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Friday, August 21, 2009

Right of Reply : You can’t de-brand Dora

IT was with great effort that I concluded reading your(Dele Sobowale) last weekend’s disquisition on the re-branding of Dora Akunyili our Honourable Minister for Information and Communication, and principal exponent of the Re-branding Nigeria project.

Your title reads, “Re-branding Akunyili and Ohakim”, but I will concentrate on the innuendoes and factual errors that impinge on Prof. Akunyili because I know that Ikedi Ohakim has enough aides to respond to the overtones fired at him.

Firstly, you got your facts wrong on several of the issues you raised. Let me start with the N8.2 billion NTA upgrade contract. Prof Akunyili’s life does not depend on it as you claimed. Let me state clearly that Prof. Akunyili only presented the memo on NTA upgrade project to Federal Executive Council, FEC, just as she will present for any of the 14 parastatals under her supervision.

NTA initiated this project about two years ago when Prof. Akunyili was nowhere close to Radio House Abuja. NTA went through selective tendering and recommended the following three contractors to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) for the project: Thomson Grass Valley of France, WTS/Sunny Nigeria and VISAT USA .

Interestingly, BPP reviewed submissions and called for fresh tenders from the companies to clear some technical details. Fresh tenders were submitted directly to BPP by all interested parties after which BPP selected WTS/SONY to handle the entire project. It was after BPP issued a certificate of “No Objection” for the project to be awarded to WTS/SONY, that the Minister presented the memo for approval to the FEC.

It is therefore clear that the Minister was not involved in evaluating the contract and selecting the contractors. It is clear to any discerning mind that Prof. Akunyili is a stickler for due process and walks the fine line.

Your claim that the “the re-branding which was ill-conceived was brought down by the Federal Executive Council…” is false. There was never a time that the Minister presented a budget of N1.2 billion to the FEC or anyone for that matter. It was a section of the media that bandied this sum around based on rumour.

For the avoidance of doubt, the money being used for the Re-branding Nigeria project is the leftover of the money budgeted for the Heart of Africa for the year 2009.The sum is N150 million, out of which an inherited debt of about N19.9 million was paid. The balance for the Re-branding project was N130 million.

So much has been said and written on the NCC saga. At this point it suffices to state clearly that for her, this is an issue based on principles. Simplicita. If there is an established process by law, then it must be followed without short cuts. The facts are out there and you can verify. Well, after about 12 weeks of NCC controversy and representations, Prof.Akunyili has been vindicated.

Her principled position and courage under assault won the day when on Tuesday, August 11, 2009 President Yar’Adua ordered the cancellation of the 2.3GHz sale conducted by Ndukwe and directed that a new transparent process be conducted.

So you see, like the NCC saga, most of these allegations and insinuations against Prof. Akunyili cannot stick because they are not factual. Lastly, the daggers-drawn inference about her relationship with the Minister of State needs to be further investigated. We do not see any daggers yet. What she has tried to do is to make sure that the best working relationship is evolved and that issues are dealt with according to the rule of law. Period.

To many, Prof. Akunyili’s journey to the Ministry of Information is an odyssey. It is something that people only dream about but hardly witness in Nigeria. The ideological and physical journey by millions of people who always wanted to make Nigeria great have been traumatic experiences characterised by countless trials and tribulations, most of them harrowing and dreadful.

This is what Dora’s odyssey has come to change. But it is most irksome when disinformation is coming from the enlightened class, who would do well to join hands in nation-building and not this objectionable frenzy that unkind opposition perpetuates.

We all would want our nation to be great but great nations do not happen devoid of the contributions of great minds. Dora has surmounted some of the most outrageous obstacles in Nigerian life through hard work and perseverance. Her attitude since, has been, “if I can do it, many Nigerians can do it too”. That is why she is pursuing the Re-branding Nigeria project to veer Nigeria away from the course of misrepresentations that have turned the country into a war front and its future generation of citizens a war chest.

Sobowale should know that the Minister has no reason to indulge in propaganda, or use any concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the behavioral patterns of enemies, as most propaganda would do. There is no enemy here and she chooses her subjects very carefully, for the benefit of compatriots. The re-branding project is a result of deep introspection and the conclusion that an ingredient that could make Nigeria better is lacking.

By staking her hard-earned credibility in the project the Minister is saying she could give anything to salvage Nigeria. It is therefore inconceivable that such a well-articulated dream would now be turned into a monster by people who should be part of it, wishing that it consumes its protagonist. So who is trying to re-brand Dora?

Her message is as simple as it has always been, even before her time at NAFDAC. She is a hard-working ordinary woman who is out to change the world and willing to take all agents of change along with her in any crusade, be it at NAFDAC or elsewhere. There is the potent danger of people who supported her while at NAFDAC now abandoning her because she is in a terrain that they feel belongs only to them.

But Dora refuses to be pigeonholed. She is a one-size-fits-all and would perform as creditably wherever she finds herself, in or out of government. But she also says one more thing; that she cannot accomplish anything without the support of people like Dele Sobowale who once believed and trusted her. They form her village of crusaders and jumping ship midstream is not a good idea. Not this time, at least.

TheTask बेफोरे थे IG

FOR Ogbonna Okechukwu Onovo, his appointment as Acting Inspector General of Police July 22 and subsequent confirmation by the Nigeria Police Council, August 4, capture the age-long saying, that “the patient dog eats the fattest bone”.

Onovo had previously acted, though briefly, as IG of the Nigeria Police Force in 2007, before he was replaced by the last IGP, Mike Okiro. He holds the record of having served three IGPs as a Deputy Inspector General. Even at that he was said to have been faithful and diligent, believing, as it were, that one day he would be rewarded for loyalty and consistency.

So, on July 22, the jinx was actually broken, making him the first of Igbo extraction to attain such a height in the Force, since the civil war ended in 1970.

Regrettably, Onovo’s appointment was almost marred by political and ethnic considerations. Before this period, ethnic considerations and personal loyalty were the major criteria for the most senior appointments in the Police in the past, the result of which was an inefficient and corrupt Police Force.

Little wonder ethnic bigots and politicians reduced the appointment of Okiro’s successor to a mere political issue; making the entire process seem like the usual Nigerian thing; whereby where you hail from and who you know determine your fate.

It was indeed saddening that the campaigners invaded the media and desecrated the sanctity of newsrooms; they did not only recruit columnists but succeeded in skewing editorials, cover and lead stories as well as articles in their candidates’ favour.

Interestingly, President Umaru Yar’Adua held tenaciously to his rule of law mantra and refused to be swayed by all those cheap methods and tactics. Mr. President by this singular act has no doubt restored discipline in the Force because seniority and experience could once again count in the Nigeria Police.

In fact, the national acclaim that has continued to trail the appointment of Onovo is a testimony that the President could not have made a better choice. This was also reinforced by the Nigeria Police Council as, according to the Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Ibrahim Lame, there was no dissenting voice when the body met last Tuesday to deliberate on the issue.

The new IGP has been variously described in glowing terms. Not a few commentators, particularly within the Force, see him as an upright officer who brooks no truancy or illegality. When the issue of who would replace Okiro raged, Onovo was said to have put his faith in God, insisting that it is only Him who has the power to position any man at His own time.

It was gathered that Onovo had rejected a proposal by a highly placed PDP chieftain from the South East to set up a media team to campaign for him. He had reportedly thanked the man for his concern, but told him that the appointment of IGP was not an ethnic thing, pointing out that when he joined the Force in 1977, he did not have the slightest inkling that he would get to the position of DIG.

That Onovo swarm the murky waters of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) between 1998 and 2000 as Chairman/Chief Executive Officer without being tainted is a pointer that he is a man of character.

Nigerians, who noted that Onovo had shown signs of loyalty and patience, have been applauding his appointment as befitting and well earned, while some others believe that his uprightness and integrity may be the much needed tonic that will transform the Police and restore its lost glory.

And that is the current challenge before Nigeria’s 14th indigenous Inspector General of Police. Generally, the core task facing the new Police boss is how to return the Police to its original duty of crime fighting, security and maintenance of law and order.

Since Onovo assumed office, he has repeatedly reassured Nigerians of his commitment to a crime-free society; as he put it, where they will sleep with two eyes closed.

Informed sources disclosed to this writer that the IGP has mapped out plans to curb crime in the South East, not only because he hails from the region but also because he was the first person from the zone to occupy the office of the IGP.

The spate of armed robbery, kidnapping, militancy, assassinations, extra-judicial killings by police personnel and general insecurity will receive the maximum attention of the Police under Onovo.

TheTask बेफोरे थे IG

TheTask before थे IG

Niger Delta and the Clapperton Accord

Robert K. Greenleaf in his book, The Servant as a Leader says: “Foresight is the ‘Lead’ that the leader has. Once he loses this lead and events start to force his hand, he is a leader in name only.

He is not leading; he is reacting to immediate event and he probably will not long be a leader. Such loss of leadership he says stems from a failure to foresee what reasonably could have been foreseen and from failure to act on that knowledge while the leader has freedom to act”.

The term “Servant Leader” was used by President Umaru Yar’ Adua and some governors of the Niger-Delta region as a major point of campaign before the 2007 general elections and inaugural speeches on assumption of office. Ironically, all the talk about “Servant Leader” may have been deliberately or unconsciously forgotten considering how events have turned out against the people of the region.

