what her failures and successes in the fight against corruption were, Okonjo-Iweala said: “Your answer would take a whole day. On my first experience as minister, I wrote a book, Reforming the Unreformable . For the second, it was really difficult. Nigeria subsidizes fuel. About $ 6.7 billion that it costs, we found that $1.5 billion was fraudulent. “I told the President that we would stop paying. What happened? They kidnapped my mother, 83 years. During the first three days, their only demand was my resignation. I was supposed to go on television and announce my resignation. “This was one of the worst moments of my life. Can you imagine what happens in your head if you have to be responsible for the death of your mother? “I will not go into details, but you must understand that in a country like this… in the fight against corruption, we must be prepared to pay a personal price. My father asked me not to resign. The president asked me not to resign. At the end, everyone began looking for her, and the kidnappers released her.” Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has shown chutzpah at his duty post. He needs the support of well-meaning Nigerians and the President to holistically cleanse the sector. Like Okonjo-Iweala noted, he must be prepared to pay a personal price, this time, in the form of media lynching. •Ugbechie is the Publisher of Political Economist magazine

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R •APRIL 10, 2016

TRAVEL

Turkish Airlines’ Boom and Learning Points for Nigeria Kunle Hamilton

y year 2023, if all goes according to plan, Turkish Airlines would have grown its revenue to 30 billion dollars per annum, its passenger volume to 150 million and its fleet to 500 aircraft. What’s more? By 2018, Turkey would open its new airport, which is designed to be the third biggest airport in the world with 150 million passenger capacity. This would not be by magic but by due diligence. Driving around Istanbul, Turkey’s most populous city recently, you could tell that the country is deeply religious and deeply Islamic. Under the Roman Empire, the country was predominantly Christian. But with its overthrow by the Ottoman Empire, it became overwhelmingly Muslim. “With over 3,000 mosques in Istanbul (also known as Constantinople and Byzantium), you should not be surprised about the heavy evidence of Islam here. Churches were initially about 500, but only about 50 of them are still active now,” explained my tour guide, Ece. Yet Turkey still has one of the most liberal attitudes in the Islamic world and this continues to help boost its tourism revenues. Istanbul houses Turkish Airlines’ headquarters, about 10 minutes from the airport. There I met with Said Samil Karakas, Vice President, Marketing and Sales, South Saharan Africa. He spoke very frankly and with pride about the past, present and future of Turkish Airlines, which Skytrax has voted Europe’s Best Airline for five years running. Karakas is smart and dapper. He talks about Turkey and Turkish Airlines with keen patriotism. Yet there is nothing myopic about his views of aviation growth around the world and in his country. You might first be fooled as he speaks to you from the newest document signed by his CEO, Dr. Temel Kotil (March 2016). You might think Turkish Airlines belongs to the government of Turkey as the defunct Nigeria Airways was government business. But then Karakas said,“The government is supporting Turkish Airlines to grow but not financially. There is a mental support. There is a stable country and government which allows businesses to grow. The income per Turk grew from $3,000 to about $11,000 in 10 years. It also shows that as the country is growing, Turkish Airlines will also be growing. Turkish Airline is participating in the growth of Turkey.“ Turkish Airlines fly to 236 international destinations; the largest in Europe. As a hub in Europe, when you compare connectivity plus passenger volume, Istanbul is already faring better than Frankfurt, Paris and Amsterdam. According to 2014 figures that show the world’s 3.3 billion passenger numbers, hub-Turkey alone had 123 million slice of the aviation action. For instance, while flights to London Heathrow from Paris peaked at 224, from Frankfurt 226 and from Amsterdam 216, flights from Istanbul to London LHR climbed to 262 in the same period. Istanbul has some things working in its favour, no doubt. It is both a transit hub as well as a tourist destination. It also has a geographical advantage lying between Europe and Asia. “Istanbul has the biggest connectivity in the world,” says Karakas.“It is the fifth favourite city in the world and third in Europe. About 13 million tourists visit Istanbul. To grow an airline (and national economy), it is not enough to simply have aircrafts; you must also have a destination - with sights that people would love to visit and see for themselves.” To grow a successful and profitable airline or national carrier, first you must have one. Nigeria failed with the Nigeria Airways as well as its operational pact with Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic and Jimoh Ibrahim’s green-white-green Nicon Airways. Let us note

Turkish Airlines fleet this however; the growing success of Turkish Airlines directly grows a substantial part of Turkey’s national economy by boosting its tourism business. Key factors that determine passengers’ choice of an airline and the eventual profitability of the airline include low price sensitivity, flight time sensitivity, onboard comfort and service, ground crew efficiency, airport protocol and conveniences. These variables are efficiently managed by the airline in focus. Indeed, its preference for narrow body aircrafts allows the airline to fly many other routes that other big carriers ignore, thus making it more network efficient than some of its older and bigger competitors around the world. “Forty years prior to 2003, there wasn’t any significant growth in our aviation industry. But since 2003, our government hasn’t changed. We have had a stable government. People have therefore developed trust in the aviation industry, we have been investing in the aviation business and we are growing accordingly” explained Karakas. So in just 12 years, due to stability in governance and the economy, Turkish Airlines grew from 162 to 482 aircraft. It had only 25 million international passengers in 2003 and 84 million in 2015. Domestic passenger volume grew from just five million in 2003 to 50 million (ten times more) in just 12 years. What endeared Karakas the more to the select media team he made a presentation to in his conference room was his desire to see the Nigerian aviation industry grow too. His words,“Ladies and gentlemen, all this is very important to know and to give this information to your country (Nigeria). “For instance, why our domestic passenger volume grew from five to 50 million is because we keep investing in the aviation business and we are opening new routes to give connectivity to the people. That means the more travel connectivity people have in your country, the more business they will do. The more aviation investment and business expands, the more people will fly.” Tell Karakas that you are sorry, Nigeria does not have a national carrier and as such there is a severe limit to aviation expansion and he will disagree.“You have Arik and other Nigerian airlines that fly domestic and international routes,” he said. Yes, he is right, Nigeria should build on that. But there is presently no clear cut policy on how Nigeria intends to widen and deepen its connectivity to the whole world. Should

Said Samil Karakas President Muhammadu Buhari and his aviation minister agree on resuscitating and privatizing a new national carrier or do they simply want to encourage privately owned airlines to fill and deepen Nigeria’s aviation space? No one knows for sure. Istanbul, Turkey’s most populous city, has had one of the highest connectivity growths in the world in the last five years because all the airlines now fly to Istanbul and people fly into Turkey from all over the world to do business. The March 2016 overview of Turkey’s aviation industry under the subtitle ‘Economic Benefits of Aviation’ shows that aviation business alone has created 58 million jobs and added 2.4 trillion dollars to world GDP – about 3.4% whereas in Turkey, aviation success has added 5.9% to Turkey’s GDP. In 20 years, it is expected that aviation would account for 105 million jobs across the globe and it would have contributed six trillion dollars to world GDP. Nigeria can still get it right if the Buhari administration is serious about diversifying the economy away from oil wells and trade. But then there is still a lot of work to be done with integrity to boot. For one thing, government has no business

funding and running a national carrier as an extension of its aviation ministry. For another, there must be transparency in the sector. Karakas was asked the bureaucracy of signing new routes in Nigeria compares to what is obtainable in other parts of Europe for example. With loads of political correctness he answered: “Though some parts of the world are easier for the aviation business, the Nigerian government has been so cooperative. We have now increased our Abuja flights from five to seven. We are now asking for Port Harcourt and double daily flights to Lagos, and we are sure we will get them. Yes, in some countries it may be easier and not that easy in Nigeria. But we have a very good relationship with Nigeria and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority. “In Africa, certain countries just have one airline from Europe flying into the country but once we enter the country, the prices will drop. This makes it efficient for the people of the country. Now, African governments are coming to Turkish Airlines and asking us to fly. In most of them, since we have the aircraft and the commercial capacity, we fly. Even where we see the smallest potential, we fly.”

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 10, 2016

coveR

Tajudeen Adepetu

TAJUDEEN ADEPETU

ADDING VALUE TO TELEVISION For creating eight thriving television channels in 12 years, Tajudeen Adepetu sometimes thinks he is a superman, but his creative energy is fast receding and he frequently waits for his wife to go to bed before he starts brainstorming. He told Nseobong Okon-Ekong that he looks forward to an early retirement; so that he can relax and have serious fun

he throng of people at the Ikeja-Lagos hotel had responded to his invitation. It was a busy day for Tajudeen Adepetu, CEO, Consolidated Media Associates. Many wanted his attention. It could be for something as profound as ‘to have a word’ or a mundane activity like posing for a photograph with him. Others simply wanted to congratulate

him for the successful launch of another television channel. The bustle was hectic and because a good number of the persons were his friends, acquaintances and professional colleagues, one could only turn down this show of familiarity at the risk of being termed a snub. The moment he had a breather, he dashed out to be by himself and that was the moment we arrived to, unwittingly spoil his fun. He was already bringing out

a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. Pleading our indulgence to polish off one stick, he sank into a seat by the swimming pool. He smoked contemplatively while making a light conversation about the economy of the country. A few more sticks of cigarettes after, he felt satiated and fully refreshed enough to engage the reporters. We moved back into the lounge of the hotel to begin what would later be a very interesting and revealing

conversation. Adepetu belongs to that small category of people who are living their dream. He is doing what he always wanted to do and he is playing at the highest level possible - that of a business owner and employer. Perhaps, it is right to say Providence had a hand in his affairs. First, he had his upbringing in Jos, a city famed for its television culture, as exemplified by the fact that the only purpose-built degree

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 10, 2016

COVER

L-R: Shaffy Bello,Fathia Balogun and Gideon Okeke

Adepetu

Trybe TV crew

awarding institution for television studies is in Jos. The city has the reputation of recording Nigeria’s advancement in television broadcast with the beginning of the colour revolution. It was in this city filled with television broadcast memes that Adepetu grew up with his grandmother, who he credits with having an effective way of teaching. From her, he learnt how to use the power of reason and persuasion. She could tell stories, and this was a major influence on the young Adepetu. The control Jos had over his life became total and complete when his sister started working for Nigeria Television Authority in the city. That meant a daily routine that took him from school to the NTA to pick his sister. While waiting for her to finish work, he had enough time on his hands to wonder around NTA, Jos. He was in primary school, but he was already bitten by the bug of television production. Many years later, Adepetu returned to the television college as a student, not a curious youngster. Of course, it was a familiar ground. He came to the Television College, with the full knowledge of what he was going to do. Over the years, focusing on that route has been easy. The Ikeja soiree was held to celebrate the arrival of Trybe Television, Adepetu’s

latest venture. It is his eight television channel and he has come to terms with the fact that he can’t expand any further. So far, he has done all he set out for, except a kiddies channel. Children are the only member of the family Adepetu has, regrettably, left out of a deliberate plan to create television channels with content that will interest every member of the family. With eight channels already, he is willing to sacrifice the interest of children for the opportunity to consolidate and improve on what he has on ground. By establishing these television channels, Adepetu said he wants to provide an unsurpassed platform to offer value to every part of the family. “I want to be part of the life of every member of the family. I’m creating channels that address the needs of those individuals, specifically. We created these channels a long time ago. For instance, Spice TV has been in existence for long, but people got to know about it when it got unto the DStv platform. We are not really doing anything now in terms of creating new channels; we have eight channels and those eight channels are what we’ve been working on in the past ten years. We have the Tribe Movie Channel, Spice Tv, a fashion channel, we have the ONtv, which is for general entertainment and we have the

TWELVE YEARS AGO, ADEPETU STARTED WITH A GENERAL ENTERTAINMENT BRAND CALLED WEEKEND TELEVISION, WHERE HE HAD BLOCKS OF PROGRAMMING ON AIT FROM MONDAY TO SUNDAY FOR THREE HOURS… ADEPETU CONTINUED TO PRODUCE CONTENT FOR AIT BEFORE HE STARTED HIS OWN PLATFORM. BUT WHEN THE WORK BLOCKED THE ADVANCEMENT OF HIS PERSONAL DREAM, HE STOPPED AND DECIDED IN 2005 TO LAUNCH HIS CHANNELS

ONtv Max focused on the father of the house. We have Access 24, which is a news channel; by the time people see it on DStv, they will understand what we are doing. It’s a channel that the man of the house will feel comfortable watching with his child. We have the Televista Series Channel and Urban 96, a lifestyle channel. The only difference between Urban 96 and Soundcity, the music channel, is that Urban 96 is only available on mobile.” Adepetu explained why he focuses on creating content for television channels instead of investing in a television station. “Today’s broadcasting is targeted broadcasting. If you want to speak to the man of the house, there are certain things that interest him. You cannot be speaking to the man of the house and at the same time talking to the woman of the house. You need to meet people at the point of their needs. We try to meet our viewers and listeners at the point of their need.” Twelve years ago, Adepetu started with a general entertainment brand called Weekend Television, where he had blocks of programming on AIT from Monday to Sunday for three hours. “The first day AIT launched, it was primarily 40 per cent of our programmes that was running on AIT at that time. We’ve been around. We started with them and we grew

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 10, 2016

coveR

Trybe TV crew with Nollywood stars

with them. We were able to work with them because, they were the only people at that time that understood where we wanted to go to as television professionals.” Adepetu continued to produce content for AIT before he started his own platform. But when the work blocked the advancement of his personal dream, he stopped and decided in 2005 to launch his channels. Each of the channels runs on its individual structure, with its own channel manager and brand marketing team. However, they share a few things, like the engineering, administrative and finance departments which service the entire group. The CMA group has 252 staff members. Adepetu does not retain this large number of dependents to service a passion. For him, it is strictly business. “There’s a clear economic direction. We will not do stuff that does not pay itself to run. We will always do a channel because we know that channel is sought after. That means there will be people willing to put certain elements within it to make it sustainable. Anything we do is based on research. I have group of boys who are prepared to tear my ideas to pieces. I have to defend it. Sometimes, people wonder if I’m working for these boys or they are working for me. I’ve trained them to be fearless in expressing their opinions and that has helped the company. Once we put our foot forward, we are not guessing. It’s guided by knowledge and facts.” Being grounded personally has helped Adepetu to remain on top of his game. He is

IN THE WORLD OF GAMBLING, IT IS A FAMED STATEMENT THAT EVERY HAND IS A WINNER AND EVERY HAND IS A LOSER. IT HAS NOT BEEN AN UNBREAKABLE STRING OF WINS FOR ADEPETU. HE WAS FORCED INTO THE PAINFUL DECISION TO REST SOUNDCITY MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS. FOR THREE YEARS, THE SHOW RAN ON ITS STEAM, WITHOUT EXTERNAL FUNDS

well versed in all aspects of television production production, writing, directing and marketing of content. Trybe TV, his latest channel was created to offer a platform for African films. The channel shows 70 per cent movies and 30 per cent other incidental content that revolve around the whole industry; how the films are made and the rest. In the world of gambling, it is a famed statement that every hand is a winner and every hand is a loser. It has not been an unbreakable string of wins for Adepetu. He was forced into the painful decision to rest Soundcity Music Video Awards. For three years, the show ran on its steam, without external funds. “It was too expensive to run from our pocket. At that time, the award was costing us a million dollars every year for those three years. It was very difficult to sustain. If we find potential sponsors that believe in the dream and are able to fund it, then we can still go ahead and do it.” Because he is a pathfinder of sorts, Adepetu has not only taken, he finds himself giving, a lot of times. From verbal guidance to financial contribution, he is frequently called upon to shape the process that has transformed many artistes from nothing to millionaires. This makes him extremely happy. Nothing compares to that joy. “All of our brands are designed on that basic fact that we want to project our country. No matter what challenges that we face internally, when you go to other African countries, you will realise that we are in paradise. I’m extremely proud of my people and of what our

ideas are able to do for people outside and within the country.” “I never worked for anybody,” Adepetu announced without a hint of pride. “I went to TV College Jos, went to University of Jos to study Theatre Arts, did film, did some short courses here and there and then launched out on my own. The only reason I didn’t work with anybody is not for any ego, but because there was just nobody thinking the way I was thinking. If I had gone to work for anybody, they won’t understand where I was coming from, where I was going to and that would create a lot of conflict; I was not about to start having conflict in my life. I decided that I was going to do things my way. It has been extremely difficult, but I’ve managed to pull through.” To understand Adepetu’s career trajectory better, one must listen to him carefully make a distinction between his first still camera and his first motion picture camera. The still camera was a birthday gift from his mother. He was very adventurous with it. The motion picture camera brings back painful memories. “The camera never really did an honest day’s work. I paid upfront and the person I bought it from was supposed to be a big brother. My consolation is that person still sees me now and he is nowhere near my status, but I don’t keep malice. There are certain things that older people do to you when you are young. They know that they shouldn’t. You don’t hate them and it’s not that you’ve forgiven them; you rather they just let you live your life and not necessarily have to bring themselves around you.”

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER • APRIL 10, 2016

ARTS & REVIEW\\ART BEAT

TWO TO EVOLVE?

