Taxes to the Rescue of Nigeria

Federal Government's pronouncement the other day of its decision to fund the 2009 Budget through non-oil revenue sources, especially taxes, is remarkable. Even before the current plunge in the price of crude oil, the country's major income base, government at all levels should have consistently explored alternative means of funding.
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua spoke the minds of many people who are concerned over the country’s over dependence on oil when he addressed the First International Tax Conference organised by the Joint Tax Board in Abuja. As he put it, "for a nation to carry out basic functions of government, pursue and implement its development programmes like our Vision 2020 and the Seven-Point Agenda of this administration, it requires a stable, predictable and sustainable source of revenue. This leaves us with no choice than to conform with international best practice and make taxation the primary source of revenue for the government... States and local governments should henceforth depend less on the monthly allocation and intensify their internally generated revenue drives."
That governments in Nigeria have so far not given taxation the attention it deserves because of the complecency over oil revenues. As governments and citizens of progressive nations around the world know, proper development and societal cohesion are largely dependent on social contract which derives its legitimacy and vitality in part from the prompt payment of taxes by one party and their judicious utilisation by the other. Curiously, it is not even that the Nigerian people and the authorities are totally ignorant of this complementary relationship.
Under an existing Nigerian law - Taxes and Levies Decree of 1998 - the three tiers of government, namely federal, state and local, are empowered to enforce taxation, with the jurisdiction of each segment clearly spelt out. That way, taxes like Value Added Tax (VAT), Personal Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Education Tax, Withholding Tax and Companies Income Tax ought to serve as channels for regular buoyant revenue generation for the various governments. Sadly, however, this is not the case as the nation has remained fixated with income from the sale of crude oil. Diversification had not seemed urgent until the present gloomy economic realities.
But for government to record any meaningful success in making taxes a reliable source of revenue, it must first tackle the apathy of the citizenry towards taxation, an attitude deeply nurtured by the failure of successive administrations to deliver their key constitutional responsibilities. The provision of basic ammenities and safety of the people are the responsibility of government. At the moment, Nigerians are individually and collectively responsible for virtually all their needs: Schools, hospitals, electricity, water, security and even roads. The more the impact of government on their lives vanishes - ironically in the midst of abundant petrol dollars - the more calls for their response to government programmes and the projects becomes unreasonable. Companies also groan under a similar fate. After paying taxes, they are made to shoulder the cost of basic infrastructure that should ordinarily be borne by government.
Since the country has little to show for its past four oil booms, what is the guarantee that any robustness in other sectors now would be well utilised for the overall good of its people who have suffered for too long? That question should be well addressed if the nation must pick up its pieces and move towards the long over-due prosperity.
Now is the time for government to demonstrate sensitivity to the plight of the people. On their part, both individual and corporate citizens should rise above the frustration of the past and the apparent official ineptitude and embrace timely tax payment. That would give them a strong moral ground to demand accountability from their leaders.
Both the government and the people should not miss this chance to give the country a more realistic, enduring fiscal foundation.

Stopping Gas Flaring

Recently, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) was reported as saying there would be no extension of the December 2008 deadline for the cessation of gas flaring in Nigeria. And that the desire of the International Oil Companies to have the deadline extended to 2013 would not be granted.
About the same time, but in a softer tone, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Mr. Abubakar Yar’Adua said Nigeria needed concerted efforts of all stakeholders to achieve zero flares. He noted that apart from the environmental pollution from the flares the country loses about $2.5 million annually in opportunity cost, which is what the nation would gain from the economic use of the flared gas.
Before the NNPC and DPR spoke, the Senate Committee on Gas had vowed not to again, shift the date to end gas flaring in Nigeria. The committee also warned that at the end of December this year, being the agreed date to end gas flaring, every defaulter will be subjected to all the prescribed penalties, including shutting-in (closing down) of their wells.
This is not the first time gas flaring will make so much emotive headlines in the country. For too long, the issue has continued to consume national attention and resources, and suggesting lack of discretion on the part of government. But it does seem clearly that government wants to eat its cake and have it.
The oil majors have, for the umpteenth time asked for more time within which they will stop gas flaring, but for every target agreed the goal post is shifted.
Although the date mutually agreed by the oil companies and the lawmakers is December 31, this year, the oil companies are yet seeking a shift in the deadline to year 2013, on the ground that the December 31 deadline is no longer feasible.
The oil companies have argued that contrary to the belief of some people the flares are not like candle lights that can be blown off. Gas is naturally produced with the crude oil, the country’s cash cow. To put good use to the flared gas it must be collected at every flowstation and exported in gas pipelines over kilometres of land and water to where it can be used. Unlike now when new gas production facilities have in-built technology to gather gas, most of the old facilities do not have them so there has to be fresh investment in gas-gathering plants. According to the oil majors, these are capital-intensive projects with long gestation periods that do not only need timely funding, but uninterrupted execution. They readily point to the insecurity in the Niger Delta and its effects on project execution.
But the counter question is at what cost should such excuses be accepted? As pointed out by Yar’ Adua, gas flaring is injurious to human being and the environment. Although details of its direct and indirect effect on mankind, such as through acid rain may still be contestable, many of its negative effects are obvious.
Also, today we live in a world with growing concern for global warming, which effects are being felt all over the world, Nigeria inclusive. Nigeria is one of the largest gas flaring nations in the world.
Understandably, the oil companies have been blamed for the continuous gas flaring in the country. They have been accused of disobeying the laws of the land just because they have the resources to pay the imposed penalty, and choosing out of selfishness, to ignore the environmental and health hazards associated with gas flaring. As people will continue to argue, what is the practice in other countries of the world? Are oil producing companies flaring gas as they do in Nigeria?
However, we think at the bottom line of this lingering issue is the Federal Government’s indecision largely informed by the desire to eat its cake and have it. It is obvious that enforcing government’s deadline will mean oil production shut-in and oil revenue loss. And as the Senate and state agencies continue to issue threats over the deadline, the true question to ask is whether the Federal Government, in the face of dwindling crude oil revenue that is threatening the 2009 budget has the political will to enforce the deadline.
We think the government should bite the bullet now and save the energy and other resources wasted in debating the issue. One thing is sure. It cannot eat its cake and have it. Neither can it walk both sides of the street at the same time.

Needless Carnage on the Roads

The Nigerian roads have for long been notorious death traps for commuters, as hundreds of lives perish in otherwise avoidable highway carnages daily. Federal Road Safety Commission’s (FRSC) Corp Marshal, Mr Osita Chidoka put the monthly fatality figure from road accidents conservatively at 450, while disclosing that some 5,000 die yearly in road crashes.
This official fatality figure is obviously a far cry from the reality on ground, as instances abound in recent past where as many as 200 lives were lost even in single intra-city incidents. There are also daily instances of auto accidents on inter-state routes.
While some of these deaths result from accidents and are therefore humanly unavoidable, majority of road carnages occur due to some acts of omission and commission by road users and official indiscretion on the parts of government and its relevant agencies.
Indeed, some of the worst road crashes witnessed in recent times were the result of unconscionable negligence, illicit indulgence, criminal disregard for basic traffic rules, decrepit vehicles, bad roads and outright misplacement of priorities, among others.
Nigerian roads, just like other social infrastructure in the country, suffer years of neglect, rendering most of them impassable. This problem is compounded by impatient motorists and the recklessness of ill-trained drivers.
The menace constituted by the ubiquitous haulage trucks on the highways is also a major cause of deaths on the roads. Stories of falling containers and tripping petrol tankers are common. Added to this is the indiscriminate parking of trucks along the highways.
The poor state of most vehicles plying the Nigerian roads and the prevalence of unlicensed and untrained drivers on the roads also play a major role in keeping the rate of highway accidents on the high side.
The establishment of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) as a remedial measure was hailed by all lovers of lives and the commission actually tried its best at a stage in keeping the fatality rate down. But rather than build on the achievements, complacency soon set in, as the commission became progressively neglected in terms of staffing and equipment. Not only is budgetary allocation progressively thinning down, even the paltry allocation is often not released on time.
The Senate correctly read the minds of Nigerians and aptly reflected their feelings recently when it condemned the non-release of appropriated funds for the commission in this year’s budget and also called for its increased funding. To be sure, the FRSC can effectively perform its functions if properly funded and adequately equipped.
The commission appears to be grossly understaffed, as the operatives are missing in critical spots on both the inter-state highways and intra-city roads where their presence could help prevent accidents. It will not be out of place if there are well-manned FRSC units and sectors in every big town and city in the country apart from their routine sectors on the highways.
The vehicle inspection units of the Ministry of Transportation, popularly known as VIO, should be reinvigorated for thorough checks on vehicles’ road-worthiness. This will go a long way in minimizing accidents caused by bad vehicles. Judging by the fear of VIOs by commercial drivers alone, they are doing well. They should be encouraged.
But by far the greatest challenge to tackle if we are serious about curbing road accidents is the poor state of Nigerian roads. Government must fix the roads by not only making them motorable but also safe for commuters. We cannot afford to play with roads development, the type of politics that other social infrastructures were subjected to. Although the non-fixing of electricity for instance is bad after billions of dollars have been spent on the power sector, Nigerians still make do with the generating set alternative, however unfortunate this may be. But there is practically no alternative to road transportation for most of our countrymen, as few people can afford air transportation while the other alternatives – marine and rail transports – have either remained undeveloped or callously neglected. So, the roads just have to be fixed.
The government must also be reminded of the urgent need to fix the railways to, at least relieve the roads of the harm caused by tanker and truck drivers to the “health” of the roads in particular and to other road users in general. If the rail is back on track, most of the heavy-duty haulage carried out on the roads will automatically shift to the railways and this will not only enhance the lifespan of the roads, it will also greatly reduce road accidents.