That “Servant Leader’ issue created good political sloganeering; fair enough. But for political or economic dividends to the people of the region and the nation at large, it is a failure. Recent events in the region which confirm Robert K. Greenleaf’s statement above would equally justify the later.

When the Federal Government ordered the Joint Task Force (JTF), to fish out so-called “militants” in the Niger Delta region, quite a number of people, led by Chief Edwin Clark, who understand how the leadership of the nation works, called for a stop to the carnage.

In a front page Comment of May 21, 2009, the Vanguard alerted the world to the carnage as it said: “Headlines do not bear the full tales of the misery unleashed on the Niger-Delta, an area that is the epitome of the national neglect that our leaders unconscionably visit on Nigerians…Doubtlessly, the Niger Delta would remain contentious for a long time”.

With temporary understanding, the destructive offensive launched by the JTF on the so called “militants” may soon come to an end. But how long before the over three decades battle resurfaces can only be determined by the sincerity of the leadership of the country. From the latest actions of the leadership of the country, it is difficult to believe that this will (battle to come to an end) happen very soon.

Specifically, references can be made to the “amnesty” to Niger Delta “militants”, a probably deliberate prelude to subsequent media reports that the Federal Government had reversed the upgrade of the Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun, Warri to a University and the stout defense of the N14 billion budget for the construction of the Kaduna Petroleum College.

More offending to the people of the Niger Delta region is the arrogant stand of Dr. Rilwalnu Lukman, Minister for Petroleum who said that “those who do not want the project to be sited in the North should have a re-think as there is nothing they can do to change government’s decision”.

We are beginning to entrench a system where when the North or South is in leadership at the federal level it must reverse all the other party did while in government. Six years from now, if the PDP is still in power and wins, a Southerner would be in power, which means that the nation should expect another turn of reversals. But what bearing does all this have for the future of the country, especially with what looks like foul events unfolding at this time.

The truth remains that there have been precious moments the Federal Government and Niger Delta agitators embraced themselves for peace. But the Federal Government always failed to keep its own promises.

With the recent statements from Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, who belongs to the old order, the brief period of relative hope on the Niger Delta crisis, flown by the on-going amnesty announced by the government is in danger of flickering out. Often, the two sides’ positions have become dangerously entrenched.

This is one of the reasons why the Niger Delta conflict grinds on remorselessly from decade to decade. During eruption of conflicts or violence, the mantra of governors, ministers, legislators, traditional rulers, industrialists, journalists, editorialists, religious leaders, tribal leaders and diplomats amongst others, cry for the need for caution on both sides. Many of them have over time selfishly worked to create stupendous wealth for themselves, their families and friends.

It is difficult to put all blames on the agitators in the region who have long come to realise that the federal government will always fail to meet its promise to the people of the Niger Delta.

The making of a dangerous nation

“SOMETHING startles me where I thought I was safest,I withdraw from the still woods I loved,
I will not go now on the pastures to walk...”– Walt Whitman (1819-1892) in the poem, ‘This Compost’.

IN October 2004, Professor Chinua Achebe told Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s “civilian” ruler at the time, that Nigeria under his watch was unarguably “too dangerous”. That was about five years ago. Today, words would fail anyone, including Achebe himself, to describe Nigeria’s current state.

And if by any stroke of misfortune the 2011 general elections still throw up this same band of (mis)rulers, whose insatiable greed and obscene display of unearned wealth now constitute the greatest and most effective incentive for the prolongation of Nigeria’s current nightmare of kidnapping, violent robberies and ritual murders, what this country will become in the next few years from now is better imagined.

Mid-last month, July 15, 2009, to be precise, the Nigerian Tribune carried a very brief story whose significance may have been lost on many people. At 3.00 am on the Sunday of that week, a thief was caught in the bedroom of Mr. Sule Lamido, the Governor of Jigawa State.

The story, according to the newspaper, has been duly confirmed by the Governor’s Director of Press, Muhammad Sanu Jibrin. Before now, who could have imagined that a thief, any thief, would have been able to violate the sanctity of a governor’s bedroom?

But that has now become part of our history. I won’t be surprised to hear tomorrow that a governor or his wife has been kidnapped and taken to an unknown destination, from the safe confines of the Government House. Given the horribly complicated security situation in this failed state we call our country today, such a possibility already stares everyone in the face.

There is always a huge price to pay when a nation is left in the hands of an irresponsible and wayward elite to do the only thing it knows how to do with it, namely, primitively bleed it pale and callously run it aground. That is today the story of Nigeria. And the situation is becoming horribly complicated.

Those outsmarted in the grab-and-plunder game have taken up arms to get their own share of the cake, provoked mainly by the sudden wealth being flaunted by the “lucky few” with easy access to public funds. Now, the smell of blood and death hangs in the air, like a dreaded epidemic! Fear walks on all fours. Yet, the looters are still busy plundering, hoping to use what they have accumulated to purchase safety and comfort for themselves in the midst of death and destruction. What a foolish thought.

On July 18, 2009, Saturday Independent reported the gruesome murder of two former aides to the Education Minister, Dr. Sam Egwu, at the burial ceremony of the father of a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Nnewi, Anambra State. A federal lawmaker, Paulinus Igwe Nwagwu, who was also hit by bullets from the same gunmen, however, still has his life intact, and was at the time of the report receiving medical attention at an undisclosed hospital.

It was even reported that due to “the deadly onslaught of this gang of killers”, Gov Sullivan Chime of Enugu State, and Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who were already set to attend the funeral in Nnewi became scared and retreated indoors. Do you blame them? When a state fails, not even governors or deputy senate presidents can appear safely in the open, despite the intimidating security apparatus at their disposal.

And make no mistake about it: This can only get worse, the political and ruling elite decides that looting and plundering of commonwealth must not remain inextricably intertwined with gover-nance, and that Nigeria needs to be healed and rebuilt and not continuously gang-raped. Well, the bad (or good) news is that very soon, treasury looters may no longer find any safe ground to ply their lucrative trade.

The words of British clergyman, Willaim Inge, may soon come alive to everyone: “A man may build himself a throne of bayonets, but he can’t sit on it”. Indeed, no one can sow the wind, and expect NOT to reap the whirlwind. Nigeria appears to be the only country where people are busy eating and drinking poison, and yet wishing to live. Our rulers live their whole lives destroying the country, and yet wake up each morning expecting to see it flourishing like a May flower. No, you don’t bring home ant-infested faggots and expect to be excused from the visit of lizards. For goodness sake, Nigeria is too young to die. It has never been this unsafe. And no part of the country is immune.

A couple of weeks ago, on a Friday, a heavily armed gang A couple of weeks ago, on a Friday, a heavily armed gang reportedly raided two commercial banks in Nsukka, Enugu State. They took their time to thoroughly clean out one bank before moving to the other to repeat the same exercise, killing a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the process.

While the reign of terror and bullets persisted, no form of resistance came from any quarters. When they were through with the banks, they moved with an even greater fanfare to the Nsukka Police Station, where all the ill-equipped and poorly motivated policemen fled for dear lives.

Then they opened the cells, released all the inmates and razed down the police station. After the robbers had finished their operations and gone, the Enugu State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, told Saturday Independent (probably from his hideout in Enugu) that the Police Commissioner had dispatched some more policemen to Nsukka to go and help catch the robbers. Nigeria, Great Nation, Good People!

Whether we like it or not, the rise of violent crimes is to a large extent being provoked by the massive, unrestrained looting going on in public institutions. Time was when everyone, including criminal elements among us, watched passively as those in government, their relatives, mistresses and errand boys became rich overnight and obscenely flaunted their ill-gotten wealth before every eye that could see.

Now the situation has changed. Those without access to government coffers now have access to guns. But in their determination to “make it” like their counterparts in government and politics, they are unable to achieve reasonable discrimination between those who acquired wealth by dint of hard work and those who bled the treasury pale.

I have heard it said several times among the populace that if the robbers and kidnappers would direct their efforts solely on those carting away public funds, no one would bat an eyelid. It would then amount to a balance of criminality. They steal from the public; the thieves and kidnappers steal from them! And so long as those outside this godless ring remain untouched in the desperation of the two camps to out-steal each other, no one would complain. Imagine such a reasoning flourishing in supposedly sane country!

Welcome to Nigeria, a country no one wishes to slave or die for. Nigeria is like a collapsing House, cordoned off by the Ruling/Eating Class, who are busy day and night carting away the much they could before it goes down. No one is interested in rebuilding it so it could remain for all of us. But the marginalized out there have taken up arms to force their own portion out of the looters.

There is “war” in the land which might become more complicated, ensuring that there would be no more places to hide. And as 2011 approaches, it is bound to get worse. But why can’t we decide today to halt this massive looting and start rebuilding Nigeria? If graduates get jobs tomorrow, will they steal and kidnap? We better open our eyes to the stark reality of today’s Nigeria and act fast to fix our country for the safety of both the ruler and ruled. But if we continue pigheadedly on this path of perdition, even a blind man can see what this place will become tomorrow

Awards and Nigeria's troubled banks

The biggest casualty in the on-going crisis in the banks is the confidence that the ordinary man holds in the bank of his or her choice, but the integrity questions, which are being raised would require answers and explanations even from players outside the banking industry. It is a fact that the affected five banks enjoyed not just wide patronage but also the endorsement of the media, rating agencies and even the same Central Bank of Nigeria which passed the books and occasionally organized awards where it decorated the banks and commended them for efficient performance. Beyond the figures, and the trading of accusations in the last 48 hours, perhaps a close look needs to be taken, as part of a learning curve, at the place of awards and endorsements in the rating of institutions in the financial sector.

