The harmattan is here; sounds of knockouts or bangers are everywhere. The year is coming to an end; there is excitement and anxiety in the air. People are more in a hurry than usual to do everything, from walking, driving, making money and cheating. They call it Christmas time!
Christmas marks the biblical event of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, the foundation upon which the world's largest religion is based. The story of that birth itself is a lesson in humility. Interestingly, the celebration of that event leaves much to be desired. It is often said that most people go about celebrating Christmas without appreciating the reason for the season.
Many followers of history have even queried the propriety of celebrating the birth of Christ at all or on December 25. The argument is that the Bible has no record anywhere where God or Christ commanded the celebration of the Saviour's birth. This point is further buttressed by the fact that at the Last Supper, Christ specifically told his disciples to: "do this (i.e. the Last Supper) in remembrance of me." The argument therefore is that if God intended people to commemorate the birth of Christ, such would have been specifically mentioned or ordered. In law, the specific mention of one thing excludes the use of a general interpretation to include others.
December 25 was neither scientifically nor theologically chosen but arbitrarily picked to coincide with the celebration of the heathen festival of nativity or the feast of the sun god. Christians decided to fix Christmas at the same time so as to “Christianize” that date. Today, it is doubtful whether Christmas has actually Christianized the celebrations associated with December 25 or the heathen celebration itself has demonized Christendom. Perhaps there was a time the date really carried the toga of Christianity but today it is more of a secular celebration.The church should do more to stress the essence of Christmas. The people need to know that Christmas should provide a time to reflect on the humility of Christ's birth, his purpose in coming to the world and the hope he offers.
There can still be Christmas without unrestricted merry making and spending only to become sober the month after. In Nigeria, it is said that January is the longest month of the year. That is because people borrow or over-spend for Christmas, even from the December salaries, which get paid earlier than usual and then have to live it rough throughout January and battle with school fees.For many children, their impression of Christmas is a time for eating and drinking, getting new clothes and toys, visiting, singing or listening to carols, using fireworks and playing at carnivals. To many youth it is the season for partying, drinks, drugs and violence.
The adults don't fare any better in this matter. Is it not the time to make more money by whatever means? Isn't it the time many Christians get back to their villages and perform one occult ritual or another and euphemise it as 'my people's tradition'? The lesson of Christ as the hope of the world is hardly remembered at Christmas. In fact, Christmas day sermons are about the most ineffective in winning people to Christ. Many attend church service on Christmas just to fulfil all righteousness, before setting out on their frolicking.
But why is the season so popular? The answer is simple. The season is by far the most commercially viable in the year. It is the time traders sell off their stocks, companies roll out bonanzas to woo customers, transporters hike fares, employers pay bonuses, media houses hold children's parties and profiteer from it. Coming at the end of the year too, many see it as the perfect season to celebrate all the achievements made throughout the year.In Lagos and many western states, one is likely to encounter money collection boxes in public offices. The idea is for visitors to such offices to drop some money, which the staff later share. You may call it advanced begging or extortion but to the beneficiaries, it is their Christmas dividend.
There are also a lot of misnomers, misconceptions and culturally irrelevant symbolisms about Christmas. It is often taught to kids that at the birth of Christ, three wise men from the East went to pay homage to the infant Jesus. Truth is that the Bible never recorded that three wise men visited. It only records wise men. The fact that they went with three gift items does not necessarily mean there were three of them.One finds it difficult to comprehend, let alone explain the concepts of “white Christmas”, “one horse open sleigh”, “snow bells” and “Jack Frost” etc. to a Nigerian child as necessary incidents of Christmas.
Given our environment and culture, shouldn't one be talking about “O what fun it is to throw knockouts on a dusty harmattan evening”? That, at least, makes more sense to the Nigerian child than “O what fun it is to ride on a one horse open sleigh”.To most people who would celebrate Christmas it cannot be Christmas without all the above seemingly baseless practices. This is so, just as the news or announcements in the radio and television must necessarily include a police warning that the ban on the use of firecrackers is still in force, even if these firecrackers are also sold in police barracks and nobody is ever known to have been convicted of flouting this ban.
Equally predictable too is the news on radio and television stations the day after Christmas holidays that “work resumes today after the Christmas festivities”. Then, and only then, many would realize that the tea party is over and the time to face life soberly has arrived. Happy celebrations!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Alluring Calabar
These are some of the sights of Calabar, an alluring city in the South
South of Nigeria. It has a rich history pre-dating modern Nigeria. Calabar hosted the first game of football in Nigeria and is home to many schools which give Nigerians a leap in life.Hope Waddell Training Institution founded in 1895 by the Church of Scotland (now known as Presbyterian Church) missionaries is one of such schools. It boasts of training many nationalists including two, whose faces adorn Nigeria's currencies - Nnamdi Azikiwe (Nigeria's first president) and Alvan Ikoku (an educationist).
Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, is without doubt the cleanest city in Nigeria today.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The role of CSOs in implementing fiscal responsibility law
By Obo Effanga
One of the most critical problems of Nigeria’s development is that of poor management of its enormous resources. Despite its huge earnings mainly from oil, the level of development in Nigeria has persistently failed to rise in commensurate measure. This is caused mainly by an irresponsible management of resources, corruption, poor fiscal responsibility and lack of laws and policies to guide proper management.
The gravity of the situation has been painted by the pioneer executive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, who alleged that Nigeria’s previous leaders stole from public coffers an estimated $507 billion (about N64 trillion)[1]. This figure is the equivalent of 26 years’ national budget. The above corroborates the submission of Dr. Antonio Maria Costa of the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes who alleged that about $400 billion was stolen from Nigeria by its leaders and stashed away in foreign banks as of the commencement of civilian rule in 1999[2].
There is every indication that this all-time record of public corruption might have been broken during the past nine years of civilian rule, going by all the so-called revelations in the last one year. Until the various probes instituted in the National Assembly and the executive arm of government are concluded, we may not be able to paint a full picture of the extent of mismanagement of public funds.
The galloping increase in the price of Nigeria’s major revenue earner – oil, in the world market seems to have brought harder times to the country. Since the return to Constitutional government in 1999, the country has been enjoying large surplus in revenue from the budgeted figure because the price of crude oil has always sold above the benchmark price each year. Much of the surplus are frittered away by state governors soon after the allocation to each tier of government, pursuant to the provision of the Constitution. This is because the additional amounts were never budgeted for and; without a very effective oversight from the legislature, whose duty it is to appropriate state funds and monitor spending; many governors allegedly mismanaged such funds. Mismanagement here is a mere euphemism for stealing as much of the funds were allegedly converted to private and personal uses.
The problem of fiscal irresponsibility must also be situated in the peculiar political structure in Nigeria. During the many years under military rule, the ruling class and by extension the larger public was so used to a powerful military officer (the head of state or the state military governor) issuing instructions that had the practical force of law including appropriation of public funds. A good dose of that attitude was emulated by the emergent Constitutional presidents and state governors (some of whom are also former military officers).
Added to the above, many heads of the executive arm of government have become so powerful due to their control over state resources to the extent that they have ‘pocketed’ members of the legislature who would often approve any spending by the earlier, whether or not such expenditure is in the best interest of the state. We must also remember that many of these members of the legislature were sponsored and assisted by the head of the executive arm to ‘obtain’ the party ticket or secure ‘victory’ in the general elections and as such see themselves as stooges of their ‘benefactors’.
The Fiscal Responsibility Law
The introduction of the Fiscal Responsibility Bill and the Public Procurement Bill was a response to the above sorry pass. The FRB is meant to ensure financial prudence, budgetary discipline and transparency in fiscal activities. It is expected to introduce a culture of fiscal behaviour that will promote prudence and sound financial management in the system and at the same time promote good governance.
After years of discussion involving all stakeholders, the Fiscal Responsibility Bill was eventually passed last year and signed into law by President Umaru Yar’Adua.
It sets out a general framework for budgetary planning, execution and reporting and sets the general targets and limits for selected fiscal indicators for the country with sanctions for non-compliance. If properly implemented, the law is expected to ensure balanced (or nearly balanced) budgets, low debt profile and accountable/transparent government through the setting up of Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the fiscal strategy paper. The above would streamline the spending of government by providing a three-year roadmap upon which budgets are based.
What Fiscal Responsibility Act aims to establish
The preamble to the Fiscal Responsibility Act makes it clear that the law sets out to give teeth to certain aspects of Chapter 2 the Constitution otherwise seen as non-justiceable. These are Sections 13 and 16 which charge the State to harness the resources of the nation, promote national prosperity, and ensure efficient, dynamic and self-reliant economy. The Act also seeks to give opportunity to the State to control the national economy in a manner as to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice and equality of status and opportunity. It also seeks to ensure the State’s promotion of a planned and balanced economic development and to harness the nation’s resources for the common good.
It has been argued[3] that the Nigerian Constitution has not made adequate provisions with respect to comprehensive procedure for budget preparation, comprehensive framework for preparation and holistic presentation of the budget as well as a comprehensive content of the budget built on a verifiable database. For that reason, the fiscal responsibility law is seen as necessary.
Because the law requires the preparation of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) which is to streamline the contents of the budget each year, the Act could entrench a system of fiscal stability and discipline which has been lacking.
The law also provides for savings and assets management by mandating the relevant tier of government to save its share of surplus funds accruing from the reference commodity in a special fund. What it means currently is that the federal government can save its share of the excess crude money for future use, since that amount was not budgeted for. When, as it is hoped, the various state governments adopt their own fiscal responsibility laws, the excess crude funds would then be effectively mopped up for better use than we see currently.
However, it must be stressed that the mere passage of a law may not necessarily translate to the correction of a situation. Every law must be engaged with to make it work for the people it is meant for. One critical sector which must be involved in this is that of the Civil Society Organisation.
How CSOs can make the FRA work
Popularise the law
The first step to making the Fiscal Responsibility Act work is to popularise its existence. While presenting the 2008 Budget proposal to the National Assembly last year, President Yar’Adua announced that he had signed the Fiscal Responsibility Bill into an Act. He also announced that he had reached understanding with state governors to propose similar laws to their state legislatures for enactment. Nearly one year after, the ‘authentic’ copy of the document is yet to be officially released and mass-produced or circulated. It is also not posted on official websites. CSOs need to engage the Civil Society liaison office in the National Assembly to get the copies of this law out. Various organisations can then reproduce copies for wider publicity and use, just as it was done with other legislation of high public interest such as the ICPC Act, EFCC Act, Public Procurement Act, NEITI Act and the Electoral Act.
The law needs to be made popular not only to the civil society but also to the government officials who are given key roles to play in implementing this law. This includes the agencies whose inputs the minister is required seek for the preparation of MTEF. This is to make them realise their obligations under the law and even more importantly, their liability for prosecution in the case of a breach as indicated in some sections of the law.
