By Lateef Lawal

Immediate reconstruction and facility upgrade are to commence at the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, concessionaire for all scheduled domestic terminal operations in Lagos, Bi-Coourtney has said, contrary to a tri-partite agreement reached between it, the federal government and the protesting workers union.

This development is coming on the heel of the meeting held between workers unions, the ministry of aviation and senior members of the presidency in the absence of President Umar Yar’Adua last week where it was agreed that all issues regarding the concessioning of the terminal should remain status quo ante until the return of the president from Saudi Arabia.

Before the latest development, it was learnt that there was a meeting between the chairman of Bi-Courtney, FAAN, the Ministry of Aviation and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority during which the Chairman of Bi-Courtney, Wale Babalakin lambasted one the of the top officials present at the meeting, saying he was surprised that the organisation of the person in question could be in the forefront of those opposing Bi-Courtney in the take-over of the general aviation terminal in Lagos, bearing in mind that he-Babalakin was instrumental to the man’s appointment and that since (they) were now in charge they would ensure “a balance of terror” in getting rid of the director in question. Many stake holders present at the meeting viewed the outburst of the Bi-Coutney’s helmsman as a subtle blackmail aimed at having his way.

However in a statement on Sunday by the company’s Head of Corporate Affairs and Communications, Olugbenga Odugbesan without any reference to the meeting held last week in Abuja, the federal capital after which a joint statement was issued mandating all the parties to maintain a status-quo ante, said “during the reconstruction, portakabin, as proposed by the Ministry of Aviation and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, would be provided to sustain all existing operations and services at the terminal.”

“Bi-Courtney’s focus is to enhance facilities and services at the GAT to complement what is at the Murtala Muhammed Airport 2 (MMA2) so as to accommodate the growing number of domestic air travellers and the increasing fleet of airlines,” Odugbesan said.

“The concession agreement puts the sole responsibility for scheduled domestic terminal services on Bi-Courtney. We are not unaware of this. So, the GAT will only strengthen our repositioning efforts to deliver on our contractual obligations,” he explained.

He said with the handover of GAT to Bi-Courtney, the concessionaire had not gone beyond its mandate and that the company was reaching out to all stakeholders for their support and understanding to transform the face of aviation infrastructure in Nigeria.

Section 2.2 of the agreement vests exclusive responsibility for scheduled domestic terminal operations on Bi-Courtney but the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has continued to run parallel services at the GAT leading to a huge revenue loss to the concessionaire.

FAAN had argued that its action was to address the limited apron space at MMA2 managed by Bi-Courtney.

As a condition to withdraw from scheduled domestic services, FAAN had asked Bi-Courtney to construct a road to link MMA2’s apron to the apron at the GAT. The agency also requested a ‘graveyard’ for all disused aircraft to free up apron space at the GAT.

Two years after the construction of the road and clearing of the apron of disused aircraft, FAAN has continued to run parallel services at GAT which posed a great threat to Bi-Courtney’s investment and revenue projections.

The unyielding postures of the parties led to the intervention of the President, Alhaji Umar Yar’Adua, who, on 7th July directed Bi-Courtney, the Ministry of Aviation and FAAN to immediately implement the provisions of the agreement unconditionally.

By Chris Onyishi, Lagos, Nigeria.

First it was the then, Sidon dey look, Mr. Bola Ige of the blessed memory, who made us understand - during the administration of the Ota Engineer – that Power situation in Nigeria would become a thing of the past in six months. Like a snail crawling up the trunk of a banana plant, the six months elapsed and there was nothing that showed that the power situation had taken a positive turn. He sought another six months to no avail until he was moved to ministry of Justice where he actually should have been made to supervise in the first place.