The plight of pensioners

THE sorry plight of Nigerian pensioners again came to the fore recently when a senior citizen who had worked with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) died on his way to Abuja to receive his pension. Elder Citizen Michael Igiebor Okhokpa had been ill and so could not present himself at the Pensions Office in Abuja from his base in Benin, Edo State. His son whom he had sent with a letter of authority to receive the money on his behalf, was ignored by the officials in charge. He had to return to Benin to fetch his aged and sick father.

Sadly, the old man gave up the ghost on the way, in Kubwa, inside the vehicle conveying him to Abuja. In frustration, the son took his father's corpse to the paying officers. There was pandemonium when they arrived, as angry onlookers including other pensioners nearly caused a riot. The hitherto recalcitrant officials promptly paid the dead man's pension. Certainly, this is unbecoming of state officials. It shows how callous and insensitive the Nigerian system can oftentimes be.

Getting gratuity and pensions in Nigeria has become a nightmare for senior citizens. Often these men and women who spent their youth serving the country are compelled to make long journeys to Lagos or Abuja, or state headquarters for some officials to ascertain their continued existence. In some cases, the pensioners, where they enjoy good health, do not even have enough funds to make the trip.

In other cases, they simply arrive at the city centre, build a tent and remain there sometimes for months on end while the verification exercise lasts. The example of discharged soldiers who spent months in Lagos and Abuja some two odd years ago waiting for their entitlements, is still fresh in public memory. An attempt was finally made to pay the pensions only after the angry retired soldiers almost rebelled against the Army.

In the past, retirees were paid in their home states at zonal offices across the country. But civil servants colluding with some retirees soon began to defraud the system. Names of retirees who had long died were retained on the payment vouchers. The truth is that in the civil service, at both Federal and State levels, retirees sometimes wait for four to five years before they get their gratuity.

Some ministries are particularly notorious; they seem to derive pleasure from the helplessness of retirees. Proper records are not kept. Unscrupulous officials demand different documents from bewildered retirees. It is perhaps because of this experience that the Federal Government decided that all payments should be made centrally. The Obasanjo government also reformed the national pensions scheme, to make it private sector-driven, with the emergence of Pension Fund Administrators. It is hoped that in the long run, this will eliminate the current inefficiency seen in the payment of backlog of pensions in the public sector.

Retirement is a period workers should look forward to with hope and pleasure. After many years of hard labour, a worker is entitled to some peace and security in his old age. It is for this reason that many people once considered a career in the civil service safe and secure. But not anymore. In contemporary Nigeria, the life of an average pensioner is now insecure and generally, senior citizens are treated shabbily. Help does not come from the State either, and the future is uncertain. Not surprisingly, workers are compelled to protect themselves against future uncertainties by resorting to all kinds of sharp practices while still in active employment. Apart from changing their dates of birth at will, in order to prolong their service period, many deliberately engage in corrupt practices.

The pensions payments system, with regard to retired civil servants who are not covered by the new system introduced by the Obasanjo administration, must be reviewed. Humiliating and maltreating persons who had spent a better part of their lives serving the country is unacceptable. It is curious that the usually discourteous and mean pensions payment officers, who insist on humiliating pensioners, hardly realise that they would also end up as pensioners some day.

Except pensioners receive fair and prompt treatment, the country will unwittingly strengthen the temptation of civil servants to be corrupt. Any society that cannot treat its elderly citizens with care and respect advertises its disregard for values. Retirees should be paid their entitlements without any stress. Michael Okhokpa didn't deserve to die trying to get his pension.

The SAN controversy

I HAVE followed over the years the criteria for the award of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria. I have also noted those to whom the rank is awarded.

In 1958, Chief Williams was conferred with rank of Queen's Counsel, in accordance with the tradition of the English Bar and privileges. This was abolished in 1964. Other distinguished lawyers such as Chief Bode Thomas, Chief Remi Fani-Kayode, Chief Webber-Egbe, and Chief H.O. Davies were also conferred with the rank of Queens' Counsel. The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) award was created in 1972. It is the Nigerian version of Queens' Counsel. Chief F.R.A. Williams and Chief Graham Douglas were the first two lawyers to be conferred with the rank on April 3, 1975. The conferment of the rank is a privilege. The Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee screens nominations.

Many lawyers who believed they were qualified for the rank have been disappointed over the years, as they have not met the requirements of the Privileges Committee. A lawyer confided in this author that he had applied ten times and that he once believed he was the most qualified. There have been instances of lawyers of ten years and twelve years at the Bar being appointed as Senior Advocates. Even when over a hundred lawyers met the minimum requirements, about twelve or fifteen would be appointed for that year. This has been increased to twenty-five lately.

Many lawyers have complained that ethnic considerations come into play, it is unfair that after a lawyer has paid the necessary application fee and meets the minimum requirement he fails to be appointed as a SAN because he is from a part of the country where perhaps there are many qualified people. The purpose of Federal Character is not meant to be exhibited in the award of a privilege that connotes excellence. It is good to recognise excellence in the profession, factors guiding the privileges committee, ethnic consideration should not be a factor. It should be strict merit. An applicant who has paid for the application form should not be disqualified on THE on the basis of ethnic considerations.

As much as the privileged rank of SAN is attractive to many lawyers, there are a few distinguished advocates who were not conferred with the rank. Foremost amongst them were the late Mr. J.A. Cole, the late L.V. Davies and others include Fred Egbe, Chief R.O.A. Oriade. Many Nigerians were relieved of their anxiety over the appointment, quite recently, of Chief Gani Fawhinmi, author and Human Rights activist as a Senior Advocate.

Recently, the names of nominees short-listed for the conferment of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria was published in the newspapers. The short-listed candidates were those whose offices had been inspected. One wonders what the inspectors were looking for in a lawyer's office? Could it be the volume of books in the Law office? Modern-day lawyers do not stock books. Many conduct their research on the internet and some have publications in compact disk (CD). This saves office space, which is very expensive in commercial areas of the city. Lawyers also conduct their research in the court library.

A colleague of mine who did internship in a barrister's office in England informed me that many barristers have a room or two in the Inns of Court, it is solicitors who usually have large offices and many partners. After the initial first meeting in a lawyer's office in Nigeria these days, other communication with the client is likely to be by phone, text messages and e-mail. The requirement of a big law office is not necessary. Much time is lost in the traffic in the big cities. A barrister with a measure of computer literacy can work from his home and fix appointment with clients for meetings in his office. Could it be that the inspectors visit offices to measure the level of affluence of the nominee?

The fact that a legal practitioner has to apply for the conferment of the rank has also been criticised. This is not the tradition in England. Eminent lawyers such as the late J.A. Cole refused to apply for the conferment of the rank. The late J.A. Cole was in the rank of Chief F.R.A. Williams. Eminently qualified lawyers refuse to apply today. The application fee of N200,000.00 (two hundred thousand naira) will not deter many lawyers from applying, but will it be convenient for legal practitioners in government services and Professors in the Universities to apply?

Some legal practitioners who practise outside the courtrooms have been clamouring that such be appointed as SAN. Presently advocates with cases concluded at the High Court, Court of appeal and the Supreme Court over a ten-year period are considered; academics who have contributed to the development of the law through their publications are also considered. The author of this article stands to be corrected, he was informed that such academic applicants must come from the institutions of higher learning. This is unfair, the likes of Chief Gani Fawehinmi whose legal publications a lawyer discards at his peril would not have made the rank of SAN, same for Deji Shasegbon SAN.

The lawyers operating outside the courtroom in solicitor practice should be recognised in a different way. Such legal practitioners in solicitor practice could have a law society. Perhaps such lawyers within the legal profession and outstanding solicitors should be conferred with Fellowship of the Law Society (FLS).

Nigerians by our culture love recognition. The average pastor is Rev. Dr. Tamedu. Many people with doctorate degree no longer bear doctor. They prefer to put just Ph.D. after their names. Chieftaincy titles might not be fashionable; every Nigerian who runs into money is a chief. Professional qualifications such as the conferment of SAN should be guarded from being abused. It is not meant for social status. Many medical Consultants are not known and recognised outside the hospitals. The SAN's services is expensive, he is a specialist. The client is paying more for the services he renders, the average client will be wary of obtaining the services of such. This is the practice in England.

The input by the public might not be of much use. A zealous applicant can cause his friends to write favourable things about him. Though a serious objection about the conduct of a nominee in and out of the court can be helpful, such nominee if the case against him is to be properly investigated might not be conferred with the rank that year.