Engage the implementers
As stated above, we need to engage certain government officials in order to ensure the implementation of the law. Interestingly, the law provides for the establishment of a Fiscal Responsibility Council and Board which membership shall include members of civil society. CSOs must therefore demand involvement in setting up the Council and Board both through direct nomination by them (the CSOs) and by asking critical questions about the qualifications of other nominees. We should in fact demand for a public hearing before the screening of nominees.
The Act makes provision for the minister to hold a public hearing for the preparation of MTEF, pursuant to the proviso to Section 13(2) of the Act. We should see this opportunity as one created for the people to make their input to the process. As CSO, we should start by getting the views of regular and ordinarily excluded people to the table.
Build technical skills
CSOs must of necessity familiarise themselves with the provisions of the Act and update their technical skills to be able to make practical and effective input to this process. With such skills, they should be in a good stead to provide technical support to the various arms of government, especially the legislature to make them fully implement the law.
Promote effective oversight
Another way to ensure the effectiveness of this law is through the oversight function of parliament. CSOs need to partner with the legislature to ensure effective oversight through the provision of information. They could also request to accompany the legislative committees on their oversight visits.
Lobby state governments
The current law being a federal law, there is a need to encourage the state governments to adopt their respective enactments to deepen the work of fiscal responsibility. I am aware that some state governments, such as Rivers and Delta have already sent a similar Bill to their respective Houses of Assembly. It behoves CSOs in those states to follow up the process. This could be achieved if CSOs begin to lobby governments at those levels to see why this law is needed. This campaign should not be embarked upon haphazardly and, learning from the FOI campaign, we must not take things for granted that everybody in government wants or should want to see this legislation put in place, no matter how beneficent we think this is going to be to the whole society. We need therefore to set out clear strategies for handling this campaign.
Strengthen CSO networks
To achieve the above and all, CSOs must strengthen and expand the existing networks to make them effective in holding the governments accountable in the new fiscal responsibility regime we all want to see. With a formidable CSO network and synergy, government personnel would be put in check to ensure the effectiveness of this law.
* Paper presented by Obo Effanga, Parliamentary Liaison & Policy Advisor, ActionAid Nigeria at the Civil Society Advocacy Workshop/Road Show organised by NDI in Calabar July 4, 2008
[1] Strategies for winning the anti-corruption war in Nigeria, ActionAid Nigeria briefing paper no2 of 2008
[2] Http://allafrica.com
[3] Odiri, J.E: “The legislature and fiscal responsibility bill”, paper presented at the Kaduna legislative dialogue on Fiscal Responsibility Bill (June 2-4, 2006)
One of the most critical problems of Nigeria’s development is that of poor management of its enormous resources. Despite its huge earnings mainly from oil, the level of development in Nigeria has persistently failed to rise in commensurate measure. This is caused mainly by an irresponsible management of resources, corruption, poor fiscal responsibility and lack of laws and policies to guide proper management.
The gravity of the situation has been painted by the pioneer executive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, who alleged that Nigeria’s previous leaders stole from public coffers an estimated $507 billion (about N64 trillion)[1]. This figure is the equivalent of 26 years’ national budget. The above corroborates the submission of Dr. Antonio Maria Costa of the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes who alleged that about $400 billion was stolen from Nigeria by its leaders and stashed away in foreign banks as of the commencement of civilian rule in 1999[2].
There is every indication that this all-time record of public corruption might have been broken during the past nine years of civilian rule, going by all the so-called revelations in the last one year. Until the various probes instituted in the National Assembly and the executive arm of government are concluded, we may not be able to paint a full picture of the extent of mismanagement of public funds.
The galloping increase in the price of Nigeria’s major revenue earner – oil, in the world market seems to have brought harder times to the country. Since the return to Constitutional government in 1999, the country has been enjoying large surplus in revenue from the budgeted figure because the price of crude oil has always sold above the benchmark price each year. Much of the surplus are frittered away by state governors soon after the allocation to each tier of government, pursuant to the provision of the Constitution. This is because the additional amounts were never budgeted for and; without a very effective oversight from the legislature, whose duty it is to appropriate state funds and monitor spending; many governors allegedly mismanaged such funds. Mismanagement here is a mere euphemism for stealing as much of the funds were allegedly converted to private and personal uses.
The problem of fiscal irresponsibility must also be situated in the peculiar political structure in Nigeria. During the many years under military rule, the ruling class and by extension the larger public was so used to a powerful military officer (the head of state or the state military governor) issuing instructions that had the practical force of law including appropriation of public funds. A good dose of that attitude was emulated by the emergent Constitutional presidents and state governors (some of whom are also former military officers).
Added to the above, many heads of the executive arm of government have become so powerful due to their control over state resources to the extent that they have ‘pocketed’ members of the legislature who would often approve any spending by the earlier, whether or not such expenditure is in the best interest of the state. We must also remember that many of these members of the legislature were sponsored and assisted by the head of the executive arm to ‘obtain’ the party ticket or secure ‘victory’ in the general elections and as such see themselves as stooges of their ‘benefactors’.
The Fiscal Responsibility Law
The introduction of the Fiscal Responsibility Bill and the Public Procurement Bill was a response to the above sorry pass. The FRB is meant to ensure financial prudence, budgetary discipline and transparency in fiscal activities. It is expected to introduce a culture of fiscal behaviour that will promote prudence and sound financial management in the system and at the same time promote good governance.
After years of discussion involving all stakeholders, the Fiscal Responsibility Bill was eventually passed last year and signed into law by President Umaru Yar’Adua.
It sets out a general framework for budgetary planning, execution and reporting and sets the general targets and limits for selected fiscal indicators for the country with sanctions for non-compliance. If properly implemented, the law is expected to ensure balanced (or nearly balanced) budgets, low debt profile and accountable/transparent government through the setting up of Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the fiscal strategy paper. The above would streamline the spending of government by providing a three-year roadmap upon which budgets are based.
What Fiscal Responsibility Act aims to establish
The preamble to the Fiscal Responsibility Act makes it clear that the law sets out to give teeth to certain aspects of Chapter 2 the Constitution otherwise seen as non-justiceable. These are Sections 13 and 16 which charge the State to harness the resources of the nation, promote national prosperity, and ensure efficient, dynamic and self-reliant economy. The Act also seeks to give opportunity to the State to control the national economy in a manner as to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice and equality of status and opportunity. It also seeks to ensure the State’s promotion of a planned and balanced economic development and to harness the nation’s resources for the common good.
It has been argued[3] that the Nigerian Constitution has not made adequate provisions with respect to comprehensive procedure for budget preparation, comprehensive framework for preparation and holistic presentation of the budget as well as a comprehensive content of the budget built on a verifiable database. For that reason, the fiscal responsibility law is seen as necessary.
Because the law requires the preparation of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) which is to streamline the contents of the budget each year, the Act could entrench a system of fiscal stability and discipline which has been lacking.
The law also provides for savings and assets management by mandating the relevant tier of government to save its share of surplus funds accruing from the reference commodity in a special fund. What it means currently is that the federal government can save its share of the excess crude money for future use, since that amount was not budgeted for. When, as it is hoped, the various state governments adopt their own fiscal responsibility laws, the excess crude funds would then be effectively mopped up for better use than we see currently.
However, it must be stressed that the mere passage of a law may not necessarily translate to the correction of a situation. Every law must be engaged with to make it work for the people it is meant for. One critical sector which must be involved in this is that of the Civil Society Organisation.
How CSOs can make the FRA work
Popularise the law
The first step to making the Fiscal Responsibility Act work is to popularise its existence. While presenting the 2008 Budget proposal to the National Assembly last year, President Yar’Adua announced that he had signed the Fiscal Responsibility Bill into an Act. He also announced that he had reached understanding with state governors to propose similar laws to their state legislatures for enactment. Nearly one year after, the ‘authentic’ copy of the document is yet to be officially released and mass-produced or circulated. It is also not posted on official websites. CSOs need to engage the Civil Society liaison office in the National Assembly to get the copies of this law out. Various organisations can then reproduce copies for wider publicity and use, just as it was done with other legislation of high public interest such as the ICPC Act, EFCC Act, Public Procurement Act, NEITI Act and the Electoral Act.
The law needs to be made popular not only to the civil society but also to the government officials who are given key roles to play in implementing this law. This includes the agencies whose inputs the minister is required seek for the preparation of MTEF. This is to make them realise their obligations under the law and even more importantly, their liability for prosecution in the case of a breach as indicated in some sections of the law.
Engage the implementers
As stated above, we need to engage certain government officials in order to ensure the implementation of the law. Interestingly, the law provides for the establishment of a Fiscal Responsibility Council and Board which membership shall include members of civil society. CSOs must therefore demand involvement in setting up the Council and Board both through direct nomination by them (the CSOs) and by asking critical questions about the qualifications of other nominees. We should in fact demand for a public hearing before the screening of nominees.
The Act makes provision for the minister to hold a public hearing for the preparation of MTEF, pursuant to the proviso to Section 13(2) of the Act. We should see this opportunity as one created for the people to make their input to the process. As CSO, we should start by getting the views of regular and ordinarily excluded people to the table.
Build technical skills
CSOs must of necessity familiarise themselves with the provisions of the Act and update their technical skills to be able to make practical and effective input to this process. With such skills, they should be in a good stead to provide technical support to the various arms of government, especially the legislature to make them fully implement the law.
Promote effective oversight
Another way to ensure the effectiveness of this law is through the oversight function of parliament. CSOs need to partner with the legislature to ensure effective oversight through the provision of information. They could also request to accompany the legislative committees on their oversight visits.
Lobby state governments
The current law being a federal law, there is a need to encourage the state governments to adopt their respective enactments to deepen the work of fiscal responsibility. I am aware that some state governments, such as Rivers and Delta have already sent a similar Bill to their respective Houses of Assembly. It behoves CSOs in those states to follow up the process. This could be achieved if CSOs begin to lobby governments at those levels to see why this law is needed. This campaign should not be embarked upon haphazardly and, learning from the FOI campaign, we must not take things for granted that everybody in government wants or should want to see this legislation put in place, no matter how beneficent we think this is going to be to the whole society. We need therefore to set out clear strategies for handling this campaign.
Strengthen CSO networks
To achieve the above and all, CSOs must strengthen and expand the existing networks to make them effective in holding the governments accountable in the new fiscal responsibility regime we all want to see. With a formidable CSO network and synergy, government personnel would be put in check to ensure the effectiveness of this law.
