The Supreme Court Judgment

To both winners and losers, the Supreme Court’s judgment on the 2007 presidential election has laid to rest all disputes on the matter. Of course not everyone may agree with the majority verdict, but the law has spoken. By the laws of the land, the Supreme Court is vested with final say on all matters relating to presidential election disputes.
The court has affirmed the legitimacy of Umaru Yar’ Adua’s election which had been challenged by two of his co-contestants- General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Nigeria People’s Party {ANPP} and Atiku Abubakar of the Action Congress {AC}.
The Supreme Court ruling had been long in coming. While many had criticized this slow, ponderous pace of the law, they also conceded that that was the price of due process. The rule of law is a process that sometimes tries people’s patience but the alternative is no better. It is in that spirit that we congratulate both the winner and the losers - the winner for going home, as it were, with the bull’s eye and the losers for their faith in the rule of law. This, we believe, is one of the ways to deepen democracy. In a polity like ours, the courts have a vital role to play in this regard because of the disputations that often attend elections. Their verdicts may not always reflect popular sentiments but they are binding. That is the essence of the rule of law. It is note-worthy that all the parties to the presidential election disputes have accepted their fate consequent upon the Supreme Court judgment. That is how it should be and we commend them for their maturity.
Now that all legal challenges to the 2007 presidential election are over, President Yar’ Adua could be said to have been freed from lingering questions of legitimacy. As he drops that unwanted baggage, Nigerians expect him to fire on all cylinders. So far, the impression has been that his government is in dire need of traction. If one wanted to be charitable to the president one would blame this on the legal distractions that he was facing on his mandate. Now that the matter is settled, it should spur the president to real action. To whom much is given, much is expected. The seven-point agenda looks good. Let Nigerians see it as a programme aimed at truly improving their lives. It contains all the ingredients needed to transform Nigeria into the big league economically. Now it must begin to take concrete form. However, unless those wonderful ideas are carefully put into action, they will amount to mere slogans. The president must guard against this. It has been the bane of many a brilliant government programme. We believe that this government should steer away from sloganeering and instead begin to implement policies that will endear it to Nigerians.
For example, the energy crisis as we have repeatedly said on this page, should be receiving more serious attention than it seems to be doing now. The president has a fresh opportunity to erase that impression. The Supreme Court ruling offers him something close to a fresh mandate to start all over. He should place emphasis on key issues such as electoral and public service reforms.
We also believe that the Supreme Court judgment should be carefully studied by the government. A careful study of the judgment will also show the shortcomings of the existing electoral practices. So, a lot can be taken from it in reforming the electoral system. This is an opportunity to get rid of them in order to improve the transparency and credibility of the country’s electoral process. By and large the challenge of the Supreme Court judgment is for the government to justify the court’s affirmation of its mandate. A mandate can be used in either of two ways - to re-invent a nation as Lee Kuan Yew did Singapore by turning it into a first world nation; or to mismanage the resources of a nation as has been the misfortune of many African nations.

Tribute to Sports Heroes

Haruna Olatunji Ilerika who died two weeks ago at 59 years has been roundly acknowledged by soccer enthusiasts and analysts as Nigeria’s all time best midfielder.
As Fabio Olanipekun, former sports manager of the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), put it, “This country has lost the best midfielder that had ever traversed the Nigerian landscape. I saw Ilerika as both a school boy and national team player. The way Maradona was the centrality of the Argentine team was how Ilerika personified the Zumratul Islamia College soccer squad. It was the same tradition he carried into Stationary Stores and the Green Eagles.”
Another prominent ex- Green Eagle, Aloysius Atuegbu, nicknamed Blockbuster for his powerful shots, succumbed to stroke last May. Apart from being a major contributor to Nigeria ’s first African Cup of Nations win in 1980, he was also a well acknowledged factor in making his former club, Rangers International of Enugu, one of Africa ’s best football clubs at the time. He later went on to coach some local clubs and also the Under 17 national team. On the day of his demise, he was on his way to Ilorin to watch a league match, prompting the Nigeria Football League to observe a minute silence in his honour at all match venues across the country. Though laudable, that gesture is not enough compensation for someone who had contributed immensely to the growth of domestic soccer at all levels.
Like Atuegbu, Ilerika was phenomenal. Before he joined the Eagles in 1971 at the age of 22, he had put his stamp on the then prestigious Lagos Principals’ Cup as his abundant ball juggling skill was largely responsible for his school’s victory. At a time when developmental football had the attention it deserved, the late soccer maestro polished his talent and soon became a star whose praises were a part of sporting folklore in Nigeria. He became an instant role model for the youth, first in Lagos and later, nationally.
The five years Ilerika spent in the national team were characterised by his unique contributions to a side whose major driving force was the hunger to bring glory to her fatherland. While he lived, he always confessed that his greatest moment was the day Nigeria clinched gold in the football event of the 2nd All African Games in 1973 in Lagos. Before that historic match against Guinea, former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, summoned the players to Dodan Barracks and told them pointedly that only the top prize was expected from them. Eventually, it was the late master dribbler’s pass to Oyarekhua that gave Nigeria the much needed victory. He was in the Africa 11 that played in Mexico at the time.
Sadly, however, for someone who had sacrificed much of his talent, energy and time for the nation, his post-playing years, like those of many of his peers, were spent not only in obscurity but also in courtship with poverty. For him, his later position as vice-chairman of Lagos State Football Association was a Due ex Machina, a narrow means of escape.
Considering the fact that in those days the kind of robust remuneration for sportsmen and women that exists today was lacking, managers of sports should as a matter of policy design creative ways of empowering men and women who had made this nation proud at various international fora. That would serve as catalyst for sports development here and give hope to those who have noble sporting aspirations.
Also, the often despondent conditions of many sports heroes and heroines in the country should serve as lesson for the present crop of sports personalities. After all, no responsible person should shift the task of planning for his future to others, not even the government. Adokiye Amiesimaka, ex-Green Eagle, was right in his admonition to the current generation of athletes. His words: “It is incumbent on everyone to see good times as an opportunity to prepare for more challenging times. There are some football players today who earn enough to make them millionaires in any currency. But do they realise that the time will come when they may no longer command such income? The sooner players realised that they are on their own once their playing days are over, the better.”
Ilerika did give his best to his chosen vocation and his country. For that, not even death can erase his memories from the minds and hearts of his compatriots. That surely should be the lot of whoever pursues the pride of his country with zeal.

The Pain of an Airport

TheMurtala Muhammed International Airport {MMIA} is undoubtedly Nigeria’s busiest airport. Until fairly recently, it was, along with the Aminu Kano and the Port Harcourt Airports, the only international airport in the country. In real terms, the MMIA may not measure up to the standards of better-known airports like Schippol or Heathrow, but it remains about the best that this nation has today.
Despite the often chaotic atmosphere in its departure and arrival halls, the MMIA has a semblance of modernity. Things got significantly better at the airport under the Obasanjo administration when visible efforts were made to rid it of smelly restrooms, malfunctioning conveyors and passenger touts who had become a real menace to air travelers passing through the MMIA. While it cannot be denied that some efforts are being made to further improve the airport in the past few years, the main access road to the airport has been in shambles. Pothole and crater-ridden, the main approach to the airport from Oshodi and Mile 2 is an apology. The frequent traffic snarls is the result of the sordid state of the main access road. Driving in and out of the MMIA has thus become a harrowing experience. And as the road users suffer, so does the image of the country.
TheMMIA-Oshodi-Apapa access road tells any first-time visitor to Nigeria the sort of people we are—a people that pay no attention to things that matter. As one drives through the stretch between Toyota Bus stop and the airport, all one sees is ugliness in its worst forms. To worsen the ugly spectre, one sees on both sides all manner of shacks housing hawkers ranging from roasted corn sellers to carpenters and mechanics. A nation never showcased its under-belly so flagrantly.
Any one used to driving to and from international airports in other countries cannot but be depressed by the ugly state of the MMIA main access road. It was thus quite relieving when early in the year it was reported that the federal government would embark on the expansion and beautification of that road. Minimally, that should improve traffic flow to and from MMIA and make it more tourist-friendly.
Unfortunately, it does appear that the report was no more than a hoax. Admitted, some earth-movement took place on one side of the road. But all that this has achieved is to increase the agony of users of the road. No tangible work either in the direction of expansion or beautification is going on.
Expanding or enhancing the sate of such a vital link road is not something that needs to take such a long time. If there was any seriousness on the part of the government the project could be done within six months. What has become obvious is that there is no commitment to getting the project off the ground, let alone completing it. Instead the road has become even more dilapidated, indeed an eyesore that should grieve the heart of any Nigerian concerned about the image of the nation. Most first-time visitors to any country form their impression of the host country from what they see as their vehicle drives through the airport road. It is no surprise then that international airport access roads are usually kept in the best shape by governments.
Nigeria must be an exception given the sorry state of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Road. Both the federal and Lagos state governments should rise up to this challenge by ensuring the speedy execution of the MMIA access road expansion and beatification project.