How? A bank with a shelf-load of local and international awards necessarily inspires confidence with the unwary customer made to believe that the awards carry much weight, and that they are clear evidence of the strength and dependability of the affected institution. But to then wake up overnight to be told that the same institution is shaky, and that its superstar managers are unreliable, can result in such psychological turmoil among customers and investors, the extent of which can be measured in the present instance in due course. The integrity of the awarding institution is, needless to state, also called into question. In a country where awards, like chieftaincy titles, have both social and cultural significance, this point may well be apposite.

In an attempt to double-check this line of inquiry, I had attempted a random review of some of the awards and commendations that some of the affected banks received in the last two years. In 2006, 2007 and 2008 Oceanic Bank was named the Bank of the Year in Nigeria by the Banker Magazine, a special publication of the Financial Times of London. Now, the Banker Magazine has been in the business of monitoring global financial intelligence since 1926. It is said to be "internationally recognised and acclaimed".

Last year, EMEA Finance, a UK based financial intelligence magazine also named Oceanic the best bank in Nigeria. Other achievements advertised by Oceanic Bank include being the 5th bank in Africa and 310th in the world in terms of Tier 1 Capital. Oceanic is also a recipient of CBN awards, and of an AA rating by both Agusto and Co and Global Credit Rating (South Africa). Intercontinental Bank as at July 2008 also claimed that it was among the world's top 500 banks and the second fastest growing bank in the world. Other awards include the Pearl Award for Sectoral Leadership in Banking and the best performing bank in the Nigerian Stock Market as at 2006. Also in the Intercontinental Bank resume is a Fitch Rating of B+.

According to Fitch, Intercontinental Bank is a "Low risk financial institution". This was in October 2008. The African Banker Magazine further named Intercontinental, The African Bank of the Year 2008, and as recently as October 2008, it became the Financial Brand of the Year 2008 according to the World Bank/IMF/ Renaissance Group awards. The managers of the bank boasted about becoming the number one bank in Nigeria and among the top 100 in the world by the year 2010! Similarly, Union Bank paraded a Fitch Ratings classification of A+ and F1 with the remark that this was for the bank's "strongest capacity for timely payment of financial commitments." The same Banker Magazine that seemed to feature in nearly every Nigerian bank's award list gave Union Bank an international rating of 502. Finbank may not parade many awards. Africa Report magazine which in June 2009 examined bad habits and stock market bubble in Nigeria's financial sector rated Afribank, "satisfactory." A month earlier, the senior management of Afribank visited the Edo state governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole. The comrade-Governor was so impressed with whatever he must have been told by Sebastian Adigwe and his team, that he spoke as follows: "key issue in banking is trust. Confidence is enhanced if you know the people behind an institution and can vouch for their character, I have confidence in Afribank's Board."

A most convenient cynical response is to dismiss both local and international endorsements of Nigerian banks even as recently as October 2008 and June 2009, as "arranged", or "organised " or based on "narrow criteria." But the evidence suggests that these events were taken as serious business within the industry and that the achievement sent reassuring signals to the shareholders and customers of the affected institutions. For example, The African Banker Awards 2008 was administered by a distinguished panel of judges; the nominees included banks from Morocco, Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa.

At the award ceremony in Washington DC, United States, the chief Economist of the World Bank, Africa Region, Shantayanna Devajaran reportedly said: "2008 African Banker Awards give Africans and its investment allies opportunity to acknowledge the contributions African banks have made to African development over the years and to hopefully inspire even greater performance and investment in the years ahead." Such award ceremonies always saw many bank chiefs leaving town and traveling abroad with a retinue of well-wishers. Even CBN directors were not left out of the shuttle.

At the event under reference, then CBN Governor Professor Charles Soludo, seeing Nigerian banks and bankers taking all the top awards was so excited, he reportedly remarked: "recent developments in the global financial system have not affected African banks adversely and no African bank has either collapsed or suffered as a result of the crisis." This according to Soludo "underlies the resilience of African banks," adding that "the awards to the banks confirm their stability." (ThisDay, October 16, 2008, pp. 1 and 8). He is further quoted as having said: "What the rest of the world is now trying to do as the bailout option was what Nigeria did about four years ago, through pro-active initiative, the result of which we are celebrating today." Less than a year later, we are awaken to the reality that the banks are not so stable after all in Nigeria. The celebration is over!

What has gone wrong is a question that has not yet been fully communicated and since the initial disclosures, the CBN has not taken enough charge of the situation and it must do so in a transparent manner so it does not end up raising questions about the integrity of its procedures. Engaging in a shouting match with alleged debtors and aggrieved bankers could result in the kind of politicking that could derail what is clearly a desirable house-cleaning exercise. But the larger integrity questions must now be thrown in the direction of the panel of judges in charge of the so-called CBN awards, the Banker magazine awards, the African Banker Awards, and all those awards organized by local media organizations. It is ironic seeing the same media houses reporting the current debacle and rephrasing their headlines to suit the occasion. The web that has been spun points in the direction of a multi-faceted conspiracy against the shareholder and customer as well as high-level compromise.

One caveat though: award committees may have relied only on financial statements, doctored carefully and designed to impress both the international audience and the regulators, and this stealthily becomes the basis for assessment. But even if outsiders were fooled, how about CBN directors who also took tables at the special dinners where those awards were presented? Didn't they know the truth? Or the truth did not matter since those trips came with fat estacodes? Subsequently, they watched as the same awards were used to win public confidence and brand equity.

Some of the award-giving institutions and the rating agencies were almost always described as financial intelligence organizations. Their ability to look beyond the offered statements and ratios, provide correct forecasts and consider unstated qualitative factors is now suspect. One of the initial lessons that should be learnt in all of this is that those awards which formed the substance of pages of advertorials and self-congratulation cocktails may not be so true after all. Depositors and shareholders must now learn that what the banks, stock market managers, external auditors, and all those rating agencies say can no longer be taken too seriously. The golden rule, despite the CBN's current assurances, is a caveat emptor: let the buyer beware.

Tasks before the new CBN Deputy Governor

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has completed an audit of 10 out of 24 banks, of which only five banks scaled through. Consequently, the Managing Directors (MDs) and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the affected five banks were fired, followed by an injection of about $2.6 billion in convertible loan to stabilize the affected banks and preserve public confidence.

As at now, the government has injected funds and guarantee loans of the 'Five'. However, this should be seen as a temporary rather than an ultimate solution. Account cooking might actually increase as other banks may risk insolvency in the future, believing that the government can always bail them out when in distress. Injection of funds should be considered a temporary measure pending determination of an exit plan, either through merger and acquisition or failure.

That the CBN governor has acted swiftly and decisively in restoring confidence in the banking sector does not automatically imply that the issues facing the banking sector are now fully resolved. Rather the CBN response provided an avenue to more appreciate the degree of regulatory failure and inadequate corporate governance in the Nigerian banking industry.

The CBN response is a vindication of the positions that have been long expressed by local commentators and public policy analysts calling to question whether all is well with the Nigerian banking sector. For example, questions have been raised as to the actual state of health of the banks, which hitherto had been shrouded in secrecy with guesswork being completely at work.

Even as questions were being raised, both the banks and the CBN have had to debunk the visible indications that accounts of many of the bank might actually be in the red. But one would hesitate discountenance their defense given the billions of Naira in profit that these banks often declare quarterly or half yearly. One wonders whether these banks compete on the basis of such declarations, albeit falsehoods. Many of the banks have won awards within and outside the country, while their ratings had soared higher. The public now knows better. What can be inferred from the CBN governor's sacking the 5 bank CEOs is an admittance that Nigerian banks tend to be reckless. A great deal of banks' problems has been traced to unsafe exposure to margin loan. Banks gave out loans in excess of their single obligor limit. Often most of these loans are either backed by inadequate collaterals or dubious collaterals. Although who a particular bank grants its loans to is its business, but it is a core banking practice that must meet some regulatory procedures. In this case, strengthening the quality of credit risk analysis and moderate the size of exposure of individual bank is equally important.

More specifically, the signal that the affected banks were indeed distressed relates to their transactions at the CBN's Expanded Discount Window (EDW). The EDW enables banks borrow funds for a longer period (e.g. as long as 360 days) as against the overnight arrangement that was in place previously, which ultimately allowed banks easy access to funds anytime they are in need. According to the CBN governor, the affected five banks accounted for 90% of the whole of EDW transactions, whereas their non-performing loans stand at about 40% of the total for the whole industry. Thus, if five of 10 banks that have undergone comprehensive audit failed, that the remaining 14 banks will scale through is less obvious.