* Paper presented by Obo Effanga, Parliamentary Liaison & Policy Advisor, ActionAid Nigeria at the Civil Society Advocacy Workshop/Road Show organised by NDI in Calabar July 4, 2008
[1] Strategies for winning the anti-corruption war in Nigeria, ActionAid Nigeria briefing paper no2 of 2008
[2] Http://allafrica.com
[3] Odiri, J.E: “The legislature and fiscal responsibility bill”, paper presented at the Kaduna legislative dialogue on Fiscal Responsibility Bill (June 2-4, 2006)
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Struggling to fill the food basket
Struggling to fill the food basket
By Obo Effanga
Benue State prides itself as the “Food Basket of Nigeria”, a description it emblazons on vehicle number plate. But recent events seem to threaten this claim. Last year, several agricultural communities in Nigeria were hit by flood, signalling potential crisis in the months ahead. Benue had its own share of the disaster, but apparently, few people thought about the dire consequences to consider a strategic response.
The result is that early in 2008, Nigerians are facing the reality of insufficient food and galloping food prices which have been termed ‘food crisis’. It is made worse by the global trend of rice shortage from Thailand and other Asian countries, while Nigeria depends more on imports for its number one staple food, rice.
Benue is known as the food basket, not necessarily because it can feed the entire country with its farm produce, but because of its fertile soil which, according to its residents, could nurture just any crop. The state capital, Makurdi, is seat to one of the federal government’s specialised universities of agriculture.
Professor B.A. Kalu of that university opines that with “appropriate support” to farmers, the rice produced in Benue and Niger States (two north central states) could meet the consumption needs of the country. This is a view generally held by a cross section of Benue residents including foodstuff sellers and the president of the local farmers association, Chief Sam Kwawa. They oppose the federal government’s decision to commit N80 billion to rice importation, as such would kill the local production of rice. They instead request that the amount should be channelled towards supporting local production. Their position is supported by the National Assembly as the Senate rose recently in condemnation of the proposed importation of rice.
Talking about appropriate support for farmers, the tendency in Nigeria is to focus on provision of fertiliser and sometimes machinery. On both scores, the intervention has failed to address the problem. In Benue State, the government recently flagged off the farming season with fanfare, on which occasion the state governor, Gabriel Suswam proudly announced the release of fertilizers to farmers at a “subsidised” price of N2500 per bag. Curiously, that same quantity sold for just N1000 in the previous farming season.
Even at that, few farmers expect to get direct access to the fertilisers from government. They accuse bureaucrats of cornering the product and redistributing through middlepersons, meaning that farmers might get the product at a higher price, if it even gets to them early enough and not after the planting season. Similarly, the state government hires out its tractors to farmers at the cost of N4000 daily, a cost considered too high for the farmers. The implication is that the price of food would be even higher next season.
Interestingly, even though the state produces rice, its people hardly consider that as ‘food’. For many of them, food has to be a meal of pounded yam and so a measurement of food crisis here must be based on the production, availability and affordability of yam as the staple food!
As is the case with the rest of Nigeria, food production is still at its crudest form in many farming communities in Benue. Prof. Kalu puts the cost of making a heap of yam (which produces just one tuber of yam) at N6, up from N1 four years ago. Add the cost of the seedling, nurturing of the soil (with fertiliser) tending the crop, harvesting, transportation and the profit margin of middlepersons and you see a product slipping out of the hands of many potential consumers.
Today, the price of 100 tubers of yam has risen steadily from N5000 in September 2007 to somewhere between N16,000 and N18,000 depending on the size. Similar increases have been recorded for other foodstuff. Market survey in Makurdi showed increase in the price of a bushel of local rice from N1800 to N3200. The price of garri (a staple food made from cassava) rose from N1500 to N2500 and beans from N6000 to N9500, all within a space of four months. Similarly, a bowl of maize rose from N80 to N100 and guinea corn from N80 to N90. Many sellers interviewed say these products are not only costly but equally in short supply.
One does not need to go far to identify the cause of dwindling supply of food. Fewer people in Benue are involved in farming now than previously, apparently because the earning is nothing compared to other means of income with similar or less physical exertion. Investigation in the state showed that rather than be bothered about tilling ridges for vegetables and raising mounds for yam, youths would rather help construction workers dig up trenches to lay communication cables. The latter certainly pays more and immediately, unlike farming that comes after a gestation period.
Some students of the University of Agriculture Makurdi, admitted that they were not too passionate about making agricultural production a livelihood. Although many of them initially responded that they were into agricultural science studies by choice and interest, given the option of a high-paying white collar job in a bank, many agreed that they would take such jobs and hope to earn enough to be able to establish their agricultural production businesses in future.
Yet another problem associated with production is the limited access of women to land. As claimed by a female farmer, Rosemary Hua and admitted by Kwawa, farmland still resides within the family, which leadership is patriarchal. The result is that a woman’s access to land is tied to her husband’s or her son’s interest on the land.
Production would also be much cheaper if loans were easy to access and without tough conditionality, says Prof. Kalu who posits that government needs to stabilise the economy including the cost of transportation. He says failure to do so means that the farmer would have to raise prices to offset cost and settle personal bills on housing and medicals.
Government assistance through improved seedlings and ensuring that agricultural extension officers pay the required visits to rural farmers are other requests made by farmers in Benue State.
However, another lecturer in the University of Agriculture Makurdi, Prof. G.B. Ayoola holds a different view on the issue of food crisis. According to him, increase in price of foodstuff does not necessarily amount to food crisis unless “all feasible alternatives have been threatened or exhausted”. He sees what is playing out as international politics meant to fight back developing countries like Nigeria, following the soar away price of oil. Ayoola said the panic on food is intended to create an expression of dependency on developed countries and international agencies. He claimed that the price of rice in the international market climbed from $900 to $1600 per metric tonne a day after Nigeria announced its plan to spend N80 billion on rice importation.
Be it international politics are the effect of years of neglect or failure to heed the warnings of agencies like ActionAid who flagged off the HungerFREE campaign in 2007 with governments playing the emu to the issue, the truth is that there is hunger in the land today. To the student who pays more for less food in school or the families who cannot meet their daily food and nutrients needs, all they want is food, not the politics of food crisis, food price escalation or food scarcity.
• Effanga is Parliamentary Liaison and Policy Advisor with ActionAid Nigeria.
By Obo Effanga
Benue State prides itself as the “Food Basket of Nigeria”, a description it emblazons on vehicle number plate. But recent events seem to threaten this claim. Last year, several agricultural communities in Nigeria were hit by flood, signalling potential crisis in the months ahead. Benue had its own share of the disaster, but apparently, few people thought about the dire consequences to consider a strategic response.
The result is that early in 2008, Nigerians are facing the reality of insufficient food and galloping food prices which have been termed ‘food crisis’. It is made worse by the global trend of rice shortage from Thailand and other Asian countries, while Nigeria depends more on imports for its number one staple food, rice.
Benue is known as the food basket, not necessarily because it can feed the entire country with its farm produce, but because of its fertile soil which, according to its residents, could nurture just any crop. The state capital, Makurdi, is seat to one of the federal government’s specialised universities of agriculture.
Professor B.A. Kalu of that university opines that with “appropriate support” to farmers, the rice produced in Benue and Niger States (two north central states) could meet the consumption needs of the country. This is a view generally held by a cross section of Benue residents including foodstuff sellers and the president of the local farmers association, Chief Sam Kwawa. They oppose the federal government’s decision to commit N80 billion to rice importation, as such would kill the local production of rice. They instead request that the amount should be channelled towards supporting local production. Their position is supported by the National Assembly as the Senate rose recently in condemnation of the proposed importation of rice.
Talking about appropriate support for farmers, the tendency in Nigeria is to focus on provision of fertiliser and sometimes machinery. On both scores, the intervention has failed to address the problem. In Benue State, the government recently flagged off the farming season with fanfare, on which occasion the state governor, Gabriel Suswam proudly announced the release of fertilizers to farmers at a “subsidised” price of N2500 per bag. Curiously, that same quantity sold for just N1000 in the previous farming season.
Even at that, few farmers expect to get direct access to the fertilisers from government. They accuse bureaucrats of cornering the product and redistributing through middlepersons, meaning that farmers might get the product at a higher price, if it even gets to them early enough and not after the planting season. Similarly, the state government hires out its tractors to farmers at the cost of N4000 daily, a cost considered too high for the farmers. The implication is that the price of food would be even higher next season.
Interestingly, even though the state produces rice, its people hardly consider that as ‘food’. For many of them, food has to be a meal of pounded yam and so a measurement of food crisis here must be based on the production, availability and affordability of yam as the staple food!
As is the case with the rest of Nigeria, food production is still at its crudest form in many farming communities in Benue. Prof. Kalu puts the cost of making a heap of yam (which produces just one tuber of yam) at N6, up from N1 four years ago. Add the cost of the seedling, nurturing of the soil (with fertiliser) tending the crop, harvesting, transportation and the profit margin of middlepersons and you see a product slipping out of the hands of many potential consumers.
Today, the price of 100 tubers of yam has risen steadily from N5000 in September 2007 to somewhere between N16,000 and N18,000 depending on the size. Similar increases have been recorded for other foodstuff. Market survey in Makurdi showed increase in the price of a bushel of local rice from N1800 to N3200. The price of garri (a staple food made from cassava) rose from N1500 to N2500 and beans from N6000 to N9500, all within a space of four months. Similarly, a bowl of maize rose from N80 to N100 and guinea corn from N80 to N90. Many sellers interviewed say these products are not only costly but equally in short supply.
One does not need to go far to identify the cause of dwindling supply of food. Fewer people in Benue are involved in farming now than previously, apparently because the earning is nothing compared to other means of income with similar or less physical exertion. Investigation in the state showed that rather than be bothered about tilling ridges for vegetables and raising mounds for yam, youths would rather help construction workers dig up trenches to lay communication cables. The latter certainly pays more and immediately, unlike farming that comes after a gestation period.
Some students of the University of Agriculture Makurdi, admitted that they were not too passionate about making agricultural production a livelihood. Although many of them initially responded that they were into agricultural science studies by choice and interest, given the option of a high-paying white collar job in a bank, many agreed that they would take such jobs and hope to earn enough to be able to establish their agricultural production businesses in future.
Yet another problem associated with production is the limited access of women to land. As claimed by a female farmer, Rosemary Hua and admitted by Kwawa, farmland still resides within the family, which leadership is patriarchal. The result is that a woman’s access to land is tied to her husband’s or her son’s interest on the land.
Production would also be much cheaper if loans were easy to access and without tough conditionality, says Prof. Kalu who posits that government needs to stabilise the economy including the cost of transportation. He says failure to do so means that the farmer would have to raise prices to offset cost and settle personal bills on housing and medicals.