One would suggest that there should be honourary SANs. These are lawyers of eminence who do not apply but are worthy of the rank of SAN. Such a person is the late Mr. J.A Cole. There are such eminently qualified lawyers today at the Bar and in academics. The "borrowing of briefs" by aspiring applicants cannot be stopped. Lawyers hold briefs for their colleagues. Applicants in the name of pro bono briefs go to the prisons in search of condemned prisoners for appeal cases. Lawyers should know that rank acquisition is not the only measure of success.

Things are changing in the profession. Our ambition should be governed by reasons, as there is no end to what men want to achieve. A legal practitioner is no longer satisfied with making the rank of SAN, he wants to see how many SANs he can "install". Some have in their Chambers two or more SANs.

Barack Obama as a historical imperative (2)

THE overwhelming landslide victory recorded by Senator Barack Obama on November 4, 2008 to clinch the ticket to the White House as the first ever-black African American to be elected president of the United States confirmed my prediction in this column on March 4 stating the obvious. I had predicted based on first hand personal assessment of Obama in debates with his other party contenders that he is the man to beat. He possesses extraordinary intelligence that has the force of history behind to propel him to the top coveted office of the United States President. I am highly elated like trillions around the world that Obama finally emerged as winner of perhaps the hottest and grilling presidential contest in the United States.

The victory reconfirms the philosophical principle that nothing is absolute and change is inevitable. America has existed for over 200 years and has been ruled by 43 white presidents. Obama's emergence marks a turning point in American history. The event in a way reinforces what the Continental Congress did on July 4, 1776 when it signed the Declaration of America's independence. But there can be no complete independence in a country where segments of the population were regarded as second-class citizens. The Obama victory has finally broken the yoke and completely made everyone free in a fully independent America. This is the critical significance of this victory.

I had said in the first piece of this write-up and I would like to repeat it. An Igbo adage says, if you wake up in the morning and a chicken starts pursuing you, you should run away because you don't know whether the chicken has developed teeth at night. The unusual more often than not happens and it is the unusual events that make the highest point in history. The events usually start like a joke. The modest initial expression of what would turn out to be a turning point often betrays understanding of the historic end point. Without such unusual events happening, history will be boring and uninteresting. The part of history in America where what Obama has done would be written will certainly mark one of the highest points that posterity would like to read.

Obama is a novice in the political arena when compared with his Republican presidential contender, Senator John McCain. The historical forces that brought him to lime light shaped him and gave him strong edge to be able to address hard issues of the time. His first-rate oratorical power made him galvanize the American people to appreciate his point of view. It is one thing to possess wisdom and astute intelligence yet it is another thing to have the capacity to convey it across and create lasting positive impression that could rise above entrenched traditional beliefs.

Certainly, Obama possessed all the pluses that ran throughout the hectic campaigns. His uncommon skill enabled him to preach the message of "change" to a nation that is engaged in avoidable wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that have contributed to a slow but emerging economic recession. Every historical epoch has a genius to drive it. Obama is the man of the moment and clearly no other individual could rival or thwart his unstoppable moving train of change.

Perhaps, it might be appropriate at this juncture to explain the meaning of the name Obama if that would give some insight into who the man is and what he stands for. The name Obama has its roots in Africa; no doubt his father is an African from Kenya. I think the name has roots in the Igbo word "obo-ama", which could mean a person or thing.

For example, when it refers to a thing, it means "a wide road (highway)" as it were. On the other hand, when it refers to a person it means "the one who clears or maintains the road", "a road-maker". In Igbo, names like this are given to great achievers, men who have distinguished themselves by accomplishing unusual fit. Thus, Ogbuagu means the one who killed lion. Ogbankwa means the great dancer, etc.

In the case of "Oboama", the root of Obama, it literally means the one who makes the way. Making the way also includes building bridges to connect separated communities. Senator Obama's father (Barack Hussein Obama Sr.) was a path-breaker, a bridge builder of sort. Forty-seven years ago, he built a bridge between Africa and America. This he did when only a handful of his kinsmen could venture beyond the shores of Kenya. The poverty in Kogelo, his village in Luo land at the time didn't debar him from breaking through. Thus, he was able to travel to the United States in the early 1960s and studied in Hawaii and at Harvard to become an economist. The blood of the father passing unto the son provided the pull factor in Senator Obama's exploits even though he knew little about his father. But blood they say is thicker than water.

Thus, like his father, the circumstances of his birth or immediate environment did not detract him from his focus. He studied in Columbia University from where he graduated in 1983. In 1991, he graduated from the prestigious Harvard Law School where he left a mark as the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review. In all this, what we are celebrating was given rise by the combined forces of determination, education and hard work.

The president-elect is there to clear and maintain blocked or strained relationships that exist between America and any country anywhere in the world. From the home front, the age-long paranoia between the blacks and the whites has been soothed. The evidence of this is the overwhelming support Obama received from the white voters, particularly the virgin voters. This development would certainly be a factor in future polls in the United States.

On the international front, Obama promised to extend a hand of friendship to America's "foes" and friends. The crisis in the Middle East remains a central issue, which the Obama administration should do all within its power to tackle. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which has spilled over to Pakistan with the spate of insurgency in that country require urgent attention. Astute diplomacy, coupled with an open mind to have a peaceful liveable world in all spheres could be asset in dealing with these nagging issues.

Some analysts believe that Obama should apply wisdom in what some others perceive as what would be a possible constraint to the new administration. That is with regards to how he intends to relate with the republican Bush appointees that could be of critical value to him. The desire to succeed and bring about real change in the social and economic circumstances of the American people is to me of utmost concern. Using wisdom to choose the lesser of two evils should be applied in this matter.

Americans want change and Obama is driving it. Obama should be able to select a strong team of Americans, irrespective of their political affiliation that would help him effect visible change in a short time. The team should consist of individuals of like minds as Obama himself, bridge builders, who have open mind and what it takes to realize the desire of America and the world. Americans and indeed the world are eagerly waiting to see things begin to happen as soon as Obama assumes the mantle of leadership. First impression matters. Obama should try as much as possible to begin on a high positive note that will leave no doubt in the minds of people that indeed the expected change has come.

The significance of Obama's election victory is that it has solidified the belief in American democracy. What it means is that when America talks of democracy, it is clear what is meant is democracy in its purest and transparent form. It is a democracy where the electorate determines the day. Manipulation, witch-hunting and blackmail are alien. It is democracy that focuses on issues of the time and not on stereotypes and entrenched misinformed beliefs of the past that draw society backwards.

The issues of the time include the excruciating wars in Iraq and Afghanistan followed by the global financial crisis. The Bush administration, apparently, has failed to address these issues, or has contributed to them. The failure of Bush and the Republicans gave a leeway to Obama and the Democrats. Considering the radiance represented by Obama in the way he articulated the issues during the campaign debates, the world is waiting to see Obama live up to expectation as the historical imperative that has come to bring change.

Obama's historic victory

NO election in American history has attracted the attention of the international community and generated so much interest as the recently concluded presidential one between Barack Obama of the Democratic Party and John McCain of the rival Republican Party. The not-so-distinguished presidency of George W. Bush meant the rest of the world was yearning for a new leadership in a nation whose policies and politics inextricably affect the rest of us. The candidacy, for the first time, of a charismatic black candidate in the person of Barack Obama introduced great excitement into an election which became known as that of history in the making. The majority of the outside world wanted history to be made, as enthusiasm for the youthful Barack Obama far outweighed interest in his older rival.

The American nation had, in the past, witnessed historic elections whose outcome had salutary consequences for its black people. The dramatic, pre-television age election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 tops the list. Abraham Lincoln founded the Republican Party in 1854 and sought the presidency of the United States under the platform of preventing slavery from spreading from the South. His philosophy did not resonate with the South where slavery thrived and a Civil War soon broke out about a month after his inauguration when South Carolina attempted to secede from the Union.

For the inquisitive reader interested in the irony of history, it should be remembered here that the Democratic Party which has now made it possible for Barack Obama to become America's first black president was the pro-slavery party. African-Americans, as they now prefer to be called, supported the Republican Party following their emancipation from slavery by the later-to-be assassinated Abraham Lincoln. The black Americans, however, shifted en masse to the Democratic Party following the Great Depression of the 1930s. That shift from Abraham Lincoln's Republican Party of Emancipation to Franklin Roosevelt's Democratic Party of economic prosperity is until today regarded as the greatest realignment in American political history.

However, anyone looking for a comparison of the excitement of those of us on the African continent about the election of Barack Obama would have to go back to that of John F. Kennedy in 1960. Kennedy's election generated great euphoria among members of the Catholic Church worldwide and the Irish community in particular because he was the first Irish Catholic President. This writer recollects that in 1963 when news came that Kennedy had been shot in Dallas, students of the Catholic secondary school he attended were quickly summoned to the chapel to pray for the President's recovery. When Kennedy's death was announced, the Irish priests could hardly contain their grief. John F. Kennedy initiated the civil rights reforms which eventually became law under the administration of his successor, Lyndon Johnson.