Idu by Yellow Sitter

the Department of Graphics from 2005 to 2008. His co-exhibitor, the 42-year-old Chika Idu is no doubt among what the forthcoming exhibition’s organisers deem “ Nigeria’s exciting emerging artists”. The 1998 Auchi Polytechnic graduate of painting is known for his resilience in the talent-glutted industry. Perhaps, that could have partly inspired his joining forces with a handful of colleagues to create the Defactori Studios, which is basically a collective of self-motivated new generation artists. Also to his credit is the formation of the pioneering Water Colour Society of Artists (SABLES). Expectedly, Idu is not unknown in the Lagos exhibition circuit, having been regularly featured in numerous group and solo exhibitions. Aficionados acknowledge not only his energy but also his creative evolution. His heavy-tex-

tured paintings, which are rendered in a technique he calls “light against visual distortion”, somewhat evoke the works of Impressionist masters. The Lycée Français Louis Pasteur, Lagos art teacher, who runs an art studio in Ikorodu, has for the past 16 years wormed his way into the consciousness of keen art devotees thanks to his commitment to sensitising the public on the plight of the African child through his paintings. His more recent campaign revolves around environmental issues. He is particularly interested in the risks faced by children living in coastal slums. In a solo exhibition, titled Intro, held about two years ago at Quintessence Gallery in Lekki, Lagos, the artist marked his rites of passage from long romance with water colours to his adventures in acrylic. For Idu, that exhibition was a way of being “more expressive”. While still

maintaining his links with his first love, water colour, the artist ventured into new techniques and aesthetics with his new works. By embracing acrylic, he did not necessarily abandon the use of water colours. He simply burst the fetters that confined him to one medium. As he once said, each of his themes would demand the medium it would prefer to be expressed in. The artist’s ever evolving creative whims dictate his themes, which two years ago suddenly shifted away from his hitherto altruistic focus. Apparently, discouraged by the flak he drew from his activism, he asserted; “I now paint without any message in mind.” In other words, Idu admitted to being cowed into opting for less irksome themes and perhaps painting for the sake of aesthetics. His exploration of new media thus became his dependable ally, as he hinted in his artist

statement for that exhibition. “I have been engaged in several experiments in search of avenues through which I can communicate without compromising my energy and message,” he wrote. Indeed, ever before venturing into that solo outing, he had experimented with the acrylic medium. “I see this technique and style diversity as opportunity to express myself in any way I choose,” he added. “For me, it’s like having the command of several languages. There are some expressions with stronger and more direct meaning in some language than in others. This truth can be related to my ability to express myself in various styles.” The constant evolution of the exhibiting duo makes the forthcoming exhibition a promising one and a must-see for not only the acknowledged collectors but also for the new ones.

APRIL 10, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

ARTS & REVIEW\\COMPETITION

A DOCTOR TAKES IT ALL

Yinka Olatunbosun

hen the news filtered in that a young medical doctor, Dr. Adetola Rachael Adeyeye, had won the maiden Feature Article Writing Competition, it was quite a surprise, given the margin that lies between the practice of medicine and the literary world. The competition was initiated in February 2016 by Oando Marketing Plc for good reasons. First, to meet the need for developing literary skills while enhancing human capital development. Secondly, it is to fire up the reading culture in Nigeria. Unlike many competitions organised by corporate organisations, this literary contest was open to all Oando Marketing PLC’s employees and followers on its online platforms and had 135 entries in all. With the theme, “Sustainable Solutions to tackling Climate Change in developing countries,” contestants were tasked on writing a strong and factual feature story that is compelling enough to be read. Anyway, young Dr. Adeyeye won. As she was waiting to pick up her cheque for the prize money worth N400,000 at the Oando Marketing Plc office in Apapa last week, this reporter met her for the first time. Unassuming, she sat on a couch at the waiting lounge in one of the top floors of the sprawling building tucked inside Marine Beach. Could it be she knew she would win? Her story is simple and believable. She just came out of the bathroom, picked up my phone one day and saw the tweet @oandomarketing announcing her name as the winner of the competition. She was completely elated. “In a way I was expecting it’’, she began. “But for me, it was beyond winning the prize. I participated in this because I discovered that even though I have been hearing about climate change; my knowledge about it was shallow. I wanted to use the competition to boost that knowledge. I saw the advert on Facebook. I started researching almost immediately. I got a lot of articles online.’’ Writing is her pastime just as table tennis. Unlike the game, she couldn’t be swayed by the direction of the ball when it comes to writing. She takes it head-on, right from her days at the primary school. Back then, she participated in the literary activities, debating and writing. Then she had a very diligent teacher who would proof-read her contributions for the literary and debating society. “She would edit it and add some flesh to it,’’ she recalled. “That was the basis for me. Personally, I have wanted to study law because I thought I was eloquent and I could write. I later fell in love with Science courses much more than I was in love with art courses. I did my S.S.C.E and the result was very brilliant. I was counseled by my father who thought I should study medicine. But my desire then was food technology. My father thought I would be wasting the result if I didn’t study medicine. I knew it was very competitive so I was reluctant at first. But I passed the UME at the first sitting. When I got into medical school, it was really fun. I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else.’’ From politics to health, Dr. Adeyeye reads a variety of books. And she avidly feeds on motivational books especially when they are easy reads. Authors such as Ben Carson and Bishop David Oyedepo appeal to her naturally. Although the prize money is relatively small when compared to what is obtainable in music and other creative contests, she has a huge plan for the money for which she is very thankful, in the face of close competitors. She commended the organisers for instituting the literary prize to reward young writers. “I am a Christian so the first thing I will do is to pay my tithe. I am thinking of pursuing my Masters’ degree in Emergency Management so I will add to the money and study it. I think the prize money for subsequent editions should be reviewed upwards. If you are encouraging young ones to become more intellectually active, you have to make it look rewarding.

Mr. Abayomi Awobokun, CEO , Oando Downstream(2nd Left) presenting the cheque of N400,000 to Dr. Adeyeye Adetola Racheal, (2nd Right) Winner of Oando Marketing PLC’s 2016 Feature Writing Article themed “ Sustainable Business Solutions to tackling Climate Change in developing countries”. With him are Mrs. Kemi Songonuga(L) Finance Manager, Oando Marketing PLC and Mr. Seun Adeosun(Right), Head, Marketing Communiations, Oando Marketing PLC.

People go into modeling, singing, and get paid per hour. The average Nigerian child would want to model rather than do something that saps so much of your intellect. That extends to tertiary institutions. You find people graduating with first class honours. And all they get is the handshake from the VC. Nobody even knows or recognizes your four or five years of hard work,’’ she observed. Born in 1990, Adeyeye finished her MBBS in 2014 at 24. She has the benefit of the youthful vigour to do more for herself and the literary world. She promised to give professional writing a thought in the future, following the success story of her 3-paged award-winning feature. Her writing style, as she suggested, would remain simple. “What interests me more is the way a literary piece is written. I like simple writing. I don’t think we all have to study a particular course for us to tap knowledge from the written material. If I write on health, I will make sure that it is what everyone can relate to. That is why I am inspired by the authors I had mentioned earlier. I tried to do the same with my feature article. I broke it down. I didn’t use high flown language that you have to check the dictionary to find the meaning. When it comes to climate change, everybody needs to be aware,’’ she said. On her personal findings during research, it was discovered that climate change is the greatest and most universal threat to human existence. She lamented over the sheer ignorance of many who have perpetually carried out deforestation and other anti-green climate activities. A third of four children, Dr. Adeyeye was raised by a mother who is a vice principal at a secondary school in Lagos while her father retired as a telecommunications engineer. After completing her primary school education at the Blessed Children Nursery and Primary School and proceeded to St. Saviours High School, Lagos. At 17, she gained admission into the College of Health Sciences, University of Ilorin in Kwara State. Whilst counting her blessings, she acknowledged the role of her parents in her life. “I owe a lot of what I am today to the way I was raised. I was raised in an environment filled with warmth and love. I have parents who believe in me and who encourage me to be the best I can. I have siblings who are always challenging me. Significantly, the way I was raised contributed largely to the way I am. I wouldn’t say I had a regimented lifestyle. I will only say

I have a controlled lifestyle. To a large extent, I was still able to make my own decisions but I always know that I am accountable to my parents. They were always on the look-out for us. My mother, being a teacher, would close from work at 3p.m. and most of the time, my mother would be waiting for me at home. So I knew that there was no way I could run around with friends to do some other things. That in way was restrictive but it was necessary. I have friends that liked readin . I have very few friends. I read when I am tired and bored. I relax with books or writing. The nature of my job makes me see a lot of challenging things but when I want to get away from that world, I read,’’ she said. Juggling medicine and writing can be stiff and she knew that. Even as a medical student, her schedule was loaded with reading. Once, she had read for 18 hours in one day. Now as a practicing doctor, she could be on-call even when she really should be off-duty. Hence, she lets out the steam with writing for relaxation, but she desires more formal training in it. But on a parting note, she advised young writers to get a grip on the mastery of the language. “My advice to younger folks is that don’t make the English on social media the English you speak or write. Most of the time, the use of English on social media is wrong. Most people don’t even know how to write in full anymore. The only thing they know is how to abbreviate. I think the quality of English on social media and the amount of time that young people spend on these platforms can in a way lead to high failure rate. The last exam, the WAEC was so bad that the senate had to sit on it. The social media itself is not bad but the English on social media is quite bad. The social media is a very strong weapon for advocacy at the moment but I want to advise young people to go back to the text book and learn the write way of speaking or writing,’’ she said. Extending the time line for the study of medicine is not an idea she is comfortable with. She thought the ratio of patients to doctors is already high. And so, if it takes a longer time for medical students to graduate, it is likely that fewer students will study medicine and that means with time, there will be fewer doctors in Nigeria. But for now, the literary world can be certain of a fact: she is an addition to the list of young and promising writers.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER • APRIL 10, 2016

ARTS & REVIEW\\MUSIC

A scene from Titanic film

MELODIOUS UNION: MUSIC & MOVIES!

Emem Ema

here are certain songs I cannot get out my head. No thanks to the hair stylist at the salon murdering Celine Dion’s “My Heart will Go On” or a friend who was permanently on repeat belting out “And I…I…. will always love you!” the theme song to Whitney Houston’s Bodyguard. Oh let’s not forget “Pretty Woman…Walking Down the Street” or how about “Simba’s Pride” from the Lion King? Before I watched the movie Notting Hill starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, I bought the CD (yeah, I am old fashioned like that), then my curiosity drove me to go watch it only to see how the music complemented the movie. Music creates a connection or triggers a kind of nostalgia for people who have watched a movie or trying to decide to watch a movie, when you hear it several times on radio or any other platform. It also creates a mood in the movie depending on the scene it is being used for. How many times have you heard the famous whistle intro that makes everyone remember Clint Eastwood in the western Good, the Bad, the Ugly or the eerie strings intro that makes us all remember The Godfather? The Twilight series, which has sold 3.3 million copies over three albums had various artistes clamouring to be a part of the soundtrack album, why because of the success of the previous albums and the cult following of the story. Michael Bay (Transformers director) uses music in a really important way. He’s a filmmaker who cut scenes to songs to bring that emotion into his movies. Gone are the days of creating a soundtrack around something that lacks a strong musical presence. The movie, Slumdog Millionaire’s soundtrack did a great deal of good for it in terms of sales, marketing, visibility and even influenced a new “Indie-pop” sound for music in the period the movie was released. Sometimes the soundtrack of a movie attracts people who would ordinarily not see that type of movie to go see it… Kill Bill anyone? Jay Z pulled some star power in executive producing the Great Gatsby soundtrack. Also the almost easy way of an artiste getting an Oscar, not as an actor, is to take part in the creation and performance of the soundtrack or theme music of an Oscar-worthy film: Glory (Selma) won

an Oscar in 2015 for Common and John Legend, in 2012 Adele got an Oscar for Skyfall, the James Bond theme song and this year Sam Smith for the songWriting on the Wall, the theme song for the James Bond movie Spectre. Artiste, Lorde(Royals) was very involved in the soundtrack for the third instalment of the Hunger Games franchise, Mockingjay –Part One (2014), she performed the lead single, “Yellow Flicker Beat”. The track list revealed and featured a list of big names like Charli XCX, The Chemical Brothers, Chvurches, a Kanye West remix, and a collaboration between Pusha T, Q-Tip, Haim, Stromae, and Lorde. Tade Ogidan’s Madam Dearest is one of the best uses of a soundtrack by a Nigerian movie, Also Tunde Kelani’s Campus Queen I remember seeing the video with Sound Sultan, air for weeks on several music video channels. I also met Dapo Torimiro shortly after he was done producing the soundtrack album for RMD’s Out of Bounds, in fact that was one of the first conversation points for us. 10 HIGHEST SELLING MOVIE SOUND TRACKS OF ALL TIME

10. FOOTLOOSE (1984) Estimated Sales: 15 million Copies The film is a delicious hunk of 80s cheese that made Kevin Bacon a star. It obviously struck a nerve with its teenage audience as although the film had mixed reviews, soundtrack sales were phenomenal. Most Popular track: ‘Footloose’ - Kenny Loggins 9. THE LION KING (1994) Estimated Sales: 15 million Copies The Lion King was one of Disney’s biggest ever hits, grossing $951m. Asides garnering critical acclaim for its stunning animation, compelling story...its music was also a huge contributor to its success. Hans Zimmer won an Oscar for the score, Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice were nominated three times for Best Original Song, winning for “Can You Feel The Love Tonight”. 8. FORREST GUMP (1994) Estimated Sales: 19 million Copies The Forrest Gump soundtrack is a snapshot of America from the 50s through to the 80s. It was made up of some solid, excellent and s timeless tunes that reflected the best moments of the six time Oscar winning classic. Most Popular track: “Break On Through (To The Other Side)”- The Doors

7. TOP GUN (1986) Estimated Sales: 20 million Copies A decent feel-good soundtrack! One of the definitive ‘high-concept’ films of the 80s, Top Gun inspired a generation to join the navy, get a Maverick haircut and listen to Kenny Loggins more than government guidelines recommend. Most Popular track: “Take My Breath Away”- Berlin 6. PURPLE RAIN (1984) Estimated Sales: 23 million Copies Cult musical drama Purple Rain saw Prince’s film debut. The movie grossed $70 million dollars and featured two bona fide Prince classics in ‘When Doves Cry’, as well as the title track Purple Rain. Most Popular track: “Purple Rain” by Prince 5. GREASE (1978) Estimated Sales: 26 million Copies The royalties goldmine...Grease, is a musical about being in high school in your 30s. The movie and its soundtrack, captured the imagination of audiences the world over, turning a $6m budget into a worldwide gross of $395m. Most Popular track: “You’re The One That I Want” - John Travolta and Olivia Newton John 4. TITANIC (1997) Estimated Sales: 28 million It’s no surprise that the world’s biggest grossing film (until Star Wars), also boasted an enorma-selling soundtrack. Originally, James Cameron wanted Enya to write the score for Titanic, but ultimately turned to composer James Horner. The Celine Dionlaced song is the soundtrack to a million funerals. Most Popular track: “My Heart Will Go On” - Celine Dion. 3. DIRTY DANCING (1987) Estimated Sales: 28 million Copies Nobody puts Dirty Dancing’s soundtrack in the corner. The song, “I’ve Had The Time Of My Life” won a Golden Globe, a Grammy, and an Oscar for Best Original Song! Most Popular track: “(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life” - Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes 2. SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (1977) Estimated Sales: 28 million Copies This film made disco the highest form of Western music, part of the reason the PG cut of the original R-rated film released in cinemas, was to make the already popular

movie a hit among a younger audience as well. The PG version featured electric dance floors and enormous lapels. Most Popular track: “Night Fever” by The Bee Gees.