Government assistance through improved seedlings and ensuring that agricultural extension officers pay the required visits to rural farmers are other requests made by farmers in Benue State.
However, another lecturer in the University of Agriculture Makurdi, Prof. G.B. Ayoola holds a different view on the issue of food crisis. According to him, increase in price of foodstuff does not necessarily amount to food crisis unless “all feasible alternatives have been threatened or exhausted”. He sees what is playing out as international politics meant to fight back developing countries like Nigeria, following the soar away price of oil. Ayoola said the panic on food is intended to create an expression of dependency on developed countries and international agencies. He claimed that the price of rice in the international market climbed from $900 to $1600 per metric tonne a day after Nigeria announced its plan to spend N80 billion on rice importation.
Be it international politics are the effect of years of neglect or failure to heed the warnings of agencies like ActionAid who flagged off the HungerFREE campaign in 2007 with governments playing the emu to the issue, the truth is that there is hunger in the land today. To the student who pays more for less food in school or the families who cannot meet their daily food and nutrients needs, all they want is food, not the politics of food crisis, food price escalation or food scarcity.
• Effanga is Parliamentary Liaison and Policy Advisor with ActionAid Nigeria.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Seven years younger in Ethiopia
Seven years younger in Ethiopia
On a recent trip to Ethiopia, Obo Effanga found a country seven years behind the rest of the world and set to celebrate its millennium, just when memories of the 2000 celebration are fading from the consciousness of people in other parts of the world
Here is a rare and last chance to celebrate the beginning of the third millennium, especially for those who were not born, were too young or otherwise incapable of celebrating seven years ago. But you have to be in Ethiopia or an Ethiopian to do that. For Ethiopians, the turn of the millennium 2000 is coming more than seven whole years behind the rest of the world.
Here is a rare and last chance to celebrate the beginning of the third millennium, especially for those who were not born, were too young or otherwise incapable of celebrating seven years ago. But you have to be in Ethiopia or an Ethiopian to do that. For Ethiopians, the turn of the millennium 2000 is coming more than seven whole years behind the rest of the world.
Make no mistakes, rather than see themselves as being seven years behind the world, Ethiopians say they are seven years better in their celebration, having had a much longer period to plan for this event which falls on September 12, 2007, in the Gregorian calendar. That date however is Meskerem 1, 2000, the beginning of the third millennium in the Julian calendar operational in that country.
The Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BC has 12 months of equal days and a 13th month of five days, (six days in a leap year). Ethiopians are quick to invite you to come enjoy 13 months of sunshine in their country!
Until 1582, the entire Christian world operated the Julian calendar until Pope Gregory XIII introduced the current calendar which did not receive total acceptance by all countries. In fact, Russia only changed to the Gregorian calendar in 1918, while Greece did so in 1923. Ethiopia remains the last country standing on the Julian calendar.
On a recent trip to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital city to attend an ActionAid meeting, I was marvelled by the enthusiasm of every Ethiopian about the “Ethiopian Millennium”, right from the Ethiopian Airlines flight from Lagos. The in-flight magazine, Selamta, (July-September edition) not surprisingly is a special millennium edition and urges you to “catch the Millennium in Ethiopia”!
Public buildings in Ethiopia are bedecked in buntings of the green, yellow and red colours of the country, there are mementos everywhere you turn heralding the Ethiopian Millennium. Almost every piece of gift item you wish to pick is branded Ethiopian; something like “Proudly Ethiopian”, “I belong to Ethiopia”, “I am Ethiopian”, most of them written in Amharic language. I had to raise the issue with one of the shop attendants by telling him they could make more sales if they also offered a wide range of products advertising Africa, not just Ethiopia. He explained to me that this time they were celebrating Ethiopia specifically. The air is simply electrifying, despite its chilly weather and intermittent rain at this time.
The Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BC has 12 months of equal days and a 13th month of five days, (six days in a leap year). Ethiopians are quick to invite you to come enjoy 13 months of sunshine in their country!
Until 1582, the entire Christian world operated the Julian calendar until Pope Gregory XIII introduced the current calendar which did not receive total acceptance by all countries. In fact, Russia only changed to the Gregorian calendar in 1918, while Greece did so in 1923. Ethiopia remains the last country standing on the Julian calendar.
On a recent trip to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital city to attend an ActionAid meeting, I was marvelled by the enthusiasm of every Ethiopian about the “Ethiopian Millennium”, right from the Ethiopian Airlines flight from Lagos. The in-flight magazine, Selamta, (July-September edition) not surprisingly is a special millennium edition and urges you to “catch the Millennium in Ethiopia”!
Public buildings in Ethiopia are bedecked in buntings of the green, yellow and red colours of the country, there are mementos everywhere you turn heralding the Ethiopian Millennium. Almost every piece of gift item you wish to pick is branded Ethiopian; something like “Proudly Ethiopian”, “I belong to Ethiopia”, “I am Ethiopian”, most of them written in Amharic language. I had to raise the issue with one of the shop attendants by telling him they could make more sales if they also offered a wide range of products advertising Africa, not just Ethiopia. He explained to me that this time they were celebrating Ethiopia specifically. The air is simply electrifying, despite its chilly weather and intermittent rain at this time.
To the credit of the citizens, they do not mix up the dates in their Julian calendar with those of the Gregorian calendar, which are both used side-by-side. The part I could not comprehend though was the timing. One of my ActionAid colleagues in Ethiopia told me something about the third hour of the day, supposedly 9:00 a.m and got me confused temporarily.
The planned millennium celebration was not the only noticeable thing about my visit to Ethiopia. There was also the very cold weather, and as I noticed from my hotel room and was later told by an Ethiopian, they do not have need for air-conditioners and fans in their country.
Looking for one of the thickest clusters of beauties (or beauty per capita)? Take a trip to Addis and be stunned with charming sights of shy-looking, svelte women, with dreamy eyes and men whose features could easily sweep the women off their feet. A proviso though, Ethiopians have a way of looking so much alike. Of course there were also the less than beautiful-looking ones too. Broadly speaking therefore you either meet a stunning beauty or a fright!
As the porter checked me into my hotel room, he asked of my nationality. When told I am from Nigeria he got so excited, asking, “you come from Nigeria? You come from Okocha?” Later that evening as I sit at dinner with a Malawian colleague, he raised the issue of the popularity of Nollywood across Africa, via the Africa Magic channel on Dstv. He specifically mentioned Desmond Elliott as a darling of female viewers in Malawi.
Still on Nollywood, other colleagues from Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia etc. demanded a tutorial on the West African, nay Nigerian pidgin so as to be able to enjoy Nigerian movies better. Soon I was explaining the meaning and roots of expressions like ‘abeg’, ‘oga’, ‘make we go chop’, ‘bros’, ‘wetin dey happen?’. Strangely, they admit that Nigeria is re-colonising the rest of Africa with Nollywood. And the fetish scenes in most of Nigerian movies? That was a long discourse better reserved for another piece.
Talking more about Ethiopia, I found communications rather restrictive with just one mobile telephone company and that, owned by the state. Unlike in Nigeria and elsewhere, GSM sim cards are not readily available and so you have to rent a sim at $3 per day and load it with airtime to use while you are in Ethiopia. The snag however is that sms or text messaging is not allowed. Imagine how frustrating that could be.
On a brighter side (compared to the Naira), the Ethiopian currency, the Birr exchanges to the US dollar at 9 birr to the dollar.
We were treated to a wonderful evening of entertainment at a traditional Ethiopian restaurant featuring live music and dance. Most of us non-Ethiopians who were attending the African Governance Team meeting of ActionAid marvelled at the ease with which the locals wriggle their shoulders along with the music. Sophie, from Uganda said put it succinctly that while the Ethiopians dance with their shoulders and neck, most of Africa did so with their waists, legs and backs.
An interesting observation I made in Addis was the Nigerian-like sights I witnessed. In fact the street where we stayed could pass for somewhere in Port Harcourt or Aba. Even the colour of the commercial vehicles are blue and white, like in Port Harcourt. But, were the taxis old? When last did you come across Lada cars and the kinds of Beetle cars we used to have in the early 70s? In Ethiopia, they are still to be found side by side newer cars and jeeps.
Perhaps, like they have successfully operated the Julian and Gregorian calendars in a unique manner, it may take many more years of the ancient and modern cars on Ethiopian roads.
Welcome to the past, as Ethiopia celebrates its third millennium! And as we were told on arrival, visit Ethiopia and feel seven years younger.
• First published in The Nation newspaper September 2007
Unto PDP is crowned a sole administrator
Unto PDP is crowned a sole administrator
By Obo Effanga Jr.
In the build up to the December 16 2006 national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), some party stalwarts boasted that the event would be a ‘coronation’! The interpretation by many was that the ‘party leadership’ had already decided who its standard bearer in the 2007 presidential election would be, and so rather than dissipate energy to go through a full-fledged presidential primary, they saw the event as coronation ceremony of the aspirant ‘anointed’ by the ‘party hierarchy’.
Truly, that is what the two-day event turned out to be. Governor Umar Shehu Yar’adua, who until two months before then, was hardly known to be interested in the presidency, was foisted on the PDP as candidate. All other aspirants, especially the governors, who seemed to be the frontrunners, were ‘prevailed upon’ (read forced) to abandon their ambitions, thus providing Yar’adua a one-sided race to the presidential ticket.
But besides the above ‘coronation’, there was a more worrisome ‘coronation’, which though surreptitious in presentation, has far greater implication on Nigeria’s democracy. That coronation was of President Olusegun Obasanjo as the ‘sole administrator’ of PDP, the self-acclaimed biggest party in Africa!
On that occasion, PDP national secretary, Chief Ojo Madueke proposed an amendment to the party’s constitution, which was immediately accepted by voice vote of the more than 5000 delegates. The amendment was to limit the qualification for chairmanship of the party’s Board of Trustees only to a member of the party who has served as president of the country. The implication of that amendment is that by the time Obasanjo leaves office in May 2007, he alone would qualify to chair the party’s board, for at least four years.
Why was it necessary to make that amendment? It is either that the hierarchy of the PDP is bent on lionising Obasanjo (out of true love for the man or due to sycophancy) or that Obasanjo himself wants to cling unto power by all means. It is evident that Obasanjo has a craving for power, and would do everything to get and keep it. We saw it in the attempt to amend the Constitution of Nigeria to enable him continue in office for the so-called ‘third term’. Forget the lie about the man having never told anybody he was interested in the third term thing. I had said in an earlier writing that the argument, after the failure of the bid was the type a young man would make after his attempt to woo a girl fails, by claiming that he never told the girl he wanted to befriend her. We all know there are a hundred and one ways to woo a girl without saying so in words!
