On Obama’s inauguration, I wore black!
By Obo Effanga
On January 20 2009, a black man, his even "blacker " wife and two black daughters moved into The White House – a house built more than 200 hundred years ago by black labourers, but until now only occupied by whites! What more could be described as “a defining moment in world history” than this? A little over a year ago, many still said this day would never come. But for some of us, we saw in Barack Hussein Obama, a freshness and change we could believe in. But yet many more said “our sights were set too high”; that America “was too divided; too disillusioned to ever come together around a common purpose“.
I still remember Obama’s speech on January 3 2008, after winning the first caucus of the Democratic Party primaries in Iowa. He said the Iowans had done what America could do within that year – “stand up and say that we are one nation; we are one people; and our time for change has come.” He talked about the change that was coming to America and many of us added, “nay, the change is coming to the world”
As testimony to the momentousness of Obama’s presidency, a record-breaking number of television viewers watched the event across the world. It topped the current record held by the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997; man’s landing on the moon in 1969 and the final game of the FIFA World Cup 2006. An estimated 1.2 million international audience also massed at Lincoln Memorial Square for the event. I remember seeing people wave their individual countries’ flags – Canadian, Kenyan, Brazilian etc.
January 20, 2009 certainly marked one great step for America and one giant stride for humanity. It is hoped that many more states are going to follow this path to abolish segregation and other attitudes which stress our differences rather than the oneness of humans as God’s creation.
Yes, we are all differently created and turn out as blacks and whites; men and women; able and disable; Jews, Christians, Muslims etc; rich or poor; yet we are all humans and equal before God.
Can we in Nigeria seize this auspicious moment to consider what went well in the American elections that made an Obama phenomenon possible and latch onto it?
Americans listened to the message, not necessarily the messenger – a man who came along with, as he and his wife Michelle joke about it, “a funny name”. What was worse, Obama arrived the scene when his near name sake, Osama (bin Laden) had become the world’s pariah-in-chief!
The sitting president did not abandon his presidential duties and railroad everyone in his Republican Party to support any single candidate over and against all others. Even when Senator John McCain emerged the standard bearer of his party, George W. Bush did not give him a presidential jet to fly around neither did he follow, nor lead him to campaigns. That would have amounted to creating an uneven playing field among the contestants.
Ordinary folks filed out, mobilised, campaigned and volunteered to make the elections work, confident that their votes will count. If they were ever in doubt about their votes counting, they protected them. In Florida, the Obama campaign recruited 5000 lawyers to be ready to go to court if anything fishy propped up.
Because rules were properly followed and not redrawn overnight, the results were out as soon as they were tallied and the non-winner (I cannot call him loser) immediately congratulated the president elect because America and its dream are more important than any sectional and personal interests. That night of November 4 last year, McCain made one of the best speeches of the 2008 presidential elections.
The electoral body did not obstinately and convolutedly remove valid candidates from the ballot. Law enforcement agencies did not hound candidates or tie their hand to their backs while the preferred candidates of the state were let lose and hand-held by the incumbent president to campaign grounds.
On November 4 2008, I remember going to my office, dressed in white and announcing that I wore that because on that day a fellow black, was going to take the White House. Someone said I was in for a shocker. Yes, I got a shocker…a black man took the White House and we cried tears of joy.
On Obama’s inauguration, I wore a black caftan because black is beautiful and my ‘brother’, Obama his wife Michelle and their lovely daughters, Malia-Ann and Natasha (and their dog, which Obama promised the girls) were going to enter and claim the White House. And they did, in grand style. After all the White House was built from the sweat of blacks!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Friday, December 19, 2008
Christmas, their Christmas
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!
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!
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
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