Oil Ruins Us

FOURTEEN months ago, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State asked Nigerians to move away from the dependence on oil. The price of the commodity had not hit the $100 per barrel mark then.
Uduaghan's point was not about the collapse of the price of oil. He said that with the increasing issues about pollution, developed countries were making great strides in the search for neater energy alternatives. When they succeed, the economy of Nigeria would be ruined, unless it was weaned of oil.

Nobody listened. When the price of oil nudged towards $150 per barrel, our governments started building fanciful expectations of revenue that would be wasted like the more than $600 billion Nigeria earned in the first 50 years of oil discovery.

Concerns about the future of Nigeria and oil have since grown. Oil is an exhaustive resource. It is doubtful if its relevance would last long enough to build the future of economies like Nigeria's. Most importantly, the instability in Nigeria's production creates more uncertainties for Nigeria. At the height of high oil prices, Nigeria did not benefit because ignored communal restiveness in the Niger Delta cut production to about half.

The latest fears stem from the collapse of oil prices, leaving government to fund the 2009 budget from devaluing the Naira. The impact on the country could be more devastating than government is willing to disclose. Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State is sounding the latest alarm.

“If the oil price can fall from $147 to less than $50 per barrel under three months, that shows that Nigeria can actually collapse economically in less than six months. So, we must make the best prudent use of the available resources daily. We must try to create additional revenue generating means and resources if Nigeria must survive.”

In 52 years of oil production, the revenue was consumed, stolen, mismanaged and remains largely unaccounted for in deliberate efforts to conceal the rot. The money that should have been invested in other revenue generated ventures went with the blurred visions of our leaders.

By 2012, the world would audit the Kyoto Protocol, aimed at reducing dependence on petroleum products - in the quest for a cleaner earth and preservation of the ozone layer. The verdict could produce tougher measures on use of petroleum products, an incentive for more researches into other energy sources. These are indications of the grimmer days ahead.

What happened to agriculture –– our cotton, palm oil, rubber, and cocoa? We talk about what Malaysia did with the palm oil seedlings it obtained from us, in the same way we talk about solid minerals, and tourism.

No country can survive on speeches. Unfortunately, in Nigeria, speeches are solutions. We talk without acting, while expecting that money from oil is the elixir for development. The collapsing oil prices may finally teach us to talk less and use our heads — more.

Trillions, not for Niger Delta?

THE Federal Government has set itself up for embarrassment over the Niger Delta. After several assurances, many conferences and the setting up of a Ministry of the Niger Delta, it is becoming obvious that little would change.
It is not an entirely new story. Starting from the failed promises to ensure the release of accumulated allocations to Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, government has found itself in a situation where it could ruin all the gains of the rapprochement of the past months.

A paltry budget of N77.12 billion for the Niger Delta has drawn the ire of South South legislators who want N107.4 billion, calculated from various entitlements of the NDDC, to be allocated to NDDC in the 2009 budget. They also demanded that more than N300 billion owed NDDC in arrears since 2003, should be paid.

In more than five years of unprecedented favourable oil receipts, NDDC’s entitlements were not paid. The sheer hypocrisy of those days on the Niger Delta forms the bases for the deception that subsists.

More startling, it is obvious that the issue is no longer paucity of resources to allocate to the region. Even allocated ones are never released.

Senator Ayo Eze on Tuesday revealed that the Federal Government overspent the 2008 budget by N1.3 trillion. It would be interesting to know what the money was spent on, in a year, no major project was commenced or completed.

How much of this over expenditure was on the Niger Delta? There is no money to fund education, provide security, improve transportation, tackle burgeoning poverty and illnesses, yet government indulges in wastes that once used to be in billions of Naira. Now they run in trillions.

Niger Delta has only N77.12 billion earmarked for the region in the 2009 budget, but Senator Eze also disclosed the Federal Government would spend an unapproved N3 trillion next year.

The Senate sounds helpless about the Executive spending unapproved money. It is a major constitutional breach --and it is criminal. If it needs to spend more money than approved, the Executive is supposed to present a supplementary budget.

What excuse suffices for the Executive to present a budget of N2.74 trillion while there is evidence it would spend N6.068 trillion? What type of budgeting is this? It is no longer enough for the National Assembly to inform Nigerians of these infractions, it must do something about them.


Section 80 (1) states, "All revenues or other moneys raised or received by the Federation (not being revenues or other moneys payable under this Constitution or any Act of the National Assembly into any other public fund of the Federation established for a specific purpose) shall be paid into and form one Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.

(2) No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation except to meet expenditure that is charged upon the fund by this Constitution or where the issue of those moneys has been authorised by an Appropriation Act or an Act passed in pursuance of section 81 of this Constitution.

(3) No moneys shall be withdrawn from any public fund of the Federation, other than the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, unless the issue of the moneys has been authorised by an Act of the National Assembly.


(4) No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly ".


The enormous powers of the National Assembly to oversee federal expenditure flow from this section. It must use them to rein in unbridled wasteful expenditure, especially at a time Nigerians are already choking from the consequences of past mismanagement of national resources.

Dredging River Niger

THE signing of a N46 billion contract with five companies to dredge the lower parts the River Niger, from Warri in Delta State to Baro in Niger State, could mark the beginning of unprecedented economic activities in those areas. Heart-warming as the development may be, the neglect of the 572 kilometres of the nation’s most important water way is typical of the way we are.

The project conceived 46 years ago, was meant to develop the nation’s water transport infrastructure. Its non-execution left many places that ought to be resonating with economic activities in their rustic state.

Ports in towns like Warri, Koko, Burutu and various inland settlements suffered from the delay in dredging the Niger , which again has been mired in some controversies about the possible environmental impact. There are suggestions that dredging the Niger could enhance flooding that could wipe out some settlements.

A town like Baro should have been a major transport hub, being a rail terminus, if it benefits from working rail and water transportation.


Now that the Federal Government has announced payments to the contractors, totalling more than N5 billion, it should pursue this project with seriousness to ensure its conclusion within the one-year schedule.


Government has a penchant for making announcements without proper plans to tackle the issues concerned. What are the timelines for this project? How would government guarantee payment schedule? Have the fears of the settlements on the path of the Niger been addressed? Are there penalties in the contract to guarantee performance and ensure that government does not lose money on this project?

How would the ineffective budgeting system affect this project? We expect the Transportation Minister to ensure there are no more grey areas regarding this contract so that the river could be dredged on schedule.

Another area of concern is relevance of the project to today’s needs. When this project was conceived almost 50 years ago, the needs were different and Baro, for example, was a major railway terminus. The rails no longer exist in a manner that would make Baro a great beneficiary of this project.

The ports in Lagos are congested, with containers block-stacked to the skies. Were the River Niger navigable for bigger vessels, cargo ships for other parts of the country could use the waterway to access inland ports.


This, in addition, would save the roads from the weights that they bear of the goods from the coastal ports, especially Lagos.


Water transportation is important and its development could draw many parts of the country to the economy. If this is done along with the rails, transportation would be easier and the economy would benefit from these investments.

Piecemeal projects like the dredging of the Niger cannot solve transportation problems because other components of the solution are missing.

To our servants, ministers

The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. – Section 14 2(b) of the 1999 Constitution. A KEY challenge our new ministers have to tackle is remembering they are our servants. It is a long time ministers served anyone. Where they did, their numbers were so few and their service aborted too early for people to remember.

Ministers are our servants. Unfortunately, the people have no say in which ministers stay or go. Ministers therefore feel that their service is to the President, or in other cases to their god-fathers (there are god-mothers too).

The lengthening distance between the people and their servants is a source of concern. It is also at the centre of the miserly attempts at providing any meaningful service to the people. The President, who proclaims himself a servant leader and the various rungs of government demand service from the people.

A people already impoverished by years of policies that circumvent their interests have good reasons to wonder about the purpose of government. The 1999 Constitution is succinct on the matter.

Through its pronouncements and conducts, governments show that their primary purpose is the sustenance of the expansive interests of those who hold the reins of power. People are useful statistics to enhance importance of public office-holders.

Our servants, ministers, have become experts at explaining the problems. Some of them join us in mourning the worsening conditions of ordinary Nigerians. These conditions never reflect in the lifestyles of ministers, or prudence in application of public resources.

All the new ministers would move into new villas, which would be renovated to befit their tastes. The same mini places could have been renovated only last year. The strongest argument for throwing away the millions of Naira spent only months ago on the same items is that tastes of ministers vary.