Without occupying any known position within his party, Obasanjo had since taken over charge of the party by hijacking its ownership and leadership. He is often referred to loosely as ‘leader of the party’, a designation that is unknown to PDP’s constitution. He takes it upon himself to determine the direction of the party on every issue and at every stage.
About two years ago, Obasanjo sacked the leadership of his party by pressuring the chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh to resign. He then appointed his cronies, Dr. Ahmadu Ali and Chief Ojo Madueke chairman and secretary respectively, without an election. It was not until several months afterwards that the party held what it called an ‘affirmative election’ to endorse Obasanjo’s appointees.
Sometime ago, Obasanjo told his party to allow him “as the leader of the party” to determine which zone of the country should produce the presidential candidate. His decision on such zoning is what played out at the recent PDP convention. But before the convention, he had also as President of the Federal Republic usurped the power to determine for the rest of the country who should succeed him in office. And he did it in such a disdainful manner by summoning the PDP governors and asking them to go and select one of their own and present to him for consideration and ‘anointing’ as successor! He had thus decided that his successor must come from the rank of the governors, no matter what Nigerians thought. That explained why every cowboy of a governor imagined that he must aspire to become the next president, even when some of them had questionable track records in good governance. Some of them even looted their state’s treasuries just to satiate their inordinate desires to be president.
What does the crowning of Obasanjo as the chairman-in-waiting of PDP’s board of trustees portend for the party and Nigeria? Remember the president had recently said that the fortunes of Nigeria were tied to those of PDP? If you excise Obasanjo’s haughtiness from that statement, that assertion still seems to capture the reality on the ground as most of the other parties find it difficult to set Nigeria’s political agenda. The best opportunity for the opposition parties to rally support of Nigerians and set the agenda for our politics was when the third term bid failed. Yet, they allowed the defeated (cabal of) PDP to still benefit from its defeat by regrouping to set the agenda. Today, the opposition is struggling to become relevant such that when Yar’adua emerged the party’s presidential candidate, many Nigerians already saw him as president-in-waiting.
But talking about a post-Obasanjo’s presidency in his new status in the PDP, there is no doubt that the man would become the spiritual head of the party from where he plans to be the power behind the throne of the presidency, if the party wins the presidential election. He hopes to be seen as the sole administrator, whose words shall be the command of all. As president, Obasanjo has converted the office of the Vice President to a unit under his direction, to the extent of appointing, sacking, supervising and pruning the personal staff of his deputy or approving when his deputy should enter the official aircraft attached to that office.
Being an obstinate character, Obasanjo, as board chairman of PDP is likely going to insist that things are done his way or no other way, the way he carries on as the Balogun of his Owu village, to the extent of choosing the monarch for the town or the way he has attempted, though laughable, to remove Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The prospects of an Obasanjo chairmanship of PDP’s board of trustees are grim for the larger society by the fact that the party has ‘grown’ so large in membership, mostly driven by the craving for political lucre, yet undemocratic in its character. What is generally referred to as internal democracy is non-existent in the party. A good pointer to this fact is that, its slogan has since changed from “P-D-P…power to the people” to “P-D-P…power”! Thus PDP is stating it clearly that it does not intend to give power to the people anymore but merely withhold it.
If what Obasanjo plans to have in 2007 and beyond is subtle control of government, he might be disappointed because, like one writer said “when you are out of power, your power turns to powder” Obasanjo should know better, having tasted life out of power from 1979 to 1999. For those years, he was so powerless that he was even hounded into jail. And this is why one thought that he would be more humble with power on his second taste of it from 1999 but that has not been the case. Nigerians should pray that this sole administrator does not have things his way.
• First published in The Nation newspaper January 2007
By Obo Effanga Jr.
In the build up to the December 16 2006 national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), some party stalwarts boasted that the event would be a ‘coronation’! The interpretation by many was that the ‘party leadership’ had already decided who its standard bearer in the 2007 presidential election would be, and so rather than dissipate energy to go through a full-fledged presidential primary, they saw the event as coronation ceremony of the aspirant ‘anointed’ by the ‘party hierarchy’.
Truly, that is what the two-day event turned out to be. Governor Umar Shehu Yar’adua, who until two months before then, was hardly known to be interested in the presidency, was foisted on the PDP as candidate. All other aspirants, especially the governors, who seemed to be the frontrunners, were ‘prevailed upon’ (read forced) to abandon their ambitions, thus providing Yar’adua a one-sided race to the presidential ticket.
But besides the above ‘coronation’, there was a more worrisome ‘coronation’, which though surreptitious in presentation, has far greater implication on Nigeria’s democracy. That coronation was of President Olusegun Obasanjo as the ‘sole administrator’ of PDP, the self-acclaimed biggest party in Africa!
On that occasion, PDP national secretary, Chief Ojo Madueke proposed an amendment to the party’s constitution, which was immediately accepted by voice vote of the more than 5000 delegates. The amendment was to limit the qualification for chairmanship of the party’s Board of Trustees only to a member of the party who has served as president of the country. The implication of that amendment is that by the time Obasanjo leaves office in May 2007, he alone would qualify to chair the party’s board, for at least four years.
Why was it necessary to make that amendment? It is either that the hierarchy of the PDP is bent on lionising Obasanjo (out of true love for the man or due to sycophancy) or that Obasanjo himself wants to cling unto power by all means. It is evident that Obasanjo has a craving for power, and would do everything to get and keep it. We saw it in the attempt to amend the Constitution of Nigeria to enable him continue in office for the so-called ‘third term’. Forget the lie about the man having never told anybody he was interested in the third term thing. I had said in an earlier writing that the argument, after the failure of the bid was the type a young man would make after his attempt to woo a girl fails, by claiming that he never told the girl he wanted to befriend her. We all know there are a hundred and one ways to woo a girl without saying so in words!
Without occupying any known position within his party, Obasanjo had since taken over charge of the party by hijacking its ownership and leadership. He is often referred to loosely as ‘leader of the party’, a designation that is unknown to PDP’s constitution. He takes it upon himself to determine the direction of the party on every issue and at every stage.
About two years ago, Obasanjo sacked the leadership of his party by pressuring the chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh to resign. He then appointed his cronies, Dr. Ahmadu Ali and Chief Ojo Madueke chairman and secretary respectively, without an election. It was not until several months afterwards that the party held what it called an ‘affirmative election’ to endorse Obasanjo’s appointees.
Sometime ago, Obasanjo told his party to allow him “as the leader of the party” to determine which zone of the country should produce the presidential candidate. His decision on such zoning is what played out at the recent PDP convention. But before the convention, he had also as President of the Federal Republic usurped the power to determine for the rest of the country who should succeed him in office. And he did it in such a disdainful manner by summoning the PDP governors and asking them to go and select one of their own and present to him for consideration and ‘anointing’ as successor! He had thus decided that his successor must come from the rank of the governors, no matter what Nigerians thought. That explained why every cowboy of a governor imagined that he must aspire to become the next president, even when some of them had questionable track records in good governance. Some of them even looted their state’s treasuries just to satiate their inordinate desires to be president.
What does the crowning of Obasanjo as the chairman-in-waiting of PDP’s board of trustees portend for the party and Nigeria? Remember the president had recently said that the fortunes of Nigeria were tied to those of PDP? If you excise Obasanjo’s haughtiness from that statement, that assertion still seems to capture the reality on the ground as most of the other parties find it difficult to set Nigeria’s political agenda. The best opportunity for the opposition parties to rally support of Nigerians and set the agenda for our politics was when the third term bid failed. Yet, they allowed the defeated (cabal of) PDP to still benefit from its defeat by regrouping to set the agenda. Today, the opposition is struggling to become relevant such that when Yar’adua emerged the party’s presidential candidate, many Nigerians already saw him as president-in-waiting.
But talking about a post-Obasanjo’s presidency in his new status in the PDP, there is no doubt that the man would become the spiritual head of the party from where he plans to be the power behind the throne of the presidency, if the party wins the presidential election. He hopes to be seen as the sole administrator, whose words shall be the command of all. As president, Obasanjo has converted the office of the Vice President to a unit under his direction, to the extent of appointing, sacking, supervising and pruning the personal staff of his deputy or approving when his deputy should enter the official aircraft attached to that office.
Being an obstinate character, Obasanjo, as board chairman of PDP is likely going to insist that things are done his way or no other way, the way he carries on as the Balogun of his Owu village, to the extent of choosing the monarch for the town or the way he has attempted, though laughable, to remove Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The prospects of an Obasanjo chairmanship of PDP’s board of trustees are grim for the larger society by the fact that the party has ‘grown’ so large in membership, mostly driven by the craving for political lucre, yet undemocratic in its character. What is generally referred to as internal democracy is non-existent in the party. A good pointer to this fact is that, its slogan has since changed from “P-D-P…power to the people” to “P-D-P…power”! Thus PDP is stating it clearly that it does not intend to give power to the people anymore but merely withhold it.
If what Obasanjo plans to have in 2007 and beyond is subtle control of government, he might be disappointed because, like one writer said “when you are out of power, your power turns to powder” Obasanjo should know better, having tasted life out of power from 1979 to 1999. For those years, he was so powerless that he was even hounded into jail. And this is why one thought that he would be more humble with power on his second taste of it from 1999 but that has not been the case. Nigerians should pray that this sole administrator does not have things his way.
• First published in The Nation newspaper January 2007
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
I want to be a public official
I want to be a public official
By Obo Effanga Jr.
“Doc. Doc!”
“Eeeh! Tony my man!”
“Old boy, is it true that you are aspiring to get into public office?”
“What a stupid question. Who no like better thing?”
“In other words you have a strong urge to serve the society?”
“Well, you may say so.”
“No. You should be definite in your answer, it is either you want to serve or not.”
“Well, everybody in public office is there to serve after all, so when I get into public office, I also will be there to serve.”
“To serve the public you mean, not your self, your family and your community only?”
“Are you suggesting that when I take up public office I should forget about my family and my community? You can’t be serious. Tell me which public officer ever did that in this country?”
“Oh, really? I thought you wanted to make a difference when you take up public office.”
“I have not said I wouldn’t. There is nothing wrong with the change starting with me? I mean, you don’t imagine that I would get into public office without a positive change to my station in life? Even my family and friends like you would feel disappointed if I don’t come out of public office with something to show for it. Mind you, I won’t be going into public office to display poverty.”
“What amounts to ‘something to show for it’, if I may ask?”
“Pally, you don’t fail to amaze me. Shouldn’t I, as a public official, own choice houses in choice areas? Shouldn’t my children be able to study abroad or at least in private colleges? Are you suggesting that I would return to this job after public service? Ah! My guy, you amaze me.”