I can’t remember exactly the succession pattern, but I remember, vividly, that then one Mr. Lyel Imoke came on board as the power chief. To my greatest amazement, Mr. Imoke was quoted as saying that the power situation in Nigeria would take fifty years to stabilize. Meanwhile, Mr. Bola Ige did hint us that he did not understand the enormity or obstacles on the way before his promise to revive power in six months. But what is not arguable with Late Ige’s six-month promise was his understanding of the need for immediate and urgent attention that power requires as the bed rock for any other meaningful development and his good will for Nigeria. At least he had a dream, but what would you ascribe to Imokes utterance about 50-year-power-theory. Was he thinking of going back to invent electricity or what?

Mr. Lyel Imoke was later to be rewarded, for that obnoxious 50-years-power-stability-theory, with the governorship of Cross River state by Prof. Iwu’s INEC. What came to my mind at first when I heard that one Mr. Imoke had secured the governorship ticket of Cross River State was to find out if he was the same Power-play Imoke. When once I discovered it was the same person, I then reasoned that Cross River people want to be in the dark for 50 years or for at least 8 years when Imoke would be sitting in as their governor. I did confirm this assertion when he worn a second time, which means that the Cross Riverians have confidence in him despite his power-stability-theory. But this is assuming that electorates determine who leads them in PDP version of democracy in Nigeria.

That PDP is the biggest party in Africa is not in doubt. What is in doubt is whether there is up to one percent of all these people who make up this “big party” that have any idea as to make Nigeria great.
I see in PDP a bird with the size of body of an Ostrich and a head of a chicken. Or how else could you visualize a party that has held down over one hundred and fifty million innocent people for over 12 years, in a democracy, without any hope of even a dim light at the end of the tunnel.

But the greatest shock of it all is how they keep wining more converts from the political sphere – the types of Ohakim and co - and worst still is hearing their leaders brag that PDP will rule Nigeria for the next 50 years. I ask what the basis for saying fifty years is, why not hundred or thirty. Is it when we all would have been dead or what? Are they proud that they are ruling well or are there any magic that will be performed that requires fifty years to happen?

I did lament when the University Guru of Chemistry was imposed on us that I did not see any capacity in him to remedy the rot which the President, of the Third Term fame, had inflicted on Nigeria and Nigerians. Somebody who came in with the notion of 7-8 point agenda has not by the turn of 24 months shown any progress in even half an agenda. And by the way what is his priority on the so touted 7-point agenda. Does it occur to him and his team that a litany of agenda is not worth anything if there is no priority of execution? Common sense shows that without sanitizing the nation of corruption, there will not be any trust in the positive direction and we cannot say corruption is any way tackled by this administration.

If I were one the five bank chief executives recently given a knock by the Sanusis, I would simply find a comfortable ground to decamp to PDP and I would be certain that President Yar’ dua will grace the occasion and all the noise of misappropriation of funds would coalesce into political size for the already bloated PDP. As a matter of fact, I have always compared the size of PDP with the size of corruption in Nigeria. And whenever I hear that one Ohakim is decamping, I only imagine that corruption has garnered support or that corruption has been threatened with two options of to move and associate with its bigger brother or to stay where it is and be seen as the real corruption.

And while we are sanitizing, or “de-corrupting”, the polity, the economy needs some boost the type that can only be brought about by stable power which the President’s party man – Mr. Imoke – has promised will only come about in the next fifty years. So what exactly are we talking about?

The party maybe the “biggest” in Africa, but I do not see the advantage in this size when there is no cohesion in the thoughts of the constituent members of this “bigness”. Or do they want us to see some connection between Imoke’s 50-year-power theory and the rule-for-50-years theory by the PDP kingpins, or do we call them top dogs.

Is it not incredible that in a country where the current President and the Education mister were once, and may still be, members of the academia in the nation’s highest institutions of learning are supervising almost 16 weeks of no academic activities? And they still go about celebrating their wedding anniversaries and giving out their daughters - for marriages - with colossal amounts being squandered in the process. Some of us know how wealthy these people were when they were teaching in the institutions.