Millions of Naira would be splurged on furniture for offices, residences, guest houses and vehicles fit enough for our new servants. These affairs are important enough to occupy our ministers for the next few months.

How do Nigerians benefit from these changes? Nigerians just live on hope. Government officials have substituted their own comfort for the welfare of the people. Hunger, poverty, diseases, injustice and concerted efforts at multiplying illiteracy show in government policies. These hurt the people, and make them mere watchers, without a future.

These ministers are coming in at a time of great economic uncertainties, but it is hardly a reason for non-performance. In the boom days, the people suffered the same deprivations.

Nothing would change until government's respect for the Constitution they lustfully pledge to obey.

We welcome the ministers to make a difference by improving the lives of long-suffering, ordinary Nigerians.

Steeped in uncertainties

WITH all the vaulting ambitions of our governments to make Nigeria a great nation, they overlooked the uncertainties that rule the land. They have either not recognised them or given up on doing anything about them.

One day, we wake up in Lagos and queues for fuel block the streets. Mercifully, the explanation is that truck drivers are on strike. There is fuel, but no trucks to lift them. This situation is not new, the current incident will not be the last.

A nation that lays ambitious claims to greatness cannot guarantee supply of critical products like fuel to its users on a regular basis. It thinks that truck drivers embarking on a strike is an acceptable excuse to shut the country down.

For years, truck drivers have become a law to themselves, what did the government do about it? Like other Nigerians, who are looking up to the authorities to act, government officials just bemoan the situation.

It is, to say the least, sad. No country can thrive on waving uncertainties around vital products and services. Nigerian authorities seem not to bother.

The streets are jammed with workers, who cannot get to their destinations. Factories that depend on self-generated power (public power supply is a myth) are halting while travels for business or pleasure are suspended.

At times like this, government's concerns for this country are in doubt. Why should we have the same problems for years without solutions in sight?

The monopoly of truck drivers in the distribution of petroleum products has created a powerful cartel that places itself above laws whether they are for its own safety or for others’ well being.
At the least insistence that they obey laws, truck drivers strike, fully aware that as fuel scarcity looms, the public would ask the authorities to let the truck drivers have their way.

We do not support Lagos traffic officials harassing the truck drivers, or anyone else, for money. It is, however, important that truck drivers obey municipal laws on public safety, these including their restrictions to certain parts of the city, parking and speed limits.

On their part, the authorities must explore other methods of transporting petroleum products to all parts of the country. Are the pipelines, built at great expense, finally abandoned? The rails used to be the mode of transporting these products. The rails are dead.

Products that are critical to the workings of the country cannot be left in the hands of truck drivers, who have perfected holding the country to ransom. Moreover, it makes no sense that all the petroleum products we used are imported through a single port, Lagos.

The latest strike hints again at the fragility of the petroleum products distribution system we have used for decades. It is not working and cannot work for as long as it has become a veritable blackmail instrument for truck drivers, who relish the relevance systemic inefficiency has carved for them. Only a decisive reversal of their importance can stop this.

Fresh debate on Immunity Clause

Once again, the controversy over Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution, which provides immunity from prosecution for the President, Vice President, State governors and their deputies, is on the front burner. President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua blew the lid on the fresh debate on the clause, which provides immunity from arrest, prosecution and imprisonment for the concerned officials during their tenure of office, with a call for its removal from the Constitution.

Speaking at an anti-corruption campaign organized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on December 10, 2008, the president described the constitutional provision which is popularly known as the Immunity Clause, as an impediment to a successful battle against corruption and called on Nigerians to join him in the effort to expunge it from the Constitution.

Justice Olufemi Akitan, in a valedictory speech on his retirement from the Supreme Court on December 15, 2008, supported the president’s position on the immunity clause, but wants it retained for the President and Vice President, “ because they represent the nation”. He enjoined the Supreme Court to consider an interpretation of the contentious clause in a way that will ensure that it does not cover any act “involving conversion or stealing of any public funds” put in the care of state governors.

The president’s position has re-opened the debate on the contentious clause with notable Nigerians arguing from different sides of the divide on its pros and cons. The sharp division of opinion on Section 308 of the 1999 constitution is not new. It has been on since the public outcry over the strident allegations of unbridled corruption by public officials during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration. On one side of the divide are those who want the immunity clause removed to boost the fight against corruption and the others who want it retained to protect concerned public officers from undue humiliation, harassment and distractions from their duties.

We welcome the fresh debate on the Immunity Clause. The great interest that Nigerians have demonstrated on this constitutional provision is, without doubt, a reflection of the appreciation of the dire consequences of corruption and unbridled political power on national welfare and development. It is instructive to note that the main antagonist of the clause in the fresh round of debates is the President who is a beneficiary of the provision, while state governors have, expectedly, opposed it.

We appreciate the positions of both the immunity clause protagonists and antagonists. We believe the clause was included in the Constitution to protect the concerned public officers from unnecessary litigation, which could distract them from their duties; and not to provide a licence for corruption. A wholesale abrogation of the clause could therefore lead to major political turpitude and unhelpful distraction from the duties they were elected to perform as they are dragged through the courts over both real and contrived civil and criminal allegations.

At the same time, our recent experience with corruption in public office shows that blanket immunity is tantamount to placing the concerned public officials above the law, where they are free to loot the treasury and commit other criminal acts. This unbridled licence can only have grave consequences for the polity and should not be allowed in any society.

We therefore canvass a middle ground – an amendment of section 308 – to provide for a protection of public officers from only civil suits while they are held responsible and accountable for serious criminal breaches such as murder, brazen theft and other serious economic crimes, like every other citizen. The proposed amendment to the Immunity Clause should reflect the fact that no public officer is above the laws of the land, whether while in office, or at any time, thereafter.

Beyond the proposed amendment of Section 308, however, is the need for the National Assembly and the State Houses of Assembly to be alive to their oversight responsibility over the executive arms of government. They should rise above bribery, intimidation and cajoling by the Executive and be ready to wield the impeachment stick, where necessary, to keep the President and governors in check.

We urge our politicians to imbibe a new understanding of public office as an opportunity to serve and not to amass wealth or to live above the dictates of the law. Above all, our anti-corruption agencies should demonstrate a strong will to investigate and prosecute financial and other crimes by former high public office holders, to deter such occurrences in future.

Dredging the River Niger

AFTER 45 years, the Federal Government the other day in Abuja finally signed a N46 billion contract and consultancy agreement for the dredging of the lower River Niger covering 572 kilometres from Warri in Delta State to Baro in Niger State. The project, which was awarded to four contractors in five Lots, would involve capital dredging for a year and maintenance dredging for two years.

Former Minister for Transportation, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, who signed on behalf of the Federal Government, recalled that the project was conceived in 1963 and regretted that ever since, it has been on the drawing board. According to her, "President Umaru Yar'Adua has directed its speedy conclusion and take-off to underscore the importance the administration attaches to infrastructure development".

The River Niger is an important geographical feature in the country. In terms of importance, it is ranked with such geographical landmarks as the Nile in Egypt, the River Congo and the River Mississippi in the United States, among others. Dredging the River Niger would undoubtedly help to reduce the pressure on Nigeria's dilapidated roads occasioned by heavy vehicular cargo haulage. Water transportation provides a sustainable and cheaper mode of transportation, which is currently lacking in the country.

During the 1960s, the River Niger provided a viable route of transportation between the North and the South with inter-modal connection to the railways. Passengers and agricultural produce were ferried by boat along the Niger. Prior to the opening of the Niger Bridge at Onitsha in the 60s, movement between the East and the West in this axis was by boat across the River Niger. In the absence of a rail link, Onitsha, then the biggest market in West Africa owed its importance to the River Niger. But all these are now history. Economic mismanagement over the years has led to the abandonment of the country's infrastructure and natural resources. The River Niger was not spared. With time, its importance diminished owing to neglect. While the roads depreciated and the railway system collapsed, water transportation went into extinction. Dredging the River Niger would revitalise economic activities along the river. As the channel is expanded both in width and depth, water hitherto held up in silt and sandbars would be released thereby increasing the water volume. Fishing activities would be enhanced and the riparian communities stand to benefit from this.

While the foregoing represents some of the positive fallouts of the project, it is important to draw the attention of the federal government and the contractors to certain issues. The project being envisaged is complex. This demands that proper procedures should be followed in executing it. For instance, there should be due diligence in conducting proper Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to ascertain the likely adverse effects of the project.

Any perceived adverse effects should be taken care of in the proposal. A mitigation plan should form part of the proposal. The communities in the affected areas should also be carried along for success to be achieved. We assume that the contractors have the capacity to execute such large-scale project. What is their track record? Have all possibly knotty issues been ironed out to ensure that nothing hinders the smooth execution of the project?