The United States of America is the most powerful nation on earth; to be president of that great nation is no mean achievement for anyone. The Barack Obama story is perhaps of greater significance than the Kennedy story not least because of the history of slavery and dehuman- isation of blacks in America. There was once a time when a black person was counted as a fraction of a human being for the purpose of taxation and representation. There was also once a time when a black person could not vote because his or her grandfather did not vote. There is this interesting story of a Democratic candidate for election who said he did not welcome a black person's vote cause it would diminish his victory! Of course Barack Obama is not a descendant of slaves but slavery indeed tarnished every black human being. The Obama story calls for celebration by all mankind because in it we all feel redeemed somehow.

The fact that Obama's victory is merited provides additional cause for celebration of a rare super star. He conducted himself well to the admiration of all of us. His campaigns were exceptionally brilliant, as were also his organisation and mobilisation of support. He outsmarted his rival, Senator John McCain, in each of the three televised debates. Of course his case was substantially helped by the economic meltdown which invariably made consideration of the wallet more important than racial sentiment in an election which was more of a referendum on the unpopular George W. Bush than anything else.

Barack Obama was peaked at the relatively young age of 47, because no matter how his presidency turns out, the electoral victory of November 2008 is the defining moment for him and black community. However, we must continue to pray for him because his election does not mean that racism is dead with all its viciousness. He will earn respect for the black race if, unlike his incompetent cousins on the African continent, he actually goes on to become one of America's great presidents. His election as it is, has psychological significance for all of us.

At some stage the euphoria about a black man becoming president of the United States will die down and the reality of Africa's parlous circumstances will sink in. With a determination to inject balance and objectivity into our discussion of the American contest, this writer once said that mother Africa is still the theatre where the progress of the black race can be measured. Bad governance, corruption and mismanagement have become our shared attribute. Preventable diseases contribute to death with the same viciousness as inter-ethnic conflicts. We have a large population of men and women who have certificates but do not know their rights. The rest of the world continues to view the black race with contempt because Africa has refused to sort itself out.

The story of Barack Obama is significant, not just because of Obama himself. It is the story of known and unknown African Americans who stepped on stubborn toes for the sake of freedom. The story of slaves who revolted against their masters; the story of the Rosa Parks who refused to obey laws that degraded their humanity, and the story of the Martin Luther Kings and Malcolm Xs who put their own lives on the line for the sake of future generations.

It is also the story of great and immortal presidents like Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy who sided with fairness and paid the ultimate price through the assassin's bullets. If Africa is to be one of the great continents of the future, commitment and sacrifice must come from the present generation. This article is dedicated to Chief Gani Fawehinmi who has been teaching us in Nigeria that the future is greater than the present - that we must not sacrifice the future on the altar of today's greed.

Nigeria's financial markets: Grave and present danger

AS humankind gets into a financial and economic crisis being unanimously described as a meltdown and the plausible beginning of a world economic recession, it is apt to reassess the Nigeria financial authorities' engagement with the matter at hand, and where our embryonic money and capital markets would find insulation from the collateral shocks already holding sway. All over the world, comparisons are being made of the current events with the recession years of the 1920s and 1930s.

What was derisively regarded, a year or so ago, as small town America sub-prime loans problem has today metamorphosed to multibillion-dollar bank crashes, nationalisation of legendary businesses and interventions by several Governments to bail out banks. Without doubt, the landscape of the world economy is being redrawn by the colossal loss of fortune by both banks and non-bank financial institutions and the wipe-out of the middle class borrower. The magnitude of the credit collapse and its multiplier effects is estimated to be in excess of US$ trillions (not computing emotions and damaged lives) in the OECD countries, that is, the world's net surplus and donor countries.

In the immediate past year, the Nigerian Stock market had recorded phenomenal growth, month after month was a record performance and the world was said to be toasting to its very impressive returns to investors, albeit, its new and impatient investors. Every trading session was a self-fulfilling prophecy of growth. In the money market, the banks have been leveraging on the post consolidation boom to post unprecedented profits and dividends though the commitment of bank credit to the real sector of the economy has become a vexing challenge to its touted profit figures.

For most part of this year, commentaries on the Nigerian Stock market and the Money market have been strident that the apparent intensity of trades and turnover being witnessed there is being driven not by so much growth in the fundamental indices of the Nigerian economy, but by a mix of bankers, domestic speculators and a new breed of overseas money managers testing their feet in the exotic African market. In the past fortnight, it has all turned from sour to outright panic.

Stock price index having declined nearly 40 per cent from its January 2008 point is about to move into a freefall and there are genuine fears the trend may not be staunched until a so-called correction of Nigerian stock market exuberance has fully taken place.

In the wake of widespread monetary and capital markets dislocation across the world, Nigerian financial markets show that they are hardly immunised against these externalities. Some consequences had tip-toed in the past months namely: International hedge funds managers have taken flight with their estimated US$10b Nigerian markets portfolio; Credit lines to Nigerian banks for Letters of Credit have been constricted if not cancelled altogether; fund-raising for the nascent Nigeria Infrastructure fund is massively jeopardised.

To the extent that no one, now, disputes the global village profile, where money comes only to its safest haven, the current crisis calls for a robust domestic response and then also, the need to erect whatever brick wall as a supplement to what the world benchmark institutions have also put up against the global meltdown.

The response of the lead Nigerian monetary authority, the Ministry of Finance has been laughable: it constituted a Presidential Advisory panel made up of the same operatives whose actions and prejudices required independent review in the first place. It also publicly hinted that it would send N50 billion into the stock market.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, on its part, constituted two expert panels to deal with market issues in Governance and Operations and submit their reports at the end of 2008; a measure, laudable in itself as medium term response but doubtful as an appropriate response to raging market indiscretions especially alleged insider trading and the prop up of banking and insurance sectors' stocks.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange authorities went in search of emergency market makers to hold the basket as the floodgate to dumped shares opened without concurrence with its supervisory agency or the federal legislative watchdogs.

On its part, Central Bank of Nigeria held an emergency Monetary Policy Committee meeting and announced an adjustment of the monetary policy instruments-Monetary Policy Rate, liquidity and cash reserve ratios to increase liquidity in the system. It became unusually taciturn thereafter. An action that the industry suggests is a direct fallout of the recent undermining of the CBN leadership.

One attribute of all these reactions stand out: they were uncoordinated and tentative. More importantly too, there was no market or indeed, political leadership to take ownership of the initiatives. Another is that, in beating back a financial market trend, speed plus robustness are imperatives because a major cause in the market is the calculus of fear and uncertainty. It is important to convey the determination, vigour, competence and resolve of the authorities to hold a trade position. In the enlightened economies, the highest professional and political leadership took over the pronouncements to the markets, assuaging the people and ensuring accountability to the legislatures.

All the measures by Nigeria's four disparate money and capital markets authorities appear half thought - through on their announcement dates and as days ran further, it became apparent to the financial markets that the implementation frameworks were uncharted. Fear and uncertainty legitimately increased.

The notion that this trend can be sufficiently contained by short-cuts solutions has been stealthily debunked in the past four months by events in those same markets. We are amazed, for instance, at the slapdash gestures choreographed by the Central Bank of Nigeria: it was reluctant to admit its discomfort with margin trading and this was eventually poorly communicated in a market where information is the cornerstone; it pulled its punch on implementing the uniform end of year for the banks - a policy initiative announced long ago and well agreed that this is a panacea to clean up all the banks' books once and for all; as well as its recent instruction to banks to have their lending and deposit rates published on the internet - a directive operating since the 1990s, the publication in all banking halls. How many infractions of these rates have the CBN banking examiners who are to monitor actual transaction costs in the about 5,000 bank business offices in Nigeria sanctioned?

Unlike in many other countries where the stock market perfectly mirrors the economy and state of the nation, it could be argued that the Nigerian money and capital markets only mirror in part the formal economy. This opinion may even be sustained by the abrasive claim that about 40 per cent of currency in circulation is still outside the banking system. That is not sufficient to accept the authorities' cavalier approach to a major market crisis. A large number of Nigerian middle class joined the financial markets and encouraged by the lending policy of the banks, rode what has become a tiger. Greed and fear have now come full cycle.

While many have burnt their shirts, it need be said that Nigerians must not be allowed the delusion that there is fool-proof reward without risk, there are bound to be winners and losers in both the money and capital markets. Hopefully, the CBN-inspired elongation of loans tenure may turn the corner for these victims of the meltdown.

But the Nigerian financial markets have grown dramatically in the past five years to rank as a medium term power-house and currently mirror the promise of a nation that would someday, not too distant, meet the challenges of the 21st century world in terms of opportunities for domestic credit, wealth creation and infrastructure financing.

The state of affairs in the world markets is unprecedented. With globalisation, and it can be averred that despite it, the situation in Nigeria's financial market today is grave. Let the current crisis be availed for cleanup of both regulators and the market operators to inaugurate a fresh, though battered, beginning.

This danger presents a demand for leadership in all respects to stabilise the Nigerian markets and prescribe a detailed indigenous road map. We call on all the affected authorities to emulate the rest of their counterparts in the world and sit up to the emergent reality.

EFCC and the missing files

BARELY one week ago, one of Nigeria's globally acclaimed literary giants, Prof. Chinua Achebe in a keynote address at the Silver Jubilee lecture of The Guardian in Lagos succinctly captured the Nigerian of this generation: "Being a Nigerian is abysmally frustrating and unbelievably exciting..." Nigeria needs help, he submitted shortly after he declared her a prodigiously endowed but incredibly wayward country. He has his reasons for choosing that distinguished audience to direct his words of wisdom. You may want to agree with him or disagree with him. But the fact is that certain developments in the country do confound Nigerians themselves, enough to lend credence to such assertions by those who should know, really.