The argument that the signs of distress in the affected banks started only a few months earlier is misplaced. Rather, the crisis reveals severe shortcomings in corporate governance of the Nigerian financial institutions generally and the banks in particular. There seems to have been a systematic cover-up and failure of the regulatory bodies to perform their required functions. Potential bank failures have not been acknowledged.

Credibility has always been an issue in the banking sector. Defective supervision of the banks has brought the crisis of confidence into the banking industry. Also, the apparent unethical and unprofessional camaraderie that characterised the regulators and industry operators has compromised regulators and made effective supervision weak.

The ownership and management structure of Nigeria Banks appears to be structurally defective. This ought to be addressed. Some banks are built around certain individuals (e.g. MDs/CEOs). This provides incentives for such individuals to exercise excessive power in those banks. In theory, shareholders own those banks but it is oligarchy in practice. In Nigeria, such individuals have been seen to be very powerful to the extent of manipulating shareholders. Not a few thought the CEOs actually owned their banks because they were seen competing for political relevance with politicians at the expense of their banks. The role of the regulator has been less obvious in this regard.

The above suggest that the existing regulatory framework have failed to provide the checks and balances that banks need in order to cultivate sound finance and banking practices. Thus the crisis can be seen as a crisis of corporate governance. The appointment of Dr. Kingsley Moghalu as a Deputy Governor (pending Senate confirmation) is expected to put improved corporate governance at the centre of banking practices in Nigeria. In this regard, he will have to rise over and beyond mere slogans and be a problem solver as his profile shows.

Good and improved corporate governance is a key element to the integrity of Nigerian financial institutions and markets, and central to their health and stability. A key task before the deputy CBN governor is to institute a reform of regulatory framework emphasising greater corporate governance in the finance and banking sector. This will involve a set of processes, policies, laws, and institutions to affect the way the banks are directed, administered and/or controlled.

Also, the principal stakeholders will include the shareholders,

management, the board of directors, and the public. An important public

policy element here is to recognise a set of interrelationships among

these stakeholders and the goals for which they are governed. For example,

the corporate governance system should ensure the accountability of

certain individuals (E.g. MDs/CEOs) in individual banks through mechanisms that reduce or eliminate agency problems. Agency problems in the banking industry arises when the banks act on behalf of the shareholders/customers under conditions of incomplete and asymmetric information such that MDs/CEOs pursue own self-interests rather than the interests of those they represent. Independent reports, public disclosure procedures, and public information about the state of health of banks can potentially eliminate agency problems and positively impact on the efficiency and competition of the banks. The ultimate effect is a regulatory framework that enhances public welfare.

Obviously, regulation and supervision alone might not completely make the business of finance and banking less risky. However, through effective corporate governance, it is expected that Moghalu's office will ensure that taking excessive risks becomes less frequent, less costly, and not a drain on public purse.

Collapse of FG-ASUU talks

LAST week, the Federal Government of Nigeria, by the action of its appointed agent, the Deacon Gamaliel Onosode-led Committee engaged since 2006 in negotiation with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), walked out on ASUU negotiators and vowed not to return unless and until the university teachers suspend their strike now in its third month. Said Mr. Onosode "....the government team is not in a position to continue further negotiations with the union until it suspends its strike..." To which the ASUU national President, Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie, gave the riposte: 'we are not going to call off the strike until they sign the agreement'.

This week, acting through its agency - the National Universities Commission (NUC), the government went a step further in its hard line posture, by directing authorities of the federal universities to enforce a 'no work no pay' policy on the striking teachers in order to, according to the minister of education Dr. Sam Egwu, force the teachers back into the class room.

In effect, an on-going, albeit long-drawn negotiation process has been brought to a dead end by no less an entity than the highest governing authority in the land. Besides, the government seems to want to appear to act firm by wielding the big stick against the weaker party in the dispute. It is quite possible that state governments will follow this unhelpful example. It is wrong for a government to pull out of a negotiation process with a legitimate group of its citizens for whatever reason. It is undignifying and we are disappointed no end; the issue on ground cannot be resolved through such extremism.

Now, it is hard to see what a walkout from the negotiation table will achieve - except to make discussion impossible, raise the stakes and prolong the dispute with even worse negative social consequences. But on the other hand, ASUU cannot possibly keep its members at home indefinitely. The issue in dispute has been reduced by the government to an employer/employee level whereby, ASUU is asked to go sort out its grievances with the respective governing councils of the universities, including such larger and critically important issues as government budgetary allocation, university autonomy and academic freedom, in addition to conditions of service which is a labour matter listed as item 34 in the Exclusive Legislative List of the constitution. But these are policy issues that are, in all honesty, beyond the separate governing councils. They touch on the macro-management of university education. Is it too much for the Federal Government to establish a holistic framework and define the basic parameters and requirements for a functional and globally competitive university education for Nigeria? We do not think so. And is it beyond the government at the centre to also outline the necessary financing details and policy implementation? Again, no, in our considered view. So we think that the Federal Government must assume its due responsibility to lead the way. And this is a key provision in the yet to be signed agreement and it is not cast in stone.

Whatever agreement that may be reached, ASUU's Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie, is quoted to have said, is for the state governments 'to adopt as they deem appropriate to meet the minimum standards set by NUC for the system'.

It is disingenuous, and a derogation of the process and the issues, to ask ASUU to go and conclude with the respective governing councils a process that originated and has continually been conducted with a Federal Government that largely determines the composition of the councils and ipso facto wields considerable influence. That is the reason for instance that the NUC regulates standards in all the universities - federal and non-federal; that is also why the Federal Government plays a leading role in the formulation of the National Policy on Education.

The governors failed in their responsibility by not offering fresh ideas to resolve the problem at hand. They may be right that in a true federal system, the federal government cannot negotiate with their workers on their behalf. But again, it is less than honest to pick and choose when to adopt this stance. The governors and other political office holders have never spoken against their uniform salaries and remunerations that are fixed by a central body controlled by the federal government, in breach of fiscal federalism.

The hard-line posture of both parties will do no one, not the least our children, any good. Therefore, both must get back forthwith to the negotiating table, shift position, find and implement minimum areas of agreement. Also, ASUU members should, as intellectuals who deal in facts and figures, advance concrete suggestions on how their demands can be realistically implemented. Nigerians are tired of the repetitive display by both sides of a combination of immaturity and abject paucity of negotiating skills.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The gospel according to Hillary

PERHAPS, I should begin by saying that I have never been a fan of Mrs. Hillary Clinton, the U.S. Secretary of State, and the reason is simple. I perceive her as someone who's very calculating and arrogant. She carries on with an astonishingly high level of omniscience that tends to arrogate to her and indeed the Clinton clan the magic wand for solving all of America's problems.

These clearly came through during her face-off with Barack Obama, now her boss, during the DNC presidential primaries. Well, all of that is now water under the bridge, as she has literally swallowed her pride and taken up a position under Obama (pardon the pun). But I have never doubted her brilliance and remarkable candour. These attributes did come through during her eight-year career as First Lady of the United States, and now as she traverses the world, selling and defending the U.S. foreign policies. If you ever watched her town hall sessions in Nairobi, Kenya, Kinshasa, DRC, and Abuja, Nigeria, you will appreciate the point I am trying to make.

There was something remarkable at each session. In Kenya, she playfully turned down an offer from one of the attendees to pay her the dowry for her daughter, Chelsea. While in DRC, she lost her cool at an obvious misinterpretation of a question (asked in French), which mistakenly sought her comments about her husband's view on an issue rather than that of President Obama.

In Abuja, she proved a handful for her hosts, because she seized the moment to tell the leadership of the country some gospel truth. It actually started in Kenya, where she regretted that, as the fifth largest producer of oil in the world, Nigeria has nothing to show for it - which is true. My friend, Karl Maier, in his book This House has fallen, expressed similar sentiments and put it down to visionless leadership driven by greed and avarice. And that was the kernel of Mrs. Clinton's message to Nigerians and those running the affairs of the country.

According to her, the most immediate source of disconnect between Nigeria's enviable wealth and its staggering poverty is a failure of governance at the federal, state and local levels. While this truism is not new knowledge to Nigerians, it has become important for such a high level international personage to tell our pretentious leadership the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I don't know about you, but there are times when I get the feeling that there is no leadership in Nigeria. Otherwise, how could true leaders sit idly by, like Pharaoh, fiddling while Rome, nay Nigeria is burning. There is absolutely no sense of urgency in the way and manner some of the leaders go about their job, even when it is crystal clear that our desperate conditions require desperate measures. The lackadaisical attitude of the mostly self-imposed leaders definitely belies the enormity of the problems at hand.

Mrs. Clinton not unexpectedly spoke with neither fear nor favour on the tendentious issue of corruption. This could not have been stated any better and any more bluntly. Now in Nigeria, one gets the feeling that the prevailing political system is "kleptocracy" and not democracy, as we are made to believe. Several people, who should otherwise be cooling their heels behind bars, are pounding the corridors of power with flagrant impudence. As a consequence, young people have lost patience with the government of the day and have now elected to take the laws into their hands through misguided militancy, kidnapping for ransom and outright armed robbery. Today, Nigeria has become more or less a theatre of the absurd and a country under siege. Insecurity has become the order of the day, and night.