Messrs Fung Tai (Nig) Limited won Lot One of the contract from Warri to the Bifurcation of Forcados and River Nun, while the Royal Hoskoning was awarded the consultancy services. Dredging International Limited won the Lot Two from the Bifurcation of Forcados and River Nun to Onitsha, while Jayuda International Limited got the consultancy. Messrs Van Oord Nigeria Limited was awarded two Lots in the contract, among others. The Federal government, reportedly, would pay the contractors about N5 billion, representing 15 per cent of the total sum as advance payment for mobilization. In the same vein, the consultants would be paid N192 million (15 per cent) for the same purpose. Nigeria has a chequered history of embarking on white elephant projects that are abandoned halfway after huge mobilisation fees might have been paid to contractors. This should not be the case with the River Niger project. With dwindling economic fortunes, the country can't afford to lose its scarce resources to abandoned projects.

Reviving the country's transportation infrastructure should be a far more comprehensive exercise. There should be an integrated river, roads and railway system development plan for this purpose. This is the only way to develop a modern multi-modal transportation system in the country. The Niger dredging project should form part of the overall development of the transportation sector.

Education: South-East losing the battle

THE other day, precisely on December 15, the Lagos State Government authorities closed the famous Ladipo Auto Spare-parts Market in Mushin. I was saddened as I watched from my vantage office position located adjacent to the market as multitude of able-bodied young men and women traders streamed out of the market in droves to the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway. They were traders chased out of the market over alleged poor environmental condition.

The fact that over 95 per cent of the traders are of Igbo extraction who apparently have abandoned education for trading in vehicle spare parts in this techno-information driven age agonizes me. I lamented in my heart that the Igbo are finished except something is done to reverse this ugly trend in which a new class of business population made up largely of illiterates and semi-illiterates currently dominates the South-East.

Coincidentally, the first ever South-East Economic Summit had just ended the week earlier at the Concord Hotels, Owerri with the five governors of the zone paying lip service to education. Passing mention was made to education in the addresses delivered by the governors. There was no marshal plan from the summit to address the declining education in the zone. Thanks to the Sun Group of Newspapers for putting the Summit together with the governors.

Nothing was done to revive the falling enrolment in schools particularly that of the males. The summit seems to have focused more on a yet to be articulated economic development dream of the area that would include reviving the business spirit of the area by creating world class merchants importing and selling goods from other countries. That would be wrong headed.

The theme of the summit, Igwebuike, meaning, "large numbers (crowd) is strength", is anachronistic and no longer feasible in this age. Igwebuike had meaning in the olden days when there were inter-tribal wars that were fought with bows and arrows and communities with large numbers had victory. In those days when men married many wives and had many children to do farm work, Igwebuike had meaning.

But today things have changed. We are in an age when wars are fought using missiles. At such, large numbers of people are not needed to fight battles. One missile targeted at a city could destroy the entire population including the important landmarks in a second.

Furthermore, mechanised agriculture has removed the need for large numbers for those who take to farming. Our fathers and mothers yams and cocoyam have become extinct because people have left the traditional village system for the city. And if one would survive in the new city culture, it is imperative that the one should be educated. The city has no room for those eking out a living, which is caused by lack of education.

There can be no progress in any human society of this age without education. No amount of investment in business will lift the South-East zone without education. The people must be educated for them to be able to take their future in their own hands. Otherwise, a society made up of illiterate population is a brute society. In such society, individuals pursue their right by use of force. In the circumstance it becomes survival of the fittest.

The incident of December 15 was not the first time Ladipo Market was closed. In 2006, at about the same time, the Lagos State Government on the same allegation of dirty environment closed the market. That closure lasted for about a week. It took the intervention of Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State to come to Lagos and talk to Governor Bola Tinubu before the market was reopened.

The Ladipo market is just one out of such several closures of markets in the state. About three weeks ago, the State Government shut the Ikeja International Computer village on the grounds that the traders were evading payment of taxes. The Tejuosho Market in Yaba, which was burnt down last year during Christmas was subsequently demolished and is still undergoing reconstruction. There are several other examples of closures or mishaps happening to markets in Lagos in which thousands of Igbo traders lose fortune.

While most of these incidents are occurring because Lagos metropolis is unplanned and markets spring up in odd places without adequate infrastructural provisions to cater for solid waste in the centres of large human population, the question is why the Igbo are the most affected whenever and wherever there is an ugly incident in Lagos markets and indeed across the country?

The answer is simple. The Igbo are the ones that form the bulk of traders in any market anywhere in Nigeria. There is a new trend among the Igbo to pursue economic adventures as illiterates. That is why there are instances in banks in Onitsha where young businessmen transact business worth millions but can't fill ordinary form! The trader has the money but he is an illiterate. Money is worshipped.

Where are we heading to when an entire people have covertly abandoned education in pursuit of wealth? Where lies the future of the Igbo if education is relegated to the background and replaced with inordinate pursuit for money? What are the state governments doing about this worrisome development? What is wrong in one getting education before embarking on business as the Japanese do?

The point is that as an illiterate businessman or trader, one's fortune lies in the hands of authorities in government. A policy swoop could upturn all the business plans and render a hitherto rich business tycoon poor. The Obasanjo administration, for instance, closed the Ibeto Cement Company in Port Harcourt over a long period before it was reopened by the Yar'Adua administration not long ago. The closure of markets, though maybe warranted by the extant laws of the state, impact heavily on the fortunes of the affected traders. Many find it almost impossible to revive after losing fortunes to such ugly incidents.

An illiterate population could cry about marginalization for as long as desirable and nothing would change except by power of knowledge gained through education. President-elect barrack Obama was able to weather the storm in the United States to be elected first ever-black president because he received sound education like his white counterparts. He could confront them at any level.

The days of fighting for one's right using clubs, bows and arrows are gone. We are in an era when knowledge rules the world. Development in this age is driven by knowledge and this will continue into the future. What this means is that both now and the future belongs to the educated.

If you build skyscrapers as an illiterate, the educated could enact law, which bans skyscrapers on the ground that they are blocking sunlight. The action of Nasir el Ruffai in Abuja should be a lesson to all illiterate builders. Thousands of buildings were demolished on the ground that they were not in the Abuja Master Plan. They defaced the city! Where would an illiterate businessman who had used all his fortune to build magnificent edifices in Abuja do after the buildings were pulled down? He can't do anything because he is powerless. He lacks education.

While this is happening, sadly enough, the state governors are not doing anything to address the education lacuna in the South-East. As a matter of fact, the governors are not helping matters by the way they have been going about implementing some divisive policies in their states.

For example, the splitting of what used to be one united East Central State into five states, namely: Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi has only created deep rooted hatred and division in the South-East. For example, a situation where Igbo people are regarded as non-indigene in other Igbo states beside theirs is offensive.

For example, reports indicate that Ebonyi State University is charging indigenes of other Igbo states higher fees as non-indigenes. There is open discrimination against the so-called non-indigenes in the state universities in the South-East. Similarly, "non-indigenes" can hardly get employment in the South-East except in their state. How can the zone move forward when the fundamental issues like these are not resolved? Let the governors not pretend to be ignorant of these destructive tendencies.

As far as I am concerned, the summit should have provided opportunity for the governors of the five states to discuss matters of great importance to the zone. One of such matters is falling education in the East. Education should be the number one issue that should engage the attention of the governments in the zone. Education would provide the foundation upon which sound economic development would be built.

The summit ought to have come up with a scholarship programme to be implemented individually by the states of jointly under a South-East Economic Development Commission. It is proposals as this that would be reviewed when the next summit is convened. Except concrete action is taken on important matters affecting the zone, the Summit could as well be a jamboree.

The Comrade-Governor in Edo state

FOR all those who believe that hope is lost and that change can never come to Nigeria - I have news for you. Change indeed is coming to Nigeria, change that will be fundamental, change that will be basic and structural, and change that will be all embracing and liberating.

A glimmer of that hope of change was seen on Tuesday, November 11, 2008 when the courageous and determined Justices of the Court of appeal led by its President Justice Umaru Abdullahi upheld the verdict of the Edo State Election Petition tribunal and reinstated Comrade Adams Aliu Oshiomhole as the authentic governor and winner of the April 14, 2007 Edo State gubernatorial elections.

Before we celebrate Comrade Oshiomhole's victory, it is pertinent we celebrate and savour this judicial victory and breakthrough. This is because we all saw what happened in Ekiti and Osun states. How justice was openly diverted in Ekiti State as the former President - Chief Olusegun Obasanjo personally led a very high-powered delegation of PDP stalwarts to the state on the eve of that painful judgment. And till date the judicial master-stroke that out-schemed Rauf Aregbesola is still as fresh and current.