Being a Nigerian could be frustrating and unbelievably exciting indeed if we could wake up one day to be told by a watchdog agency we have all come to admire for its courage to battle corruption and reduce corrupt tendencies among the itchy fingers in high places that case files on suspects are missing. I shudder to think what the future holds for this great nation if the generation that should learn from the mistakes of the present are inadvertently being encouraged by the omission or commission of the commission to perfect the styles of the big guns and be more daring at treasury looting.

Mrs Farida Waziri is in charge at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) having succeeded Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the diminutive man politicians loved to hate. Mrs. Waziri promised at her inauguration she would step on toes because of the nature of her job. We don't have any cause to doubt her but she has literally had none to step on yet. Now, she has been given a big job to do now as she may have to look inward to find out what happened to the case files of more than 21 former governors who had been investigated by Mallam Nuhu during his tenure and had been certified fit to be tried. We are waitng for her to report back to Nigerians. The Ribadu we know was not used to making frivolous claims in the course of doing his job. He unceremoniously took his exit courtesy of the powerful forces he had taken on then. Some of these power brokers Ribadu allegedly declared corrupt and reported 31 of the ex-governors to the Senate last year. Ten have already been arraigned including the latest Rashidi Ladoja(Oyo), BoniHaruna(Adamawa),Saminu Turaki(Jigawa), Ayo Fayose (Ekiti),James Ibori(Delta),Orji kalu(Abia),Lucky Igbinedion(Edo),Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu), Joshua Dariye(Plateau) and Jolly Nyame, a reverend from Taraba State.

By Monday this week at a public forum, the new EFCC boss stunned her audience saying there was nothing in the other ex-governors' files with the commission to warrant prosecution. "If there is nothing in the files there is nothing I can do," she declared. Mba...mba, as my Igbo brothers would love to interject when they strongly disagree with an opinion or a claim. I disagree, madam. There is a lot you can do to find out what the position is, one of which is to officially contact Mallam Ribadu for assistance. He is still a public officer whose allegiance is to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Then you can begin to ask some salient questions especially from your staff and operatives. Did Ribadu leave any such files for investigations to proceed? Could any or some of the EFCC agents have been compromised to remove sensitive documents from the files? Does the agency make provision for back-ups? Even in this age of advanced technology, are we saying an agency as sensitive as the EFCC does not have e-storage links for its data, similar to the one being used by the Central Securities and Clearing Systems(CSCS) in the stocks market which is said to be indestructible?

If the files and statements are distorted, who tampered with them in the custody of the anti-graft agency, and when was this?

At the same round table in Abuja, a mild drama was also reported when Waziri claimed she had no petition standing against former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The CNPP representative at the forum, Mr Osita Okechukwu, disputed her claims as he drew her attention to the three petitions the conference sent to the agency. Okechukwu fired:"How can you talk about fighting corruption when you have consistently ignored the petitions we sent to your commission...?" The boss also gave an excuse that the ex-public officers had learnt smarter ideas of making the agency's prosecution and recovery of stolen money more difficult. Ma, what do you expect them to do; fold arms and shamelessly lament that their being exposed is an act of God?

For goodness sake we are talking about transparency accountability of those in positions of trust. There should be no rooms for excuses. In spite of the ridicule arrests by operatives of the agency have subjected the looters to, I am not sure it has stopped the tendency to loot the coffers the more even among the present generation of elected or public officials. It is logical. There would always be the temptation to dip their ugly fingers into the common wealth because the few identified looters are still going around unashamedly and calling the shots in the society; it has taken an age to determine their culpability. Former Bayelsa governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and former police chief Tafa Balogun must be so unlucky to have their petitions dispensed with so quickly as to make them look like devils among the saints.

Are we surprised that there is and would always be a mad and deadly rush for public offices in spite of EFCC threats? The lures of office are simply irresistible for any deterrence. The looters will always get smarter as Mrs Waziri fears, at least until the bubble bursts.

The EFCC may be trying its best within the available resources and the environment it operates. But their perceived lawful approach to law enforcement could only be made more meaningful and pungent if there are no half measures in arrests or prosecution of offenders. In law, there ought not to be any sacred cow as Nigerians now believe, rightly or wrongly. The spirit of 'there is nothing I can do' must be banished from Waziri's mind. Then and only then would she have proved to be working in the country's interest and for the people, whose common wealth has been plundered as if there would be no tomorrow. The missing files have to be recovered. If they cannot be traced, the alternative is to start all over again. I refuse to buy the idea that all hope is lost on the former governors who misplaced the trust their people placed in them. They are not going to have the last laugh. They must be made to account for their deeds and misdeeds.

The suffering continues

Trust sarcastic Nigerians. They are ever ingenious in coining phrases to fit acronyms of some national institutions. Take NEPA (the electricity firm that transformed to PHCN) for example. The inefficiency of the body was enough to coin Never Expect Power Always. So it is with the National Youth Service Corps(NYSC) which simply became Now Your Suffering Continues. It is assumed that students generally suffer in school in pursuit of the ultimate - the degree. Going into the national service for many of them again turn to be nightmares. The objectives of the scheme remain as laudable as ever but the scheme has been bastardized first,through under-mobilization of corps members. The attempt to mop up the avoidable excess of the past is the current over-mobilisation. The exercise has been particularly harrowing for majority of them who emerged from the backlog. They have become lay-about around town because they can't secure places of primary assignment. The inability to secure places is not new but I understand this current stream under batches A,B and now C is, for the commission, like biting more than one can chew conveniently. This I think is also traced to the uncoordinated admission processes in various institutions many years ago until the NUC woke up from a slumber to restore sanity in the system. Our educational system should not remain a laughing stock in the international community.

Neglect safety and perish

"IF wishes were horses, then beggars would ride". This old saying, in our age, the age of innovationism, modernism, progressivism, changism, globalism, newism, secularism, and materialism refers, not to beggars, but to bio-scientists, bio-engineers, bio-technologist, molecular bio-logists, and stem cell bio-cloners. Of interest is the relation between innovation and diseases. Nigerian's traditionally, are not people who carry out actions based on or because of the use of language, except, where language is used to command a person to act in a particular or specific way or manner. If no command is given, Nigerians, traditionally, are moved to act by what they see.

We are, traditionally, empiricists and inductionists; not rationalists and deductionists. The British are also, traditionally, empiricists and inductionists, not rationalists and deductionists, as their philosophical origin shows. That is where Nigerians and British people share a common intellectual and epistemological root and culture. When it is said that a nation or an ethnic group has empiricism and inductionism as its philosophical and epistemological methodology, that does not mean that the nation or ethic group did not think or depend on thought for their way of life. What is intended is that the beginning of their epistemological process was keen observation (empiricism). Then they subjected what they observed to reason or thought (rationalism). The next stage is to see or identify a relation or connecting factor or principle between one observation and another observation and more than one other observation. Finally, to generalise based on the identification and establishment of the truth of the connection between two things and among more than two things observed.

Let me illustrate this using Nigeria. In Nigeria, Igbo people, Ndi Igbo, say: Afunaanya ekwe. This means, literally, when it is seen, it is consented to or agreed with. It expresses empiricism-based epistemology. We are familiar with the saying: "Seeing is believing". This, although the same as the Igbo expression, it is believed, comes from British traditional epistemology and represents the British tradition of empiricism-inductionism-based epistemological methodology. The Igbo expression warns against dependence on a second source for knowledge concerning anything. It advises, promotes and encourages independence in achieving knowledge about anything and everything. "Independence" used here, does not mean that one should block his ears and turn off his mind against information from anyone; or that one should not read any book, attend any school, or take lectures at a university. What it means, is that one must see, if it is possible to see, experiment, if it is possible to experiment, or intellectualise if neither the former nor the later is possible, before one accepts anything or makes conclusion about anything.

Yoruba people say: Iroyin ko ni to afi oju ba, eni ti o ba de ibe ni ole so. This means, story, told by a person, is less than seeing by a person, the person who is present at an event or scene (alone) can speak about it. The "alone" is implicit. The saying posits that truth rests on the one who is present at an event or scene alone and not on the one who later informs another person about it or writes about it. The reason for this is clear: The person who tells another person may add his version and therefore distort the truth. He may pervert it or change it altogether. Whatever the one who later tells the story says or writes, it would be impossible for him to say or write about what is, that is, reality as reality - aliquid est - objectively. Just as in the analysis of the starting point of Igbo epistemology, the Yoruba eni ti o ba de ibe, the one who gets there - seemingly through physical presence alone - does not only mean being physically present at an invent alone.

It means that and it means, in addition to that, carrying out a personal experiment or intellectualisation of the object of pursuit or interest as a thing that is worth knowing and desired as an object of knowledge, carrying out a personal experiment or intellectualisation of a thing that is another person's, nation's or organisation's idea, theory, model, practice, standard, ethics or value; or in respect of a physical object that is obtrusive, challenging, threatening, or attractive, before making a judgment and decision about it. When one experiments or intellectualises a thing, one gets into the thing and, therefore, is able to understand it. Such understanding is authentic and whatever the person does with the understanding would be authentic.