I now agree that you may, with little effort, bring the monkey out of the jungle but you may never succeed in bringing the jungle out of the monkey. A party is worth nothing if it cannot engineer any meaningful social-political and ideological mechanisms that will engender growth for mankind in its political sphere and beyond - in a democratic setting, no matter the size. And a party that only boasts of size - and not mental sophistication - can only be equated to a big bird with the body of an Ostrich and the head of a chicken. And this is more reason I feel ashamed seeing some politicians I had thought had a better idea decamp into and flock with PDP on well orchestrated ceremonies.

If I were a politician, I would be leaving PDP instead of joining it now. I would be ashamed that my party has never had focus – and I did not know - and would not be, or offer me, a fertile ground for me to achieve my goal of leaving a legacy for our future generation. But this is if my mission in politics, originally, was to advance the cause of the human race.

If you have a big for nothing party housing big for nothing politicians, what you get is the semblance of a big bird of Ostrich size body with a chicken size head and the resultant effect is that a nation remains stagnant for as long as this big bird buries its head in the sand dunes of the desert while its big body is on the surface, either pretending, assuming or thinking that the hunter will not see it.

Chris Onyishi
Lagos, Nigeria
ctekchris@yahoo.com

*Nigeria at 49, how good so far, failed dream, promises

By Kelvin Okunbor

Stock taking is a vital exercise for every human endeavour for reasons that border on rational analysis. The reason for stock taking are not only for appraisal, but studies have revealed that it has provided a good platform or index for socio- economic planning as well as the implementation of people oriented programmes.

It is for this reason, that year in and out, nations across the globe reappraise itself with a view to realizing if the noble objectives of the founding fathers of such nations have either be attained or is on the verge of reversal; or to ascertain if there is a disconnect between what was intended and what is on ground.

This week Thursday, to be precise, Nigeria, the ascribed gaint of Africa will mark 49 years of nationhood, exemplified by freedom for colonial oppression, domination and other negative attributes associated with colonial rule.

Whether Nigeria has attained the dreams of its nationalists leaders, who in the struggles predating independence thought of as bigger picture, where life for all its citizens will the better, and happiness for all is no longer debatable as the crop of rulers not leaders that have accidentally found themselves at the helm of affairs have all derailed from the lofty ideals that the founding fathers laboured for.

The portrait of Nigeria as a democratic nation today is at variance with what it looked like some decades ago, when the nation had purposeful leaders, regional structures that were embedded in fiscal federalism as opposed to today’s amorphous Unitary federalism, where the government at the centre is like God to the federating units.
Each region in the independent era struggle to harness the resources in their respective region to the socio- economic transformation of their domain, a development that roused the consciousness of other parts.

It was not out of place to hear of the groundnut pyramids in the northern part of Nigeria, the cocoa of the western region, the rubber and palm produce of the Mid western region, while the eastern region economically held sway with its coal, palm oil and other endowments.
The return of the military in the sixties and seventies as well as the plunder of the military in the seventies and eighties all combined to derail Nigeria from its avowed destination as a nation that is destined to suceed, but its failure of leadership continues to hunt it as a powerful nation.

At 49 years of nationhood, what has changed from the pre- independent era? Today is a Nigeria that has lost direction , far from the vision of its founding nationalists fathers and leaders. A nation were moral values have broken down, a country where both the leaders and followers are in pursuit of crass materialism without recourse to integrity, hard work and dignity.

How has Nigeria fared in 49 years of nationhood, where a vast majority of the challenged populace live in bare face abject poverty, uninterrupted power supply has become a way of life, youth parade the streets for absence of jobs, university teachers and students are at home no thanks to the lingering face off between ASUU and Government.
What manner of country are we in, 49 years after independence, the nation still relies on crude oil as the main stay of the economy?

Have we made any progress as a nation, when we have become a dumping ground for adulterated and inferior goods fro nations that were economic toddlers at the time Nigeria attained independence in 1960.
Without an adequate development plan to fast track the growth of the economy, we may have failed as there seemingly midnight in our country, because we are a fallen house, which centre cannot hold.

As Nigerians grope in the dark over the inability of the government to deliver error proof electoral process that checkmate rigging of elections by desperate politicians, how will the country not graduate into a one party state, as the spoils of office appears the juicy attraction to public office.