If the truth must be told - the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) never won any election in the 2007 elections as confirmed by President Umaru Yar'Adua himself who admitted that the elections that brought him to power were greatly flawed. But to confirm the President's hypocrisy, the Chairman of this flawed Electoral Body is still sitting very comfortably in office, after almost two years, even with more confidence and Presidential patronage. But to God be the glory that God Almighty Himself personally re-instated Nigeria's truly first peoples' Governor.

Governor Adams Aliu Oshiomhole is not the typical Nigerian politician. He does not fit into the cast and mould of the new bourgeois and elitist Nigerian political genre whose only idea of service to fatherland is the vilification and bastardisation of those guarded and time-honoured creeds and fabrics that the founders of this great country hold dearest to their hearts. Governor Oshiomhole is the new breed politician of change that Nigeria needs so badly. In a world where change and hope are the twin magic epithets, it is certain that the likes of Adams Oshiomhole will sell and win more friends for Nigeria in the comity of nations than all our Federal Ministers put together.

Adams Oshiomhole has a wonderful antecedent, an intimidating profile, a fantastic reference point and record as a successful labour leader of repute, who like a captain, never abandoned his ship and crew. While his predecessor Pascal Bafyau hobnobbed with Presidents, and powerful Government officials, Comrade Oshiomhole like his "uncle" Comrade Pa Michael Imoudu, resisted being bought over by Government with such unprecedented determination and gusto at a time when the failed Obasanjo regime needed labour to shore up its popularity and third term agenda.

I have an unwavering and unflagging confidence in the ability of a highly committed Governor Adams Oshiomhole to turn around Edo State in the two terms of four years each which the constitution allows him. Blinded by my unprecedented zeal, I have turned deaf ears to friends who caution me about the frailties of human nature. Oshiomhole's confidence in himself is self-manifesting and re-assuring. His policy of the "Hood does not make the monk" has for years made me one of his greatest supporters. He has shown depth and substance by an orchestrated and a sustained demonstration that man must not be judged merely by expensive and expansive togas but by the strength, dept and content of his character.

But I am sure I would have done a great disservice to my great Comrade if I do not sound a note of warning as he takes over a state that has been pillaged more than any other state in Nigeria. Most Nigerian Government Officials demand money for any service rendered. The People's Governor has to do an internal cleansing within the Civil Service before looking outward. Man by nature is very conservative, slow and averse to change especially when this change reduces his economic power.

For the first time in the history of Edo State, starting from its creation in 1963 as Midwestern State, Governor Oshiomhole will be shocked to find that there are areas in Edo State which have never ever felt the effect of Government. Go to all the riverine areas of Edo State and the Governor will know that a pro-Bini cabal has cornered power and made Benin and its immediate environs centre stages of development.

We thank God that some of the legacies of Prof Ambrose Alli will be allowed to flourish. Prof. Ambrose Alli wanted decentralized development but the powerful Benin Kingdom (which still believes that all non-Binis in Edo State are slaves in the 21st Century) wanted a Unicentral Development around Benin alone. A visit to the Riverine towns of Okomu, Jide, Safarogbo, Ekenwan, Inikorogha etc will shock and jolt the Governor back to life. For instance in Okomu, which has never had a secondary school, only about 5% of children are educated beyond primary school. The town has no graduate till date. The Governor can find out for himself.

It is very good news that there is a bipartisan working arrangement in the PDP dominated Edo State House of Assembly but the Governor should be wary. The Governor's inauguration speech was characteristically frank, down to earth and kept no one in doubt what his intentions were for Edo State. His greatest emphasis was on qualitative and compulsory education up to secondary school level. The Governor's emphasis on qualitative education is like the case of a man who is very hungry for change. With such responsibility I am confident that Governor Adams Oshiomhole will offer every Edo State child, high quality education as his or her birthright. This new generation of students will pave the way for a new wave of literary and academic consciousness and excellence the like of which Nigeria has not seen since the historical free education days of Chief Obafemi Awolowo of the 1950s in the Western Region of Nigeria.

At a time when most of his colleagues believe that heavy personal bank accounts is the most patriotic way to serve their fatherland, Oshiomhole is investing in the high capital intensive sphere of human capital development. Education is the only way by which we can give our children the best possible chances in life if we want to open doors of opportunities for them even before they start their education. Governor Adams Oshiomhole has a lot to draw from the inspiring examples of the late Tai Solarin, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Gani Fawehinmi, Prof. Tam David West and others like them who have tirelessly fought for good governance in Nigeria at great risk to their lives and those of their dear ones.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole should accept this historic challenge to be Nigeria's "catalyst for change" with a determined vigour and unprecedented zeal because this opportunity is rarely bestowed on man. Henceforth Governor Oshiomhole must start setting high standards and inspirational examples for our other Governors, Government officials and Nigerians in general to follow. It is possible. It is achievable.

Celebrating Christmas

WHAT is religion? To me, religion is a way by which people(s) try to reach their gods or God. There are certain mysteries which befuddle man. But, religions can answer these questions. Religions answer such questions that concern death and the life hereafter. In today's world, we have many different religions with their teachings. And, every religion has a founder. Islam was founded by Prophet Mohammed whereas Jesus Christ founded Christianity.

Adherents of any religion mark their religious festivals. The reason that Christians celebrate Christmas is Jesus Christ, a man who lived for a mere thirty-three years on earth, and performed such miracles as healing the sick, calming turbulent seas, and giving back life to the dead. But, some people doubt that Jesus Christ did exist. Incontrovertible findings have shown that Jesus was a historical person as opposed to the School of Thought that views him as a mythical figure. His birth was the Immaculate Conception since his parents had no coitus before he was conceived in Mary's womb. His birth dates back to more than two thousand years ago. Up till now, his followers (Christians) in Christendom still commemorate his birthday every December 25. But, was Jesus Christ, the reason for the Christmas, born on December 25?

There is controversy or disagreement over the day on which he was born. Some Bible scholars argue that Jesus was not born on December 25: However, it is said that a popular pagan festival was Christianized into Christmas. Since then, Christians have been celebrating the birth of Christ on every December 25. Whichever date was his actual birthday, many Christians are unaware of that, and they are not eager to split hairs over that anymore. But, Jesus' birthday is worth celebrating because of what he stands for. He is reputed to be the only man who died and came back to life again. And, Jesus symbolizes love. He died a painful death on the cross so that we (sinners) shall be saved. The New Testament says this of him: "Greater love has no one than He that lay down his life for his friends'

But, do today's Christians follow the precepts of Jesus? Jesus stands for love. But is it love that motivates some Christians to kill people for money? Some Christians kill people for ritual so as to become rich, some loot public treasury and others indulge in sundry criminal deeds in order to earn money with which to celebrate the Christmas. As soon as we enter the "ember" months, criminal activities increase. We kill people for rituals in order to become rich, we loot government treasuries, we rob people of their money and possessions, and we rig election to get to power - all these negate the teachings of Jesus Christ, and they are not acts of love.

Christmas is the time for vulgar and ostentatious display of our wealth. It is the time we gather our friends to open our new houses; we buy new cars for the celebration of Christmas and throw expensive parties during this period. And, the youths will wear costly new clothes, wear gaudy jewellries, and put on expensive designers' shoes. Christians of the Pentecostal stock are known for showy and flamboyant life styles. That is the reason their pastors preach the indispensability of wealth instead of centering their sermons on faithfulness, truthfulness, holiness and love. But, Christ whose birthday we celebrate, every December 25 is an exemplification of humility. Again, drinking revelries, sexual orgies, and violence characterise Christmas celebration. In past Christmas celebrations, drunk driving claimed the lives of some young men. They took to the wheels after drinking excessively which impaired their vision and judgment, and this led them to their untimely deaths. And, some months after the celebration of Christmas, the bellies of our young ladies will begin to bulge, which is a consequence of their sexual immoralities and escapades.

The vulgarization and commercialization of Christmas have undermined its spiritual essence. It is said that a pagan festival was converted to Christmas; so, has Christmas returned to its pristine and original pagan form? The Christmas period should be a time during which we should do a thorough re-appraisal of our lives in order to find out our deficiencies and short comings, and then make amends. In this Christmas period, we should re-dedicate ourselves to upholding the values and things which Christ promoted during his sojourn on earth. During this Christmas period, the rich should visit the poor and the needy and offer them financial assistance. Love is the summary of Christ's teachings. If we show love (Charity) to our fellow Christians and Muslims, Nigeria will become a better place to live in and ethno-religious violence will become a thing of the past. *Okoye lives in Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State.