Our fundamental problem as Nigerians is that we do not put ourselves at or in a thing. That is to say that we are not intellectually independent, authentic, progressing, progressive, civilised, civilising, developed or developing. Nothing about Nigeria is authentic now; nothing, not even one thing can be seen to be authentic because of our intellectual, epistemological, and axiological dependence. Take the case of the application of genetic engineering and biotechnology to the production of foods, drugs, vaccines and fuels. How many of us have seen - physically now - genetically modified foods? How many of us have seen the consequences of consuming genetically modified foods by a rat or a person? And, how many of us are promoting, supporting, and encouraging the production and consumption of genetically modified foods?. How many of us are demanding that we should be left to have our knowledge, gained independently, before we make our decision about genetically modified foods? How many of us have said that genetically modified foods should not be given to people until they have been established to be safe universally?. What we find is that most Nigerians are opposing this author although I have intellectualised the production of genetically modified foods independently and I defend whatever I say on the basis of my independent intellectualisation of it aided by or to support what researchers have found out about the foods.

Nigerians demand that I show them my personal experiment but they have not demanded that the people who tell them that genetically modified foods are safe must produce evidence that they are safe. What is clear from this is that Nigerians of our time, contrary to the practice of Nigerians of our ancestral past, are driven by the apertainment or emotiveness or symbolism of the use of language. Nothing can speak educational backwardness, intellectual mindlessness, docility, and gullibility more than this situation? We may use any of the other words that are used to drive action - that is besides innovation - to illustrate this truth. They include rights, freedom, democracy, globalisation, global village, change, and, pariah state. Genetic engineering and biotechnology are being drive by innovation and not by what the innovation produces.

The world-renowned and respected Nigerian who is called "the father of computer", Professor Philips Emeagwali, has written and spoken on the basis of the current drive for innovation, as a means of promoting the practice of genetic engineering and biotechnology, at several and different forums known to me, including when he addressed Nigerians of Igbo ethnic origin, and Nigerians in two universalities, one in the USA and the other in Canada. He spoke under the titles Africa must produce or perish and Intellectual Capital, not Money, Alleviates Poverty. This author objects to the contents of both of them; but only the former is argued against here, very briefly.

Concerning the former, it is argued that it is not the lack of innovation that would cause Africans to perish; that it should be observing that we have been innovating and getting worse; and that what would cause Africans to parish is mindlessness, docility, gullibility, and subservience - an always readiness and willingness to ape or copy Americans, or defer to Americans and the United Nations organisations. A particular aspect of the mindlessness, docility, gullibility and subservience that would cause Africans to perish is the adoption of genetic engineering, biotechnology, molecular biology and stem cell cloning practices concerning the production of foods, drugs, vaccine and fuels without intellectualising the implications and consequences of that, which are terminal diseases, polluted and carcinogenic environments, and deaths. The lack of innovation does not cause a person or nation to parish; it is the lack of attention to what is produced through innovation - that is, whether it is safe or not safe - that would cause Africans to perish. It is the neglect of safety in the application of innovation - bio-science, genetic engineering, biotechnology, molecular biology and stem cell cloning of our foods, drugs, and vaccines - that would cause not only Nigeria , but the whole world to perish.

This is why Yoruba adage, presented as a dialogue, says: Won ni omo go. Oni, "Ki iku saa ma pa". Kilo fe paa bi ko se ago. As we celebrate an insult that has persisted as independence, let us do something about our intellectual dependence and strive deliberately and seriously to be independent intellectually and to act independent of America and United Nations ideas, concepts, models, practices, standards, ends, ethics and values. Genetically Modified Foods are really Genetically Poisoned Foods. The innovation that produces the foods is why there are many new diseases, increase of old ones, deformities, disabilities, infertility, and deaths. But changing our attitudes to the use of language must also include changing our attitudes to the emotive or psychological intention or symbolism of the use of those words that have cause our domestic, social, and institutional values to be upside down and meaningless. I mean rights, freedom, democracy, globalisation, moving Nigeria forward, global village, gender, gender sensitivity, and culture.

Neglect safety and perish achieves the same purpose and has the same effect as neglect morality or spirituality and perish.

A President Obama is becoming real

ALL things considered, I make bold to say that if Barack Obama fails to become the president of America in January 2009, it is not because he is not sound, experienced, qualified or fit for the job; it may just be because he is a black American. Obama has changed the cause of history, surprised critics and registered himself as somebody that can no longer be ignored in American political equation for a long time to come. He has risen from the backwaters to give hope not only to black Americans but to blacks all over the world. In the course of the campaigns, in the debates, Obama has shown remarkable improvement and improved capacity that the distance between him and Capitol Hill is becoming closer by the day. I have my reasons.

Blacks in America have come a long way. They rose from the tortuous centuries of slave background to struggle for equality and recognition and today, America, known as Land of Freedom and Liberty is gradually coming to terms with the stark reality that it is no longer going to be business as usual. If America still believes in universal suffrage of equality of man, electing Obama as president will send a clear signal to the world that God's own country can walk the talk, match proclamations with deeds, and move away from rhetoric to reality.

In a public debate recently, General Collin Powel was quick to dismiss an insinuation that suggests that he is likely to support Obama because he is a black man by insisting that first and foremost, he is an American. At this stage and age, Collin Powel is telling Americans that time has come for them to come of age and throw away the primordial and racial sentiments they have lived with for centuries and move on. America cannot continue to live with humanity's oldest problem of discriminating against people who are different from us.

Barack Obama is young (47), strong, sound, fit, dynamic, charismatic and intelligent. Senator John McCain has experience, sound and intelligent too but he is too old to be American president in these times of crisis. If Obama is young and strong, his deputy Senator Joe Biden is a rare gift to the Americans. He is loaded, focused, experienced, knowledgeable, composed and deep. If anything happens to Obama, Biden can adequately fill in the gap but if anything happens to McCain, considering his age, Sarah Palin may not have the capacity to preside over this huge and vast country, called America.

If the state of the economy of the United States is anything to go by, this is an election the Democrats must win outright and in a landslide victory. Former president said he created some 20 million jobs during his 8 years reign and it has been reduced to about 5 million jobs by President George Bush's bad leadership. Today as I write this, a bill for $700 billion US economy bailout is with the Senate and House of Reps in the United States for consideration. America cannot reward the Republicans for leading them into political, economic and social quagmire. This is the time for change and Americans know it.

World opinions have given the mandate to Obama. The world knows that only Americans will decide who will rule them come January 2009 but world opinions cannot be ignored. America may be far away but the world will not go to sleep when an American President is being elected. Whoever becomes the President will automatically assume the position of a world leader and his actions and deeds affect the whole world. It is not a surprise that Obama recorded 200,000 admirers in Berlin, Germany, recently during his campaign tour.

Election of Barack Obama as US President will in no uncertain terms change the world's perception on America. It will change the world's views on America and earn the God's own country many friends. It will promote world peace. What President Bush has been spending billions of dollars, and wasting precious human lives to fight for can be resolved over a conference table by a President Obama because the world will see him as one of their own. Bombs and bullets have their own limitations. US cannot continue to live by virtue of power alone.

Raila Odinga, strong man of Kenyan politics says "Obama's success will inspire us all to break the shackle of ethnic preoccupation in determining political leadership in Africa". A President Obama will unleash an unprecedented growth in America, it will give black Americans a sense of belonging, it will heal old wounds of oppression, suppression and repression, it will cause the blacks to release their energies and potentials for the common cause, it will create a new America and the world stands to gain from it.

No one hand can cover the sun. Nobody is big or strong enough to stop a popular idea whose time has come. I am told that the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn from history. History must be allowed to blaze its path.

One million blind Nigerians

The nation’s disease burden is yet to show any signs of abetting going by the recent disclosure by a national survey that over one million Nigerians are blind while another 3.1 million are visually impaired. More disturbing is the very fact that 75 percent of such blindness was avoidable.

The two-year survey conducted by the Federal Ministry of Health between 2005 and 2007 also revealed that the scourge affects both sexes as well as all parts of the country.
Geographical distribution of the menacing ailment shows that the North West geo-political zone came first with 0.32 million blind people. It was followed by the North east and North Central geo-political zones which had 0.22 million and 0.18 million blind people respectively.

The South West came fourth with 0.15 million blind people. The South East and South South maintained a distant fifth and sixth with 0.13 and 0.12 million blind people respectively.

One veritable outcome of the survey is that there is no significant difference between the prevalence of blindness among men and women and that between urban and rural areas.
It is unfortunate that the cases of blindness were caused by treatable health conditions like cataract and glaucoma. While cataract accounted for 50 percent of the disease, glaucoma was responsible for another 16 percent.

Positively, the National Committee for the Prevention of Blindness in Nigeria has assured that about 50 percent of Nigerians suffering from eye ailment will have their sight fully restored by the use of lenses while another 15 percent will have their sight restored by surgery.