What's the way out? Mrs. Clinton had two popular suggestions: Reform the electoral system expeditiously and bring back the era of earnest anti-corruption. In making these interventions, Mrs. Clinton knew exactly what she was talking about, because she comes from a system where criminals are never set free once they breach the "11th commandment": thou shall not get caught. In the United States, as it used to be in Nigeria in the years of yore, "everyday is for the thief and one day is for the owner of the house". But all such historical antecedents in dealing with corruption and corrupt people have paled into insignificance with the infiltration of government by reputable criminals. They not only sustain their invidiously nefarious activities, they go to great lengths to protect their own. Such is the leadership conundrum we have found ourselves in as Nigerians - a situation of cats taking care of rats (both of them thieves).

While there is no gainsaying the fact that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) under Olusegun Obasanjo was too high-handed and fairly unorthodox in the way it combated corruption, it is incontrovertible that the commission in its current form is way too subservient and controlled. Placed on a see-saw with the Ribadu era, the current EFCC looks like a toothless bulldog just there to fulfill all righteousness. As far as I know, not much has been done to prevent government officials from stealing. So, it is important to apprehend and punish those who steal as a deterrent to intending thieves. Therefore, Clinton stated that "we (the U.S.) want to see the reinstatement of a vigorous corruption commission. The EFCC, which was doing well, has kind of fallen off in the last one year. We will like to see it come back to business to be able to partner with us." End of story!

The other point Madam addressed is that of electoral reform, which government officials are paying lip service, at best. A Catholic priest once told me that he rescued a ballot box after a fracas at a polling station within the precincts of his parish in 1999. One decade after, the ballot box is still nestling the church altar and nobody has had the courage to come and claim it despite his frequent calls for such. Meanwhile, someone was declared winner and has gone ahead to "represent" the people in government. Not a surprise, you would say, but it is a point to ponder when discussing electoral reforms.

During my more reflective moments, which have become more frequent in the last year or so, I wonder what drives people in government. One would not need to consult a soothsayer to know that what motivates people (or should motivate people) to run for elective positions in government is service, service to the people. So, when one sees people in government coasting around heedlessly without showing any serious concern about the situation of the people, one begins to wonder what fires our own breed of politicians into gracelessness...and wickedness.

I work for a company that also has an operation in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world, according to World Bank statistics. Malawi is probably comparable in size to Ogun State and half of Lagos demographically, but it is doing much better than Nigeria in several respects. Take electricity, for instance. While our company's Nigerian operation functions with five per cent public power and 95 per cent privately generated electricity, Malawi conversely operates with 95 per cent public power supply and about five per cent private power generation. Isn't that ridiculous? Isn't that heart breaking? Yet the likes of Senate President David Mark proudly proclaim that all is well with Nigeria!

So, Mrs. Clinton has come and gone, but our problems as a people will remain our problems, as she says. Nobody will come from the U.S. or any other country to resolve our challenges for us. At best, they will make suggestions. It, therefore, behoves our leaders to have a change of heart and begin to do what they are sworn to do in government. As for the people of Nigeria, we need to shake off the unfortunate, repulsive culture of being long-suffering. It is said that if you push a Nigerian to the wall, he (or she) will break the wall to get away - instead of the time-tested practice of reacting (or rather protesting), when pushed to the wall, which even animals do. We need to adopt or imbibe the culture of protestation, in our own interest.

Monday, August 03, 2009

Five-star hospitals: Pie in the sky?

Minister of Health, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, says all forms of medical treatment hitherto sought abroad will be a thing of the past from 2010, as the Federal Government has concluded arrangements to convert four tertiary health institutions to five-star hospitals.

According to the minister, the hospitals, which would possess facilities obtainable in overseas countries, include University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria, and the National Hospital, Abuja.

The five-star hospitals, distributed in four zones of the country representing the South-West, South East, Far North and North Central, are expected to take-off with the passage of the 2010 national budget.

How we wish this dream is based on solid reality, and is not mere pie in the sky. How glorious and edifying it would have been, if we can truly achieve such grand vision by 2010, as articulated by Prof. Osotimehin. But we have serious doubts, grave reservations, about the attainability of the quest.

Can a nation in this epoch ever run functional clinics, not to talk of five-star hospitals, without adequate electricity? That would be the eighth wonder of the world. Already, government is engaged in doublespeak over its promise to deliver at least 6,000 megawatts of electricity by December this year, and 10,000mw by December 2010, saying the Niger Delta problem may derail the vision. Even if the 10,000mw target is achieved, it will still be far below the national requirement for uninterrupted power supply. How then do we run the five-star hospitals without power? We hope Prof. Osotimehin was not making mere political statements, which will not do his status as an academic any good. Without stable power, the idea is doomed to be stillborn.

Again, our hopes are not buoyed when we remember the many targets that had been set by this country, and which were accompanied by slogans that turned out to be mere mantra. We had Health for All by the Year 2000. Housing for All by the Year 2000, Vision 2010, which has since transmuted to Vision 2020. And many others. What reason do we have to believe that the five-star hospitals vision would not be dimmed like the ones before it?

Moreso, government has not put anything concrete on ground to attain the vision, other then the desire expressed by the minister. Such lofty goals are never accomplished by mere wishing. And we have no cause to believe that the minister is not only operating in the realm of wishes.
Equally, the current state of the four targeted hospitals, show that the plan may have failed ab initio. For instance, from a Centre of Excellence as designated by the World Health Organization in the 1980s, the UCH has fallen into an abysmal state of decay and disrepair.

Basic facilities are no longer available, the manpower is dispirited and disgruntled. Of course, the place is almost always in pitch darkness, with no public power supply, and the generators working in fits and starts. The three other designated hospitals do not fare better. What magic or miracle would then happen between now and 2010 to turn them into five-star hospitals? We don’t see it, at least not by a sudden flight, as Osotimehin suggests.

Ending foreign medical treatment is a move in the right direction, and the policy must first be enforced with regards to public office holders. By errors of omission or commission, they leave our hospitals comatose, and hop into aeroplanes at the slightest symptoms of catarrh or headache, leaving ordinary people with life-threatening ailments to vegetate in poorly equipped public health institutions. We support the desire to outlaw foreign treatments, if only it would compel better attention for our state of medicare. It, however, calls for scrupulous planning and diligent execution.

We will be delighted to have five-star hospitals dotting all the geo-political zones in the country, but then, the vision must be targetted at a realistic date. What made minister Osotimehin to pick 2010, when there is absolutely nothing done yet? Is there anything wrong if such laudable vision is projected for another five years or more? Next year is definitely not a realistic date, not scientific, not pragmatic, and the visioner(s) must accept this.

To attain five-star status for the listed hospitals by next year, funds must be allocated in billions to acquire equipment. The VAMED controversy is yet unresolved, with the hospitals claiming that multi-million dollar equipment are either not installed, or not functioning. We must get to the bottom of this first, before more funds are committed to what may indeed be a bottomless pit.
Five-star hospitals, yes, but by 2010, no. We cannot achieve the target. Self-delusion is the greatest kind of deceit, and we should stop indulging in such.

No to Social Responsibility Tax

A Corporate Social Respon-sibility (CSR) Bill is currently going through the legislative process at the Senate. The bill seeks to set up a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Commission, which will supervise CSR activities in Nigeria, and also make it mandatory for firms to pay no less than 3.5% of their profit before tax to meet their CSR obligations.
Sponsors of the bill argue that it will address the poor attitude of firms to corporate social responsibility caused by “lack of adequate laws to regulate their behaviour and compel positive responsible response to the community; and lack of a supervisory authority to enforce the laws.”
According to them, the bill will create a standard for social responsibility for corporate organisations that is consistent with international standards.
We are vehemently opposed to the bill, particularly the social responsibility tax. And there are many reasons for any well-meaning Nigerian or investor to call for extreme caution over such a bill that is inconsiderate of the operational circumstances of corporate bodies in Nigeria.
First, the claim that the bill will make social responsibility for firms consistent with international standards is faulty. Corporate Social Responsibility, although voluntary, has become a deliberate inclusion of public interest into corporate decision-making. It is a common practice of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model.
Giving back to a community part of the profits of companies that operate there, has become a given as a result of global social pressure on corporate bodies to accept responsibility for the impact of their activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public.
Also corporate bodies would proactively promote the public interest by encouraging community growth and development.
Although, the sponsors of the bill may be right to say that not all firms in Nigeria are alive to their corporate social responsibility, all major companies have embraced the practice.
Second, to supplant government’s responsibilities to the people with corporate social responsibility as the case is in parts of the Niger Delta, which some senators have cited, is unfair. In many parts of the Niger Delta, the little development the communities experience is through the oil companies. Government presence is not felt in these areas at all. That is in spite of the creation of local government areas.
In the case of the oil industry, the federal government takes about 90 per cent of the proceeds on the sale of every barrel of oil. A large part of the money shared according to the revenue allocation formula to the three tiers of government is from this source. And we believe it would be a worthwhile exercise for the Senate to follow up how this money is spent.
Three, the multiplicity of taxes in the country is common knowledge. Companies in Nigeria are some of the most taxed companies in the world. And adding a social responsibility tax will be an overkill. Nigerian companies pay between 20-30 per cent of their profit as tax (about 90 per cent for oil producing companies), as well as withholding tax (10 per cent) capital gains tax (5 per cent), Education tax (2 per cent) and VAT (5 per cent). In addition to that are the multiple taxes, some of them rather funny, levied by the states and local governments in the name of internal revenue generation.
Four, one would have thought that in seeking to add to the tax burden of the companies, the Senate would have examined the operating conditions of the private sector. The model for private sector – led growth assumes an enabling environment for business to thrive. Presently, companies that wish to thrive in Nigeria have to provide own villages- with functional socio-economic infrastructure. The poor power supply situation alone has increased cost of production by some 40 per cent for some companies. And that is so for those whose operations are big enough to survive the harsh conditions. Even before the global economic meltdown, firms were shutting down in their hundreds.
So indeed, in times like this, one would have thought that improving the operating conditions of business to attract more investment and to ensure that existing companies do not close down, should be of greater concern to government.
Five, considering the high level of corruption in some commissions, we are not persuaded that the commission will not be another opportunity for people to line their pockets. Indeed the effectiveness of some of these commissions is in doubt. For example, looking at the state of education in the country, it is difficult to see the value addition the two percent education tax has made to the standard of education in this country.
Lastly, we share the view that some of the roles of the proposed commission are a duplication of those of some existing agencies.
For the reasons cited above, and many more we are constrained by space to cite, we believe that the Senate should do well to spare the country this additional burden to corporate bodies and one more public bureaucracy for possible corruption. But if the Senate wishes to go ahead, we advise that it looks elsewhere for the commission’s funding.