Budget 2009 is not right

There are several pitfalls in the 2009 Federal Budget. The most scandalous of this has resulted in the unwarranted haggling over inclusion of constituency projects in the Appropriation Bill. The so-called constituency projects are at once a ransom demanded by federal legislators and a sop conceded by the federal executive arm that is being falsely presented as an understanding to ensure prompt passage of the budget: it is actually an underhand deal that robs the country of the unstinted service of the executive and legislative arms and therefore against the national interest. Through the arrangement, each federal legislator collects an agreed share of a non-descript constituency projects fund and does as (s)he pleases with it.

It is a travesty that raises federal constituencies of both legislative chambers into a sort of autonomous federating units or fourth tier of government where the respective electees act as the mini-executives who preside over and expend an illegally created layer of votes purloined from the federal consolidated revenue fund and on which the legislators render no account. It is unconstitutional and marks a return to the corrupt and unethical settlement syndrome of old; it breeds divided interest with the personal trampling over the national interest; and it compromises the ability of the legislature to carry out its legislative and oversight functions with due diligence. Consequently constituency projects should be expunged from the budget and funds wrongly earmarked for them should revert to the federal consolidated revenue fund.

Events around the budget foreshow that come 2009, budget revenue projections and purported revenue receipts may be subject to subtle engineering. The benchmark oil price of $45 per barrel may be achieved on annual average if not bettered. On the other hand, the projected oil production figure of 2.292 million barrels per day may not come to pass no thanks to possible OPEC production cutback in the face of global recession and reduced oil demand in addition to the militancy in the Niger Delta which may continue. The budget does not bear any specific benchmark naira exchange rate. Ominously as President Yar'Adua presented the budget to the National Assembly, the naira exchange rate, which is subject to official control despite claims to the contrary, depreciated significantly. Apparently there are plans to shell out estimated budget naira amounts based on a weakened currency. That will be a wrong way to go.

There is a lot to do to take the economy out of the woods. But having yet again "opted to devote more resources to completing existing projects and discharging outstanding obligations from the 2007 and 2008 fiscal years", the administration in 2009 should produce genuine results. Although the above has become a yearly mantra, our national experience has been that instead of the existing projects being executed, they were left to gather further layers of decay while only a part of the huge funds annually appropriated for completing the projects were returned as savings with the balance vanishing into thin air. Government should spare us false claims of achievements in the 2009 fiscal year.

For instance, with food inflation standing at 19 per cent in October and with no jump in agricultural exports or expansion in processed agricultural produce during the year, government's claim that its major achievement in 2008 was a robust 9 per cent growth in agriculture is an outright lie that Nigerians do not deserve. A review of the list of approved budget projects clearly indicates that no verifiable progress has been made by the responsible ministries, departments and agencies.

Although the administration had earlier in the year pledged to create 10 million jobs by 2011, the budget is silent on how many jobs to expect next year. In an open economy, most jobs are provided by private enterprises; but government must put in place the enabling environment for private businesses to thrive by pursuing appropriate fiscal, monetary and exchange rate policies. In this regard, however, the administration proposes in 2009 and the medium term to continue with the selfsame monetary, exchange rate and fiscal measures that have for three decades fuelled cancerous money supply levels with attendant high inflation, unattractive lending rates and hostile economic environment. That official decision dashes all hopes that the planned public-private partnership initiatives meant to deliver key economic needs will succeed.

It is unbelievable that, despite decades of resounding failure, government still does not see that its fiscal, monetary and exchange rate policies have veered from the standards that could give birth to its promised economic targets. Thus, whereas President Yar'Adua professes extreme reluctance at seeking legislative approval for a budget deficit of 3.95 per cent of GDP next year, in reality, the age-long government practice of withholding Federation Account proceeds while substituting in their place CBN naira advances that are misconstrued as oil revenue for sharing among all tiers of government to fund public expenditure, truly puts the implicit 2009 budget deficit at about 15 per cent of GDP, which is ruinous.

That contemptuously gross fiscal irresponsibility, consistent with economic expectation, in 2009 will as hitherto produce continued harsh economic conditions and render unachievable most of the objectives of the budget. To save the situation, it is yet again left to recommend for immediate adoption by government, a correct translation of public sector foreign exchange receipts through universal banks into realised naira revenue for government expenditure (in a manner proposed by the CBN in August 2007). This will open the prospects for all economic agents (government, firms and individuals) at our current stage of development to access, at low single digit interest rates, bank credit reaching up to about 100 per cent of GDP (that is, several times the combined government budgets in a given year) for funding wide-ranging economic activities, including the various projects and programmes contained in the national budget) in a conducive economic environment.

It is in such favourable ambience that the public sector, the private sector and public-private sector partnerships make positive contributions and drive economic development and growth at full speed in the national interest.

Ministerial appointments and non-performance syndrome

The history of ministerial appointments in Nigeria is a history of putting square pegs in round holes. State governors nominate individuals on the basis of political patronage rather than ability to perform. This entrenched blunder is the cause of the logjam in our national development effort. It is also the principal reason why the country cannot move forward but remains in abject situation more than four decades after independence in 1960.


There will be no end to this embarrassing underdevelopment quagmire until this ill-conceived structure is done away with such that the president is free to select his team of competent persons from anywhere in the country that would help him realize his vision as a leader. In that case, even if every state should have a minister, the president should be free to pick competent professionals and experts with the right track record without involving the governors.


Since the dawn of the war-induced divisive and retrogressive state structure, ministers have been nominated by the state governors to serve as representatives of their states on the federal cabinet. These ministers are nominated not on the basis of their expertise or ability to perform on the job but based on party patronage and whims and caprices of the state governors. The result is that at every point in time, incompetent persons who are unprepared and lack the necessary skill to help the country are appointed into the federal cabinet.


Year in year out, government propose huge budgets that end up not achieving anything simply because those charged with the responsibility of budget implementation cannot perform. They waste the country's precious time and resources and leverage on their appointment and eventually leave the country in worse state.


The sack of 20 ministers in one swoop recently by President Yar'Adua clearly illustrates the point I am stressing. The various state governors at the beginning of the Yar'Adua administration in May 2007 nominated the ministers. Having observed the enormity of the socio-economic problems confronting the nation, that kick-off team of ministers ought to have been selected on the basis of their competence and ability to give the dwindled economic fortunes a push.


But that was never the case. Not even the promise by the president to declare a state of emergency in the power sector has been realised. The ministers supervised the 2007 national budget allocation to their various ministries that recorded zero performance. At the end, they were sent packing while the economy worsened over the period. Unfortunately, the same mistake is being repeated as new ministers are being nominated by the same governors to replace the sacked team. There seems to be no end to our groping in the dark.


The immediate past President Olusegun Obasanjo did a good job in this area. He deviated from the retrogressive norm after wasting his first four-year term (1999-2003) with minister-representatives of the governors in his cabinet by appointing technocrats that helped him achieve the few things his administration could boast of only in his second term. The first term was wasted. President Obasanjo didn't hide his predicament when he confessed at one point that he didn't know some of the ministers working with him in his first term. He realized himself thereafter and was blunt in appointing individuals such as Professor Chukwuma Soludo, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili, Malam Nuhu Ribadu and Nasir el Rufai into his economic team. Each of these individuals left unprecedented mark in the administration.


For instance, while Professor Soludo revolutionized the financial sector through consolidation that has today stabilized our banks even in the face of global recession, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was instrumental to the huge $18 billion debt cancellation the country secured from its bilateral creditors. On her own part, Mrs. Ezekwesili introduced due process that for the first time exposed the magnitude of graft perpetrated by government officials and contractors in the award of contracts. The country has since then saved billions of naira that would have been swindled by unscrupulous government functionaries.


Malam Nuhu Ribadu's headlong attack against high profile corruption is unprecedented and that is one reason why he is being persecuted after being edged out of office. I think the allegations of corruption against him are politically motivated and need to be proven beyond all reasonable doubt. And, Nasir el Rufai embarked on a sweeping demolition of largely illegal structures that strewn the FCT, which de-faced the Abuja Urban Master Plan. His doggedness in that assignment has made Abuja look like the only city in the entire country.


I wish to observe that none of these technocrats who knew what their job entailed and how to go about doing it has been involved in the endemic corruption bug that is the hallmark of public officers in this country. Because they were aware that their integrity was at stake, they didn't leave any stone unturned in seeing that they effected remarkable change in their assigned portfolios. This is unlike a situation where the cronies of the governors who have no integrity to protect are appointed into high ministerial office just for its sake. These are the ones who apart from not performing go ahead to loot the treasury and still move about with volt face seemingly unruffled.