The growing incidence of blindness in all parts of the country is very alarming. The disturbing situation has shown that a lot of work needs to be done in the area of providing eye care services.
Concerned stakeholders should therefore put some measures in place to address the rampaging health problem. The health authorities of the three tiers of government should take it as a challenge to enlighten the public on the need to take eye care and medication very seriously.

The fact that 75 percent of the disease is avoidable is an indication that people have not been accessing eye care treatment when it mattered most. There is no doubt that some of the affected people may have presented their cases when the situation must have degenerated and gone far beyond medical redemption.

Besides, the seeming paucity of expertise in this aspect of medicine in our shores may have aggravated some of the reported cases. Many Nigerians have to contend with poor diagnosis and needless medication in some instances while some have lost their sight due to faulty treatment.
Considering the importance of sight to the individual, we urge those in charge of medical education in the country to step up measures to make ophthalmic medicine attractive to a significant number of our medical students.

We enjoin Nigerians to take eye care seriously as they take other ailments. Those in the habit of patronizing non-specialists should desist from such inimical health practice forthwith. Let all the state governments emulate the example of Lagos State Government which had been offering free eye care services since the return to democratic rule in 1999.

We believe that such free eye treatment will nip in the bud cases of cataract and glaucoma, the major causes of blindness in the country. Above all, let all Nigerians take adequate nutrition that aids eye longevity and sight. Since the areas with higher percentage of poverty in the country habour majority of cases of blindness, there is the need to decisively tackle the problem of poverty in the country.

Letter from America to Yinka Craig

Our last meeting was years ago at a function organized by the Lawuyis at their residence. I still remember the warm handshake, the hug, and the pat on the back. I also remember trying to beat you to the smile, but mine was quickly overshadowed by your signature smile, with both sets of teeth partially showing and wrinkles stretching happily from the corners of your mouth to the ears. The encounter felt like being received into the NTA studio for an interview session with you on Newsline or AM Express, thus recalling Father Kukah's experience as he narrated it in his tribute to you (The Guardian, October 3, 2008).

I did not realize that you were at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, recently until you had left there never to be seen or heard alive. I missed newspaper stories about your illness until very recently, because I was consumed in my own illness at about the same time. Had I been fully aware of your situation, I would have loved to share some notes with you. I even would have flown to Minnesota to cheer you on and to offer you some inspiration from my own experience.

I was not afflicted with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma like you but I had a problem that required the same kind of treatment you went through, namely, intensive chemotherapy, followed by bone marrow transplant. My disease was myelodysplasia. My bone marrow was producing more useless blood cells than useful ones, which kept me dependent on blood transfusion for nearly three years. I eventually had to undergo chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant in order to prevent the disease from progressing to full blown leukemia, a dreadful blood cancer, which killed an ace journalist like you here in the United States two years ago. I am talking about Ed Bradley of CBS's 60 Minutes, whose smile was as infectious as yours. He was 65.

As I tried this week to piece together the story of your ordeal, I discovered that Tunde Fagbenle had written about your health struggle in the Daily Sun of April 20, 2008, in which he indicated that the struggle went years back. I missed the article because I was still recovering from my transplant at that time. However, I managed to write about my own transplant experience the following month (Punch, May 18 & 25, 2008). It is this experience I would have come to share with you in Minnesota. I also would have been able to share with you the experience of a colleague of mine who had precisely the same disorder that afflicted you but was able to survive it. He and I were lucky to have been diagnosed early.

Now that you are gone, we are left with your wonderful family and your invaluable legacies as a first-class broadcaster on radio and TV, a seductive interviewer, and an innovator of first-class television programmes.

How great would it have been if the nation upon which you bequeathed these legacies reciprocated in kind? Nigerians today mourn your loss, the more so because the legacy your country left for you was that of a poor healthcare system of which you were an unfortunate victim.

The country you served so well for over forty years did not have the necessary facilities to properly diagnose your illness, let alone treat you. So, after languishing in misdiagnosis for some time, your specimen had to be flown to South Africa. The results led you to head for England on several occasions for proper diagnosis and treatment, before finally winding up in Minnesota for the last lap. How I wish you had headed for the United States three years ago at the slightest showing of your symptoms?

The story is already looking like a movie script. But that is the story of your country's healthcare industry. As you well knew before you left, you were not the first person to be misdiagnosed in Nigeria and you certainly will not be the last. Thousands daily are misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all and die as a result. My own mother was a victim of wrong diagnosis before a family friend, who happens to be a medical doctor, ordered the appropriate tests, by which time her leukemia had advanced beyond intervention.

Sony Okosuns lived with colon cancer for some time before he knew it. An early colonoscopy would have detected the problem or the propensity for it. Just as you once looked to South Africa for diagnosis, Okosuns headed for India. Like you, he ended the quest in the United States.

Chief Gani Fawehinmi recently shared his experience of misdiagnosis with the Nigerian public. He, too, has had to go to England for proper diagnosis and he is receiving treatment there. Just last week, former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Victor Malu (rtd), was flown to Paris, France, following a coma that resulted from complications from Type 2 diabetes. In our younger days, young people went overseas for education, while older ones, who could afford it, went abroad for vacation. Today, the elite go overseas primarily for medical check-up, diagnosis, and treatment because our hospitals lack the necessary facilities. Not only do they lack the facilities to cure various diseases, they also lack the facilities for early detection of symptoms that could lead to them.

The reason is not far-fetched, therefore, why many Nigerians die routinely from preventable diseases, including prostate cancer, breast cancer, and renal failure. I know that we often engage in self-congratulation that incidents of colon cancer are low, because of our okele habits, but then there are no statistics to go by. In areas where there are statistics, the negative figures are staggering. For example, we lose over 60,000 women annually during pregnancy and twice as many infants die annually within their first few years. Overall, the probability of not attaining age 40 is now higher than in previous years. Yet, our government's budgetary allocation to healthcare is far below UNESCO and WHO standards. And our health ministry has been without a substantive minister for over seven months, despite the intervention of the nation's doctors.

It is unfortunate that it is at moments like this, when we mourn the premature departure of friends and relatives like you, that the decrepit state of our healthcare system stares nakedly into our eyes and mind. The solace in your own case is that you left for your country far better legacies in radio and television broadcasting, that will continue to benefit others, than the healthcare system your country provided for you, and which will continue to kill others.

But knowing the type of person you were, you would have preferred to use your broadcasting acumen to sensitize the public to these problems and provide education on health matters. I know, for example, that if our healthcare industry were this bad during your heydays on Newsline, you would have held a special Newsline spotlight on health matters to which you would have invited notable experts in the field. So, let me tell fellow Nigerians what you might have told them at the end of such a special programme:

"Before we sign off tonight, it is important to bear in mind what Drs. so and so just told us. First, you should have regular check-ups. Second, make sure you tell your doctor about any new symptoms you noticed since your last check-up. Third, if symptoms persist, seek a second and even third opinion and then head overseas for proper diagnosis and treatment, if you could afford it. Never allow symptoms to last too long before you take action.

"You noticed that the ill or dead people mentioned in this broadcast (read this essay) were all over 60, which means that some of these diseases come with age. That's why doctors recommend that you take your annual check-ups seriously once you are over 50. And every time you do your check-up, you should ask your doctor to order your complete blood chemistry and your PSA count (for prostate cancer) or mammogram (for breast cancer). There are also various specialized tests you should be interested in, depending on the nature of your symptoms. These include EKG (to measure the electrical activity of the heartbeat), MRI (to take pictures of specific tissues or organs that could show abnormalities, such as malignant tumours), and CAT scan (to analyze the internal structures of various parts of the body).

"These specialized tests are particularly useful for early detection of health disorders. But the equipment needed to perform these tests costs money. That's why our federal, state, and local governments, as well as the super-rich among us should take note and begin to invest in their procurement. They are very essential to the practice of preventive medicine, which should be the cornerstone of our government's healthcare policy. Thank you, and goodnight."

Goodnight, Yinka.