As the Nigeria celebrate 49 years of nationhood, can the current president who appears to be in office and not in power lead us to the promise land? The road ahead is tortuous.

By Oyeols Akin

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, Chartered Institute of Bankers, Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, Nigerian Society of Engineers. These are some examples of the professional bodies we have in Nigeria and others abound! The ones listed here are just a tip of the iceberg. However, the ongoing crisis in the banking sector suddenly leads me to the question of what exactly the roles of all these professional bodies are? A professional body is meant to consist of a group of people in a learned occupation, who are entrusted with maintaining control or oversight of the legitimate practice of the occupation. They are also supposed to safeguard the public interest.

I take a look all around me and I suddenly discover that true professionalism died long ago and has taken the back seat in this country. Rather, in almost every industry what we now have is a situation where quacks have wrested control and are now at the forefront of the industry. In most developed countries before operating as a plumber, electrician or carpenter, much less as an Architect or Engineer, one would typically have passed some exams and obtained to sort of certification to qualify to repair plumbing or wire a house. But here in Nigeria, all manner of people, both qualified and usually unqualified take on such jobs.

The banking sector is a vital industry in any country. It is an industry where the raw material is money….other people’s money! Through lending, it has the capacity to provide much needed capital to millions of people and industries, which might ordinarily not have had access to the funds required to set up their own small business, expand an existing one or add another production line to say a cement factory. All of which would provide millions of jobs, lift so many out of poverty and grow a national economy.

Yet, despite all the benefits of a virile banking sector, the industry is fraught with risk as it is a constant challenge for the leadership of any bank to find a right balance between the desire to make profits and satisfy shareholder demand on the one hand and the safeguarding of depositors funds on the other. Therefore one would typically expect that in order to achieve this, the leadership of our banks would certainly have to know what they were doing. But do they?

In an industry as delicate and important as banking, one would expect that the Chartered Institute of Bankers would play a vital role in the running of these banks. Not directly of course! But by ensuring that those saddled with the responsibility of managing our banks are sound in every aspect of the profession. But sadly, this does not appear to be the case.

The profession of banking has been so diminished that the sector now attracts all manner of people. In a typical bank, if any survey was carried out, I can almost guarantee that every bank in this country has fewer Chartered Bankers or even Banking and Finance graduates in its employ than non bankers. In fact, when I was in University I recall some of my fellow students telling those studying Banking and Finance that “they were wasting their time”. Now, that is not to say that only professional bankers can work in a bank. At junior levels, yes, I believe they can, but at senior level? At Assistant General Manger level? Where the decisions that determine the future viability and sustainability of a bank are taken? No, I think not!

What does a Yoruba graduate know about banking? What does a graduate of pharmacy know about banking? There is no way such a person would have had the tenets of the profession ingrained in his mind. Such a person can be smart and highly intelligent, but that doesn’t make him or her a banker? I find it odd that someone who studied Pharmacy, who spent 6 years learning about the do’s and don’ts of her PROFESSION, all the ethical and moral issues, suddenly veers off into banking and before you can say “hopscotch”, is suddenly in charge of a sensitive department such as Credit and Risk Management or becomes the Head of Treasury. Little wonder then, that our banks have stupidly created all manner of bad loans. Little wonder that they continually put all their eggs in one basket, ignoring the risk of credit concentration as it relates to individuals or companies as well as industries.

Little wonder that marketing has been reduced to employing pretty girls of questionable backgrounds to hit the streets and encouraging them to do “what the girls in that other bank do”, rather than actually selling a product. If banking were so simple or trivial, those who designed the course wouldn’t have designed it for 4 years and there wouldn’t be a professional body saddled with the responsibility of maintaining the highest standards of ethics, integrity and professionalism (although CIBN can be said to have failed in that regard).

While I have used banking as a case study, the fact is that professionalism in Nigeria has died. Real Estate management is now an all comers affair. Everyone is now an ‘agent’. Architecture and Engineering have been taken over by quacks. Clearing and forwarding is now something everyone can do.