Any one who has followed the happenings since Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States on November 4 would observe that he has been going about painstakingly to appoint the best among the best in America to help him realize the vision of change he promised Americans during his electioneering campaigns. He has not relied on the state governors in America to appoint persons into key posts in his new cabinet. He has been doing it himself with due consultations with appropriate party and none party officials. His goal is to use whosoever has something to offer in the new cabinet even from outside the Democratic Party. There is no sentiment about it because failure is dangerous as it were. This is more so when the new administration is inheriting an ailing economy.


Without wasting time, soon after he was declared winner of the election, Obama pledged to "jolt" the economy when he assumes office by rapidly implementing measures that would stimulate the ailing US economy. (This is similar to President Yar'Adua's promise to declare of a state of emergency in the power sector without action to realize it). The steps Obama has taken so far leaves no one in doubt that the man means business and is determined to succeed.


Obama has been assembling highly trained experts to constitute the White House team that would help him drive the change train. For example, he has selected experts such as Rahm Emanuel as Chief-of-staff, Hilary Clinton as Secretary of State and Robert Gates as Defense Secretary. Others include Steven Chu as Energy Secretary and Tom Daschle as Health Secretary, among others.


Altogether, Obama has appointed eleven men and women with excellent track record of achievement in their respective fields into his cabinet. The latest appointment was that of Shaun Donovan, former New York Housing Commissioner, to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Shaun Donovan is credited with managing a $7.5 billion to provide affordable housing to New Yorkers.


Why on earth would a team selected on the basis of what they would offer and not what they would reap from office not succeed? It is also pertinent to note that each of the appointees was assigned a portfolio right from the outset. The consideration (or call it screening in our own case) is matched with the envisaged portfolio. No individual has been appointed without knowing exactly the department (ministry in our case) that he or she is going to be in charge of.


On this note, the so-called screening of ministerial nominees carried out by the Senate is of no value without the individuals screened on the basis of the ministry they would head. It is fun bringing individuals to the Senate and asking them general questions and that is used to determine the suitability of the individual for ministerial post.


What is wrong in assigning portfolios to ministerial nominees and then screening them based on what they plan to contribute to the ministry? That is the right thing to do if those at the helm of affairs sincerely want this country to move forward. After screening and passing the nominees without a focus on what they are going to do, the nominees when eventually appointed into a strange ministry would take one year to adjust and familiarize self to the happenings in the new office. While this is going on, nothing is working and the country is worse off.


President Yar'Adua should take a cue from former president Obasanjo by appointing competent individuals with track record of performance to drive his much flaunted 7-Point Agenda otherwise, I am afraid we will be marking time on the same spot and nothing would change in the current four-year term.

Ghana leads the way again (2)

MANY no longer think the excesses of Jerry Rawlings are enough to derail Ghana's democracy because the institutional frameworks of democracy and the rule of law are becoming better entrenched. Indeed, discerning observers now believe he would suffer the fate of the kingmaker in the event of NDC's victory if he insists on being the dominant back-seat driver to an eventually successful Atta-Mills government.

Indeed, the fact that the property owning democracy and golden age of business that NPP promised Ghanaians eight years ago is yet to materialise provides enough reason for its current challenges. Although there is a huge influx of foreign direct investment, the economy is no better than where the NDC left it. Over the past two decades, market forces have dominated the Ghanaian economy and this trend has continued with the NPP government. The economy is reliant on the export of primary products and thus making it vulnerable to the general shocks of the global economy including price fluctuations.

Further, since the 1990s, the economy has been characterised by high rates of inflation, high interest rates, depreciation of the cedi, dwindling foreign reserves, excessive public debt overhang and stagnant economic growth, implementation of the Government Poverty reduction strategy notwithstanding. It is these factors that have turned this election into the real test of popularity for the ruling party. Yet, while the message of change rather than continuity seemed quite strong, there is very little that seems to separate both parties in terms of their policies on the big issues of economic transformation and social stability, at least if one goes by their manifestoes...

There are several lessons too for Big brother Nigeria as the leader of the ECOWAS Observer Mission, former Head of State General Yakubu Gowon opined. The first is the humbling lesson that no respect would come our way from Ghana and the rest of Africa through hegemonic display of hollow power until we perfect our own governance structures at home by enhancing domestic electoral legitimacy. The widespread impression that those ruling Nigeria are not really the true representatives of the people actually undermine rather than enhance the way we are seen outside our shores. Indeed, the impression that we are 'big for nothing' and a disappointment to Africa is a regular view that I encounter in my eight years of residence in Ghana, even as Ghanaians acknowledge our boundless energy, proud carriage, rare intellect and our government's readiness to come to their rescue in times of economic stress. Indeed, many Nigerians are successful in Ghana and they run the major companies quoted on the Ghana Stock Exchange, but ever present in their relations with the Ghanaian elite is the subliminal arrogance and unspoken contempt that reifies the view that "Yes, you Nigerians may be brilliant, smart and rich, but brilliance without character and integrity amount to very little, and good breeding is not something to be purchased in the marketplace." In political science language, Ghana has political culture, Nigeria lacks it.

The second lesson is the more optimistic one of practice makes perfect. It is arguable that elections in Ghana have resulted in enhanced legitimacy because the chain has remained unbroken since 1992. Having run the fifth election in an unbroken cycle, the Electoral Commission in Ghana is regarded as one of the best managed in the whole of Africa. Its Executive Chairman, Dr Kwadjo Afari-Gyan and his fellow commissioners have become well-known elections gurus in the continent, earning the respect of peers across the board.

Sitting in on one of the commission's meetings with political parties, one can understand why. Dr Afari-Gyan demonstrated a mastery of his brief without being arrogant, entertained legitimate complaints from the opposition parties and left all with a clear impression that he was not in the pocket of any government or opposition party. There may be those who believe that Maurice Iwu is not beholden to the PDP but I know enough to dismiss such people. Even if that were true, the current structure and constitution of INEC does not help promote the view that ours is truly an independent Electoral Commission. The challenge before us is therefore to organise an Electoral Commission that is truly independent of Government and wholly accountable to the legislature and ordinary Nigerians.

The third lesson is the relevance of freedom of information and the vigilance of civil society. A major credit for the transparent conduct of the Ghanaian election goes to the several FM stations dotted around the country and the vigilance of CODEO - the local domestic observer mission of 4,000 people. Although some of the FM stations can be a bit over the top in the use of inelegant adjectives to describe the President and opposition leaders, it is a major credit to the NPP government that they removed criminal libel from Ghana's statute books. The truth is that the feeding of the public with regular, minute-by-minute updates on the elections is in itself a conflict prevention mechanism. And, more importantly, the FM stations are encouraged to do so by the Electoral Commission provided they stress that the results are not official but provisional. So, the idea that a result known to everyone at the local level suddenly produces another winner as it happens in Nigeria is immediately nipped in the bud.

Many have gone on record to commend the establishment of Justice Uwais' led Electoral Reform Committee by President Yar'adua. It is certainly my hope that the Committee would provide Nigerians with a better understanding of Nigeria's electoral geography. Two, we should let the Nigerian public, not the President nominate elections commissioners and subject them to public scrutiny before the National Assembly appoints them; three, we must fund the electoral body direct from the Consolidated Account without any interference from the ruling government.

Four, we must ensure that fast-track election dispute mechanism is introduced and utilised before any controversial 'victor' is sworn into office; five the electoral body must be supported by an independent bureaucracy, not the Nigerian civil service, six - adequate punishment must be prescribed in the electoral law for electoral crimes and finally, we must ensure that the electoral law promotes independent candidacy and proportional representation rather than the 'winner takes all' mentality.

For now, Ghana is leading Africa into democratic consolidation and it is certainly a beacon of hope for the rest of our continent. But if you ask Mr Iwu, don't be surprised if he says he was the architect of all the credible things we are seeing in Ghana. Chikena!

The open deceit called “MTN treasure hunt”

The Nigeria customer protection agency once clamped a beverage drink firm in Nigeria this year for a promo that it was organizing and hosting and said the promo was characterized by fraud and ordinances it discontinue from the promo. But no one was sure if that firm paid heed to the ordinance of the agency because a lot of things happen in Nigeria without strict checks.

Last night 3/12/08 I checked my cellphone account balance which was using MTN network and I saw the following write-up on it by MTN: “Your Xtracool Bal is Main:…Ur Bank balance could be N1m by tonight! Play MTN Treasure Hunt – N1m daily Prize. Text TREASURE to 77777. Each SMS costs N10”. And I text.