The New Customs Tariffs

Nigeria’s Customs and Excise Tariff Book for the period 2008–2012 has been presented. According to Dr. Bright Okogu, Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, the new tariff book is aimed at facilitating trade and industrial growth.
Highlights of the book include the implementation of a new regime of customs and excise tariffs, reducing the duties paid on primary raw materials from 10 per cent to 5 per cent and prohibiting the importation of used motor vehicles above 10 years. Buses and trucks, no matter their age, are, however, excluded from the prohibition list.
The new regime of tariffs also prohibits the importation of textile fabrics and articles thereof, including Hollandais, English Wax, Ankara, Lace fabrics, wedding gowns and ceremonial apparels, second hand clothes, rugs and carpets, as well as recharge cards.
According to Okogu, the import prohibition list is to consolidate Nigeria’s drive towards industrialization. This is a valid point. Even with growing globalisation, it is clear that some Nigerian products are not competitive. This is because of the relatively poor enabling environment and the high cost of production. It does raise the question whether a country should depend on cheaper imported alternatives or encourage local production. For a nation battling to grow its economy, the protection of domestic industry remains a core responsibility.
We, however, worry about overall policy consistency and proper implementation of the customs and excise tariffs. For the ailing textile industry, the ban on some textile products may have come as a relief. The smuggling of these products contributed immensely to the collapse of the local industry. Although there has been some improvement in checking smuggling, Nigeria’s long borders are still porous or it is made to be so by the very people paid to bar the entry of banned products. Too often, those who are supposed to enforce government’s policies and laws connive with unscrupulous persons to circumvent such laws, and over time it seems as if such laws are non-existent.
The other point is that with the closure of so many textile companies, would Nigerians not be forced to look elsewhere for their basic clothing needs. If our local industry was encouraged to grow, why would Nigerians look up to even less endowed West African countries for fabrics like Ankara? Or who indeed would prefer to wear used clothes to brand new ones?
We feel that the ban, as a singular measure, cannot revive the textile industry. In situations where foreign textile, which are sometimes of higher quality, cost far less than the local products, patronage of the imported textile is bound to rise. And this may be understandable. The high cost of production in Nigeria, given our peculiar manufacturing challenges, contrasts sharply with the conducive operational environment of most foreign countries, which ultimately beats down their production cost. That perhaps explains the heavy influx of China textiles in the Nigeria market. Given the huge market in Nigeria, a buoyant textile industry is well positioned to take full advantage. But this has not been the case.
We also notice that the ban on the importation of used tyres may not really resuscitate local production. The two major tyre companies have closed down, the last one mainly because of the country’s tariff structure and other production cost. With ban of used tyres, there will be additional pressure on supply, forcing people to smuggle in tyres.
To encourage local production, what the companies require and which we have heard them say repeatedly, is for government to provide an enabling environment for them to operate in. If they have to provide their own infrastructure, they end up with high unit cost of production with the resultant high prices that put them at a hopeless disadvantage in the flurry of imports. At those prices, products have to be very special for their producers to compete favourably with imported goods or even contemplate exports.
Although it takes more than a ban to encourage local production, the department of Customs and Excise must at least play its part. The recent ban of select items represents a new challenge to Customs and other law enforcement agencies, many of whom are crammed around the nation’s entry points. They must rise to the duty of protecting the nation’s borders effectively, if this new policy will have any effect.
In all, the ban of these items should, ultimately be to the benefit of the Nigerian economy. And unless it is so, the measure will serve as double punishment, as it would have denied them the ultimate benefit and the immediate gain or pleasure if they patronized the banned items

Achebe’s Enduring Classic

In fifty years of its existence, Chinua Achebe’s classic novel, Things Fall Apart has lived up to its reputation as perhaps the best work of fiction to have come out of Africa. Celebrated for its story line, its simplicity of language and its unaffected African setting, Things Fall Apart has proved, over the past half a century, to be a highly readable and influential novel. To date, it has been translated into more than 100 languages across the continents. That alone says a lot about its wide appeal to readers of diverse national and cultural backgrounds.
Just the other day, this epic novel was, not surprisingly, named as one of the top national best sellers in the United States where many highly respected colleges and universities have adopted it as recommended text for literature students. This distinction coincides with the golden jubilee celebration of the novel in many parts of the world, but more so in Africa and the English-speaking world generally. Achebe, the author of the book, who now lives and teaches in the US is scheduled to speak at a number of commemorative events for the golden jubilee of the great novel.
Things Fall Apart which has earned a place in some of the world’s most renowned libraries including the famous US Library of Congress, is ironically no longer a recommended text in Nigeria’s School Certificate syllabus. This has been so for more than a decade now. However, what the novel appears to be losing at home it is inversely gaining abroad where more and more countries are showing interest in the study of the book as a guide towards a better understanding of the cultural underpinnings of African traditional societies.
At its publication in 1958, Things Fall Apart was an apt reflection of the cultural contradictions of the African society. Through Okonkwo, the tragic hero of the novel, the tension between African traditional values and the modernizing influence of the western culture epitomized by Christianity, could almost be sliced with a knife. Achebe captured in a tellingly artistic manner the dilemma of the Umuofia people who were torn between retaining their culture – warts and all – and submitting to the positive, even disruptive, influence of Christianity. This nagging conflict had to be resolved one way or the other. It wasn’t easy but through a carefully plotted tragi-comedy crafted in a typical Achebesque style, a painful resolution was made. Okonkwo, an impetuous, self-appointed custodian and defender of the Umuofia culture found himself committing murder ostensibly to preserve the traditions of his community. To escape the shame of facing trial for such a capital offence, Okonkwo aggravated matters by committing suicide, an ignominious way of dying in Igbo cosmology.
Things Fall Apart is indeed an all-time classic. Its thematic relevance in understanding the clash of cultures between Europe and Africa in the run up to political independence by many African countries, continues to make it a compelling reading in many parts of the world. It also explains why it has continued to enjoy a pride of place in the literature syllabus of many an African university as well as Black colleges around the world.
That it is still among the national bestsellers in far away United States is cheering news. It goes to demonstrate the continuing relevance of the novel. It is also further proof that a good artistic work will command good attention and overcome racial and other prejudices to take its rightful place.
The lesson in this for budding writers is that a piece of good writing has no artificial boundaries. If any is erected it will break it down. Nor does it have a glass ceiling. If any is put up, it will shatter it to take its rightful place.
We congratulate Prof. Achebe whose 76th birthday incidentally is only weeks away. He has been a source of inspiration to many young writers. By this feat, he has added another feather to his repertory of literary honors. Nigeria, Achebe’s land of birth, would do well to encourage its youths to deepen their reading culture. It is puzzling that in spite of the great wave that Things Fall Apart has made globally, millions of Nigerian youths are yet to read this classic. How so ironical!
The government should therefore take deliberate steps to promote the reading culture among Nigerians. This has many benefits not the least being the opportunity to expand one’s horizon.

Justice dispensation under the Mango tree

THE situation whereby a High Court of Justice in Urualla, Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State sits openly under a Mango tree is bizarre. The circumstances that necessitated the development are clearly unacceptable and should be promptly addressed. To condone such a situation amounts to making a mockery of the court and the judiciary as a whole.

Presided over by a female judge, Justice C. A. Ononeze-Madu, the High Court is reported to have resorted to sitting in the open following the deplorable state of facilities in the court building. Naturally, lawyers have expressed their embarrassment at the situation and called for action to reverse it. It is unconscionable that the authorities allowed the degeneration in the first place.

The picture of the court's setting was expressly contemptuous of a state organ that is supposed to embody law and order. At a recent session, lawyers and court clerks sat in the open at the premises while the judge took shelter at the garage of the dilapidated building. She reportedly used her official car as chambers and dressing room. Three mango trees and an umbrella tree provided shield for lawyers, litigants and court officials.

Again, it is no surprise that such a court could not make meaningful progress in dispensing justice, let alone accelerating it. In one day, seven cases on the cause list were called, but lawyers in the various cases could only hurriedly seek adjournment, in the light of the discomfort of the environment. The building housing the court - which was donated by the community - is so dilapidated as to constitute a death trap.

In addition, the building's roof has caved in, it is also leaking. Due to the neglect, reptiles are said to have turned the place into their lair. There is no electricity or toilet facilities even for the judge and court staff, and no functional furniture, as available desks and chairs are in bad shape.

Reportedly too, many judges and court staff who had been posted to the court considered their deployment to the court as a punishment and had consequently rejected the posting. This necessitated the transfer of cases meant for the court to the Orlu High Court. Apparently, entreaties made through letters to the authorities, including the two local governments close to the court building, were unsuccessful. The situation has remained unchanged.

It would appear that the court decided to sit in the open out of frustration, and perhaps in protest against the unpleasant situation in the court building. The development calls for serious questions as to the responsibility and commitment of the Imo State Government to the judiciary. Is the government aware of the deplorable condition? Is its inaction deliberate or negligent? Is the Urualla situation a misnomer or does it represent the standard picture of other courts in the state?

The public certainly needs an urgent explanation from the Imo State government, which has demonstrated a tendency to advertise what it has supposedly achieved in the past one-and-a-half years. If indeed the government has performed well, why is such performance not reflected in the judiciary?

As the third arm of government, the judiciary in Imo State, as in other states and at the federal level represents a check and balance institution between the executive and the legislature. Besides, it is the last hope of the common man in matters of law and governance. Such an organ of government deserves more respect and a much better treatment than that accorded the Urualla High Court.

The Imo State Government must demonstrate that it is not out to despise the judiciary or ridicule judicial officers. It can only do this by promptly addressing the problem in Urualla and other courts that may be suffering similar fate in the state.

In this regard, government should give assurances that it is not deliberately under-funding the courts. If there is a case of misappropriation, this should be properly established and investigated.

It is sad that while governments all over the country boast of spurious achievements to justify huge expenditure, the judiciary, a vital institution, has suffered accumulated neglect. The scenario in Urualla is not limited to Imo State. Other states are guilty, at varying degrees. Yet, incidents of this nature largely contribute to the low development index of Nigeria, in Africa and the world.

It is time for governments to have a change of heart. Nigeria needs genuine and sincere development efforts to be simultaneously replicated in all areas including the judiciary. There is currently unacceptable deterioration in education, health, transportation, housing, roads, electricity supply and the provision of other basic infrastructure.

Incidentally, this is a direct consequence of corruption and greed among top public officials. The country cannot experience real development as long as officials put themselves first, before the nation. Perhaps Imo State can take the lead by immediately rectifying the anomaly in Urualla and its judiciary.