What are we loosing by the death of professionalism? Well, for one quality. Quality is a priority in any business and profession. It is not only restricted to the product, but also the performance of the professionals. Lack of quality leads to a compromise in the standard of performance. This compromise in the standard of performance is what our banking crisis smacks of!!

Passengers to Pay Service Charge Directly To Operator of MMA2
……….Following Airlines Default……..

By Lateef Lawal, Lagos, Nigeria.

Passengers using the MMA2 Terminal in Lagos, Nigeria are to directly pay the passenger processing fee, otherwise known as passenger service charge to Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited(BASL), the operator of the terminal, effective October 1, 2009.

Hitherto, the fee was embedded in the air fare paid by each passenger to the airline they chose to travel with, but the non-remittance of the cumulative fees by airlines to government has been cited as the reason behind the latest development.

It would be recalled that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria(FAAN) recently alleged that several airlines were owing it hundreds of millions of Naira of unpaid passengers’ service charge collected on its behalf over the years before passing the management of the MMA2 to Bi-Courtney which was also responsible for the building of the new terminal.

According to the Head, Corporate Affairs and Communications of BASL, “The passenger processing charge of N1,000 is already included in ticket prices and collected by airlines on behalf of of Bi-courtney. Because the airlines are not remitting this amount to us,we are now forced to collect from passengers directly. With the new collection method,we expect airlines to reduce their fares by N1,000.” The passenger processing fee is used to maintain the facilities within the terminal.

The level ot indebtedness of airlines to Bi-Courtney from unremitted passenger service charge ,Odugbesan disclosed has risen to hundreds of millions of Naira, thus making it difficult for the company to service its indebtedness to its bank and maintain facilities.He noted that the efforts to work out a debt-proof arrangement with the airlines proved futile.The new collection measure,also practised in some airports the world over, Odugbesan said, should not translate into an increase in airfare.

Posted by Lateef Lawal

By Frank Ediagbonya

IBB is a name many Nigerians would never forget in a hurry. IBB is embedded with connotations than ordinary acronym a novice would take it for. The acronym IBB is the most feared and most doubted in the military and political circle past and present in Nigeria. It is an acronym that can dethrone the devil from his throne in hell.

IBB sound awful when you mention June 12, SAP, IMF loan, Students Riots. IBB is the iconic Maradona of Nigerian Politics, Arrogant, a demi god to many who were empowered and enriched by him and a multi-talented in Social Engineering.

Gen. Ibrahim Badamusi Babagida, IBB for short, a retired former military President of Nigeria, a career military man with hidden political talent, a man whose draconian laws, heavy handed iron fist and crafty administrative skill set Nigerians on a bleak political and economic journey with no final destination in sight.

The emergence of this skillful torturer nicknamed maradona by the press, a manipulator and a coercer of destinies of many Nigerians irrespective of tribes, religions or status, leaving them in reels of confusion, mental pains and psychological truman for more than two decades has spoken in favour of ordinary Nigerians for the first time in 25 years. His claims and evidences is being throughly evaluated by many Nigerian social scientists at home and abroad.

“IBB has repented.” Repented from what? And why? This nice words about Nigerians, a sense of common purpose and social justice; what gave IBB the impetus to voice out the minds of ordinary Nigerians? The death of Gani or a political ambition? This are the questions many Nigerians should be asking.

IBB is one of the most “intelligent Nigerians” there is no doubt about his ability to manage a complex country like Nigeria but why did he allow his ego and overconfidence to betray his intelligence and good purpose for Nigeria in his 8 year rule?

The words of IBB on how to move Nigeria forward are in order but there are fears that IBB is up to something. Why did he chose this time to air his opinion after the death of Gani or when the next presidential election is less than 20 months from now?

Babagida knows how to capture the hearts of Nigerians, he is an hypnotist who had cultivated the hearts of Nigerians with white elephant programmes, wasting tax payers money, only to cancel these programmes at the 11th hour. He has something in his sleeve and the best way to pacify the hearts of Nigerians is to tell them exactly what they are yearning for since independence, watch their reaction and then announce his political ambition to rule Nigeria.