Unwieldy number of political parties

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recently registered four new political parties, thus bringing the total number to 54. The commission says it is yet considering the applications of some others for registration.

The new parties which joined the existing 50 are United National Party for Nigeria (UNPN), National Movement of Progressive Party (NMPP), Kowa Party (KP), and Peoples for Democratic Change (PDC).

INEC acted within the ambit of the law by registering the political parties, as an extant court ruling forbids the commission from withholding due recognition to any aspiring party, as long as such meets the laid down rules and regulations. One can hardly, therefore, lay the blame for the unwieldy number of parties at the doorstep of INEC.

However, INEC itself will admit the herculean task of conducting elections in one day, with a largely illiterate electorate. To identify the logo of the parties was a problem, and votes were either unwittingly cast for the wrong parties, or invalidated outright. Now, with the growing number of parties, there is really cause for worry.

By the end of the last general election, it was crystal clear that a large number of the 50 political parties were mushrooms, as they could not acquit themselves creditably at the polls. Many did not even present candidates for key positions, while those who did, performed perilously. Shouldn’t we then have a natural process of weeding out incompetent political parties? Shouldn’t those who score below a certain percentage of votes then exist as just political associations, and not full-blown parties?
There is the suspicion that some parties have emerged simply to collect the take-off grant due to them by law, and after that, withdraw into their shells till the next grant is due.

This is unconscionable, and will do our democracy no good. Our democracy, despite turning 10 years recently, is in dire need of depth and growth. Having weak, puny parties, proliferating all over the place, will not help the process.

Again, having these ineffective, paperweight parties, gives undue influence to the leviathan Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the much vaunted largest party in Africa, to dominate the political space unduly. Can’t these smaller groups all coalesce into one main party, which can then become a worthy opposition to the PDP? The onus is on our politicians and fledgling parties to take up the gauntlet. Unless they get their acts right, the PDP will continue to ride rough shod, bestriding the political landscape like a colossus, and make good its vow to rule the nation for at least 60 years.

A cursory look at the 54 parties we now have, and even their nomenclatures, indicates a lack of seriousness. Some of the names are not creative, and already shows a lack of seriousness on the part of the promoters. Should we then be saddled with such, willy-nilly? It is not too late to amend the electoral reforms bill before the National Assembly to put in provisions, which will naturally whittle down the number of parties, based on performance at the polls. Freedom to exist as parties cannot be absolute, and there must equally be freedom to let the weak parties die, so that the political space is not just clogged up for no reason.

Our aspiring political parties should realise that they can still make impact on the system without necessarily being a distinct party. They can look for existing ones, which share their philosophy, and prosecute their agenda on such platform.
Can’t we even categorize our parties according to their strengths, and allow them to run for elections, based on such? Some large democracies do this, and we may tinker with our electoral laws to allow same. Democracy needs a lot of work to grow, and must apply ourselves scrupulously to it. Let’s have an audit of the 50 parties that existed as at the last elections, and let’s know those who are worth their salt, and those who should yield their space for new entrants.

Federal government and the Niger Delta

OIL was first discovered in the Niger Delta in 1956. In 1957 the Willinks Commission was asked by the colonial government to study the overall circumstances of the Niger Delta people including their fears, habitat and prospects. It found the Niger Delta 'poor, backward and neglected'. Today, 52 years after, the Niger Delta is still poor, backward and neglected.

Surely half a century is long enough time during which the wrongs done in the Niger Delta should have been corrected with forward-looking policies and programmes. It just seems wrong that an area that is responsible for 95 per cent of the country's foreign exchange earnings should be subjected to dreadful isolation and poverty. As we have pointed out in previous editorials the Niger Delta is a very difficult and somewhat unfriendly terrain with swamps and environmental degradation. The problems of the area have been exacerbated by oil and gas exploration that have ruined and altered the people's way of life.

Successive Nigerian governments have been seeking ways and means of addressing the situation. They have created many commissions and committees culminating in the creation of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). But the NDDC has been under-funded, corrupted and politicised, making it an ineffective change agent. On top of this, government has created a new Ministry of Niger Delta that is not situated in the Niger Delta. So far the impact of this ministry has been minimal and many say that it is just another layer of bureaucracy to squander yet more resources of the Niger Delta. With increasing militancy and oil theft in the Niger Delta the federal government has granted amnesty to the insurgents and even promised cash rewards in exchange for arms.

Collectively all these measures have proved too little too late. This is why the insurgency in the Niger Delta remains a sore point and the anticipated peace following a 60-day truce tenuous. The federal government ought to be looking for a master stroke that shows both a seriousness of purpose and a determination to look into the root causes of the insurgency.

Of recent several actions of the federal government have caused some disquiet in the Niger Delta and cast doubt on the success of the amnesty programme. First was the purported removal of the Petroleum Training Institute in Effurun, near Warri in Delta State, to create a University of Petroleum in Kaduna, Kaduna State. There are several versions of this story but in an environment of double-speak and obfuscation, it may well be that Effurun is being downgraded at the same time as Kaduna is upgraded.

This is not the first time that the Niger Delta people have been cheated of their rights. The siting of a refinery in Kaduna, thousands of kilometres away from any oil well is a prime example of the insensitivity of government to the needs and aspirations of the people of the Niger Delta. The real intention behind the new university must be to make Kaduna the hub of petroleum education and expertise in Nigeria. Rilwanu Lukman, the Minister of Petroleum, has revealed that the Kaduna project will 'train senior management personnel who are transiting to general management in NNPC'. Is the Niger Delta undeserving of this honour?

Secondly, the amnesty programme of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has provoked anger among the governors of the Niger Delta who accuse the federal government of having no post-amnesty plan. For this and for the removal of the petroleum university from Effurun to Kaduna they have threatened to pull out of the amnesty programme. This is a curious occurrence. Does this mean that the federal government has not been consulting the governors of the South-South in all those policies affecting the people of the Niger Delta? The confusion is endless as ministers and members of the federal executive council from the Niger Delta apparently do not support the position of their governors and the public outcry of their people over the demotion of Effurun.

Lastly there is the new Petroleum Bill that offers little or no protection to the indigenous population of the Niger Delta. The communities who suffer the greatest impact of oil exploration appear to be ignored in the bill. The federal government's response to critics of the bill is unsatisfactory as it has shown unwillingness to address the issues raised. Instead, it has referred all aggrieved parties to the National Assembly.

It is perhaps for these reasons that South-South senators, students, and other activists are calling for the removal of Rilwanu Lukman. Some have said that Muhammed Sanusi Barkindo, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should also go. His recent personnel changes so extravagantly advertised in the media has aroused suspicion on account of its lopsidedness.

Those who claim that the federal government has been insincere in relating to the people of the Niger Delta have a point. They should not be treated as if they are less Nigerian than the rest of us. Their involvement with the oil sector should be participatory, not peripheral. Actually the fears of the minorities in the Niger Delta would have been allayed if Nigeria practised true federalism in which its component units, responsible for their own resources, contributed to the common good in a federation. This was the situation at independence. Now the Niger Delta is grudgingly allocated 13 per cent of the oil revenue which they hardly ever receive in full. The NDDC also suffers from inadequate funding.

We call on the federal government to look at the Niger Delta question with a fresh mindset. Today criminality has assailed the area with one million barrels of oil stolen daily. No country can afford this amount of haemorrhage even in good times. Fiscal federalism all over the country should be the way to go.

The Ledum Mittee Technical Committee on the Niger Delta for instance recommended an increase from the present 13 per cent to 25 per cent revenue for the Niger Delta. Government has remained silent on this. The point is that the land from which oil or any other mineral and agricultural resource is extracted must belong to the people who own it and who must be awarded the same percentage of revenue allocation as is contemplated for the Niger Delta.