“But you have a responsible job at hand. I mean you are a professional in your field and I do not see why you shouldn’t return to your teaching job.”
“You cannot be serious. Come back to this thankless job? God forbid! It is not my portion and I reject it!”
“You are sounding religious there.”
“I am a child of God, mind you.”
“I cannot imagine an egghead like you wasting away in public office and not returning to the classroom”
“Old boy, I won’t be the same. I don’t mind being an ‘AGIP’, any government in power, like other eggheads have been.”
“Like who, if I may ask?”
“Don’t ask me. All I know is that I can also serve as a director today, minister tomorrow and a personal assistant the next day. I don’t care what the designation is, it’s the trappings of government that I care about.”
“That means you won’t mind being reduced from being a federal minister to being a local government councillor.”
“My friend, with government appointments, ‘image is nothing, the lucre is it’.”
“But we still need bright people like you to teach our children in schools.”
“Yes, I agree with you. But I don’t have to be that someone. Or have I not taught enough this past seven years? And what do I gain from it anyway; insults from students and their money-miss-road parents, some of who cannot even make one flawless sentence?”
“You seem to be unhappy with your job Doc?”
“That is why I will jump at any opportunity to take up public office.”
“If I may ask, what is really your attraction in public office?”
“I too want to be invited to come and chop.”
“But I thought you said earlier that you want to serve? You better watch it. Remember what usually happens to those who go to chop rather than go to work?”
“I didn’t particularly say that I want to chop. I will serve and then chop. Look, a prophet eats from the temple.”
“I can see you are already doing well as a potential public official, given the way you can easily change your response to a question.”
“If you can’t beat them join them my brother.”
“Oh, by the way, what will your wife be when you get into public office?”
“Look, e-ma try mi-o! What are you suggesting? She will continue to be my wife of course.”
“You mean she won’t set up one of those bogus pet projects to raise funds from the public and carry on as if she has a constitutional role?”
“And what would be wrong with that? She won’t be the first person to do that. Besides, there are associations these days for wives of public officials. Haven’t you heard of Committee of Wives of Lagos State Government Officials (COWLSGO) or whatever they call it? My wife can as well join any of such clubs in my state and be active”
“What do you mean by ‘active’?”
“She could attend parties and wear aso-ebi.”
“You are already beginning to think like a public official, right?”
“Well, to be a millionaire, think like one.”
“That was a Freudian slip wasn’t is?”
“What?”
“You just alluded to being a millionaire.”
“Do you have a problem with that?”
“You want to be a millionaire through the public office?”
“Silly you. Show me one public official who is not. Many of them were no better than I am now. Look at all those school dropouts who became local government public officials the other time. In just three years, many of them have permanently kissed goodbye to poverty.”
“Are you sure? I thought some of them were so broke soon after leaving office that they had to sell their personal cars.”
“Why not talk about the ones who invested their stolen funds wisely, building houses and establishing business centres and cyber cafes. My councillor even established a guesthouse and got three chieftaincy titles.”
“So how do you plan to invest your ill-gotten wealth when you get…”
“Point of correction, I will not have ill-gotten wealth.”
“No no no! That point is already settled. After all you will work and chop.”
“Look, you better mind how you talk to a future honourable. I might not forget this insult once I get into office. And I can be quite vindictive you know.”
“Like all of them are anyway. I know you are just joking.”
“Don’t count on it. Public office has a way of turning good people to something else. I might just ask one of my touts or security aides to brush you.”
“So you even plan to go about with touts?”
“Ah! You want my enemies to make mincemeat of me? And besides, I will have to give job to the boys.”
“What boys?”
“Grow up man. I mean the boys that will help me into public office. If I have to take office through an election, I need to compensate the boys who may have helped me on Election Day.”
“You mean those who would vote for you?”
“No, those who would vote on behalf of the registered voters for me.”
“I don’t seem to understand that.”
“You cannot, because you are not a politician or a potential one.”
“Can you just explain that?”
“I mean the boys who will help stuff the ballot boxes to my advantage.”
“Oh-oh! So you plan to do it like the rest of them eh?”
“How else can one get into office. When I get there I can always change things.”
“But you know you cannot build anything worthwhile upon a faulty foundation. That explains why our democracy has remained stunted for the past five years.”
“I will make a difference, with God on my side, I can do all things because greater is he that is in me than that…”
“Oh please stop that crab. Keep God out of it. You cannot plan to get into public through crooked means and hope to claim God’s favour.”
“Look, I will be attending tarry nights, miracle nights and declare days of prayers in my office.”
“But God would rather you obeyed Him than offer sacrifices.”
“Eeeh! Enough of this. It’s time for my lecture. Let me hurry up. The class representative is supposed to bring me the returns for the student’s registration for my course. We will talk later.”
“Doc. Doc!”
This piece was first published in the NewAge newspaper in 2004
CRY, O BAKASSI
In two months’ time, the Bakassi Peninsula will finally go under the full sovereignty of Cameroon, ending a long-drawn battle for its ownership between that country and Nigeria. It will be the culmination of events since the October 10, 2002 judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), sitting at The Hague. The ICJ gave sovereignty over the land to Cameroon and denied the claim by Nigeria of long years of customary control over it. It also denied that the traditional title and lordship of the Efik over the area in dispute was enough reason to give the territory to Nigeria, where the rest of the Efik ethnic group belongs.
Rather than rely on the traditional title to the land, or indeed be concerned with the ownership of the land by its current occupants, the ICJ based its judgment mainly on a pre-Independence treaty of 1913, entered into by the United Kingdom and Germany, who were at that time the colonial powers over Nigeria and Cameroon respectively. It also relied on the Thomson-Marchland Declaration of 1929-1930.
ICJ’s interpretation of the two documents above was that title over Bakassi had been transferred to Germany by Britain, and since German interest in the area later devolved on France, who also later handed over power to the independent state of Cameroon, the interest over Bakassi had become vested in Cameroon. The court then stated that Nigeria was obliged to "expeditiously and without condition ... withdraw its administration and its military and police forces from ... the Bakassi Peninsula." Although Nigeria asserted that the judgement did not consider "fundamental facts" about the Nigerian inhabitants of the peninsula, whose "ancestral homes" the ICJ ruled to be in Cameroonian territory, it all the same had to play the responsible member of the international community by taking steps to implement the ruling.
But in deciding to yield sovereignty over Bakassi to Cameroon, Nigerian officials failed to carry the Nigerian indigenes of the peninsula along. This is because soon after the ICJ’s decision, government’s posture indicated to those inhabitants that on no account would the country yield any part of its “territory” or “people” to another country. Rather than discuss with the indigenes about the effect of the judgment and the imperative of obedience to it, government was more involved in raising the hope of indigenes that they and their land would continue to be part of Nigeria. Yet, on the other hand, Nigeria soon entered into an arrangement with Cameroon on the implementation of the judgment.
The unfortunate thing about the upcoming transfer of ownership of Bakassi in September is that even though the loss of the peninsula to Cameroon is coming nearly two years after the ICJ judgment, the impact would still be sudden on the people most affected. Although governments of both countries set up the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission chaired by the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for West Africa, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, to consider “ways of following up on the ICJ ruling and moving the process forward”, not much seems to have been done to prepare the residents and indigenes of the peninsula for the circumstance that will befall them in September. In fact, it was not until February 13 to 20 this year that, for the first time, a sub-committee of the Mixed Commission visited the Bakassi Peninsula and met with authorities, traditional chiefs and citizens.
The history of Bakassi is a reference point in neglect. Until the 1990s, the name “Bakassi” meant little or nothing to majority of citizens in this country. Even among many people in communities and states in the Niger delta areas, where Bakassi forms part of, that piece of land was still not very well known, nor highly reckoned. The indigenes themselves were “comfortable” with their rural life of squalor which mainly entailed fishing. Perhaps some of them even cared less what country they belonged to, for they were literally torn between the devil and the deep blue sea, especially in the course of their fishing industry. Many residents of the peninsula ran into harassment and extortion from the police, military and gendarmes (from Nigeria and Cameroon) parading the high seas on both sides of the divide, as well as from pirates. But by the turn of the 1990s, the 1,600 kilometre-long peninsula suddenly leapt into national consciousness, having been given the appellation of a “resource-rich” land. This was when everything changed for the worse for the indigenes.
The resource of the land was all that was needed for it to become relevant to authorities in Abuja and Yaoundé. This was when this backward piece of land became hot commodity to both national governments. Until the events of the early 1990s which led to Cameroon finally taking the issue to the ICJ for determination in 1994, infrastructure such as health centres and schools were alien to Bakassi. It was only in the heat of the dispute that the two federal governments, and interestingly the governments of Cross River and Akwa Ibom states rushed in to provide basic infrastructure for the community, just so that they could take a stake of the abundant oil resources said to exist in the peninsula. As an indication of Nigeria’s real interest in Bakassi, when eventually the ICJ ruled in favour of Cameroon, one of the earliest reactions to the ruling by Nigeria was a statement by the then Minister of State for Justice, Musa Elayo that, "the judgement will have no effect on Nigeria's oil and gas reserves." By that statement, Nigeria clearly showed that its interest lay in the resources, not the people. Could that statement have been a Freudian slip?
In 1996, Nigeria eventually constituted the territory in dispute to a local government area, under Cross River State, which was also contesting ownership of the area domestically with its neighbour, Akwa Ibom State. The constitution of Bakassi Local Government Area also brought with it another scenario. It became fashionable for many people who previously came from any of the local government areas around that end (mainly those from Cross River South Senatorial District) to claim that they were now indigenes of the peninsula. Bakassi had then become the place to claim or an Eldorado of unimaginable opportunities of some sort. This was because, having become a local government area, it had to be taken care of in terms of apportionment of political appointments and positions, students bursaries and sundry favours of State. And since much of what amounted to the geographical mass of that local government area was a rural fishing community without basic facilities as school, opportunists cashed in on this by claiming indigene status of the area. As events begin to unfold today and the reality of Nigeria’s loss of Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon dawns on all us, these latter day Bakassi indigenes are likely to back a retreat to where they originally belong. In a way, many of them had hijacked the peninsula from the original owners; they rode on their backs to acquisition of political and economic benefits but will soon abandon the real Bakassi indigenes to their fate.
What is still confounding is why, despite the intention by Nigeria to hand over the land to Cameroon in September, it still went ahead to conduct elections, including the last local government election in that area. Even as of this moment, many political office holders and local government staff in Bakassi seem to be oblivious of the fate that awaits them in the next few months. Will they retain their appointments and positions, even when their “constituencies” no longer exist? Will the Bakassi Local Government Council be sitting in the Diaspora or exile?