I was aware that the N10 in the text message by MTN was not originally N10, it was supposed to be N100, because N100 was the normal amount MTN has been collecting for this programme per each SMS, as prior told me by people who have entered for the promo. But what battled me was why N10 in the message? Was it to lure people to text and MTN would cut N100 instead of the N10 the texter might be carrying in mind for? Notwithstanding, the amount was not my problem, even that MTN cut N100 from my account balance when I sent SMS for the ‘show’ instead of N10 that the message on my phone was reading for their “MTN Treasure Hunt”.

When I joyously sent the message to 77777 and was expecting when MTN would inform me that I have won or havelost as they had instructed in the SMS, “Ur Bank balance could be N1m by tonight! Play MTN Treasure Hunt – N1m daily Prize”, I only got a rude shock from the subsequent messages MTN sent me, and those who are very knack in unmasking ‘fraud letters’ would see reason that I was not just an alarmist.

Read the first message from MTN after I had contested: “MTN Treasure Hunt: WELCOME! Daily prize: N1 million. Weekly prize: N2 million. Jackpot: N10 million! Plus BONUS PRIZES. Reply with your name (6 letters max)”. When I saw this message, I know that MTN was up to something and I refused to reply for the fear of not losing another N100 from my account balance.
When I did not reply, another message came in from MTN just few minutes after the former, and it reads: “MTN Treasure Hunt Terms and Conditions: tonight! Play MTN Treasure Hunt – N1m daily Prize”?
When I did not reply, I got another message from MTN on 4/12/ 08, 08:42:27am, thus: “MTN Treasure Hunt: IT’S HAPPY HOUR! Between 10am and 11am replying to this message will win double reward points! (Did you here “replying to this message will win double reward points!”?) N1 million must be won tonight!”

Women and hard drug trade

The recent report that about 238 Nigerian women are currently serving various prison terms for drug trafficking in London is another sad pointer to the precarious condition of many of our compatriots in foreign lands.

Olga Heaven, Coordinator of the non-governmental organisation, Hibiscus, who disclosed the sad fate of these women, said that the women represent Nigeria’s low class women who were forced by poverty and the temptation to get rich quickly into illegal drug trafficking. Seventy of the women are said to be in a single prison, where they constitute a significant percentage of inmates of the prison.
The sorry fate of these compatriots is disturbing.

The imprisonment of so many Nigerian women is a dent on the image of the country. Sadder still is the fact that the case of these women is a tip of the ice berg of the imprisonment of our compatriots for drug trafficking in foreign lands. So many of our citizens are in jail for drug trafficking in many parts of the world.

Only recently, we had occasion to comment on the case of seven of our citizens on death row in Indonesia, with two of them already executed on June 2, 2008. In that instance, efforts by the Federal Government to secure amnesty for the convicted Nigerians failed.

This unfortunate state of affairs calls for introspection on the part of the Nigerian authorities and indeed all Nigerians on the cause and the remedy for the development. While we agree with Hibiscus that the endemic poverty in the nation could exacerbate the tendency to succumb to the lure of the huge sums of money involved in the hard drugs trade, we do not think that that reason alone explains the propensity of our women for the illicit business. We hold these views because Nigeria is not the only country that is ravaged by poverty neither are the imprisoned persons the only poor persons in the country.
The problem, we think, can also be traced to the collapse of values and the desperation of many Nigerians to become rich by all means, fair or foul.
The foregoing, however, is not to exonerate the government of the responsibility of providing the normal economic and social pillars that should ensure opportunities for gainful and responsible living for the people.


It is no news that Nigerian youths, for some years now, have been largely left to their own caprices to fashion out a living in whatever way they can. The society that should support the effort to provide gainful employment and ensure that the youths remain on the path of moral rectitude has largely ignored them.
Our courts which oftentimes impose ridiculously lenient sentences on convicted drug traffickers have also not helped the situation.

This permissive attitude to drug trafficking runs contrary to the serious view of the offence in many countries, with the result that many of our compatriots have either been imprisoned, hanged or are on death row in countries like Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Indonesia.

This situation gives a very poor image of our country. It is casts a slur on the perception of our compatriots who are now subjected to several indignities and body searches at many airports across the world.
The involvement of our women in drug trafficking is also a debasement of the public image of Nigerian women who are mostly hardworking and responsible members of society.
This sad state of affairs should be addressed holistically at all levels of government. Non Governmental Organisations, schools, religious and traditional rulers should be involved in the campaign to dissuade Nigerians from the ignoble trade.

Our drug law enforcement and other security agencies should step up surveillance to ensure that drugs do not easily pass through our borders. Stiffer sanctions should be provided for drug trafficking in our law books and the sanctions must be faithfully enforced by our courts
The society, through moral sanctions, should seek to project a new image of drug trafficking as a truly reprehensive trade.

The reality of Vision 20–2020

Recently, the Federal Government advised states to ensure that whatever economic blueprint they design for their respective states should of, necessity, be in line with Vision 20–2020. For the records, Vision 20–2020, is government’s ambitious economic catchphrase that aims to make Nigeria as the “20th most industrialized economies of the World” by the year 2020.

Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan dropped government’s desire of synergy of economic ideas with the states during the just concluded and hugely successful, The Sun South-East Economic Summit, held in Owerri, Imo State.

According to the Vice President, state governors are at liberty to design their own economic vision, but underscored the imperativeness of such plan to factor in the policy framework encapsulated in the Vision 20 – 2020 document in line with President Yar’Adua’s seven-point agenda. These include, the rule of law, strong economy with low inflation rate and job creation, power supply, security, among others.
In this connection, the Vice President stressed the need for integrated effort with the states, the public and private partnership for accelerated national development.

On the face of it, the cooperation being sought by the federal government from the states, points to a positive direction. It can be likened to a compass for a co-ordinated economic development blueprint that can help the nation move forward. It makes economic sense that state governments should apply themselves to the realization of this vision and the goals contained therein.

Hitherto, there have been so many visions, from past and present governments, at both federal and state levels. They have remained just visions. In most cases, the visions are blurred and poorly articulated.
It is, therefore, high time these visions moved from been mere mantras, to concrete things that Nigerians can see and feel. In this regard, the federal government should lead the way and the states will follow. It is one thing to embrace a vision, it is another thing to transform it into reality. Essentially, a vision must say something that clarifies the direction in which any nation needs to move.

Sadly, this is yet to happen in our country. While we support government’s idea and calls for states to join in realizing the goals, the governments at all levels need to be reminded that a vision is vacuous if the leadership lacks what it takes to actualize it. In effect, without sensible vision, every effort dissolves into a list of confusing and incompatible projects that takes the country in the wrong direction. Government’s vision will remain a mirage if the enabling environment is not put in place.

The fundamentals such as regular power supply and security are priority areas, the absence of which the government’s 7-point agenda cannot be realized. The vision plan should not be a temporizing platform as is the case now. At present, Nigeria is stuck in the middle with no tangible incremental improvement in essential things of life.

We therefore urge the federal government to apply itself consciously to meeting it’s own agenda based on promises made on assumption of office nineteen months ago.
No amount of documented blueprint will yield the necessary democratic dividend when the leadership seems to have lost focus with the agenda that brought it into office. Our position remains that good ideas have never been our problem as a nation, it is the lack of a purposeful leadership that can chart a good direction for human and economic prosperity. That, in our view, is the reality of a vision. A vision with discernible cause of action capable of yielding purposeful results, is what Nigeria urgently needs.

Moving Nigeria forward

It is really disturbing that after 48 years of indepence, the masses of this country are yet to experience appreciable socio-economic advancement despite the abundant natural resources God has bestowed on this land.

There are still widespread poverty, crookedness, lawlessness, cheating, embezzlement, corruption, injustice, immolation, intimidation, marginalization, tribalism and religious intolerance. If you put all these factors together, you will discover that the evil things happening in this country have gone beyond human comprehension and description.

hot, Nigeria has been hijacked by political vampires who do not want this country to move forward because of the evil politics they have inflicted on the defenseless masses of this country. The field of politics has been so polluted that decent men and genuine patriots are not given the opportunity to participate. Most of them have chickened out because the political field is too severe for their comfort.

Our economic failure is linked to our political failure because we have incompetent political leaders who often formulate faulty economic policies. The results are the unfortunate collapse of agriculture which should be the mainstay of our economic, the precarious dependence on oil and spending of billions of naira on power and other projects without anything to show for it.

I weep for Nigeria, my country and generations unborn. In Nigeria, anything is possible. Nigeria of 15 years ago is better than Nigeria of today. The country is sinking everyday, and there is no solution in sight to these lingering crises. Some people have been calling for sovereign national conference, some others agitating for confederation while others are contemplating secession.

Right now, we the masses are reaping the fruits of bad governance because we have been dumb and inactive for too long. We are so accustomed to pain that we think by ignoring it we can wish away. It is time for Nigerians to take their destiny in their hands and decide to move forward