1. THE BODYGUARD (1992) Estimated Sales: 37 million The best selling soundtrack of all time by a huge margin! Indeed, both Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston were at their peak in 1992, plus Whitney Houston had one of the most extraordinary voices in the history of pop music, but the most famous song from the film, and of Houston’s career, almost never happened if not for Kevin Costner’s suggestion for Whitney to record a version of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” after the original song chosen was used for another movie. Most Popular track: Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You”. Some of my favourite movie soundtracks till date remain; Set it Off, Waiting to Exhale, Soul Food, Nottinghill, Jason’s Lyric, The Bodyguard and of course Half of a Yellow Sun (had to throw that in there) A movie soundtrack is also a source of revenue for a movie, when properly done, it can sell a lot of copies and bring the movie into more relevance, and you cannot underestimate the power of good music. When picking a song/songs for a movie soundtrack, the producers should pay attention to the type of music to ensure it aligns with the movie’s theme, target audience etc. the artiste should resonate with the general public and have enough star power or following to pull their fan base to seeing the movie. I noticed the Yoruba movie producers, have a penchant for Tope Alabi’s music/ talent as she seems to sing most of the songs for their movies, I will ask why as soon as I get the opportunity to buy it, sorry she seems to work for their productions and perhaps the audience. I look forward to when a Nigerian movie will fully utilise a near-perfect soundtrack in the near future. Nigerian music has a huge following and this has to be explored and exploited in the most creative and purposeful ways. To be clear, a soundtrack is not the weird scary sound you hear in a Nollywood movie, when something creepy is about to go down. - Emem is the CEO of ONE Management, a Nigeria-based media strategy and support company. dealmaker@one1mgt.com

APRIL 10, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

ARTS & REVIEW\\FILMS

A TWO-MAN SHOW AT QUINTESSENCE Yinka Olatunbosun

wo is synonymous with duality and that’s the bane of human nature when examined holistically. That’s also true of the nature of the forthcoming two-man exhibition titled, “Shifting Horizons”, at the Quintessence Gallery, Park View Estate, Ikoyi. Godwin Arikpo and Promise O’nali have been partners in progress for a while, with paths colliding in Port Harcourt a couple of times. A synergy between them snowballed into the God-Promise page on Facebook and a joint exhibition in Port Harcourt. But as for art patronage, Lagos is the choice destination for both of them. Just recently, Promise, who graduated from the University of Nsukka, relocated to Lagos. Although his colleague still shuttles between Lagos and Port Harcourt, their latest show which opens on April 23 will likely shift Godwin’s attention to Lagos, at least for now. Though young and emerging artists, Godwin and Promise desire to give some of the proceeds from the sales of their works to the less privileged, hence this latest exhibition which has a charity underlining. Last Tuesday, a press preview of their works at the gallery was a sneak peek into the world of both artists which may expand beyond 24 pieces before the grand opening. For Godwin, the works are the products of introspection and an artist’s interrogation of his society. “Looking at Nigeria, the government is failing us and there are lots of unanswered questions. So there is a need to move from the “me’’ consciousness to the “us” consciousness,’’ Godwin declared. Yes, the last thing on the mind of the average Nigerian right now is to give. Due to the harsh economic climate, survival is top on every one’s priority list. But there are several children who are completely helpless for living with disabilities. Some had been abandoned by their parents while others have caring but financially incapacitated parents. Such is the story of the children at Eruobodo House, a charity organisation which has been named by the two artists as one of the possible beneficiaries of this show. “This is also a way of showing appreciation to the gallery,’’ said Promise who had his first show at Quintessence in 2014. He believes that his works are still evolving and his cited Uli art tradition as a major influence. Sometimes, his pieces may seem very abstract, which clearly indicate that Promise’s interest lies in creating works that are thought-provoking. “If you look at the ‘Birth of Me Series’, it is inspired by a child’s curiosity. It’s about the duality of the life we are living,’’ he explained. Godwin’s style deviated markedly from Promise’s as he pointed out while fielding questions from journalists. “If Promise wants to talk about a chair in his work, he talks about sitting. He looks at the intuitive meaning of things around him. But the synergy makes it better. Some people actually want works that offer deeper meanings. If you want encrypt messages, you will love Promise’s works,’’ said Godwin. Godwin who graduated from the University of Port Harcourt took his friends from the media round the few pieces he brought for the preview, one of

Arikpo

which he titled, “A place in the sky’’. “In the sky, there’s no boundary. No one is bound by religion or skin colour. You can be the sky to the next person. Our expectations will always find a place for realization,’’ he remarked, philosophically. For the piece titled “Cosmic Love”, his preoccupation is on harnessing the selfsacrificing spirit. He argued that the volume of the gift is not what counts, but the large heart behind it. Asides the monetary donation to charity, the show will also feature a

children’s workshop scheduled for April 30 at the Gallery. Four schools in the neighbourhood had been selected by the gallery to bring children who will be trained on rudiments of painting, using water colour and other basic techniques of painting. When asked why Godwin would want to give back to Lagos instead of Port Harcourt where he had spent a good part of his career life, he made reference to some of the shows he had done in Port Harcourt for the sake of humanity.

“Quintessence is very much art-inclined. There are other places we could have gone but it was an idea that was well received here,” said Godwin. Born in 1972 in Lagos, Godwin lives and works in Port Harcourt. He holds a BA in Fine and Applied Arts from the University of Port Harcourt and has a distinct penchant for experimental works. A creative designer, illustrator and painter, Godwin searches and embraces newer thoughts and materials to refine his techniques.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 10, 2016

CICERO/REPORT

Saraki arriving at the tribunal

The Trial of Senate President Saraki After weeks of back and forth, the Code of Conduct Tribunal last week commenced the trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki over allegations of false declaration of assets. Iyobosa Uwugiaren, who has been covering the proceedings, writes

hen the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) slammed a 13-count charge bordering on false of assets declaration on Senate President Bukola Saraki last September, the Senate President’s political associates were said to have advised the strongman of Kwara politics to roll up his sleeves and get ready to fight back. They believed and still hold the view that the case was politically motivated. The advice, according to an insider, was based on their thoughts on how the minds of those who allegedly scripted Saraki’s charges work. According to one of Saraki’s associates – a senator in the National Assembly -‘’Those behind the Senate President’s current political battle are well-known to us; they don’t forgive their enemies; and once they perceived you as enemy, they crush you until you are not able to stand up to challenge them.’’ The senator told THISDAY that when it became very clear to them recently that the presidency and the political hawks hovering around it were deeply involved in Saraki’s travails, a suggestion was made to the Senate President’s political associates to reach out to a key figure in the administration for possible intervention. But it was a futile journey, according to the source. The top official of the administration “was enraged when we tabled the issue of the Senate President before him. He said Bukola Saraki thought he could outsmart them by becoming the Senate President; he said they were going to teach him the political lesson of his life; and that Saraki will vacate his seat in the next few weeks’’, the Senator from Delta State alleged. It was further gathered that when the peacemakers returned to Saraki and broke the shocking news to him, the Senate President was quoted as telling his colleagues that “no man is God.’’

Saraki’s words at that time might have been a consolation to him and his supporters, but as his trial commenced in Abuja on Tuesday, Saraki may just be saying to himself: “If I knew it was going to be like this I would have moved faster than the step I took months back.” That may not be unconnected with the unfolding events at the tribunal in the last few days. But for the power failure at the CCT on Wednesday, the sitting may have dragged till 6pm. The power outage occurred when Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), the prosecuting counsel, was leading a prosecution witness, Mr. Michael Wetkas, in evidence. Prior to the outage, Mr. Kanu Agabi (SAN), the lead counsel to Saraki, had pleaded with Umar for an adjournment, but the chairman of the tribunal, Justice Danladi Umar, refused, saying he was ready to continue with the case until 6pm. However, the blackout did the work for Agabi, as the outage compelled Umar to adjourn the trial. The CCB had slammed a 13-count charge of corruption on Saraki. In charge number ABT/01/15, dated September 11, 2015 and filed before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Saraki was accused of anticipatory declaration of assets and false declaration of assets in the forms he filed before the Code of Conduct Bureau while he was Executive Governor of Kwara State. He was accused of failing to declare some assets he acquired while in office as governor. Other charges against the Senate President include alleged acquisition of assets beyond his legitimate earnings and operating foreign accounts while being a public officer – as governor and senator. In the estimation of the prosecutor, the offences violate sections of the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, as amended and breached Section 2 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act --- punishable under Paragraph 9 of the said Fifth Schedule of the Constitution.

But the Senate President had challenged the competence of the false assets declaration and criminal charges brought against him by the federal government. He had insisted that the charge was politically motivated and in bad faith. In the objection filed by Agabi (SAN), a lead counsel to Saraki, he averred that the charges could not be sustained in law since due process of law was not observed before it was initiated. He had asked the tribunal to quell or strike out the charges contained in charge No. CCT/ABJ/01/2015 filed last September against him. Saraki had also asked the tribunal to discharge him from the charges on the ground that the charges were not competent and lawful in the eyes of the law. His grounds of objection to the trial were among others, that the tribunal headed by Umar had no jurisdiction to entertain the charge because a condition precedent to the exercise of jurisdiction had not been fulfilled. Besides, he also anchored his objection on the fact that the charge was brought in bad faith - brought not in the interest of the public and justice and that the charge constituted a gross abuse of legal process. Saraki further averred that the charge, having been allegedly brought in violation of due process and in violation of his right to fair hearing, he couldn’t lie at the instance of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. “We are public servants and you must fill your asset declaration form when you get in office and I did mine 13 years ago. The charges have nothing to do with corruption or money being stolen anywhere. I will have my day in court to prove my innocence of the charge pending against me because it is not about corruption’’, Saraki had stated. “I don’t understand how the same organisation that cleared my asset declaration to be proper in 2004, 2009 and 2011 can now say that my record is faulted.”

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 10, 2016

CICERO/REPORT • THE TRIAL OF SENATE PRESIDENT SARAKI • Continued from Pg. 72 True as his trial of alleged concealment of assets finally got under way Tuesday in Abuja, Saraki expressed happiness that he now had an opportunity to clear his name. One of his aides said the Senate President’s confidence arose from the first prosecution witness, Michael Wetkas’ testimony that Saraki’s naira account with one of the banks, which his team analysed, had an in-flow of about N4 billion, saying the major source of inflow into the account was a loan taken from Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) within the period of 2005 and 2013. The trial proceeded with a three-hour legal battle by Saraki’s lawyers, who sought an adjournment of the case to enable them dispose of their client’s appeal, challenging the jurisdiction of the Umar-led Code of Conduct Tribunal at the Court of Appeal. Justice Umar, however, dismissed the application for adjournment on the ground that the Supreme Court had already rested the issue of jurisdiction. According to him, “The motion for adjournment based on an appeal challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal at the Court of Appeal is not necessary.” Paul Usoro (SAN), who represented Saraki’s lead counsel, Agabi (SAN), had requested an adjournment on the strength of a notice of stay of proceedings filed at the tribunal. He argued that the defendant was challenging at the Court of Appeal, the tribunal’s March 24 ruling, which ordered the continuation of the trial. He, therefore, prevailed on the tribunal to adjourn the matter until the hearing and determination of the application at the Court of Appeal, saying he was not asking for ‘’a stay of proceedings, but for an adjournment of the matter.” But the prosecution lawyer, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), replied that both terms, ‘’stay of proceeding and adjournment’’, were the same thing. According to him, after the defendant filed a notice of appeal, he also filed a record of appeal at the Court of Appeal, which was supposed to be confirmed by the tribunal and then forwarded to the Court of Appeal, arguing: “It is only when the tribunal fails to compile the record that the appellant is obliged to do it himself.” Jacob added that the Supreme Court had already given the tribunal a clean bill to proceed with the trial, saying it would amount to judicial rascality to disregard the order of the highest court in the land. The prosecuting lawyer further argued, “The application for adjournment is predicated on false and void grounds; I urge your lordship to refuse this application for adjournment because it is becoming too much.” The argument of both lawyers lasted three hours. The tribunal later reviewed it and rejected Saraki’s application as lacking in merit and asked the prosecution to open its case. And in what looks like a case of money laundering, and other financial crimes --- not falsification of assets declaration, the prosecution’s first witness, Micheal Wetkas, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) detective, who headed the investigation of the Saraki case, later testified at the beginning of the trial proper that Saraki’s naira account with one of the banks, which his team analysed, had an in-flow of about N4 billion, saying the major source of inflow into the account was a loan secured from Guaranty Trust Bank within the period of 2005 and 2013. He gave a long account of how Saraki allegedly used fake names to launder billions of dollars. The EFCC detective explained how one Abdul Adama, one of Saraki’s personal assistants, allegedly made 50 transactions on the account in a single day, broken

Agabi down to N600,000 and N900,000 each. According to him, “When the defendant was governor of Kwara State between 2003 and 2011, the commission received several petitions from various groups. One of the petitioners was the Kwara Freedom Network. They brought several petitions all bordering on abuse of office, misappropriation of public fund and money laundering by the defendant. “Sometime in 2014, the then executive chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde, received intelligence reports of suspicious transactions involving the defendant. He set up a team of investigators. Our task was to investigate the intelligence reports”. He said further: “The investigation report was reviewed by my team. In the course of our investigation, we discovered that there were several companies, which were linked to the defendant. Some of them include Carlisle Properties Investment Ltd, Skyview Properties Ltd, LimKvars Ltd, and TIly-lie Ltd.” Even though the witness did not give a clear link between Saraki and the said properties, he said that the investigations carried out by EFCC, the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), which indicted the defendant, were based on properties located at 17A and 17B McDonald, Ikoyi, Lagos; No 2A Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos; No 37 Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos and No 1 Gagus, Maitiama, Abuja, which he claimed were owned by Saraki but were not declared while he was in office as executive governor of Kwara State. The tribunal admitted the asset declaration forms as exhibits. Saraki’s lawyer, Usoro, however, said he was ‘’reserving his objection for now” over the forms. When the case resumed on Wednesday, the EFCC’s witness continued his evidence against the Senate President and explained how Saraki continued to get paid his salary by the Kwara State Government after he had stepped down as the governor of the state on May 29, 2011. Wetkas claimed that Saraki received monthly salaries from June 2011, when he left office as governor of the state, to August 2015 when he served as a senator. The prosecuting lawyer, Mr. Jacobs,

Jacobs later tendered three documents, which according to him were the details of Saraki’s accounts at GTB, as evidence in the case. And with no serious opposition from Agabi, the tribunal admitted the documents as exhibits. But Kwara State government has reacted to the claim insisting that the EFCC lied in its evidence. Reacting to the evidence submitted by the witness on the payment of salaries after Saraki had stepped down as the governor of Kwara State, the state government had clarified that there was never a time it paid the former governor’s salary after he left office in May 2011. A statement from the state government and signed by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Isiaka Gold, described the allegation against Saraki as “false and uncalled for”. Gold explained that Saraki’s last salary was N291,474 for the month of May 2011. According to the SSG, “From June 2011, former Governor Saraki started receiving his pension which was N578,188 as other past governors in the country.” The statement added that after the review of pensions of former political office holders by the state Pension Board, the former governor’s pension increased to N1,239,493.94 monthly from October 2014 to date. He dismissed as false and misleading the allegation that Saraki received salaries after the expiration of his two-term tenure as governor of the state. Gold advised interested stakeholders to seek clarification from the appropriate authority to avoid misleading the public. In another statement, the Director General of the Abubakar Bukola Saraki Constituency Office, otherwise known as Mandate, Hon. Abdulwahab Isa, explained that since Saraki stepped down as governor of Kwara State in May 2011, his pension, which was paid into a special account, is being managed by a group of trustees and used for education endowment for students across the state. Isa, in a statement yesterday stated that the Senate president does not even have access to the account. He said a group of trustees led by him were mandated to use the money in paying scholarship grants and funds for Joint Admission and Matriculation

Board ((JAMB) forms for students across the state. “We have also used the money to pay for coaching of students who were preparing for JAMB examinations. For example, the most recent beneficiaries from the fund were two University of Ilorin Faculty of Law students who were the best in their set and needed money for their enrollment into the Nigerian Law School,” he said. Isa added that the funds from the pension account had been utilised in fulfillment of a pledge publicly made by Saraki to the people. THISDAY gathered in Abuja that with the commencement of the trial proper, nocturnal meetings had continuously been held by both the All Progressive Congress (APC) senators and their Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterparts. An insider in the National Assembly told THISDAY that PDP senators had vowed not to support the emergence of another APC senator as senate president if Saraki was eventually forced out by his on-going trial at CCT. Speaking on behalf of PDP senators recently, Senator Peter Nwaboshi (Delta North) said instead of supporting APC, they would rather draw senators from APC particularly from Saraki’s camp, senators of like Mind, to make up the required number to produce the next Senate president. But a source, however, said the presidency is conscious of the slim majority of the APC in the Senate as well as the huge influence that the PDP senators wield in the upper chamber and had conceived a strategy to stop the opposition senators. A source privy to the move told THISDAY that the presidency had opted to tackle the matter in a diplomatic way by having a private meeting with the Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, who has financial crimes case hanging on his neck, in view of his perceived influence among the PDP senators. The aim of the meeting would be to persuade his colleagues in the PDP caucus to drop any plan to exploit the on-going trial of Saraki to seize Senate presidency. Even as the trial continues in a couple of days, Saraki’s huge support base in the Senate has continued to express support for the Senate President and has vowed to stand by him all through the trial.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 10, 2016

CICERO/REPORT

President Buhari in a handshake with US President Obama at the just -concluded Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC

In Washington, World Leaders Renew Calls to Keep Nuclear Weapons Away from Rogues Last Week, President Muhammadu Buhari joined other world leaders at a Nuclear Summit in Washington DC, United States of America, hosted by President Barack Obama to find new ways of stopping bad elements in the world from having access to nuclear weapons. Tobi Soniyi, who was at the summit, reports

he Nuclear Energy Summit hosted by United States President Barack Obama in Washington DC recently has again shown global leaders’ efforts to keep nuclear weapons away from the hands of bad elements. Many of the leaders agreed that the face of terrorism will change for the worse if terrorists are allowed to get hold of nuclear weapons. Obama’s opening address focused on ‘How we can make our vision of a world without nuclear weapons a reality.’ According to him, of all the threats to global security and peace, the most dangerous is the proliferation and potential use of nuclear weapons. He said: “That’s why, seven years ago in Prague, I committed the United States to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and to seeking a world without them. This vision builds on the policies of presidents before me, Democrat and Republican, including Ronald Reagan, who said ‘we seek the total elimination one day of nuclear weapons from the face of the Earth.’” Given the continued threat posed by organizations such as the terrorist group called ISIL, or ISIS, Obama called for a review of counterterrorism efforts, to prevent the world’s most dangerous networks from obtaining the world’s most dangerous weapons. “As the only nation ever to use nuclear weapons, the United States has a moral obligation to continue to lead the way in eliminating them. Still, no one nation can realize this vision alone. It must be the work of the world,” Obama said. In a statement he made at the summit, Buhari reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to the global fight against the threat of nuclear terrorism and other forms of terrorism. He also pledged Nigeria’s continued support for all

multi lateral efforts aimed at promoting a common approach and commitment to nuclear security at the highest levels. “Nigeria accords high priority to all global efforts towards ending the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, including nuclear weapons. “Nuclear terrorism is one of the greatest threats to international security and preventing nuclear terrorism and all forms of terrorism around the globe is of concern to all of us. “To this end, Nigeria has strengthened the legal framework for fighting terrorism through the adoption in 2013 of an amendment to its Terrorism (Prevention) Act, ensuring the implementation of more robust counter-terrorism measures in the country,” Buhari said. The president told the gathering that to enhance Nuclear Security, Nigeria had reinforced its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United States Department of State’s Partnership for Nuclear Security and the World Institute for Nuclear Security. “In addition, Nigeria has signed an agreement of cooperation with the United States Department of Energy’s Office of Radiological Security to protect nuclear and other radiological materials from theft or sabotage. “Nigeria also intends to strengthen its partnerships with relevant international organizations to promote capacity building, particularly in the development of the Nigerian Nuclear Security Support Centre, Physical Security Upgrades and Human Reliability Programmes Implementation,” the president said. Buhari also said that Nigeria had developed a programme to ensure that radioactive sources in the country are better secured to prevent unauthorized access by terrorists and criminals. He commended Obama’s “pace setting initiative and drive”, which, he said, has brought the global fight against

the threat of nuclear terrorism to its present level. On the sideline of the summit, Nigeria was pushing for concession to use nuclear power to generate energy. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina explained why Nigeria needed a nuclear power. Adesina said Buhari joined other world leaders at the summit because the country needed to explore how to use nuclear energy for development. For Socio-economic development. “The tendency when you hear about nuclear energy is to start thinking of destruction. But that is not necessarily so. “This is about how nuclear energy can be deployed towards socio-economic development. It is good for Nigeria because we are trying to get power going and we can use nuclear energy to further develop our power sector. “Our position in Nigeria is that nuclear energy can be used for socio-economic development. That nuclear energy is not only about war. It is not only about destruction and it is not only about death. “The world needs not be unsafe through the development of nuclear energy.” But to ensure that the world remains safe from misuse of nuclear power will remain a daunting challenge. This much is understood by Obama when he said, “achieving the security and peace of a world without nuclear weapons will not happen quickly, perhaps not in my lifetime. But we have begun. “We’re clear-eyed about the high hurdles ahead, but I believe that we must never resign ourselves to the fatalism that the spread of nuclear weapons is inevitable. Even as we deal with the realities of the world as it is, we must continue to strive for our vision of the world as it ought to be.”