However, it is not the fate of the latter day Bakassi indigenes that worries me, rather that of the real Bakassi people, those who indeed own the land, those who are going to be separated from their kin in Nigeria, those who are going to have a different citizenship imposed on them, not by their own volition, but based on some spurious 1913 treaty and a declaration of 1929-1930 by people who did not own the land – the colonialists. The decision of the ICJ, based on the said colonial agreements and a failure to even ask the indigenous population, by way of a plebiscite, what they preferred must go down in history as one of the most insensitive decisions of that court.
However, one thought that by now, the two governments would have thoroughly sensitized the Bakassi people about the implications of the ICJ judgment and the legitimate options opened to them. And there are two basic options here. One is for them to hold on to their ancestral land and become citizens of Cameroon. The other is for them to relinquish the land and move over and “settle” down with their kin in Nigeria and therefore still hold on to Nigerian citizenship. But in doing so, they must truly weigh the implications of what a Nigerian citizenship is worth, without a “place of origin”, given the much-touted suggestions of indigenes and settlers in Nigeria’s politics today. Yet, the governments of both countries should support the Bakassi people to guarantee their welfare. After all, in handing down the judgment, the ICJ observed the assurances of Cameroon to ensuring the protection of the welfare of the Bakassi people. Whichever choice these people make individually is nothing but Hobson’s choice, and this is why one really cries for them.
• First published in NewAge newspaper in July 2004, this piece won the writer the Columnist of the Year 2004 award at the Nigerian Media Merit Award held in Bauchi in 2005.
Rather than rely on the traditional title to the land, or indeed be concerned with the ownership of the land by its current occupants, the ICJ based its judgment mainly on a pre-Independence treaty of 1913, entered into by the United Kingdom and Germany, who were at that time the colonial powers over Nigeria and Cameroon respectively. It also relied on the Thomson-Marchland Declaration of 1929-1930.
ICJ’s interpretation of the two documents above was that title over Bakassi had been transferred to Germany by Britain, and since German interest in the area later devolved on France, who also later handed over power to the independent state of Cameroon, the interest over Bakassi had become vested in Cameroon. The court then stated that Nigeria was obliged to "expeditiously and without condition ... withdraw its administration and its military and police forces from ... the Bakassi Peninsula." Although Nigeria asserted that the judgement did not consider "fundamental facts" about the Nigerian inhabitants of the peninsula, whose "ancestral homes" the ICJ ruled to be in Cameroonian territory, it all the same had to play the responsible member of the international community by taking steps to implement the ruling.
But in deciding to yield sovereignty over Bakassi to Cameroon, Nigerian officials failed to carry the Nigerian indigenes of the peninsula along. This is because soon after the ICJ’s decision, government’s posture indicated to those inhabitants that on no account would the country yield any part of its “territory” or “people” to another country. Rather than discuss with the indigenes about the effect of the judgment and the imperative of obedience to it, government was more involved in raising the hope of indigenes that they and their land would continue to be part of Nigeria. Yet, on the other hand, Nigeria soon entered into an arrangement with Cameroon on the implementation of the judgment.
The unfortunate thing about the upcoming transfer of ownership of Bakassi in September is that even though the loss of the peninsula to Cameroon is coming nearly two years after the ICJ judgment, the impact would still be sudden on the people most affected. Although governments of both countries set up the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission chaired by the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for West Africa, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, to consider “ways of following up on the ICJ ruling and moving the process forward”, not much seems to have been done to prepare the residents and indigenes of the peninsula for the circumstance that will befall them in September. In fact, it was not until February 13 to 20 this year that, for the first time, a sub-committee of the Mixed Commission visited the Bakassi Peninsula and met with authorities, traditional chiefs and citizens.
The history of Bakassi is a reference point in neglect. Until the 1990s, the name “Bakassi” meant little or nothing to majority of citizens in this country. Even among many people in communities and states in the Niger delta areas, where Bakassi forms part of, that piece of land was still not very well known, nor highly reckoned. The indigenes themselves were “comfortable” with their rural life of squalor which mainly entailed fishing. Perhaps some of them even cared less what country they belonged to, for they were literally torn between the devil and the deep blue sea, especially in the course of their fishing industry. Many residents of the peninsula ran into harassment and extortion from the police, military and gendarmes (from Nigeria and Cameroon) parading the high seas on both sides of the divide, as well as from pirates. But by the turn of the 1990s, the 1,600 kilometre-long peninsula suddenly leapt into national consciousness, having been given the appellation of a “resource-rich” land. This was when everything changed for the worse for the indigenes.
The resource of the land was all that was needed for it to become relevant to authorities in Abuja and Yaoundé. This was when this backward piece of land became hot commodity to both national governments. Until the events of the early 1990s which led to Cameroon finally taking the issue to the ICJ for determination in 1994, infrastructure such as health centres and schools were alien to Bakassi. It was only in the heat of the dispute that the two federal governments, and interestingly the governments of Cross River and Akwa Ibom states rushed in to provide basic infrastructure for the community, just so that they could take a stake of the abundant oil resources said to exist in the peninsula. As an indication of Nigeria’s real interest in Bakassi, when eventually the ICJ ruled in favour of Cameroon, one of the earliest reactions to the ruling by Nigeria was a statement by the then Minister of State for Justice, Musa Elayo that, "the judgement will have no effect on Nigeria's oil and gas reserves." By that statement, Nigeria clearly showed that its interest lay in the resources, not the people. Could that statement have been a Freudian slip?
In 1996, Nigeria eventually constituted the territory in dispute to a local government area, under Cross River State, which was also contesting ownership of the area domestically with its neighbour, Akwa Ibom State. The constitution of Bakassi Local Government Area also brought with it another scenario. It became fashionable for many people who previously came from any of the local government areas around that end (mainly those from Cross River South Senatorial District) to claim that they were now indigenes of the peninsula. Bakassi had then become the place to claim or an Eldorado of unimaginable opportunities of some sort. This was because, having become a local government area, it had to be taken care of in terms of apportionment of political appointments and positions, students bursaries and sundry favours of State. And since much of what amounted to the geographical mass of that local government area was a rural fishing community without basic facilities as school, opportunists cashed in on this by claiming indigene status of the area. As events begin to unfold today and the reality of Nigeria’s loss of Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon dawns on all us, these latter day Bakassi indigenes are likely to back a retreat to where they originally belong. In a way, many of them had hijacked the peninsula from the original owners; they rode on their backs to acquisition of political and economic benefits but will soon abandon the real Bakassi indigenes to their fate.
What is still confounding is why, despite the intention by Nigeria to hand over the land to Cameroon in September, it still went ahead to conduct elections, including the last local government election in that area. Even as of this moment, many political office holders and local government staff in Bakassi seem to be oblivious of the fate that awaits them in the next few months. Will they retain their appointments and positions, even when their “constituencies” no longer exist? Will the Bakassi Local Government Council be sitting in the Diaspora or exile?
However, it is not the fate of the latter day Bakassi indigenes that worries me, rather that of the real Bakassi people, those who indeed own the land, those who are going to be separated from their kin in Nigeria, those who are going to have a different citizenship imposed on them, not by their own volition, but based on some spurious 1913 treaty and a declaration of 1929-1930 by people who did not own the land – the colonialists. The decision of the ICJ, based on the said colonial agreements and a failure to even ask the indigenous population, by way of a plebiscite, what they preferred must go down in history as one of the most insensitive decisions of that court.
However, one thought that by now, the two governments would have thoroughly sensitized the Bakassi people about the implications of the ICJ judgment and the legitimate options opened to them. And there are two basic options here. One is for them to hold on to their ancestral land and become citizens of Cameroon. The other is for them to relinquish the land and move over and “settle” down with their kin in Nigeria and therefore still hold on to Nigerian citizenship. But in doing so, they must truly weigh the implications of what a Nigerian citizenship is worth, without a “place of origin”, given the much-touted suggestions of indigenes and settlers in Nigeria’s politics today. Yet, the governments of both countries should support the Bakassi people to guarantee their welfare. After all, in handing down the judgment, the ICJ observed the assurances of Cameroon to ensuring the protection of the welfare of the Bakassi people. Whichever choice these people make individually is nothing but Hobson’s choice, and this is why one really cries for them.
• First published in NewAge newspaper in July 2004, this piece won the writer the Columnist of the Year 2004 award at the Nigerian Media Merit Award held in Bauchi in 2005.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Police IG ready to die for President
The Sun newspaper in Nigeria reported today (March 4, 2008) that the Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro said, while visiting his personnel in Lagos yesterday that he was ready to die for President Umaru Yar’Adua.
To quote the newspaper:
He urged his men to be prepared to die for the president and the nation.Explaining why he was ready to make the supreme sacrifice, Okiro told over 500 officers at the Zone “2” Command Headquarters, Onikan, Lagos that Yar’Adua was a listening president, who had been granting every request of the police.
He said: “If someone pays you good wages and takes care of your welfare, you must be ready to die for that person. Now policemen should stop collecting N20 on the road because the president is doing his best for us and we must also be at our best.”
Pray, how did we get such sycophants as this to take up a high responsibility as this? Okiro and his likes should be informed that even though they are appointed by the president, their allegiance is to the State called Nigeria and NOT to the president or presidency.
I recall that one of Okiro's predecessors in office, Tafa Balogun was fond of referring to then President Obasanjo as 'My Father, Sir'.
The call by some of us to reform the Nigeria Police by insulating the office of IGP from influence by the political class, especially the president becomes even more crucial now than ever.
I doubt whether an IGP whose tenure is guaranteed and whose tenure is even longer than that of a sitting president would have any need to say a thing like this.
To quote the newspaper:
He urged his men to be prepared to die for the president and the nation.Explaining why he was ready to make the supreme sacrifice, Okiro told over 500 officers at the Zone “2” Command Headquarters, Onikan, Lagos that Yar’Adua was a listening president, who had been granting every request of the police.
He said: “If someone pays you good wages and takes care of your welfare, you must be ready to die for that person. Now policemen should stop collecting N20 on the road because the president is doing his best for us and we must also be at our best.”
Pray, how did we get such sycophants as this to take up a high responsibility as this? Okiro and his likes should be informed that even though they are appointed by the president, their allegiance is to the State called Nigeria and NOT to the president or presidency.
I recall that one of Okiro's predecessors in office, Tafa Balogun was fond of referring to then President Obasanjo as 'My Father, Sir'.
The call by some of us to reform the Nigeria Police by insulating the office of IGP from influence by the political class, especially the president becomes even more crucial now than ever.
I doubt whether an IGP whose tenure is guaranteed and whose tenure is even longer than that of a sitting president would have any need to say a thing like this.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
FCT bans sale of alcohol
Dear All,
Animal talk don start again!