Can IBB pass the repentant test just like car MOT? If IBB become the next president of Nigeria will he do all what he has said within the first year or before the end of his administration or would he manipulate Nigerians just as he did in the 8 years of his reign? Is a repented IBB different from the evil genius IBB aka Maradona?

Does IBB have the key to our social and economic problems in Nigeria? Or has IBB opted to repair his battered image among ordinary Nigerians by fighting their battle for them just like Fela and Gani?

Nigerians who have suffered scourges of Military regimes and Nigerians who became victims of bad leaders are watching and reading the lips of IBB with so much skepticisms. A repented IBB can spring surprises. Watch out.

By Karry Osa Okuns

For some months now undergraduates in scores of tertiary institutions littering the lenght and breadth of Nigeria have been roaming the streets, no thanks to the face off between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU).

The details of what has prolonged the strike to this ridiculous level is undeserving of analysis, as it epitomizes the insincerity on the part of the Nigerian government to honour any agreement it has signed with the striking university teachers, whose contributions to national development cannot be quantified in monetary terms.

What appears intriguing in the unfolding lock jam is the seeming hard stance of the education minister, who sadly as a former university teacher ought to understand better the challenges of the egg heads in the ivory tower, as well as the desire to put education in Nigeria on the path of growth and sustainable development.

With months running out, with no hope in sight of how the issue will be resolved, the seeming arrogance of the education minister, Dr Sam Egwu, of not shifting grounds on this issue lives very much to be desired.

Only last week, president Umaru Yar Adua, the challenged Nigerian leader jetted out for an official visit to Saudi Arabia, where understandably, he went to commission a university of technoly, whereas at home university teachers and undergraduates are roaming the streets with no hope in sight of when the impasse will be ultimately resolved.

It is not laughable, that when there is trouble with the educational system in the country, the president, who seem to have lost the compass of leadership in Nigeria’s myriad of socio-economic, cum political problems.

As many Nigerians have queried: Is Yar Adua, the leader we need, or shall Nigerians wait for another? This query that has fast graduated into a puzzle seem to have deepened the mystery in rationale thought as hawks around the presidency work round the clock to ensure a hitch free re- election for the embattled president in the much anticipated 2011, even when the president has grossly fallen short of delivering his much touted seven - point agenda, or as many observers will not no agenda at all.

In the face of failure to delivery uninterrupted power supply, spiraling inflation gaps in police implementation, unemployment, lopsided practice of federalism, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), may have missed the point , with no concrete evidence to demonstrate the robust dividends of democracy to Nigerians.

The failure to bring about a transparent electoral process, and the ominous return to a one party state, no thanks to the cross carpeting of politicians to the ruling party, there may be no hope in the horizon for Nigeria for complacency has become a way of life. As the nation next week celebrates 49 years of nationhood, what can Nigerians boast of as an independent nation.

Is it a robust democracy or mere civil rule? Is it prolonged ASUU strike, unemployment or failure to meet the aspirations and yearnings of the people, the road ahead appears tortuous. It is time government resolved the lingering ASUU strike, such that both the lecturers and students can go back to the class rooms and lecture rooms.

Where is social contract with Nigerians if government fall short in delivering the real essence of representative democracy? The time to resolved these lingering is now or never, else we are all navigating in a rudderless ship of state that is bound to shipwreck someday.
The essence of government is about the people. Stop ASUU strike now.

By Benjamin Aliu Sr.

Since Independence, Nigeria has been plagued by Corruption, Greed, Tribalism and Falsehood. These vices continue today to undermine our National Unity and Progress. Tribalism and Corruption has been the two Hydra headed monsters right from independence and they continue to this day to work against our Unity and Progress. As a result of these vices, the Nigerian People are denied the right to self-determination by a privileged few whose only purpose in life is to further enrich themselves by any means necessary. The whole Country - at the Local Government, State Government and Federal including the National Assembly has been over taken by extremely greedy politicians, people with no conscience, a group of inept seat down and do nothing politician. All they care about is making money and more money.