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 10, 2016

CICERO/REPORT

The ‘Awgu 76’ Conundrum Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State visited Ugwuneshi community in Awgu council of the state about a fortnight ago to identify with the people and appeal for calm, in an emotional moment following the controversial arrest of 76 native farmers by men dressed like soldiers for allegedly resisting the destruction of their farmlands by Fulani herdsmen. Christopher Isiguzo, in Enugu, writes

or the agrarian community of Ugwuneshi in Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State, life may no longer be normal following the events of March 17. That was when 76 members of the community were whisked away by men believed to be soldiers in a commando style following a reported clash with Fulani herdsmen operating in their area. The victims, now popularly known as the “Awgu 76”, were taken to the Federal Prisons, Umuahia, the Abia State capital, where they were dumped as the Magistrates’ Court in the Abia city declined jurisdiction on the case. The arrested men were released on April 1, after two weeks in detention. Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, aside making frantic moves to ensure the farmers regained freedom, tried to pacify the farmers whose farmlands and crops were destroyed by the rampaging herdsmen. In the first phase of the compensation, the governor literally relocated to the community Tuesday before the last and gave N8.5 million to the villagers.

Seizure

It was gathered that the hapless farmers, including youths, were rounded up by “men in military uniform” and bundled into trucks that carried them to Umuahia, where they were divided into three groups and arraigned at magistrates’ courts. After the brief court appearance, the farmers were whisked away to prison custody as none of the magistrates agreed to grant them bail.

Ugwuanyi (right) being received by the traditional ruler of Awgu

Herders’ Menace/’Men in Military Uniform’

manner.”

Confirming the arrest of his subjects the traditional ruler of Ugwuneshi, His Royal Highness Igwe Godwin Nwobi, said the incident was the high point of the menace of herdsmen in his community. He said since the Fulani herdsmen settled in the community on their own they had been destroying crops with their cattle and over the years all entreaties for them to exercise caution had fallen on deaf ears. According to him, the people of Ugwunesi have been enduring the impunity of the herdsmen as they continued to ravage crops and render farmlands unproductive, adding that neither the security agencies nor government has done anything to call the herdsmen to order. After several warnings and pleadings, the royal father said the youths of the community could no longer bear the excesses of the herdsmen and decided to protest the unending impunity. He said things came to a head when information filtered into the community that herdsmen had abducted two women who went to the farm. “When we got such information, the youths and men were gathering in our village square to discuss the matter and plan for a rescue mission when suddenly they were surrounded by men in military uniform who arrested 76 of them and carried them away in trucks,” Nwobi said. The traditional ruler lamented that with the arrest of his people, the herdsmen, who were the aggressors, were now being portrayed as victims, adding that the people of Ugwuneshi have done nothing wrong by protecting their means of livelihood.

Denial

Meanwhile, the circumstances surrounding the arraignment of the 76 persons in Umuahia courts after their arrest in Enugu State remains confusing, as it could not be established where the men in military uniform actually came from to make the arrest. The Nigerian Army has dismissed reports that those who rounded up the villagers were soldiers. Spokesman of the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Col. H. Gambo, told THISDAY that the division was not aware of the arrest by its men. He said information available to them showed that none of those involved in the illegal arrest was from the division. Gambo expressed sadness over the development, stressing, “Every solder out there is properly kitted from head to toe and can easily be identified. “They are not our men, they are not military men, we are not aware of that. Some people just appeared in uniform and they were branded military men, they are not our soldiers, nobody has formally reported to us though. Every of the soldiers in town is fully kitted from head to toe and fully armed. It’s very easy for them to be identified. “It’s very sad that people just wake up and say soldiers arrested. Please, our men are not involved in that. Criminals adopt all manner of styles to deceive the people. These are people that have possibly collected money from one of the sides and decided to execute their nefarious act in such a

Ugwuanyi Appeals for Calm

While the identity of those behind the arrest remains unclear, Ugwuanyi has appealed for peaceful settlement of the fracas. He engaged the villagers and other stakeholders in a town meeting on March 29 at Ugwuleshi Primary School field. The governor promised to compensate the farmers and facilitate the release of those arrested and charged with arson and illegal possession of firearms in the wake of their clash with the herdsmen. Commending the Ugwuneshi community for the peaceful way they conducted themselves since the problem started, Ugwuanyi described the crisis as a security matter, which had earlier occurred at Uzo Uwani and Nsukka council areas between the villagers and the pastoral Fulani herdsmen. He said the earlier crisis was resolved through the intervention of the state government. Ugwuanyi emphasised that he was personally moved to visit the community to appeal for calm because his administration was keen on ensuring a peaceful environment in Enugu as a measure of attracting investors to the state. The governor, who was received by placard-carrying members of the community, said he shared in their pains and expressed the hope that the matter would be resolved amicably. According to the governor, “As your governor, the arrest of these villagers and their detention in Umuahia means that part of me is in Umuahia. I cannot sleep because you people cannot sleep. You elected me and there is no way I would abandon you in this period of your pain and stress. Only God knows what happened. “This is a temptation but since we have a living God, I believe we will solve this. It is a security matter. It has happened in Uzouwani, it has happened in Nsukka and we resolved all of it. So this one will also be resolved. “I weep for you because what was destroyed was your

Some have called for the designation of grazing reserves for the herders, but the preponderance of opinion is for the establishment of ranches, where cattle will be reared and fed with hay

source of livelihood. It has happened but I want to assure you that the government will not abandon you. The essence of a government is to alleviate the sufferings of the people and this government is truly and effectively committed towards it.” He appealed to the people to continue to toe the line of peace and avoid anything that could escalate the situation. Also speaking, the member representing Awgu/Oji River/ Aninri federal constituency, Toby Okechukwu, called on the community to continue to maintain peace. He stated that, though the detained natives were charged with arson and illegal possession of firearms, investigations had shown that they never committed the act. He called on the federal government to find ways of to stop the incessant attacks on communities by herdsmen. The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Nwodibo Ekechukwu, who accompanied Ugwuanyi on the visit, advised the community to avoid taking laws into their hands, but to report to the security agencies any time they find cattle rearers grazing on their farm crops. He assured the police would ensure such perpetrators were dealt with accordingly and prosecuted in the law court, to serve as a deterrent to others. Other stakeholders who attended the meeting included the transitional chairman of Awgu council area, Hon. Stanley Okeke, the member representing Awgu South State Constituency, Hon. Nelson Uduji, and Barrister Damian Ajah. They spoke on the efforts they had made to secure bail for the detained community members and expressed appreciation to the governor for his intervention from the onset. They disclosed that Ugwuanyi had been in contact with his counterpart in Abia State, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, on the matter.

Beyond Release

Beyond the release of the “Awgu 76”, finding a solution to the problems created by the activities of the Fulani herdsmen remains a major challenge in the state. In many communities in the state, the herdsmen have been associated with several atrocities, from rape and killings to attacks and destruction of farmlands. Not long ago, communities in Uzo-Uwani, Nsukka, Udi and Ezeagu came under attack by the herdsmen. Different groups have also come out to condemn the activities of the herdsmen, while appealing to government to find a lasting solution to the problem. Some have called for the designation of grazing reserves for the herders, but the preponderance of opinion is for the establishment of ranches, where cattle will be reared and fed with hay. National President of Igbo Women Assembly, Mrs. Maria Okwor, in a reaction to the menace of Fulani herdsmen, said urgent steps should be taken to call the herdsmen to order. She stressed that the pain inflicted on people, especially within the South-east, was getting to a boiling point. “We cannot continue to keep silent while we keep receiving tales of woes from our people in the hands of the herdsmen,” she said. Okwor appealed to government at various levels to think out a lasting solution to the problem before it degenerates to an unmanageable level.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 10, 2016

CICERO/INTERVIEW

Akeredolu

Akeredolu: I’ll Deliver to Ondo State the Benefits of Good Governance If Elected Governor Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu was President of the Nigerian Bar Association between 2008 and 2010. Two years after his tenure, he threw his hat into the governorship race in Ondo State, emerging candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria at the 2012 governorship election. He lost the election. But ahead of this year’s governorship election in the state, the former candidate of ACN, which later fused into the All Progressives Congress in 2013, has indicated an interest in the race. Akeredolu says he is motivated by the zeal to rescue Ondo State from the crisis of leadership. He speaks with Gboyega Akinsanmi. Excerpts:

hy are you contesting the governorship election again? I ran governorship race last time for obvious reasons. And those reasons have not changed up till now. Really, I am passionate about Ondo State. Having had the opportunity of traversing every nook and cranny of Ondo State, one is more than convinced that it is necessary to have a change in leadership in the state. Governance in Ondo State in the last seven years has been a waste of resources. One is convinced that the time has come for us to make meaningful impact in the life of our people and for them to have the benefit of good governance. That is why I am running. I am running to give our people the benefit of good governance so that they can derive the utmost, which they can get from a good government. How confident are you that your party, All Progressives Congress, can defeat the Peoples Democratic

Party government in Ondo State? What we need is to look at the statistics. If I say I am confident, you may think I am talking about myself. But my confidence is based on and backed up by statistics. In the last election, we had widespread manipulation, which was well clear. Everybody knew it was manipulated. Let us take the figures for granted. Then, the Labour Party did not score up to 50 per cent. Precisely, it scored about 44 per cent of the votes. We scored 24.15 per cent and the PDP polled about 26.24 per cent. So, when I say it is backed by figures, I know what I am saying. If Olusola Oke has left the PDP, it speaks volume. The votes two of us could garner even when it was manipulated were more than 50 per cent. Who says PDP has stronghold in Ondo State? The PDP does not have stronghold in Ondo State. We are not bragging. We have shown it with the defeat, which we were able to wreck on the PDP in the last presidential election. We won fair and square. If any person says our party is bragging, he must be a dreamer. We are giving a real situation. We are sure of winning the governorship election. As I mentioned to you,

we won elections into the House of Representatives. We won two Senate seats in the state. Can that be bragging? It can never be bragging. We are on ground in Ondo State. And we are sure of winning. In 2012, the inability of your party, then ACN, to properly manage the ambitions of its governorship aspirants was believed to be the greatest impediment of the party at the poll. Ahead of the next election, a similar scenario appears to be playing out. Are you not worried that there could be a replay of the 2012 situation? ACN did not fall victim. The party adopted a method of choosing a candidate. That method was what the party adopted in a good number of states. It was a pattern for the ACN then. Well, a number of people reacted to it. People have also raised objection to it. I believe their objection and reaction have been taken into consideration in the decision of the party to conduct primaries. When we have primaries, all the aspirants will fall in line. By the time we obtain forms, there will be less than five

aspirants who will stand for primaries. Even with five aspirants, we can agree among ourselves that whosoever wins, the others will support. I have always argued that primaries are an essential part of party politics. It is necessary. At the federal level, some argued that we should not have primaries and we should back a particular candidate. But other party members refused. All of us went for primaries. At the end, other aspirants pledged their support for the candidate that emerged. Indeed, they supported. Primaries are a panacea now for the problem we had then. I did not condemn the system then. But I know it was what was acceptable then. It was what was practicable at that point in time. In their wisdom, the leaders felt that was right. A number of aspirants who contested then submitted ourselves to that process. No aspirant queried it. At our meetings, we were asked whether we would agree to the party’s decision. All of us agreed to abide by the decision of the party. If you have submitted yourself to a process, you cannot complain thereafter. But a lot of people complained after. Now, our leaders must have probably thought

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 10, 2016

CICERO/INTERVIEW • THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON I’VE LEARNT IS THAT ON ELECTION DAY, YOU NEED DEDICATED, SINCERE PEOPLE AS AGENTS • about it and asked all aspirants to go through primaries. We hope whosoever will win we will now back him up. The essence of primaries is for dust to rise. There is no political party where you will not have dust. Look at the Republicans in America; they are raising dust. Look at the Democrats, they are raising dust. The difference in their own is that after the primaries, the dust settles and everybody becomes one and backs the candidate that emerges. It is not that everybody likes Donald Trump in the US. I can assure you that virtually all Republicans will back him if he wins. I believe that should be our goal in APC. But Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s personality can pose a challenge in a way. Is the APC cohesive enough in the state to spring up a surprise? Mimiko felt he was strong. He was there. He campaigned for former President Goodluck Jonathan. He was battered and bruised. Mimiko’s time has come and gone. Now that he is going, there is nothing like Mimiko again in Ondo State. You need to be in Ondo State. Mimiko is the most ineffective governor I have ever seen. What he is trying to do is to set up a situation whereby Akure people would rise against others or create a kind of ethnic clashes. He is bringing ethnicity or tribalism into this contest. But it is not like that. The people of Ondo State are wise when it comes to political wisdom. We have a sense of fairness. It is not only Ondo people. The people of Yoruba origin have a sense of fairness. We know what is fair. We know what equity demands. We know nobody can take us for a ride. Bringing Akure against other parts of the state will not work. I am sure that the people are going to vote for who they believe is most qualified or who they believe can deliver or who they believe really has integrity. Integrity is not what you earn overnight. You cannot buy it. What lessons have you learnt from the 2012 governorship election? The major lesson I took away from the last election is that on the decision day, you need a set of dedicated people to serve either as agents or as representatives to do many things for you. You cannot afford to leave that important aspect of electioneering in the hands of people who are not committed to the party or who are not committed to your cause on the election day and on the election eve. So, when you have people who are more or less like traders or who just want to cash in on it and make money, you are in trouble. We are trying now to win the primary. Immediately the primary is won, we must aggregate as many people as possible that believe in our cause genuinely or who are ready to serve. Government is powerful. But you do not bring in people

who believe in making money into their pockets. People who believe in power are ready to make sacrifice for their party to be in office. Those are people we need. This is the greatest lesson I learnt in the last election. You do not go around with people who are not committed to your course. If you have more of them than those who believe in your course, they are prepared to sell that cause along the line. Some people sold our cause in the last election. They felt they were not concerned and all they were concerned about was money. We worked and we will continue to work. I cannot say that working is not part of it. We really worked. There was no ward that we did not touch. There was no place we did not go in Ondo State. No other candidate has travelled every nook and cranny of Ondo State like we did before the last election. And we saw problems that our people were facing and that even informed one of the cardinal principles, which I believe. Another lesson has to with primaries. Probably, primaries will have taken care of it. This is to ensure that every person that contested will come on board. No matter what you do, a number of them worked against their party. That is a sad thing. Many people worked against us who were aspirants. Some who felt they were not paid worked against the party, to the extent of even taking money from the party and pretending that they were working for us. But they were working against us. It is not right. Honestly, I bear no grudge against any of them. It is all right. It is their choice. Our party lost, but we are coming up again. I pray they will not do the same thing. But we are coming up bigger and stronger? What you had been elected governor in 2012, what would you have done differently from what the current governor is doing? If I am elected, my major goal will be to provide security for the people. Majorly, job creation is key. That is one of the problems we have in the country. It is key to everything. There is no way we will continue like this either in Ondo State or any other state without creating jobs for our people and you think there will be security. When people are out of jobs, as we have an army of graduates who are not employed, the devil will find work for you. When I say Mimiko has failed, let him point out any major thing he has done to create jobs for our people. We are talking of creating jobs for thousands of people. He claimed he was doing something about agriculture at Ore. Those boys complained they were not paid. They had to leave the place. The place is now totally abandoned. It is now a bush. He claimed he was doing cattle ranch. There is no single cow there. They imported cow sometime and showed people. The place is abandoned. Agriculture is key because

On the decision day, you need a set of dedicated people to serve either as agents or as representatives. You cannot afford to leave that important aspect of electioneering in the hands of people who are not committed to the party or who are not committed to your cause on the election day and on the election eve. When you have people who are more or less like traders or who just want to cash in on it and make money, you are in trouble