The Federal Capital Teritory (FCT) authority in Nigeria has banned sale of alcohol in some parts of the city, according to a news report from Nigeria's ThisDay newspaper.
Under what law can the FCT administration purport to decide that residents cannot and should not have access to alcohol in their residential areas? If the FCT administration does not want alcohol sold within 'residential areas', it should not permit the operation of businesses that trade in alcohol in those areas. Or are they suggesting that alcohol should only be sold in non-residential areas which include business and office districts?
Pray, is Wuye District, where we have at least three hotels, several recreational spots a major church (Family Worship Centre) and several residential areas including Finance Quarters a residential, commercial or business district? If alcoholic beverages cannot be sold in that area, does that mean those who live there have been stopped from entertaining their guests with what they want to drink?
Are we planning to turn the FCT to a police state (a sad reminder of the Abacha era) by asking hoteliers to send information about their guests to the police. I have no problem in asking hotels to keep accurate records of their guests but such should only be made available to the security agencies when demanded and perhaps ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction, not routinely.
On sex workers (why do we have to call them 'commercial' when the rest of us are not called 'commercial' doctors, lawyers, journalists, teachers or preachers since we earn a living through such work), I think what the FCT should focus attention on is information on safe sex. That some sex workers 'sometimes are informants to armed robbers' does not mean that ALL of them are such informants. Some of these persons are, after all, informants to the police as well!
With the minister's argument, other businesses like cybercafé could be stopped from operating because some 419ers patronise them. It was for this same reason that governments claimed to ban the operation of okada businesses because some of them were allegedly involved in crimes. The reasonable ground for banning okada should actually have been safety of lives and limb. Recreational parks may also be banned in future because some miscreants may use them to plan and carry out criminal activities.
In short, why should anyone who is poor and unemployed be allowed a space in our cosmetic national capital if all they add to the city is their nuisance value, to the annoyance of our esteemed tourists who come from societies where sex workers do not exist (and do not have need of such persons in Abuja).
Lay it on Mr. Modibbo Umar and Mr. Akpanudoedehe as you improve on the reforms of your predecessor, Mr. El-Rufai!
Obo
The following is from ThisDay newspaper
FCT Bans Sale of Alcohol, Sex Workers
From Damilola Oyedele in Abuja, 02.06.2008
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) administration has banned the sale of alcohol by hotels situated within the residential areas of the city. It has also banned the activities of commercial sex workers in the metropolis. The FCT Minister of State, Senator John Akpanudoe-dehe, made the announcement in Abuja yesterday at a meeting with hotel owners, saying the actions were being taken in a bid to sanitise the city. He also directed that the record of guests in hotels must be sent to security agencies after the guests might have produced their international passports, national identity cards or any other means of identification.He said the exercise would assist the security agencies in taking appropriate security measures in the city.The present administration, he said, would reduce to the barest minimum the activities of commercial sex workers in order to make the city attractive to tourists.Akpanudoedehe revealed the administration’s intention at reducing the crime rate in the city to the barest minimum, as he said that the protection of lives and properties of residents was paramount. He said: “We cannot permit the sale of alcoholic drinks in hotels located near our family houses. Ladies who hang around hotel premises sometimes are informants to armed robbers, and therefore, we must send them out of our streets. Abuja must not be seen as just a political capital, but also as a tourist centre for the country.”He therefore solicited the cooperation of hotels owners by providing information about guests who lodge in their hotels. The FCT Minister, Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar, in a recent interview with THISDAY had said his administration believed that alcohol use, drugs and crime were linked and should be curbed in the city. The FCT administration is also making moves to ban the smoking of tobacco in public places.
Animal talk don start again!
The Federal Capital Teritory (FCT) authority in Nigeria has banned sale of alcohol in some parts of the city, according to a news report from Nigeria's ThisDay newspaper.
Under what law can the FCT administration purport to decide that residents cannot and should not have access to alcohol in their residential areas? If the FCT administration does not want alcohol sold within 'residential areas', it should not permit the operation of businesses that trade in alcohol in those areas. Or are they suggesting that alcohol should only be sold in non-residential areas which include business and office districts?
Pray, is Wuye District, where we have at least three hotels, several recreational spots a major church (Family Worship Centre) and several residential areas including Finance Quarters a residential, commercial or business district? If alcoholic beverages cannot be sold in that area, does that mean those who live there have been stopped from entertaining their guests with what they want to drink?
Are we planning to turn the FCT to a police state (a sad reminder of the Abacha era) by asking hoteliers to send information about their guests to the police. I have no problem in asking hotels to keep accurate records of their guests but such should only be made available to the security agencies when demanded and perhaps ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction, not routinely.
On sex workers (why do we have to call them 'commercial' when the rest of us are not called 'commercial' doctors, lawyers, journalists, teachers or preachers since we earn a living through such work), I think what the FCT should focus attention on is information on safe sex. That some sex workers 'sometimes are informants to armed robbers' does not mean that ALL of them are such informants. Some of these persons are, after all, informants to the police as well!
With the minister's argument, other businesses like cybercafé could be stopped from operating because some 419ers patronise them. It was for this same reason that governments claimed to ban the operation of okada businesses because some of them were allegedly involved in crimes. The reasonable ground for banning okada should actually have been safety of lives and limb. Recreational parks may also be banned in future because some miscreants may use them to plan and carry out criminal activities.
In short, why should anyone who is poor and unemployed be allowed a space in our cosmetic national capital if all they add to the city is their nuisance value, to the annoyance of our esteemed tourists who come from societies where sex workers do not exist (and do not have need of such persons in Abuja).
Lay it on Mr. Modibbo Umar and Mr. Akpanudoedehe as you improve on the reforms of your predecessor, Mr. El-Rufai!
Obo
The following is from ThisDay newspaper
FCT Bans Sale of Alcohol, Sex Workers
From Damilola Oyedele in Abuja, 02.06.2008
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) administration has banned the sale of alcohol by hotels situated within the residential areas of the city. It has also banned the activities of commercial sex workers in the metropolis. The FCT Minister of State, Senator John Akpanudoe-dehe, made the announcement in Abuja yesterday at a meeting with hotel owners, saying the actions were being taken in a bid to sanitise the city. He also directed that the record of guests in hotels must be sent to security agencies after the guests might have produced their international passports, national identity cards or any other means of identification.He said the exercise would assist the security agencies in taking appropriate security measures in the city.The present administration, he said, would reduce to the barest minimum the activities of commercial sex workers in order to make the city attractive to tourists.Akpanudoedehe revealed the administration’s intention at reducing the crime rate in the city to the barest minimum, as he said that the protection of lives and properties of residents was paramount. He said: “We cannot permit the sale of alcoholic drinks in hotels located near our family houses. Ladies who hang around hotel premises sometimes are informants to armed robbers, and therefore, we must send them out of our streets. Abuja must not be seen as just a political capital, but also as a tourist centre for the country.”He therefore solicited the cooperation of hotels owners by providing information about guests who lodge in their hotels. The FCT Minister, Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar, in a recent interview with THISDAY had said his administration believed that alcohol use, drugs and crime were linked and should be curbed in the city. The FCT administration is also making moves to ban the smoking of tobacco in public places.
As Nigeria's 'elections' keep crumbling
With the Court of Appeal's affirmation of the judgment of the election tribunal in Kogi State, we are in for interesting times ahead. The Speaker of the state House of Assembly (Clarence Olafemi) has been sworn in as Acting Governor until fresh election is conducted. But the acting governor is facing the same fate with the now removed 'governor' Ibrahim Idris. So many more acting governors may be lining up in Kogi State.
There is also a possibility of a similar situation occurring at the federal level. Should the election tribunal nullify the April 2007 presidential elections and the judgment is affirmed by the Supreme Court, the Senate President would be sworn in as acting president.
It is a notorious fact that Senate President David Mark is defending his election in the tribunal as he was dragged there by his opponent (popularly called 'Young Alhaji'). In fact, election into two out of the three senate seats in Benue State have already been nullified and fresh elections ordered by the tribunal while ruling in the third one (occupied by Mark) is expected any moment soon.
How did we get into this pass? We had an emperor for a president (OBJ), whose creed was self, one who drove the country dangerously with his select technical team that included sycophants and bootlickers and an unscrupulous leadership of the electoral commission. They were all bent on doing things against every known form of decency and rule of law. He and his cronies then contrived every evil to stop the will of the people from prevailing over their personal interests.
Matters were not helped either by the fact that he had captured his party by sacking the chairman and secretary and personally appointing his cronies to act. Those cronies were later 'elected by affirmation' (euphemism for voice vote) at the party convention and thus did his bidding.
I have no personal interest in who becomes elected the governor of Kogi State (that is the business of Kogi voters) but I have interest in rule of law as opposed to arbitrariness, the later of which OBJ, INEC and the Attorney-General then were good at and unfortunately manipulated EFCC to achieve.
Today, the suppressed whispers of protest of the past are starring us in the face as whirlwinds with 'elections' upon 'elections' crumbling across the country, having been built on the foundation of dishonesty!
Just thought it important to remind ourselves of our most recent history and pray that we do not ever pass through this again.
There is also a possibility of a similar situation occurring at the federal level. Should the election tribunal nullify the April 2007 presidential elections and the judgment is affirmed by the Supreme Court, the Senate President would be sworn in as acting president.
It is a notorious fact that Senate President David Mark is defending his election in the tribunal as he was dragged there by his opponent (popularly called 'Young Alhaji'). In fact, election into two out of the three senate seats in Benue State have already been nullified and fresh elections ordered by the tribunal while ruling in the third one (occupied by Mark) is expected any moment soon.
How did we get into this pass? We had an emperor for a president (OBJ), whose creed was self, one who drove the country dangerously with his select technical team that included sycophants and bootlickers and an unscrupulous leadership of the electoral commission. They were all bent on doing things against every known form of decency and rule of law. He and his cronies then contrived every evil to stop the will of the people from prevailing over their personal interests.
Matters were not helped either by the fact that he had captured his party by sacking the chairman and secretary and personally appointing his cronies to act. Those cronies were later 'elected by affirmation' (euphemism for voice vote) at the party convention and thus did his bidding.
I have no personal interest in who becomes elected the governor of Kogi State (that is the business of Kogi voters) but I have interest in rule of law as opposed to arbitrariness, the later of which OBJ, INEC and the Attorney-General then were good at and unfortunately manipulated EFCC to achieve.
Today, the suppressed whispers of protest of the past are starring us in the face as whirlwinds with 'elections' upon 'elections' crumbling across the country, having been built on the foundation of dishonesty!
Just thought it important to remind ourselves of our most recent history and pray that we do not ever pass through this again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)