These group of politicians have perfected the art of running Government without the consent of the people - rigging. Their style is You Rub my Back I Rub Your Back and this style is what they call Democracy. Public opinion means nothing to them and they forget that Any Government that Refuses to Listen to Public opinion and be Guided by it is not Democratic and such a Government has no right to Govern the People since the basis of a true Democracy rests on the Will of the Electorate. The Nigerian Politician’s approach to life and any thing they do shows openly their complete commitment to wealth and the means of accumulating more. In Nigeria, the representative ness of a politician begins and ends with Ethnicity and the misappropriation of public funds.

In the present system, the people’s interest is not represented, those who parade themselves as the representatives of the people are the same politicians who have been around since the first civilian regime and have taken undue advantage of their positions to amass wealth . They include civil servants, old politicians, retired police and army officers. Just take a look at the State Assemblies, the National Assembly and the Federal Cabinet. How can the present Minister of Petroleum be a Minister in 2009 Nigeria?

The structure of Nigeria politics right from independence has been Tribalistic and this has resulted in a climate that engenders hatred and mutual suspicion. The Yoruba’s do not trust the Ibos, the Hausas do not trust the south and the South do not trust the North. If we are to move forward into the Twenty first century, the time has come when merit must take over from tribalism, when merit must take over from privilege, when merit must take over from God-father politics. Due to the inept and empty individuals that now parade the corridors of power the Nigeria Nation has become a nonentity internationally and morally, we are as backward as the stone age. The Nigeria Nation is crying out for true pragmatic and dynamic Leadership devoid of tribalism, Nepotism and corruption.

Over the past thirty years, Nigeria as a Nation was fortunate to have had the resources in men, material and money to build a solid foundation for a solid Socio-Economic Revolution in Black Africa and to build a strong United and Self reliant Nation. Unfortunately, the opportunity has been Squandered due to Tribal Politics, Greed and Corruption which has become a way of life in the country. The way public officials and politicians now brazenly embezzle public funds without the fear of being brought to book is alarming. Every now and then the different State Governments, State Houses of Assemblies, the Federal Government or National Assembly sets up a panel or committee to look into allegations of corruption but unfortunately, the reports of such bodies never sees the light of the day. For example, the Nigerian People are still waiting to see the report the National assembly committee that was set up to look into how the Obasajo administration spent Fourteen Billion Dollars on non existent Electricity projects. In fact, the Speaker of the House has refused to let the committee’s report be debated on the Floor of the House. You know we are in serious trouble when the National Assembly is afraid to even debate the Freedom of Information Bill, the Electoral Reform Bill or any Bill that will impact positively on the lives of the Nigerian People. There is all forms of systematic obstruction of truth and justice , an attitude of disdain and hostility by members of the National Assembly, the Presidency and the privileged elites towards any real reform and progress.

After the Nigeria civil War, there was for the first time a Policy of a more Decisive political Re-orientation. The National Unity of the country became supreme above everything else and this was being unconditionally asserted and affirmed by the Federal Government. There was a National Development Plan (1970 - 1974) which set National Objectives which included National Unity, Self Reliant, a Diversified Economy and a Just and Egalitarian Society. This Plan failed because the Economic Boom during and after the Civil War created many overnight Contractors, Importers and exporters, Middle Men of all kinds and Multi Millioners . The spectacular enrichment of these group of people and its proliferation went pari persu (hand in hand) with the enrichment of military officers, police officers and Government officials. This resulted in such people having a firm grip on the Nation. The Political stance in favor of National Unity, Self Reliance, a Diversified Economy and a Just and Egalitarian Society became just slogans and this was evident in the later years of the Government of General Yakubu Gowan.