Akeredolu

of all the value chain agriculture can bring. Employment that will follow it is important to everybody. This is what has been lacking. That is why I said he has not been effective. We have made a lot of money without result. In the South-west, with the exception of Lagos, we have the second highest allocation. What have you done with that money? Why is it that today we have had a government for almost eight years without result. He abandoned a university and at the late hour rushed back to say he was doing something. Nothing is being done. He has again established a new university. Pa Adekunle Ajasin established a university. Owo did not have a university then. He did not locate it in Owo, his hometown. In his own time, he located the university in Ado-Ekiti. Because you must have a university in Ondo and you abandoned the one in Okitipupa. It does not make sense. The university in Okitipupa was for science and technology. You should have continued the one in Okitipupa. If you needed medical sciences to be part of that, it could still be there. You now spend the money you have to build a new university. It does not make sense to a number of us. You have a medical centre in Ondo. That is fine. I am not against establishing things in Ondo. The point is that you do not have to cripple other infrastructure projects that are in place because you want to have a university in Ondo. To me, government is a continuum. When I come in, by God’s grace, I will not scrap anything. Rather than do that, I will ensure that whatever you have put in place is

properly put there, except where I see that it is going to be a waste and then we merge. I will never go all out, as Mimiko did to Ondo State University of Science and Technology. He abandoned it. It does not make sense. Which other areas do you think the Mimiko administration did not perform? Mimiko’s government has a lot of defects. A lot of us think we should have a habour today. We do not have. We have the longest coastline in the country. We have the Olokola Deep Seaport and Free Trade Zone project. We have Dangote Group, which once showed interest in it. Whatever it could have taken, Mimiko should have brought Dangote Group to the Olokola Deep Seaport and Free Trade Zone. If you see what Dangote Group is doing between Epe and Lekki, it will amaze you. It is a big project, perhaps, the biggest in West Africa. It should be in Ondo State if well handled. It is an unfortunate thing. Olokola has a lot. We have a road there that almost leads to Lagos. It is shorter. You can go by sea. It is shorter. There are many things we could have been doing. If we have a habour there, we have ships that barge in Lagos that will barge there because there is shallow point in that place. We also have the deepest point in that place. There are a lot of things that could have been done. But, like I said, my brother, who is the governor, plays politics too much with everything. He did not dedicate his talent. I believe he has talent. But he did not dedicate his talent to the cause of the state.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 10, 2016

CICERO/ONTHEWATCH

APC and the Return of Osoba Former Ogun State Governor Olusegun Osoba returned to the All Progressives Congress last Sunday at a ceremony in Lagos. Gboyega Akinsanmi writes on the circumstances surrounding Osoba’s decision to come back to the party

ast Sunday, a three-hour hour meeting was held at the Ikoyi residence of former Ogun State Governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba. It was a meeting of the leaders of All Progressives Congress in the South-west. The meeting was designed to end frosty relationships in their ranks and bring Osoba back to the fold. The meeting brought together APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former APC national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, his Oyo State counterpart, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, former Ekiti State Governor, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, and the APC vice chairman (South West), Chief Pius Akinyelure, among others. Unlike Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, whose deputy, Dr. Oluranti Adebule, represented at the meeting, the Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, was conspicuously absent. But the national leader defended Amosun’s absence from the meeting and insisted that Amosun “is with us. He was elected on the platform of APC. We can vouch for him.”

Differences over Nomination

At a session with journalists after the meeting, Aregbesola acknowledged that Osoba had once switched to the Social Democratic Party. He also acknowledged that he was a foundation chieftain of APC and pointed out that Osoba was in the party throughout his second term election in August 2014. But Aregbesola did not explain why Osoba switched to SDP. What culminated in the Ogun APC crisis was detailed in a nine-page letter Amosun addressed to Osoba just before the 2011 general election. In the letter, Amosun disagreed with the process of picking the party’s candidates that contested different state and federal legislative elections. He claimed he should be given the opportunity to make some input, being the party’s governorship candidate. He argued that the process of picking candidates “should be based more on electoral value and acceptability of aspirants.” Despite Amosun’s position that many of the candidates for federal legislative elections lacked electoral value, the then Action Congress of Nigeria – which later joined other parties to form APC – won three senatorial seats and nine House of Representatives seats in the state. But the case of the state legislative contest was different. Of the nine slots ceded to him in 2011, Amosun only won four while those who emerged from Osoba’s camp won all their slots. But the crisis became escalated with the conduct of the APC congresses in 2014. Before the congresses, both Osoba and Amosun agreed on the modalities for the process. But it was alleged that Amosun’s camp jettisoned the process and compiled the names of preferred candidates to form the party’s executive committees at the ward, local government and state levels. After the APC national convention, the APC national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, constituted a reconciliation committee headed by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to resolve internal rifts in all the 36 states. The Atiku committee met with both camps. But the committee never came up with a definite position, despite proofs that APC adopted a doctored report on the Ogun APC crisis.

The Return

When the crisis festered beyond the party’s control, the Alake of Egba, Oba

leaders acknowledged Osoba’s contribution “to the formation of the APC. Osoba was the chairman of the APC Constitution Drafting Committee. Despite pessimism in some quarters that APC would not work, leaders like Asiwaju Tinubu and Aremo Osoba worked together to prove pessimists wrong. So, Osoba should not be outside the APC.” The APC leader said the process of what happened last Sunday actually did not start on that day, stressing that what culminated in the Sunday reconciliation meeting “has been going on a very long even before Osoba finally decided to leave the APC for the SDP. The two monarchs, especially Awujale of Ijebu Kingdom, were crucial to the whole process.

South-west Unity

Osoba Adedotun Gbadebo, and Awujale of Ijebu Kingdom, Oba Sikiru Adetona, intervened. The monarchs convened series of reconciliation meetings in the build-up to the 2015 general election. But the intervention of the two royal fathers did not yield much fruit before the general election. However, the royal fathers did not relent in their efforts, not just to resolve the Ogun APC crisis, but equally to ensure that division was put to an end in the ranks of the progressive leaders in the South-west. With the support of the APC governors from the region, an APC leader, who did not want to be named, disclosed that both Awujale and Alake facilitated the return of Osoba to the ruling party. The APC leader, who was part of the reconciliation process, explained that the northern leaders from the APC also played a role in bringing Osoba back. He said the northern leaders “have been engaging Osoba to return to the APC after they discovered that he did not collect $1 million from the President Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, as widely report.” The source explained how the northern

Though constitutionally speaking, Osoba cannot be denied the right to freely associate or join any political party, many think the APC leadership needs to tie up any loose ends in the relationship between Osoba and Amosun in order to fully reap the benefits of the former governor’s return

“In fact, Awujale made it happen. He invited Aremo Osoba and Asiwaju Tinubu to his palace at different times to end the political differences. Aside, the monarchs had also been talking with Chief Bisi Akande and Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo among others to ensure that there is one common political front in the ranks of the South-west APC leaders.” At the peak of the process, the APC leader disclosed how Awujale personally came “to Osoba’s residence in Ikoyi on three different occasions to plead with him on the need to return to the APC. Awujale was really involved in the reconciliation process. So, Osoba’s return has nothing to do with Ogun politics, neither does it have anything to do with Amosun.” The APC leader explained that the monarchs were motivated “to ensure unity in the rank of the South-west APC leaders because of the antecedents of the region. Our political antecedent shows that the South-west will suffer if it does not have a united political front. It happened between 1964 and 1965 during the federal parliamentary elections. “It also happened in 1993 before and after the annulment of the June 12 presidential election. Among others, these antecedents motivated the monarchs to reconcile them so that the region will not lose out. The Sunday meeting was a formality. The issue is not about Amosun and Osoba. Amosun was not part of us. But Osoba supported him to become governor.” However, he acknowledged that the whole process was kept secret from some political interests within and outside the geopolitical zone. He explained that the reconciliation process was kept secret because “those who did not want it happen would have scuttled it for their selfish political advantage.” However, some believe Osoba has been persuaded to return to APC by Tinubu to create a counter force in Ogun State against Amosun, who is alleged to be pandering to Buhari’s political predilections to the dismay of Tinubu.

Beyond Royal Intervention

Apart from the Awujale and Alake, the South-west governors, even before he finally decided to leave the APC for the SDP, played a strategic role to resolve issues within Ogun APC. Another APC chieftain noted that Aregbesola and former Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, started it before other APC governors from the region eventually joined them. The chieftain acknowledged that Osoba’s exit from the APC dealt a terrible blow to the “Progressives because it caused division in the South-west. If the APC must make inroad into South-east and South-south, it is imperative to forge a united political from in the South-west. Even in the South-west,

the APC is not fully in control.” This reality, perhaps, was evident in Aregbesola’s explanation while briefing the media after the Sunday meeting. He disclosed that the leadership of progressive politics in the western part of Nigeria “met at Osoba’s residence to resolve all the differences within the leadership.” Consequently, he said, the progressives “are happy to tell the world that the leadership of progressive politics in the western part of Nigeria is united and ready to jointly prosecute the agenda for growth, purposeful leadership, development and good governance in western Nigeria. With Osoba’s return, the progressives are charged to harness our efforts and reposition our land and integrate with others nationwide to put Nigeria in its proper footing.” Tinubu also noted that the progressives had resolved “to stay focussed in ruling Nigeria. We want to reverse the decay of the past 16 years. We want to clear the mess. For 16 years, the Peoples Democratic Party had destroyed Nigeria. We should not be lamenting over fuel scarcity, erratic power supply and deplorable conditions of roads, among others.” The APC national leader said he had conducted a research on Nigeria and the outcome showed that Nigerians wanted “to see the economic policy and be certain about their future. Nigerians do not want to continue in the hopelessness of the past 16 years. Nigerians do not want to continue in leaderless and directionless state the PDP government bequeathed on us.” He said the quest to build a new Nigeria was the rationale for the reconciliation meeting, which ended the frosty relationship among the region’s progressive leaders. But he said what “is now crucial is the need for the progressives to strengthen our front and remain in the wing. I am an unapologetic progressive. I will remain one. That is the only principle I abide. So, wherever the progressives are, they must be united with their vision.”

Delight

Osoba was certainly happy to return to what has been described as his original constituency. Rather than speaking after the meeting, he rendered one of the songs the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, loved to sing after surmounting challenges. Osoba sang, thus, in Yoruba: “The fight is over. The war has ended. The Lord has fought the battle. And the Lord has won the war. Hallelujah!”

Opposition

But Osoba’s return is not without opposition from some elements in Ogun APC. Some individuals have denied knowledge of Osoba’s return to APC on the ground that he denounced and renounced the APC at a public declaration in Abeokuta. Even though Osoba once left the party on principle, many believe it does not suggest that he can no longer return. Constitutionally, Osoba cannot be denied the right to freely associate politically, socially or religiously, as enshrined in section 40 of the 1999 Constitution. Besides, the 2015 Electoral Act guarantees the right of every Nigerian above 18 years to join any political party of his/her choice. Specifically, the Act states that no political party shall deny any Nigerian above 18 years the right to join. Though constitutionally speaking, Osoba cannot be denied the right to freely associate or join any political party, many think the APC leadership needs to tie up any loose ends in the relationship between Osoba and Amosun in order to fully reap the benefits of the former governor’s return.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 10, 2016

CICERO/TRIBUTE

Remembering Braithwaite’s Political Credentials Shola Oyeyipo writes that the late lawyer, human rights activist, author and social justice crusader, Tunji Braithwaite, has made an indelible impression on Nigerian politics and history

t death, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite has been described in various nomenclatures; he has been called fiery lawyer, author, fearless fighter, pro-democracy activist or just human right activist. But as Nigerians pour encomiums on the late politician, not many commentators have seemed to pay attention to his political ideology. Braithwaite came into politics not by accident, but by deliberate design. He, obviously, wanted to avoid the frustration of complaining from the outside. Such was also the motivation of the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, yet another renowned lawyer and human rights activist who formed the National Conscience Party. The need to complain from within the political circles was part of the reasons Braithwaite contested an election against the late sage and respected Yoruba political leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, despite their closeness.

1983 Presidential Election

Braithwaite’s party, the Nigeria Advance Party, was a progressive political party and the only party registered to join the five existing political parties before the 1983 general elections, in the Second Republic. It was a party mainly made up of southern Nigeria intellectuals and radicals favouring a reformist government. Principal among them were Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Professor Wole Soyinka, and the late Afrobeat musician, Fela Anikulapo Kuti. NAP was launched on October 13, 1978 in Ibadan. The leaders initially took a cautious attitude towards the idea of free education, but later advocated free university education and mandatory primary education. They positioned the party as an alternative to the old politicians of the First Republic and anchored their manifesto on a mission to put Nigeria on the path of rapid development by ending graft. The first two decades of Nigerian nationhood was characterised by extensive military rule. Former military Head of State who later became a democratically elected president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, was in power in the build up to the 1983 elections. As the election got underway, Braithwaite, a prominent Lagosian, hinged his quest to lead Nigeria on the belief that Nigeria’s potentials could be achieved by reforms, particularly by eradicating of deep-rooted corruption. Just as in the recent election of President Muhammadu Buhari, who hinged his campaign on the fight against corruption, it was Braithwaite’s abhorrence for deep-seated sleaze among the political class that made him make the eradication of corruption, which he metaphorically tagged “clearing rats, mosquitoes and cockroaches,” the central point of his presidential campaign in 1983. But his philosophy appeared too sophisticated for the electorate at the time. He lost the election. Braithwaite garnered a paltry 271, 524 out of the total 25, 430, 097 votes cast at the 1983 presidential election, which amounted to only 0.1 per cent of the vote, to come last among the candidates. Then incumbent president on the National Party of Nigeria platform, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, polled 12, 081, 471 (47.5 per cent) of the votes and returned as president for a second term. Awolowo of the Unity Party of Nigeria polled 7, 907,209; late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe of the Nigerian Peoples Party polled 3, 557, 113, Alhaji Aminu Kano of the Peoples Redemption Party polled 968,974 votes, while Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim of the Great Nigerian Peoples Party polled 643, 806 votes.

Unquenchable Desire for Social Justice

Though Braithwaite lost the 1983 election, his quest for social democratic reform never subsided. He lived the rest of his life searching for the actualisation of social justice, human rights and fairness. It was the fact that the more he waited, the more it was clearer that Nigerian leaders were not prepared to entrench the tenets of social justice that emboldened him to speak courageously against injustice. In all his subsequent commentaries and critiques, he advocated a just society by challenging injustice and encouraging diversity. He believed that all peoples of the world share a common humanity and, therefore, have a right to equitable treatment, support for their human rights, and fair allocation of community resources. That was what he was canvassing when he promised during his presidential electioneering campaigns that he would move wealthy residents of Victoria Island in Lagos to Mushin, a relatively poor suburb, because he hated any condition that promotes social injustice, where people are discriminated against, or their welfare and well-being constrained or prejudiced on the basis of gender, sexuality, religion, political affiliations, age, race, belief, disability, location, social class, socioeconomic circumstances, or other characteristics of background or group membership.

Jurisprudence and Religion

In 2011, Braithwaite relived his quest for social justice in his book, The Jurisprudence of the Living Oracles, where he noted that the causes of domestic, national and international turmoil

Braithwaite

were wide and varied, but that law played an important role in resolving the conflicts. He asserted that the role that jurisprudence played in various societies was often misunderstood. Braithwaite tried to demonstrate how theological laws, astronomy, and astrology affected secular laws. He also explained the differences between justice and law and examined the development of various legal doctrines. The Jurisprudence of the Living Oracles explores many concepts, including the higher law that governs human society, regardless of boundaries; the everlasting oracle, which judges everything and everybody; methods by which justice may be achieved in a world regulated by laws; the flexibility and inflexibility of the law of God, and the sources of God’s laws. The book was designed as a guide for judges and legal practitioners alike. The scholarly book generated discussions among scientists and members of various religions. Braithwaite tactically connected religion with law and justice and sought to help everyone avoid unpardonable errors. Every other thing Braithwaite did till he died was propelled by his yearning for a just society. He was a die-hard advocate of a national conference in Nigeria as a way of solving the plethora of problems confronting the country. He wanted the restructuring of the country and played a significant role in the actualisation of the 2014 National Conference organised by the former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. Braithwaite was Coordinator of the Southwest Consultative Forum for the National Conference, and he always held that those opposed to the conference were “selfish.” He stated, “The interest of those opposing the planned conference is to seize power for political gains. The advocates of national conference are not calling for the break-up of Nigeria, but a dialogue to redefine the basic existence of the country.” Braithwaite pushed the need for Nigerians to embrace the dialogue as it would give birth to a new Nigeria with equal opportunities for everyone (his social justice principle).