Hakuna Matata, Oyin ni o, Oyato joo!

IF there is ever a defender of African governance and governments, bad as it may seem, I think I can qualify as one such defender. It may not be in the furious patriotic manner that David Mark or an Akunyili would want all patriots to be. All the same, I am a die-hard Nigerian and I live in the diaspora and I love my country, I no go die. Having travelled extensively in the West, East and the Far East, some Nigerians queuing up at the foreign Embassies may be surprised when I say that home is the best.

Take heed - I am not of the Boka haram neither am I a blind patriot. I just emphatise with governments in Africa, out of the awareness of the human and resource capacity constraints, the debt peonage, widespread poverty , conflicts and disease and other challenges they have to contend with and compared to the rosy situation which western governments take as given. And the more involved I am in university governance, the more I realise that human beings are the most difficult to govern. You can raise a stick to chastise a dog or to herd cattle, but 'the animal called man' is different. He would snatch the stick from you and possibly, hit you. Listen Minister Egwu, governing university staff in particular is like herding cats. Unlike soldiers they tend to go in different formations when you bellow orders. I digress.

Each time I come home to Nigeria - the latest being last fortnight, I see progress when others (mostly home-based Nigerians and a vast majority of Nigerians living abroad) see retrogression. I can see the palpable progress in what used to be chaotic Lagos ! You go around the capital city of Abuja, the Lekki axis or even lowly Nassarawa, visit universities and one sees mainly architectural wonders . Many cynics would say that I am being taken in by the colourful aluminium roof-tops without looking at the empty entrails nor am I am doing a cost-benefit analysis of how much corruption is involved in the construction projects.

Where do people find money to buy plots of land at Snake Island costing 150 million naira a piece in a country where half of its population remains mired in poverty , living on sachets of 'pure water' without electricity or running water and where the best building in most villages is the village Church or the Saudi-donated mosque? You call that progress ? I have been accused of ignorance about conditions in Nigeria because of my defence of poorly performing governments - of seeking political recognition or having received egunje to launder the image of governments. None of such, dear friends.

On the contrary, I have a unique (oyato theory) about governance and corruption in Nigeria. It states that even in the presence of scarce resources, scarce water, bad express roads and poor electricity and other signs of unplanned development, these are paradoxically, signs of 'growth' if not economic development in the country. Imagine the volume of goods trafficked on the Ibadan-Lagos express road or the number of new houses plugged on the national electricity grid annually. This is why one would beg to differ a little bit from the Accra declaration of President Obama on bad governance in Africa (which read somewhat like a purely western script). How would the African politician deliver the 'dividend of democracy' to a hungry populace? Democracy does not go well on an empty stomach. In the context of 'corruption' in Africa, the same 'my people' , will demand their own share of the national cake from an elected official, regardless of the source of the money ! A governor will be threatened with impeachment , if he does not play ball and pay legislators ! How do you get good governance?

Don't get me wrong, while I do not subscribe to nor defend corruption, I can understand the climate which generates it !Let me also point out that I am not a blind patriot. In a poor country, giving disproportionate salaries to parliamentarians, academic staff or soldiers and other elite professional groups can only generate more envy, more crime and more corruption because everyone would like to join the Jones'. When workers play the National Assembly game by comparing their salaries with soldiers, it is likely to generate a vicious cycle of discontent? But listen dear governors, I sympathise with you. Apart from the fact that many of you are recouping your investments, no sane person can rule a complex society as Nigeria and still retain his sanity - apologies to President Obasanjo. But in spite of my patriotism, I seemed to have lost my head particularly on my last visit to Nigeria.

Last fortnight, I got electricity for two hours on two days out of the week. The generator located near my window by my neighbour worked on ceaselessly at night until I lost my sleep. Running water for where? I was my own local government - pumping water, generating electricity and collecting and disposing garbage. Everyone in my neighbourhood was doing the same. Worse, I travelled from Ibadan to my village - Iragberi ( a distance of some 50 kolometres) to see my aged mother, I could count at least 12 road blocks of police in national emblem collecting N50 from each motorist in broad day light in the 21st Century, at a time when former Police Inspector General Mike Okiro was saying that this (the Police) was the best profession ! Is my head still properly screwed on? The quick explanation for that show of shame is that the policemen sometimes have to pay for their uniforms, kits, petrol and allowances and this unreceipted revenue was their way of

compensating themselves!

But I can explain it all...through the inscriptions that I see on the wall of the primary schools in Osun State.. Oyin ni o or hakuna matata (Swahili for 'no problem') which I saw in Ogun State or the oyato.. joo (it is unique) that I saw in Oyo State. Our governors and legislators seem to have lost the script. They have turned to personal aggrandisement at the expense of governance! While they all have the personalised slogans, the roads are crumbling and the hurriedly-built new roads will not last. While they have the new primary schools covered with aluminium roofs, few studies are going on within the schools. While the university staff clubs are full of frolicking lecturers, no learning was going on in the university.
We all are in a jamboree of sort, an orgy of living off Niger Delta's petroleum... Oyin niio!!. Hakuna matata, oyato joo !

The failure of ideological commitment

THE just-concluded electoral war in Ekiti in which there could have been no victors and all were thoroughly vanquished is sad testimony to the fact that the sun of democracy is yet to rise over Nigeria. Ironically, in the short period between then and now, the nation has been called out to celebrate a decade of uninterrupted democracy. Whilst a few Nigerians found reason to celebrate, the vast majority simply ignored the non-event and instead devoted their undivided attention to existential matters; those concerned exclusively with keeping body and soul together, one day at a time. The few who celebrated were those who had found an avenue to divert public resources into their private coffers making it possible for them to show their gratitude for the providential situation, that is, the institution of civil rule which made it possible for them to dispense with the fear of impending starvation and other various wants necessary for a damned god quality of life.

Top on the list of the celebrants of sham democracy were some of the serving governors, those rulers of gubernatorial fiefdoms who are prime extractors of largesse from their respective states. There was the case of one such governor who made reckless and downright silly claims of good governance on no less than four coloured pages of The Guardian, clearly in the hope of convincing his serfs of voting for more of the same rubbish in elections which are all of two years away. Clearly, the man was playing infantile mind games since it is obvious that he does not hold his exalted office to votes cast in free and fair elections and has as much chance as the proverbial snowball in hell of winning any election that is not transparently fraudulent as the one that won him the Governor's mansion.

Right from the dawn of the electioneering process in Nigeria, political campaigns have been charaterised by the enumeration of the good things of life, so much so that the Action Group declared in its motto that it was going to provide 'life more abundant' for the people. Maybe there was sound justification for promising to provide all-weather roads where the only roads available were topped with laterite and the provision of electricity in communities which were lighted by humble oil lamps as soon as it got dark or 'free' education where the overwhelming majority had no acquaintance with formal education.

Sixty years ago when the level of technological development was not high enough to provide many of the good things of life, those promises were indeed justifiable not just in Nigeria but all over the world except perhaps most people living in North America. Even for these fortunate people life more abundant had only become available to them when the New Deal of F.D. Roosevelt had delivered on his promise of a chicken in every pot and a car in every porch to the Americans to whom rural electrification was still a novelty those 60 years ago. In virtually every part of the world today however all the indices of life more abundant can be taken for granted by a majority of the people except of course in Nigeria and other such backward countries, most of which are found in sub-Saharan Africa.

For more than 60 years Nigerian politicians have been singing the same discordant notes with nothing to show for all their singing. The roads which have been delivered have deteriorated to such an extent that they are hardly better than the dirt tracks which they replaced, no major town or city in Nigeria can boast of a constant (and in some cases, any) supply of clean tap water. Instead, governments at all levels celebrate the irresponsible expedient of sinking boreholes instead of taking the trouble to purify renewable surface waters. Water form boreholes like minerals, have been in storage for many thousands of years and once plundered can never be replaced. As for education, the opportunity for the acquisition of good education at reasonable cost is decreasing all the time. The overall quality of life is dropping steadily for most Nigerians and this is in spite of the numerous promises of succeeding generations of Nigerian leaders for the provision of life more abundant.

Over the years we have had military rulers and politicians across the full spectrum of the political divide ruling in various states except at the centre where a recognisably 'progressive' leader has never held sway, at least not for any length of time. That prize has always been won by consortia of politicians who build mega parties for the sole purpose of winning, or more appropriately, seizing the reins of power in crooked elections. Such parties do not even bother to make promises; such is their disdain for the electorate. These parties are home to politicians from all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria and on this basis claim to have a national spread. The sole prerequisite for all aspirants within these 'national' institutions is that they 'deliver' their constituencies to the party. How these deliveries are made is not the business of the party and we know many 'godfathers' whose methods of delivery are patently foul who have guaranteed such deliveries. With these parties in power anywhere there can be no development in any sphere within the polity and when there is no development, there is usually massive retrogression such as the country is now going through.