Eulogy

Jonathan underscored Braithwaite’s contribution to the convocation of the last national conference in his condolence letter to the Braithwaite family, when he stated that the late activist was one of the few courageous statesmen who stood in opposition during the military regime and later encouraged discussions for a better Nigeria. “I extend my deepest sympathy over the passage to eternal glory of an elder statesman whose tremendous contributions has helped shape the progress and development of our nation,” Jonathan wrote. “Braithwaite will continue to live in the memory of many Nigerians as a strong advocate of a truly democratic Nigeria and one of the very few who had the courage to stand

in opposition during the military regime.” He stated further, “I vividly recall our various encounters during which, as a strong believer in the unity of Nigeria, he ceaselessly clamoured for the national dialogue; seeing it as an avenue through which lasting unification of the country could be achieved. He never stopped advocating for policies that will improve the quality of life of all Nigerians.” Many older Nigerians would remember Braithwaite as one politician in the 1983 elections, whose party, NAP, was the only one registered by the electoral commission to join the five existing ones earlier approved by the military government in 1979. They will also consider him as a brave commentator on national issues who never feared in his advocacy of a pro-people, corruption-free polity. For instance, recently reacting to a statement by Obasanjo that state governors were corrupt, Braithwaite said former military rulers Obasanjo and General Ibrahim Babangida made corruption attractive to state governors in the country. He alleged that the policies and actions of the former helmsmen elevated corruption in governance, adding that many state governors are merely emulating them. On the terrorist attacks in the country, Braithwaite said the federal government’s declaration that Boko Haram had been technically defeated was premature and wrong. He, however, said the federal government could be forgiven for its statement that the sect had been defeated because of its good intentions and wishes of ending terrorism. But he maintained that the federal government’s good intentions were far from reality. This is in spite of his rather favourable to disposition to the Buhari administration because of its anti-corruption stance. Few weeks before he died, Braithwaite said in an interview that Buhari had not started fighting corruption. He also pointed out that the arraignment of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, before the Code of Conduct Tribunal was wrong, stressing that the approach would make Saraki a free man soon, irrespective of the criminal charges against him. Braithwaite had persistently expressed concerns that Nigerian politics was stilled troubled by military opportunism. His love for his fatherland was, perhaps, most succinctly captured in the hit song recorded for his campaign by Soyinka, “I love Nigeria I no go lie – na inside am I go live and die,” which, practically, every Nigerian sang at the time. The younger generation, most of who did not meet Braithwaite in the heyday of his political activism, would live by some of his recent comments, which further showed him as a fearless activist. He will be remembered for his political ideals, legal precedents he set through the cases he won, his unique dress sense, and many of his interventions at critical junctures in the country’s history.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 10, 2016

PERSPECTIVE Managing Our Culture and Securing Our Future Muyiwa Awodiya

Managing Our Culture… he Nigerian culture, is in crises of abandonment, bastardisation, bankruptcy, lack of appreciation, patronage and preservation. It sits, dangerously, on a tinderbox as it is now a potential source of widespread ignorance about ourselves and our identities. Very soon, therefore, we Nigerians will only learn about our own cultures in books, journals and films as Nigeria’s cultural ethos and traditional values have been jettisoned by her leaders and her people. A few examples of Nigeria’s culture’s afflictions with many tribulations of abandonment, bankruptcy, mis-branding as fetish, idolatry, primitive and denigratory, will suffice. Unless we understand fully what has befallen us, culturally speaking, and seek correct solutions, we are heading to no destination. We must manage our culture if we must progress as a nation and as a people in a country of civilized nations and people who live in a well ordered, disciplined and morally valuable societies long before the coming of the Europeans. The former Archbishop of Canterbury and Head of the Anglican Church Worldwide, Archbishop George Carey admonishes Nigerians to preserve their culture despite Christianity: “Nigerians should not abandon their rich cultural heritage because of Christianity”, the Archbishop said when he visited Nigeria in 2001. The number three citizen in Britain after the Queen and the heir-apparent, expressed this opinion during a courtesy call on the Alake of Egbaland, the late Oba Oyebade Lipede: I just plead with you and your people to make your culture endure and pass it on to future generation, not because it is a tourist attraction, but more importantly because it says something about the people of Nigeria (Carey, 2001, p. 3). We cannot be bright citizens if we refuse to pay heed to this plea from the Archbishop, a foreigner. We must embrace our culture and tradition rather than brand them as fetish and idolatry. Nigeria can stimulate its national economic development through culture. It is obvious that Nigeria’s over-dependence on the crude oil and gas industry for revenue generation would hinder the country from faster economic growth. It is on this premise that this writer canvasses, in this lecture, for the need for government at various levels to explore the use of our abundant arts and cultural resources as a tool for national economic development. The economic environment of the twenty-first century is changing rapidly and is being driven by a need to change the management strategy of all sectors of the Nigerian economy. For this reason, if Nigeria will be among the top 20 economies of the world in the year 2020, as envisaged, there is the need now for a new management strategy to propel a rapid paradigm shift from a consumerist to a producing nation. It also entails economic diversification from the mono-cultural economy of crude oil to a vibrant, dependable and productive non-oil sector such as the creative arts and culture industry. Nigeria must grow its economy by moving it from the tactless realm of consumption to a strategic scheme of production as in China, Japan, Indonesia, North Korea, South Korea, South Africa and Ghana. These are countries with fast growing economies “just because they produce more than one percent of what they consume” (Ologbenla, 2010, p. 37). Similarly, Nigeria should produce more commodities than it consumes. The focus of this lecture is for Nigeria to appreciate its culture, revive and develop it to help diversify its economy beyond the oil industry. Through repositioning of its arts, culture and tourism potentials, Nigeria has a unique opportunity to expand its economic base to meet the yearning needs and to fulfill the aspirations of its teeming population in a globalised world economy. The repositioning would package arts, culture and tourism as viable products that would become competitive commodities for internal and external consumption. Arts and Culture Management Techniques If Nigerian arts, culture and tourism potentials must become economically viable, they must adapt and utilize arts management philosophies and techniques of scientific and rational managerial know-how. In this regard, “management”, as “the process of planning, organizing, leading and controlling the efforts of organization members and of using all other organizational resources to achieve stated organizational goals” (Stoner and Freeman, 1989, p. 4); must be employed skillfully to lead us systematically to our cherished destination. A process is a systematic way of doing things. We define managing arts as a process because all managers, regardless of their particular aptitudes or skills, engage in certain interrelated activities in order to achieve their desired goals. The four basic activities in which managers are typically involved – planning, organizing, leading and controlling – would be applied in managing Nigerian arts, culture and tourism to attain a productive economic benefit (Awodiya, 2006, p. 46). This definition stresses that management involves achieving the organisation’s “stated goals”. This means that managers of Nigerian arts, culture and tourism should try to attain the specific result of profit-making. The four basic activities in which arts managers are typically involved are: Planning, which implies that arts managers think through their goals and actions in advance; Organizing, which means that arts managers coordinate the human and material resources of Nigerian arts, culture and tourism organization, including the adoption of the technique of scientific

Managing culture

scientific and even academic as well. We must appreciate the political and economic potential of our culture so that other people will emulate us in respecting it. Nigeria needs cultural rebirth because the neglect of core cultural values by the Nigerian people is responsible for the incessant civil unrest, youth restiveness, militancy, oil and sea piracy, illegal bunkering and oil pipeline vandalism, kidnapping, armed robbery, bomb attacks and other crimes in many parts of the country. As a result, Nigeria is probably 50 years behind the rest of the world culturally, after the January 1966 coup d’état! The Nigerian psyche has been so bastardised and so denigrated. We have to re-order the damaged psyche of Nigerians. Unethical submission to modernity devalues our cherished and hallowed core African values, a consequence of which is the adverse culture of ethnically-induced violence and unrest in many parts of the The Imperative of Culture society. The revival of our cultural and traditional Nigerian values Culture, as already indicated in diverse ways in this lecture, will stem the tide of youths’ criminality and produce thoroughis the essence of a people; and it is the totality of their way of bred Nigerians who would eschew violence and misdemeanor life. Culture is oftentimes referred to as the bedrock of human civilization and it is the dynamic centre of the development of any and exhibit excellent personal credo. Nigeria’s inability to develop nation. Culture not only gives a sense of belonging and identity to her culture, technology and science is responsible for her taste the people, it also serves as agent of national unity and integration. for foreign products as there are no local intervention models to mediate the penchant for foreign goods. For example, the former According to Webber (1969, p. 68), “culture is the way of life of Federal Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has a group of people, the configuration of all of the more or less stereotyped patterns of learned behavior which are handed down raised alarm over Nigeria’s rising food import profile, which has reached over N1.3 trillion in foreign exchange in 2011, making from one generation to the next through the means of language the country to be among the top four import consumers in the and imitations”. world. Presently, Nigeria imports products that can be produced As a strong pillar of deepening democratic process, culture in abundance locally; rice worth N356 billion, sugar worth N217 has not been allowed to play its significant role since the advent billion and fish worth N97 billion are some products regularly of democracy in Nigeria (Awodiya, 2006, p. 133). Nigerian leaders imported into the country. The country has also spent N635 billion have not optimized culture by rightly directing the path of to import wheat products that have local alternatives (Adesina, nationhood and development. Rather than look inwards and 2012, p. 15). tap our cultural resources to empower our growth and unite At the heart of the craze for uncritical foreign values is the lack our diversity, Nigerian leaders of all persuasions are indifferent of confidence and pride in what is inherently Nigerian. We are to culture, and even encourage our cultural dislocation, which not proud of what we have, who we are, and what we can do or results from the fanatical frenzy with which we embrace foreign culture and consume foreign products which inhibit our quest for achieve. We are not proud of motivating ourselves to do the best for our country. Nigerians do not even wear our locally-made development. fabrics. We are enchanted and fascinated by foreign textiles and To stimulate national development through culture, the merchandise. Any country that prides itself in importing other National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) was established people’s culture, products and commodities will never develop its by Decree 3 of 1975 and amended by Decree 5 of 1987 as a government organ committed to the development and promotion own industry (Awodiya, 2011, p. 108). As John Beatties has rightly said, “Every human society has somehow developed its own of the living arts and culture of Nigeria. Its mission statement distinctive culture and social system; its own way of life” (1964, p. is “to employ arts and culture as a tool for national integration, unity and the sustainable growth and development of the nation” 274). Therefore, we should be very proud of who we are and what we produce. (Cultural Policy for Nigeria, 1988, p. 19). Culture is the only sector through which Nigeria enjoys comparative advantage over other Our Cultural Diversity, Our Strength nations of the world because it has a gigantic cultural diversity We have always bemoaned our disunity, our lack of progress, and indeed, it is the most pluralistic and the largest multi-cultural which many have blamed on our lack of unanimity of purpose society in the world. According to the late Professor Onwuelargely brought about by our cultural diversity. But, while cultural jeogwu (2001, p. 5), “Nigeria is the only country in the world with about 480 ethnic or cultural nationalities. Nigeria has unique diversity has its own challenges, against the backdrop of what is happening in the Arab world today, it has obviously become possibilities or problems not experienced by any country in the world past or present”. Other countries of the world, according to our strength. Can anyone imagine the late Gaddafi in Nigeria? Or the deposed Egypt’s Mubarak, Tunisia’s deposed leader, him, have lesser ethnic or cultural nationalities than Nigeria. For Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, or even our own dear Robert Mugabe example, former USSR had 127, China and India have 40 each, of Zimbabwe? No–because nobody in Nigeria, I dare say, can U.S.A. has 50, France has 7, Germany has 15 and England has 4. According to The Guardian Newspaper, Nigeria is home to about manipulate our national sentiments so successfully as some of those sit-tight Arab leaders did, have done and are still doing to seven percent of the languages spoken in the world. keep themselves in power for as long as they did, have done, and Nigeria’s inability to exploit the rich potentials of culture and are still doing in Zimbabwe and Syria. give the requisite attention to cultural development, which will (See concluding part stimulate the economic transformation of the country, is the bane on www.thisdaylive.com) of the leadership–political, economic, industrial, technological, management. According to Taylor (2008, p. 79). The general adoption of scientific management would readily in the future double the productivity of the average man engaged in industrial work. Think of what this means to the whole country… and of the increased opportunities for education, culture, and recreation which this implies. Leading, describes how arts managers direct and influence sub-ordinates, getting others to perform essential tasks. By establishing a conducive atmosphere on the Nigeria’s cultural landscape, they help their subordinates to perform their duties to the best of their abilities, and Controlling, means that arts managers ensure that the arts and culture organizations are moving in the right direction, towards accomplishing its stated goals of profit making.

APRIL 10, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

PERSPECTIVE

Buhari’s First 10 Months: So Far So Good Gbadebo Adeyeye

n 1960, when I was a young boy growing up in Ise Ekiti, one of the poorest districts in the country, I overheard my uncle one day talking to my late grandmother about his situation. I was surprised to hear a man usually so strong and tough, obviously frustrated, scared and worried about the future as he confessed to the old woman that he didn’t know how he would do it anymore; with no money, a wife and two children in school. My grandmother calmly answered him, “Listen, we’ve been through worse, and here we are today; it will all work out.” These same words I continue to repeat to those critics who are carping the first 10 months of President Muhammadu Buhari in government. And because hope and resilience are part of our very makeup, I encourage them to look back at what we passed through during the 16 years of Peoples Democratic Party leadership in Nigeria and try to develop a rebirth of confidence in our democracy with patience. The good thing is that God can never ask us to do anything without giving us the grace to handle it. And since we have a God of second chances, a Lord who never tires of giving us a fresh start, we must thank Him for all we have passed through, and continue to trust Him for all the promises yet to come. Honestly speaking, I had faith in Nigerian democracy before it was established, and I still have faith in it now. I believe it has a glorious future before it – not just as another Green Beret rule, but as an embodiment of great ideals of our civilisation. Of course, there are a lot of Nigerian citizens who may not want to admit it, but unlike a lame duck president, Buhari has been a damn good president in his freshman year on the job. Infuriating at times, and very sleepy at others, but overall, the serious looking president is above average in performance; especially with the ongoing corruption war against the most dangerous enemies of our country. And unlike the days of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikwe and Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, when nobody suggested that Nigeria was ungovernable or at a tipping point this close to anarchy, running Africa’s largest nation today is very difficult. But even as difficult as it is to run our country, there are still ways to appraise the president’s first 10 months in office, and here it goes. In fighting corruption, Buhari deserves a B+. It is clear that the president understands that most Nigerian citizens want him to keep corruption in check. The only reason why Buhari doesn’t get a full A here is the slow start in bringing the culprits to justice. However, his indisputable war against corrupt officials in this country wins big points. Like the corruption war, figuring out where to place millions of unemployed Nigerian youth in the economy is one of those existential questions that we simply have to solve. I think Buhari deserve credit for his daily focus on the urgent need to provide employment for our youth. Unlike the past administration, Buhari has good plans and he is talking convincingly; but he surely needs a lot of support from Nigerians. Nevertheless, until any of his important plans move forward and we start seeing less university graduates selling recharge cards in the street of our cities, the president gets a C- in job creation. More than any other leader at any level of government, the president is the person who is called to be a voice for the people he represents. That is, if you cannot explain important national issues with good communication, you cannot lead. However, Buhari has lost a pass mark here over his poorly explained response to questions about the faith of those 200 innocent girls abducted by Boko Haram. Former President Goodluck Jonathan was very bad at this; and now Buhari seems to be poor at it too. Whereas, so long as these young girls continue to remain with terrorists and the cities of our country continue to be unsafe to live, many of us can never agree with the president that Boko Haram is no longer a threat to Nigerian citizens, as he claimed. Therefore, giving Buhari a better grade than D+ in the area of taking care of security matters in Nigeria reflects my bias for trying out new ideas to reduce crime in the society. After all, Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said, “It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.” In some regards, running the affairs of a nation is like running a private company. If you are not constantly updating your product and the way the company runs, competitors will pass you by and investors will flee. In fairness, we must all remember that Jonathan’s administration left behind a poorly managed economy. Also in fairness, Buhari has been fighting to hold the line on how to improve the economy since he came to office in May 2015. But that said, Buhari has earned a C grade for doing too little to reckon with some of the black holes that threaten to swallow up our entire economy. For example, while it is currently not clear to anyone in Nigeria how the country will meet the 21st century challenges in the global market, especially now that many of the policies that impeded our economy since the military regime have not been replaced, some lawmakers in Abuja are arguing that the only catalyst for Nigerian

Buhari

economic recovery in the 21st century is to reduce importation. Whereas, the whole concept of economics is all about demand and supply; and every good student of economics understands that there is no substitute for free trade economy in the modern world. That is why the president and all our lawmakers in Abuja must not take the kindness of Nigerian voters for weakness and realize quickly that the toughest and most thankless thing in government is to ignore the poverty level among citizens and cut the nation’s economy off from the rest of the world. More than 70 years ago, for instance, Marco Polo described China as far ahead of any European city in the excellence of its buildings and bridges; the number of its public hospitals, the effective maintenance of public order and the manner and refinement of its people. However, between 206 and 221 BC, the Chinese built the Great Wall and cut themselves off from the world. Following that, China’s development stopped, and the country fell hopelessly behind the rest of the world; the same way our country has been since the ban on importation by the Obasanjo’s military government in 1979. But unlike Nigerian borders where cash-and-carry customs agents look at foreign goods like abomination, China is presently gaining international respect as one of the world’s great powers due to their restoration of national pride after decades of socio-economic deprivation. Similarly, one of the most inspiring stories of the past 50 years has been that of developing countries that were mired in absolute poverty after the Second World War but adopted the right economic policies that triggered astonishing prosperity in their nations. Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Chile have succeeded because they simply stressed basic economic principles, such as fewer government restrictions, open market, lower importation taxes, and competitive industries; and of course, placed a high premium on citizens’ education. All these principles have opened up their economy and integrated them with those of the developed world. Without any doubt, such progress is within the reach of any nation; and Nigeria can also extricate itself from poverty to join the ranks of the industrialised countries in the next 10 years. For example, by adopting growth-based policies and putting chains on those “Fine Bara” customs agents at our borders, the country can make an enormous positive contribution to the welfare of her citizens and the prosperity of all Africans. Another success story is being written presently by the three towering giants of the developing world – India, Brazil and Indonesia – all of which have turned the corner towards potential economic prosperity. With a population of almost 900 million, India is slowly shedding its reputation as a socialist economy. It has increased trade with Western Europe and the United States; and strengthened their rupee in the international financial market. The literacy rate has improved by over 150 per cent since 1960. Per capita GNP has risen from $110 to over $600 in the past 20 years. Despite the fact that India suffers from religious conflict and

civil strife, it is becoming a great power in the 21st century with the ride down the path of the free market economy. And Brazil, with over half of the South American population, has made a remarkable economic turnaround in the 1990s. Racked by runaway inflation, high foreign debt, a crumbling public infrastructure and widespread political corruption, like Nigeria, the government of President Itamer Franco opened the door to economic reform. Brazil GDP grew more than four per cent in 1993, with almost 10 per cent increase in the industrial production. Export to the United States has increased to more than 83 per cent over the last 18 years. Yes, Brazil has formidable problems like Nigeria, but with the tremendous improvements in its commercial outlook, it has the potential to become an economic showcase for the rest of Latin America. Indonesia is another striking example of how a developing nation moves from poverty to prosperity through the adoption of free market policies. Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation in the world, after China, India and the United States. It is the largest Muslim nation with more people than all the Arab nations combined. For more than 30 years now, the proportion of Indonesians living in abject poverty has declined from 60 per cent less than 13 per cent. Annual per capita income has increased from $50 to $650. And just like Nigeria, Indonesia suffers from political corruption and nepotism, but progress will continue as economic freedom is expanded in the country. Turkey has transformed itself from an economic basket case into an economic breadbasket. Beginning in the 1980s, the late Turkish Prime Minister, Turgut Ozal, aggressively lifted trade restrictions, liberalised government policies and integrated Turkey economically with Western Europe – a feat that has been difficult for Nigerian Cherokee leaders to accomplish since the military rule. These policies boosted Turkey’s per capita income from $1,400 to $2,000 in 1993, while the new government of Tansu Ciller pledged to keep Turkey on the same track of economic reform. Mexico has been the economic wunderkind of the past two decades. Under the leadership of former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Mexico increased its trade with the United States, liberalised state – run industries, restored world confidence in pesos and eliminated costly government expenses. And since Mexico began to reduce its trade batteries in 1986, US export climbed from $12.4 billion to almost $50 billion in 1992. As a result, Mexico has become Latin America’s most progressive economy and has set an example for other nations. Back here in Nigeria, we surely cannot move from poverty to progress unless we project values that go beyond corruption, private jets and birthday parties in Dubai. And how we meet these serious challenges in the 21st century will determine not only our future but the future of our democracy, our economic prosperity and our position in Africa continent! – Adeyeye is the proprietor, Crown Heights College, Ibadan.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 10, 2016

PERSPECTIVE

Nigerian Leaders Must Take Tough Decisions to Grow Economy Akinwunmi Ambode

espite boasting the biggest economy in Africa, Nigeria’s economy remains largely undiversified with crude oil sales accounting for over 90% of total revenue. As a result, our economy is always vulnerable to volatilities in the international oil market coupled with the impact of many years of corruption and wastages. This is the reason for our present economic nightmare. It is very unfortunate that we wasted the golden opportunity to deploy the trillions of dollars earned from our oil exports to develop the critical sectors of the economy including power, agriculture, industries, solid minerals, transportation infrastructure among others. No doubt, if we had done the right thing as some other oil producing countries did, keeping in mind that crude oil is a finite resource, we would not be experiencing the devastating effect of oil price crash on the scale we are experiencing it now. We are now being forced to do, with pains, what we should have done with ease years ago. The task of charting a new direction for the economy is not going to be a tea party. Various policy options must be identified and assessed on the basis of our current situation and needs. Moving our economy forward requires thinking outside the box and doing things differently. We need creativity, innovation and the courage to take difficult and tough decisions. The leadership of the country at national and state levels must have the courage to take tough decisions and make sacrifices in the near term which will, in the long run, make our economy stronger and sustainable and, consequently result in prosperity across all regions of Nigeria.

One way to revive our economy will be to explore and expand inter-state relations, strengthen regional competitiveness by maximising economies of scale, regional optimisation of assets and endowments and mitigation of afflictions and natural disasters. Other potential areas for inter-state collaboration include transport infrastructure to facilitate market linkages, education, market development, human capacity building, security and intelligence sharing, among others. I must stress, however, that this idea is not an entirely uncharted territory for Nigeria. Prior to the oil boom era, Agriculture was the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy and contributed about 65% to the country’s GDP and represented close to 70% of total exports. Through farming, Nigeria was able to feed its population while major cash crops were exported to earn foreign exchange. From the cocoa and rubber plantations in the West, the groundnut pyramids and cotton in the north, to palm oil in the east; each region was identified by its economic areas of comparative advantage which were collectively harnessed towards ensuring food security and inclusive growth across the country. Given our current economic challenge, I believe it is time we take a cue from our old ‘playbook’ for a viable ‘game plan’ to revive our national economy. states and regions must once again begin to leverage on their respective areas of comparative advantage by establishing partnerships towards establishing inter-state or inter-regional commodity value chain. We must re-start inter-state/ regional cooperation. It was in realization of this that Lagos and Kebbi States signed a Memorandum of Understanding a few weeks ago. Kebbi State is the largest producer of rice in Nigeria while Lagos State, the most populous state in Africa, consumes rice, mostly imported

rice, worth N135bn annually. With this partnership, which covers food production, processing and distribution, Lagos State and Kebbi State have taken steps to explore our areas of comparative advantages to achieve food security for Nigeria and save our foreign exchange. In specific terms, this collaboration will produce 70% of Nigeria’s rice demand. The multiplier effect of this collaboration will be felt in the areas of job creation, the development of ancillary industries, the strengthening of our local currency against the Dollar and other major international currencies. I believe more of this inter-state collaboration should be encouraged as a major driving force for the diversification of the economy. There are many more areas of collaboration to be explored in the nation. The political leadership must develop the will to make this initiative work, to achieve food security and promote backward integration for industrial growth. I wish to state at this point that Lagos State has always embraced inter-state cooperation as a strategy to fast-track economic growth and development. Prior to the agreement with Kebbi State in the Northwestern Nigeria, Lagos State has collaborated with States from within the western region in the areas of comparative advantage for the partner states. Lagos State currently has 84 hectares of land in Osogbo, Osun State, out of which 20 hectares is used for palm produce, while others are used for rice farming, cassava and maize. Lagos State also acquired additional 1,000 hectares of land in Osun, 500 hectares in Ogun and Oyo each and 50 hectares in Abuja to support farming. In addition, all granite used in construction in Lagos State are being sourced from quarries located in Ogun State. These relationships have proved especially beneficial for Lagos State given its low land mass and the rapid urbanisation and industrialisation in the state. It must however be noted that for regional

Ambode or inter-state cooperation to yield the desired result in terms of enhanced inclusive growth, we must put in place a functional modern rail and water transportation system. The movement of goods, materials and people by road is not only inefficient but fraught with risks, safety hazards and detrimental to our roads. The Lagos/Kebbi initiative for example will involve movement of thousands of tons of paddy rice to Lagos for processing in the mills. This can only be achieved more efficiently through a modern rail system which at present remains largely undeveloped. Your Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, we must brace ourselves, take the tough but right decisions, individually and collectively, so that we can have a better tomorrow. Together, we can make Nigeria greater. Ambode, the governor of Lagos State delivered this address at the Nation’s Ist national forum on the economy at Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, on Thursday, April 17.

Mr. President, It’s Time to Address Nigerians ‘Lolu Akinwunmi

Dear Mr. President,

am writing this to you for two reasons. One, as a very passionate Nigerian who wants you to succeed, because in your success is ours. Two, as a professional who believes you definitely need help at this point. And I am not playing any blame game; you are probably already under immense pressure, and blaming you can only aggravate the situation. I am writing about the situation in the land. I don’t know how much time you have for news; whether you read the papers or your aides simply extract details from you. I don’t know if you watch TV, or you are like President Olusegun Obasanjo who curiously boasted that he didn’t read local newspapers and wasn’t watching local television stations. Sir, whatever may have been your stance, the news out there is not very good. Today, Nigerians are suffering in more ways than you would believe. And I am not talking about the endless queues for fuel that never arrives. There is no electricity either. As I write this, we have several homes and business facilities have all manner of generators on using fuel that is hard to get. Worse, the power companies have increased tariffs even when we are not getting value, with the promise that the additional income would help them operate better. So we are funding their investments when we are not stake or shareholders. Things are very expensive in the markets. Companies are labouring to keep their plants open because they cannot get enough forex for packaging and raw materials. People are complaining about too many things. I don’t even want to talk about parents who are finding it hard to get forex to fund their wards’ education outside Nigeria; we have been repeatedly told it’s indulgent to send children out for quality education. No one is talking about the reason why this is happening, that the overall quality of public education is down and private schools cost as much as sending children out. Sir, I believe it’s time to speak to Nigerians as a father and the President in a State of the Nation Address. Usually we are told that silence is golden; this is one time when it is not. You missed the opportunity to say some critical things during your inauguration. Many had hoped that instead of the eleven minutes speech, it would be an opportunity to form the basis for bonding with your people. At that time, it would have been

Buhari

appropriate to let Nigerians into the mess you inherited, far worse than what you feared. It would have helped if you told us that as a result of this, some election promises might be slow in coming or might not even come. General Ibrahim Babangida was a master in this communication style. You were so hugely popular then that Nigerians would have understood and would have empathised, and would have accepted your words. Now the things you did not say are happening and everyone understandably is upset with you because let’s be honest, you and the All Progressives Congress (APC) on which platform you came to power over promised during the campaign. It was understandable that after three unsuccessful attempts, you were throwing in all to clinch the ultimate prize. Still, some of the promises were way above reality. The chicken has come home to roost. People are asking for the Change you promised us. And Sir, don’t be upset, for as long as you promised, Nigerians have a right to demand a performance. Unfortunately, the government communication machinery has not rallied to cover

these areas and your flanks. Mr. President, the effect is that we have this gap between you and your people. They are wondering if you are aware of their suffering. They are asking for the Change they voted for. They are not getting answers; instead they are getting plenty of excuses and spin and propaganda, but not the genuine truth they crave. And mind you Sir, they know things are tough. They are literate enough to know our oil is not selling. But they are not hearing it from you in a way that suggests you care. And don’t let the spin doctors deceive you, this is not about PDP and APC; I have lately heard die-hard APC stalwarts totally condemn your administration and the party. What to do? It’s time to speak to Nigerians. I am not talking about one of those interviews where the questions might have been agreed before the interview session. I am talking of direct one-to-all communication, where you will address every Nigerian. It’s time to let us know how we got to this pass, the efforts you are making, the huge challenges you inherited and have to manage, the plans and work in progress, the good times that are ahead, the hard and painful fact that Nigerians once more must be prepared to sacrifice again at this point. Fortunately for you, Nigerians are not like our North African brethren who will riot over a few cents increase in the price of bread; Nigerians are patient and stoic and don’t really demand too much. Some of your ministers have not helped. Ibe Kachikwu has forgotten he is no longer in Mobil; he spoke with impatience to a people suffering from the incompetence of his ministry. Lai Muhammed? I do not want to say anything that may upset His Imperial Majesty! So Sir, choose a date you want, let the best of your wordsmiths prepare a speech after discussing with you. Open up to Nigerians. Give the necessary assurances. Many smart leaders, especially the Americans do this during periods of crisis; and trust me we are in a period of crisis at this point. I assure you Sir that your speech will calm many frayed nerves and give hope to many who are so despondent now. We are praying for this government and your good self. But we also owe it a responsibility as part of our civic commitment to tell you things like this; it is not unlikely that within the hallowed chambers of the Villa, words like these are a taboo. Nigerians want to hear you. Nigerians want to hear from you. Mr. President, Please do it! –Akinwunmi, frpa is the Group CEO of Prima Garnet Africa and gthe immediate past chairman, APCON

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER • APRIL 10, 2016

PERSPECTIVE

Kachikwu in the Eye of the Storm Jack Kalio

or Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, it doesn’t rain; it pours; trouble does not only walk through the front door, it also drops from the ceiling. For someone who has always been in the private sector since his exit from Harvard Law School, facing the slaps and kicks of public service may be an entirely sour experience driving him to human limits. Though he has spent all his professional life in the oil industry, perhaps, he has just realised that in Nigeria, there is no business as oily as petroleum business. On his appointment as Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Kachikwu took office as a Daniel who had come to judgement. He came with fresh industry ideas. He approached the job from day one with the undisguised readiness of a new broom ready to clean-up the mess. While many Nigerians hailed his initiatives and daring openness, others, especially those who had benefitted from the corrupt system over the years, watched with half breathe. They thought the new man would soon run out of steam. That has refused to happen. In fact, his appointment as Minister of State for Petroleum in November last year, a position he is combining with that of Group Managing Director of the NNPC, made him the first person to hold the two most important offices at the same time. While a lot of ethnic jingoists saw the appointment as a miscalculation on the part of the President, others said it was a sign of trust and a demonstration of Kachikwu’s uncommon competence in handling the oily issues of the nation. Until a few weeks ago, Kachikwu was a celebrated reformer. He went about his duty with a messianic mien. Then he said something about restructuring the NNPC. At that point, organised labour sent him a dangerous message. It is still not very clear how he got them on his side; but he did. In the midst of celebrating that success, the lingering fuel scarcity stepped in through the front door. Someone said two weeks ago that never in the history of independent Nigeria has Nigerians faced the agony of fuel scarcity the way it has happened in the last few weeks. Last week on this page, there was a discussion on how the godfather and king-maker emeritus of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, dragged Kachikwu to the court of public opinion over his statement on how long Nigerians would have to wait to live a normal life as government tried to cut the fuel queues shorter. Tinubu came down on Kachikwu with the full might of his political weight. For someone who is yet to cut his teeth in the high-wired political intrigues associated with public offices in Nigeria, Kachikwu had to consult the gods of the game before he could free his neck from what looked like the iron grip of the hangman. Just as he tried to take a deep breath of respite, another tonnes of bricks have been emptied on his head. This came last week in the form of an open letter addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari asking him to investigate the activities of his Minister of State and GMD of NNPC. The letter emanated from a company alleged to be owed some money by the NNPC. Although much of what they wrote about are over-beaten issues, in moments like this, whatever you say about someone whose responsibility it is to end the biting fuel scarcity is accepted as the gospel truth. Principally, the petitioners accused Kachikwu of achieving “in less than six months, what Diezani Alison-Madueke couldn’t achieve in five years” in the area of carrying out restructuring

Kachikwu exercise “which expands the scope of his powers and direct control over the NAPIMS and crude oil marketing.” That sounded like a ridiculous comparison and a conclusion based on imaginations rather than facts going by the announcement that preceded and the clarifications given after the restructuring exercise. It clearly indicated that those behind the petition had other reasons for criticising the exercise. It was also stated by the petitioners that Kachikwu carried out the restructuring of the NNPC without involving the staff of the organisation; and that since assumption of office, he was yet to meet with the International Oil Companies (ICOs) to seek their engagement on any new deep water project; and that the Minister of State has always used the excuse of meeting with the President to cancel meetings with the ICOs. Just as it was in the case of the immediate past Petroleum Minister, the petitioners accused Kachikwu of using a private jet at the expense of the state. On Thursday, a group called Coalition for Change took on the petitioners almost word for word. In an advertorial published in not a few papers, the group said it was gearing up to engage Kachikwu headlong based on the issues raised by the petitioners only to discover that most of the issues raised “ turned out to be the direct opposite of what was published. At the end, we realised that the advertisers of the alleged sins of Dr. Kachikwu had ended up advertising their ignorance and selfish interest.” Faulting the petitioners on all fronts, the respondent said sponsors of the publication ended up raising some pedestrian issues that lacked factual substance. It said the sponsors of the publication were “aggrieved by the transparent policies introduced by the Buhari administration to clean the NNPC of its past rot and put in place a more effective managerial structure aimed at delivering on the original mandate of the Corporation. It is absolutely nauseating to have them compare the current NNPC to the NNPC under Mrs. Diezani AllisonMadueke.” The accusation that Kachikwu has not been able to engage the IOCs since he assumed office was instantly faulted by newspaper report on the day the said petition was published.