Some parts of the country have been ruled by so called progressive parties but even in these states, performance has not been better than patchy. These parties have always ridden to power on the back of electoral acclaim and waves of optimistic noise but the hurrahs are usually not sustained as many of the progressives are quickly exposed as men with feet of clay, making it possible for the more pragmatic 'national spread' parties to execute electoral coups against them, secure in the knowledge that their progressive opponents do not have really deep roots amongst the populace and are therefore on their own. There have been incidents of the violent rejection of rigged elections results in Nigeria but except for the wetie response to the 1965 election in the Western Region such violence is usually short-lived and easily contained leaving the looters with their prize. In any case, there is no place in politics for violent rejection of election results and this cannot be regarded as an acceptable response to electoral defeat even when underhand tactics have been employed by the winners and this of course is a common sense interpretation of political contestation which has been shamelessly exploited by the do or die politicians of the 'national spread' parties.

There are now no less than 50 registered political parties in Nigeria but not one of them has a set of principles or ideology to present to the long suffering electorate. Perhaps the only part that can be regarded as different in this respect is the defunct Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) led by the late Mallam Aminu Kano one of the very few politicians of note who have died without amassing an intimidating quantum of wealth. This abstemiousness probably explains why that much respected and principled politician did not attain high political office throughout his illustrious career. The PRP had an ideological commitment to the pursuit of a socialist agenda which is why Balarabe Musa and the real Abubakar Rimi as he then was, were willing to buck the system standing in the path of their attainment of their concrete political goals and stand resolutely on the side of the people of Kaduna and Kano states during the Second Republic. Both men, it must be said failed to achieve their stated objectives but their failure was not just grand but also honourable and worthy of emulation. It was a failure which was manifestly different from the failure of other progressives and one which points the way forward for the country if we are to make any sustained progress.

Perhaps the greatest source of the general failure of politics in Nigeria has been the failure of ideological commitment by our politicians. This is why there have been so many lateral movements by politicians of all shades throughout our political history. There have been so many examples of these that it would be unfair to call attention to any particular politician in this respect. However, a recent trend has been the abandonment of the PDP by politicians who were not able to get their party's nomination to contest the 2007 elections for other parties where they were able to secure the desired candidacy. With another election looming and fearing that the do or die party was not going to allow the lightening of losing out to strike twice in the same place, have retraced their steps and are now back under the umbrella of the 'largest political party in Africa'. In the absence of ideological commitment such inconsistencies have been elevated to the status of virtue even if people outside Nigerian politics may think the word 'prostitution' is more appropriate for the description of this cynical manoeuvre.

Professor Lamikanra teaches pharmacy at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

The failure of ideological commitment

By Adebayo Lamikanra

THE just-concluded electoral war in Ekiti in which there could have been no victors and all were thoroughly vanquished is sad testimony to the fact that the sun of democracy is yet to rise over Nigeria. Ironically, in the short period between then and now, the nation has been called out to celebrate a decade of uninterrupted democracy. Whilst a few Nigerians found reason to celebrate, the vast majority simply ignored the non-event and instead devoted their undivided attention to existential matters; those concerned exclusively with keeping body and soul together, one day at a time. The few who celebrated were those who had found an avenue to divert public resources into their private coffers making it possible for them to show their gratitude for the providential situation, that is, the institution of civil rule which made it possible for them to dispense with the fear of impending starvation and other various wants necessary for a damned god quality of life.

Top on the list of the celebrants of sham democracy were some of the serving governors, those rulers of gubernatorial fiefdoms who are prime extractors of largesse from their respective states. There was the case of one such governor who made reckless and downright silly claims of good governance on no less than four coloured pages of The Guardian, clearly in the hope of convincing his serfs of voting for more of the same rubbish in elections which are all of two years away. Clearly, the man was playing infantile mind games since it is obvious that he does not hold his exalted office to votes cast in free and fair elections and has as much chance as the proverbial snowball in hell of winning any election that is not transparently fraudulent as the one that won him the Governor's mansion.

Right from the dawn of the electioneering process in Nigeria, political campaigns have been charaterised by the enumeration of the good things of life, so much so that the Action Group declared in its motto that it was going to provide 'life more abundant' for the people. Maybe there was sound justification for promising to provide all-weather roads where the only roads available were topped with laterite and the provision of electricity in communities which were lighted by humble oil lamps as soon as it got dark or 'free' education where the overwhelming majority had no acquaintance with formal education.

Sixty years ago when the level of technological development was not high enough to provide many of the good things of life, those promises were indeed justifiable not just in Nigeria but all over the world except perhaps most people living in North America. Even for these fortunate people life more abundant had only become available to them when the New Deal of F.D. Roosevelt had delivered on his promise of a chicken in every pot and a car in every porch to the Americans to whom rural electrification was still a novelty those 60 years ago. In virtually every part of the world today however all the indices of life more abundant can be taken for granted by a majority of the people except of course in Nigeria and other such backward countries, most of which are found in sub-Saharan Africa.

For more than 60 years Nigerian politicians have been singing the same discordant notes with nothing to show for all their singing. The roads which have been delivered have deteriorated to such an extent that they are hardly better than the dirt tracks which they replaced, no major town or city in Nigeria can boast of a constant (and in some cases, any) supply of clean tap water. Instead, governments at all levels celebrate the irresponsible expedient of sinking boreholes instead of taking the trouble to purify renewable surface waters. Water form boreholes like minerals, have been in storage for many thousands of years and once plundered can never be replaced. As for education, the opportunity for the acquisition of good education at reasonable cost is decreasing all the time. The overall quality of life is dropping steadily for most Nigerians and this is in spite of the numerous promises of succeeding generations of Nigerian leaders for the provision of life more abundant.

Over the years we have had military rulers and politicians across the full spectrum of the political divide ruling in various states except at the centre where a recognisably 'progressive' leader has never held sway, at least not for any length of time. That prize has always been won by consortia of politicians who build mega parties for the sole purpose of winning, or more appropriately, seizing the reins of power in crooked elections. Such parties do not even bother to make promises; such is their disdain for the electorate. These parties are home to politicians from all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria and on this basis claim to have a national spread. The sole prerequisite for all aspirants within these 'national' institutions is that they 'deliver' their constituencies to the party. How these deliveries are made is not the business of the party and we know many 'godfathers' whose methods of delivery are patently foul who have guaranteed such deliveries. With these parties in power anywhere there can be no development in any sphere within the polity and when there is no development, there is usually massive retrogression such as the country is now going through.

Some parts of the country have been ruled by so called progressive parties but even in these states, performance has not been better than patchy. These parties have always ridden to power on the back of electoral acclaim and waves of optimistic noise but the hurrahs are usually not sustained as many of the progressives are quickly exposed as men with feet of clay, making it possible for the more pragmatic 'national spread' parties to execute electoral coups against them, secure in the knowledge that their progressive opponents do not have really deep roots amongst the populace and are therefore on their own. There have been incidents of the violent rejection of rigged elections results in Nigeria but except for the wetie response to the 1965 election in the Western Region such violence is usually short-lived and easily contained leaving the looters with their prize. In any case, there is no place in politics for violent rejection of election results and this cannot be regarded as an acceptable response to electoral defeat even when underhand tactics have been employed by the winners and this of course is a common sense interpretation of political contestation which has been shamelessly exploited by the do or die politicians of the 'national spread' parties.

There are now no less than 50 registered political parties in Nigeria but not one of them has a set of principles or ideology to present to the long suffering electorate. Perhaps the only part that can be regarded as different in this respect is the defunct Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) led by the late Mallam Aminu Kano one of the very few politicians of note who have died without amassing an intimidating quantum of wealth. This abstemiousness probably explains why that much respected and principled politician did not attain high political office throughout his illustrious career. The PRP had an ideological commitment to the pursuit of a socialist agenda which is why Balarabe Musa and the real Abubakar Rimi as he then was, were willing to buck the system standing in the path of their attainment of their concrete political goals and stand resolutely on the side of the people of Kaduna and Kano states during the Second Republic. Both men, it must be said failed to achieve their stated objectives but their failure was not just grand but also honourable and worthy of emulation. It was a failure which was manifestly different from the failure of other progressives and one which points the way forward for the country if we are to make any sustained progress.

Perhaps the greatest source of the general failure of politics in Nigeria has been the failure of ideological commitment by our politicians. This is why there have been so many lateral movements by politicians of all shades throughout our political history. There have been so many examples of these that it would be unfair to call attention to any particular politician in this respect. However, a recent trend has been the abandonment of the PDP by politicians who were not able to get their party's nomination to contest the 2007 elections for other parties where they were able to secure the desired candidacy. With another election looming and fearing that the do or die party was not going to allow the lightening of losing out to strike twice in the same place, have retraced their steps and are now back under the umbrella of the 'largest political party in Africa'. In the absence of ideological commitment such inconsistencies have been elevated to the status of virtue even if people outside Nigerian politics may think the word 'prostitution' is more appropriate for the description of this cynical manoeuvre.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Right of Reply : You can’t de-brand Dora

TheTask बेफोरे थे IG

TheTask बेफोरे थे IG

TheTask before थे IG

Niger Delta and the Clapperton Accord

The making of a dangerous nation

Awards and Nigeria's troubled banks

Tasks before the new CBN Deputy Governor

Collapse of FG-ASUU talks

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The gospel according to Hillary

Monday, August 03, 2009

Five-star hospitals: Pie in the sky?

No to Social Responsibility Tax

Unwieldy number of political parties

Federal government and the Niger Delta

Hakuna Matata, Oyin ni o, Oyato joo!

The failure of ideological commitment

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