The Alamiyeseigha I Knew Sonny Abere

s I write this tribute in honour of my beloved father in-law, the Governor-General of Ijaw Nation as he is fondly called, the words of King David when he heard of the news of the death of Saul rings through my mind as they did when he first wrote them centuries ago: “The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen! Tell it not in Gath, Publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph” Going by what the bible says in Psalm 90 verse 10 “the days of lives are three score and ten and if by reason of strength they be four score; yet is their strength, labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away” this tribute to my father in-law is highly premature, as I never envisaged that I will write a funeral tribute in honour of the Governor-General, at this time of my life, not even in the next ten years to come. But the bible again says in the book of Ecclesiastes 3 verse 1-2: “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die…” The 10th day of October, 2015 is the darkest

day of life, on that day I lost a beloved father inlaw, a mentor and someone so dear to me. When I spoke with my father in-law on the eve of Friday 9th October, 2015, there was no premonition that he will depart this side of eternity in a matter of hours. From the very first day I was introduced to my then prospective father in-law by my dear wife, Doubra, and my amiable mother in-law far away in Los Angeles, California, I was received with open hands, so much love and hospitable spirit that I knew instantly that I was in the right place. Without any iota of doubt I saw in him a very caring, kind and loving father. He treated me like his own biological son and accepted me into the family. His love was not limited to me alone but extended to my siblings and my parents. I thank God that his love was not limited to his family members alone but to all that had close contact with him, especially the Ijaws and the entire people of Niger Delta region. His demise will eminently create a huge vacuum in the political and social leadership of the Ijaw people. He was undoubtedly and unquestionably the very best of the lot from the Ijaw Nation. There is no doubt, he also is loved by his people, on his release from detention sometime in 2007, the government and people of Bayelsa state held a civic reception in his honour. That day the journey from Bayelsa State Government House, Yenagoa to Amassoma, his home town, which is usually a journey of barely 45 minutes

The reports quoted the IOCs as promising to sell foreign exchange to oil marketers whose businesses had been trapped by the stringent government policy regarding foreign exchange. The question then is: if the petitioners were right in their allegations, how would the IOCs agree to sell the forex to oil marketers? Information available on Wednesday showed that the Minister of State had met with the IOCs since assumption of office for at least 15 times on various issues and ways to improve efficiency and reinvigorate the oil industry. It stated that it was on the strength of these meetings that the Minister of State convinced the IOCs to sell foreign exchange to oil marketers to ease importation of petroleum products. The minister was also said to have engaged the IOCs in negotiating, for the first time in Nigeria’s recent industry history, the exit strategy for cash calls and the attraction of funding into the industry. “Those familiar with the operations of the oil sector know that it is impossible to take any action on these issues without talking to the IOCs. Or wait a minute: did the IOCs complain to Oil Mogul about this? IOCs have even commended the GMD for this serious engagement which they say never existed at this level in the past,” stated the Coalition. On the crucial issue of restructuring, the group stated that the petitioners’ conclusion that the exercise has left too much power with Kachikwu was based on ignorance of the true state of affairs. It asked: “are they aware that this is a public institution; and that Dr Kachikwu is not implementing a personal agenda? Are they also aware that by the restructuring, there is a complete devolution of power; unlike what was in the past? Each of the independent entities is to be managed by CEOs who only reports to the GMD for smooth coordination.” It noted that by asking Buhari to investigate Kachikwu’s activities and reverse the on-going restructuring, the sponsors of the advertisement were simply asking the President, who is also the Minister of Petroleum Resources, to investigate himself. It said unknown to the petitioners, the President and other right thinking members of the society have come to see the restructuring as the only way forward for the NNPC. On the controversial issue of the use of private jet by the minister; an issue that locked the former Oil Minister, Alison-Madueke against the National Assembly, it was categorically stated that “for avoidance of doubt, Dr. Kachikwu does not own or operate a private jet; neither has he hired one since assumption of office. He is sometimes availed the use of logistic resources by the IOCs to support the efficiency of his activities as minister; and this is at no cost to the Federal Government of Nigeria; unlike what operated in the previous regime.” Warned the group: “enough of these distractions; please. Dr. Kachikwu is not a saint but he must be left alone to do his job. Managing the oil sector in a depressed economy is not a tea party. He needs all the concentration required for the job. Whoever has been genuinely disqualified from doing business with the NNPC should look elsewhere and stop resorting to cheap blackmail.” It is also necessary to add here that NAPIMS, which is the investment arm of the NNPC, is the body that supervises the activities of the IOCs. Until the recent restructuring, NAPIMS reported directly to the Group Executive Director and not Kachikwu. Therefore, it becomes impossible to understand why the petitioners stated that the GMD had direct control over NAPIMS. The flood of petitions might rattle Kachikwu; but if he asks others, he would be duly informed that this is what you get when you try to change a system that has made billionaires out of the operators. – Kalio is a public affairs analyst

took us over 3 hours as a result of the mammoth crowd that trooped out to give a rousing reception to the Governor –General of Ijaw Nation, their beloved son after he was hounded by the Obasanjo administration. The security agencies could not control the avalanche of people. When we eventually got to Amassoma, women were seen laying their wrappers on the ground for the Governor-General to step on. My whole body was filled with goose bumps. It reminded me of our Lord Jesus Christ’s triumphant entry to Jerusalem. With his demise I will miss not only a beloved father in-law but also a political mentor. Whenever there is a latest political development in the country, I will call him on phone to hear his views about it and I will let him know my own view and we will have an interesting discourse over the issue. I will forever miss his wise counsel. As a family man, in spite of his overwhelming love for his daughter, my dear wife, he never interfered in our family affairs. If we had any marital issues or challenges, he always encouraged us to work things out by ourselves. He always sought my consent whenever he had to send Doubra on errands outside the country. For ages to come, the peace and love for his people that DSP leaves behind will be his letters on the marble for generation yet unborn to read, he touched several lives positively, showed fatherly love, humility and modesty. These qualities of the Governor- General will remain inside our hearts and they will keep us

going strong for the rest of our lives. For the love of his people, the Governor-General had to cancel his 60th birthday celebration and book launch as a result of the year 2012 flood disaster that affected the Niger Delta region. I persuaded him to go on with the celebration or at worst shift the date of the event but he bluntly refused. He said to me “I cannot invite people from all over the country to celebrate my birthday with me, when my people are homeless…” As my beloved father in-law departs this side of eternity, comets are seen and the heavens blaze forth his demise. They can’t wait to have back, there precious one, who was only borrowed out to the world to touch several lives positively. Heavens gain is a colossal loss to me! It is not how long a man lives on earth that matters, but how well he lived. Just like Apostle Paul, the Governor-General of Ijaw Nation has fought a good fight, he has kept the faith, he has finished the race and he has gone to be with his maker, the Almighty God. A crown awaits him in heaven! As my beloved father in-law, the GovernorGeneral of Ijaw Nation takes his final bow on 9th April, 2016, may God Almighty who till this day guide, protects and preserves His people, give us the fortitude to bear this monumental loss. Adieu daddy! Adieu! Abere wrote fromYenogoa

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 10, 2016

PERSPECTIVE

Between Kalu and Bourdex Ebere Wabara

hortly before the Abia North senatorial rerun on March 5, 2016, the Bourdex Campaign Organisation, the political machinery of Chief (Dr.) David OnuohaBourdex of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), who contested alongside Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu of the Peoples Progressive Alliance (PPA) and Mr. Mao Ohuabunwa of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), among other fringe candidates, in a commercial on the Africa Independent Television (AIT), used intemperate and scurrilous language on the eminent personage of Dr. Orji Kalu. Clearly, instead of addressing electioneering issues pertaining to the rerun poll, this hate campaign organisation made Kalu the butt of its vicious canvass for votes throughout the almost 15-minute television commercial. Of course, photo-shop pictorials were employed in justificatory doses to calumniate the front-running visage of Dr. Kalu. After viewing the TVC, I just dismissed the vitriolics as part of a drowning politician’s misguided approach to political relevance! What could have warranted such an irresponsible and childish commercial line moments before the rerun election? Is it possible that the circus broadcast was intent on discounting the potential overwhelming votes of Kalu? The foul script insinuated that Kalu was desperate to win at all costs! The ludicrous commercial went on and on that someone called me and asked if I was viewing the balderdash by Bourdex & Co. I told him I was on the station and that I had never seen that kind of irresponsible and vacuous public communication. I did not bring it to the notice of either Kalu or members of his universal media team because I felt there was no need responding to a piece of bovine insanity lest you dignify the charlatanistic authors and their pig-headed sponsors. My only regret was that my preferred governor of Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, was part of the charade from a safe distance! Then just a fortnight ago, in another full-page advertorial, on Saturday, March 26, 2016, specifically, published in THISDAY, Page 16, the Bourdex Campaign Organisation made yet other scathing remarks about Kalu as if he was behind the disastrous outing of Onuoha-Bourdex in the recent rerun in a panaromic tirade entitled “Why we reject the farce called Abia North Senatorial Rerun”. Let us dissect some aspects of the vicious advertorial: “We have it in (sic) good authority and in black and white that both the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Peoples Progressive Alliance (PPA), (sic) engaged in bare-faced mutilation of results and manipulation of votes. For instance in Umumenyi ward, where PPA scored 748, at the collation centre in Bende Local Government Council the figure was inflated to 5,497 votes. In Arochukwu at Ohafor 1 ward, PDP got 149 votes but at the LGA collation

centre, it was changed to 1,300.” People should not make unfounded and reckless statements to justify their abysmal performance at an election. How can anyone prove that the PPA “engaged in bare-faced mutilation of results and manipulation of votes?” It is not possible that the PPA, which is Kalu’s platform, could have been involved in such electoral malpractices after Kalu won at the Court of Appeal on those grounds culminating in the directive for the rerun in the first place. I challenge anyone on the popularity, acceptability and superlative electoral value of Dr. Kalu cutting across even political divides, ethnic groups, non-denominational identity and national/ global fame beyond Abia State, let alone a senatorial district. Asininities encapsulated in an advertorial should be targeted at the widely acclaimed rouguish PDP—not the PPA at all. Kalu is the symbol of the PPA; so any imbecilic reference to the party affects him majorly by extrapolation. The advertisers and other mischief-makers know this fully. At the risk of immodesty, Kalu will win this rerun election ultimately when the exercise is conducted in a free and fair environment by God-fearing officials from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Yet another extract: “It is mind boggling that the collation officer in Bende LGA could stoop so low to involve himself in the mutilation and allocation of votes. The situation was so bad that even the man who was awarded victory in the election advised INEC to reconsider the use of University (sic) lecturers in the conduct of elections, saying that most of them set a financial target of how much to rake in from an election as well as what brand of cars and choice property they would buy.” What kind of cock-and-bull yarn is this? Why is it that it is only in Bende that votes were allocated? So, votes could not be allocated in other wards and local governments? If a campaign organisation does not have anything to communicate, it should not come

to the public arena to make bizarre presentations. Which man was awarded victory: in Bende or Abia North? Come clean and be bold. Where and when did the man (whoever he is) “awarded victory in the election” give the information about dons? This kind of kindergartener’s baseless interjection smacks of bohemianism that borders on insanity. Yet another extract from the shallow advertorial under focus: “But on the date of the election, INEC joined in disseminating the falsehood that the Supreme Court has pronounced that the card readers should no longer be used in collating results. Thus, some unscrupulous INEC staff connived with PDP and PPA to engage in wanton mutilation of results and allocation of votes.” It is only a buffoon that can make this kind of unsubstantiated declaration and expect the public to believe the crap. So, the INEC staff connived with only the two leading parties in the poll? An aside: ‘mutilation’ is reprehensible in all circumstances and on all occasions and cannot, therefore, be “wanton” or not! There is no decent rape! As we round off this intervention, let us take the last excerpt from the empty advertorial signed by Amara Umunna, Special Assistant, Media & Public Communications, Chief (Dr.) David OnuohaBourdex Senatorial Campaign Organisation: “We renounce the desperation that was brought to bear on the so-called Abia North Senatorial re-run election by the candidates of PDP and PPA assisted by greedy INEC officials. The PDP state government released its machinery to influence the election in a rabid quest to sustain its erroneous narrative that it won the governorship election. On its part, the PPA candidate, dismayed by life out of political power, brought all known tactics of electoral banditry that characterized the 2003 and 2007 elections, to inflate votes such that as much as 12,000 votes emanated from Bende local (sic) government (sic) area (sic) alone.” In any election, there is nothing like desperation. It is either you are committed to it in whatever form you consider fit for you or you remain on the sidelines. The passion with which you drive your quest may be mistaken by political neophytes as “desperation”, which is sheer abuse of an innocent word. If you were not going to be desperate—whatever that means— then stay at your home. The aforementioned AIT commercial was not desperation, but subtle appeal to the electorate? Public communication should not be trivialized for lack of what to say that makes sense and is logical in all contexts. The fuss about “desperation” reeks of a loser’s mantra. Instead of the pub spin about manipulations in 2003 and 2007 elections with Dr. Kalu being the alleged master-strategist, can we have authentic and certified facts and figures pertaining to those polls? Drunken imaginations and aspersions cannot win councillorship elections let alone senatorial rerun! If it was so mechanistic and simple for Kalu in 1999, 2003 and 2007 elections, he should equally have replicated it in the currency of 2015 and 2016 poll and rerun, respectively. What of 2011 senatorial election where

he was blatantly robbed of victory just as the latest brazenness in electoral fraud that has fleetingly suspended his mandate? Even as Dr. Kalu is “dismayed by life out of political power”, uncharitably, he cannot be compared to—not “with” in this differential instance—any of the small-fry contestants in the rerun in terms of everything imaginable. There is no basis if not for politics for Kalu to be in the same race with all the other rerun candidates put together. He towers above all of them individually and collectively. They all know this fact. It is just that in a democracy the best in terms of candidature may not necessarily win because of extraneous factors that usually play out uncontrollably. Throwing money at voters as Kalu’s accuser did does not guarantee victory at rerun polls or any election indeed! Kalu is not dismayed by political power or lack of it because he remains more relevant than most people in government or political power for copious reasons we cannot explicate here because of time and space. There is hardly any adult in the country and in the diaspora who does not know him, his antecedents, entrepreneurship, philanthropy and potentialities. He is a political asset anytime more than most people who are not dismayed for being in political power. All the candidates in the rerun pooled cannot make the kind of economic and political impact that Kalu has made and is still making at home and abroad. Kalu’s entrepreneurial ambassadorship is in the realms of those of Alhaji Aliko Dangote and egbon Michael Adenuga Jr. Obviously, in contradistinction, not an economic and political upstart like Bourdex who is still in the embryonic stage of his politico-economic career. Whether Kalu gets his senatorial mandate revalidated or not in the weeks ahead, all the puppets poking their leprous fingers at him can never in their life attain the supranational level that he has risen to and keeps making international waves in various spheres of existential humanism. It is pertinent for his tribe of hypercritics to note that whatever is the outcome of the latest senatorial inquisition he has embarked upon, it will not diminish his influence or vitiate his flourishing profile. The only icing on the cake is that such an actualization will add more verve to his superlative and transnational credential bursting at the seams already! The final word Kalu’s detractors and political foes will not like is that no matter what happens, Kalu remains a paragon of quintessence and an advocate of diligence and forthrightness in all departments of life. His affluence has never affected his humility. He deserves laudatory avowals—not acerbic TV commercials and fatuous advertorials by men still in their `political diapers egged on by amnesic ingrates that Kalu’s beneficence brought to devious stardom! Wabara is the media adviser to former Governor Orji Kalu (ewabara@yahoo.com)

The Nigerian Civil Service especially at the Federal level has, of course, had a very chequered history. Coming with the confidence to advise on policy decisions and the secured tenure of the Colonial Civil Service in the early years of our political independence, the Service was soon forced to confront the profound national crisis that led to the military intervention in the administration of our nation in 1966. Those years of crisis and military rule leading to the Civil War of 1967-70 saw the Civil Service virtually operating effectively at both the political and the bureaucratic levels of governance. A subsequent military regime re-acted against this conflation of responsibilities and almost literally “decapitated” the top echelon of the Service by forced retirements, leaving the Service bruised, disorientated and no longer possessed of its earlier confidence and sense of security. The debilitating effect of suddenly placing at the top of the Service, persons who were not fully prepared and experienced enough to take on the responsibilities and challenges of those positions soon came to undermine the robust pro-activeness of the Service in matters of nation building and economic development especially after the country returned to a democratic dispensation. In this publication titled Civil Service

and the Imperative of Nation Building, Tunji Olaopa has taken on the challenge of delving into the workings of the Nigerian Civil Service to dissect the basis of its dysfunction, failings, successes, progress and future possibilities from both a theoretical and practical perspectives. His passion for research and the intellectual confidence with which he presents his findings, observations and conclusions are attributes not commonly found among career civil servants. Indeed, the structure of most of the essays in the volume is certainly a critical notch above the conventional public commentaries that populate our nation’s newspapers, with most of the analysis duly spiced with personal anecdotes and wisdom quotes from great minds in the political and administration arena. Tunji’s major thrust in the volume, however, is to stress and underscore the fact that democratic progress all over the world responds more to the consistent reformulation of the operational dynamics of the Civil Service System which, in every country, is the recognized engine room of national development and progress. The Civil Service is especially a sine qua non for national integration in a country like Nigeria racked by pangs of post-colonial ethnic, religious and cultural agitations for identity,

a sense of belonging and social inclusiveness. Indeed, the Civil Service stands at the critical nexus between grand infrastructural and service delivery efficiency and effectiveness and the trans-ethnic and trans-religious loyalty which is necessary to promote and sustain the civic bond of unity that will truly transform Nigeria into a nation. The newly elected President and his administration will be well advised to take note of the unfinished nature of the reforms of the Federal Civil Service and be decisive in re-focusing its operational processes and procedures towards the goal of efficient and effective service delivery and national integration. To this end, this book, Civil Service and the Imperative of Nation Building will be found to be of immense value. I commend this truly seminal work to all politicians and technocrats in the corridors of power, to bureaucrats themselves, to administrative historians, researchers, students of public administration, social reformers and to all those who believe in the dream of a viable Nigeria rising from the ashes of her failures and mistakes to become a truly great African nation. –– (Being text of a speech by Prof. Mabogunje on two new books: Labour of Our Heroes Past; and Civil Service and the Imperative of Nation Building by Dr. Tunji Olaopa)

Kalu

The Future of the Nigerian Civil Service Akin Mabogunje

t was with great delight that I accepted the invitation to provide a Foreword to this very opportune publication, coming so soon after the national choice of a new President for the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the renewed challenge of effective nation-building and more rapid and sustainable economic development. My delight at the invitation arose from the fact that I am still to meet a civil servant like Tunji Olaopa who is so passionate and committed to promoting the reform of the Nigerian Civil Service to make it live up to the challenges of national development and transformation in all its ramifications. I was privileged to have been one of those to whom Tunji Olaopa turned in one of his moments of despair and frustration at the dysfunctional and effete performance of the Service. On that occasion, I succeeded in arranging for him to meet the then President of the Federal Republic, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who also must have sensed the staunch fervor of dedication in Tunji for improving the level of effectiveness in the operations of the Civil Service for the gargantuan task of nation-building and rapid economic development.

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