In Nigeria today, there is a ruthless suppression of contrary opinion, people are locked up without being charged with a crime sometimes just for criticizing the President or a member of the National Assembly. Media houses are closed down for the same reason and editors of such news out fits are locked up indefinitely just for questioning Government Policies. How is this Democracy? Nigeria has become a Nation without Purpose, a nation with no objective and a nation in decline. Since the country had the misfortune of Maradona - Ibrahim Babagida overthrowing the dynamic Government of the Generals Mohammed Buhari and Babatunde Idiagbon Nigeria has been importing finished petroleum products. This is in spite of the fact that not only that we are the Sixth largest producer of Crude Oil in the World, we have Four Oil Refineries non of which is working. During the same period, we have spent over Thirty Billion Dollars on Electrical projects yet electricity supply is pre stone age and Federal Roads have become Death Traps.

The Country is drifting towards total Chaos. Since the Babagida regime the Country has been drifting in no particular direction, we have no National Ideology, no Cohesive Development Plan and as at now we have no defined role in the International Arena. That our once Leadership role in Africa no longer exist is not only an understatement but manifested in the way the last G -8 summit ignored Nigeria and President Barak Obama made it very clear when he choose to visit Ghana instead of Nigeria. Unless we all join hands and resolve to arrest the situation, Nigeria as we all know it may not exist in the very near future. The handwriting is on the Wall. There is an urgent need to develop a participatory Democracy, a just and disciplined Society where every Nigerian can feel safe and ensure their livelihood and Dignity and the People can choose who represent them rather than the Hijacking of votes Nigeria will disintegrate.

Benjamin Aliu SR
Brooklyn, New York.

By Karry Osa-Okuns

Recent events in the aviation industry in Nigeria, in the past few weeks point to one direction: There is in short circulation honest people to assist in the running of the aviation industry, a sector that is dire and critical to the socio-economic transformation of Nigeria. It is needless to state that controversy continue to dog efforts by the government to deliver infrastructure in the aviation sector occasioned by institutional greed, corruption and other vices that combine to short change the nation.

It was this situation that prompted the controversial administration of Olusegin Obasanjo to thinker with the idea of public private partnership in the aviation industry. One of the fall out of the public private partnership is the build, operate and transfer initiative, that gave vent to the delivery of one of the most controversial agreements, the government of Nigeria, has ever signed with a private firm for the delivery of the new domestic terminal two of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Terminal Two otherwise known as MMA2, with a Nigerian Firm: Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, owned by youthful lawyer Dr Wale Babalakin.

The firm according to the agreement it signed with government is to manage the new terminal for 36 years, a claim that has become a subject in rigorous debate in many quarters, both informed, warped and otherwise. Issues that have been brought to the fore in the inferno like debate is the status of control over the old domestic terminal , which the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria continues to claim was not captured in the controversial agreement.

FAAN’S theory of the non - inclusion of the old domestic terminal is anchored on the premise that the radius spelt out on the agreement does not extend to the geographical space that houses the local wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport , Ikeja, Lagos. While the contention over who controls the general aviation terminal is yet to simmer, the minister of aviation: youthful Babatunde Omotoba, who had earlier told journalists that the government has given approval for the re- building or expansion of the terminal by a private sector firm after a keenly contested , competitive and transparent process , last week secretly ordered FAAN to hand over the old domestic terminal to officials of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, in a manner that reeks of monopolistic tendencies and sheer fraud.

Omotoba, it was who told journalists that the old domestic terminal will not be handed over to Bi- Courtney Limited, even as he affirmed that the process that will lead to the delivery of an expanded new terminal at the general aviation terminal in the old domestic wing will be distant from controversy, undue manipulation and sheer illegality. Conversely, the pretentious Omotoba flew into Lagos last week to oversee the handing over of the old domestic terminal to Bi- Courtney Limited, a fall out of an orchestrated script between Omotoba and his pay masters.

Why should Omotoba lie? Was he not sure of himself as a minister of the federal republic , when he acted contrary to his words? With personalities like Omotoba, the aviation industry is far from redemption, as his actions have thus far portrayed him as a man who could not be trusted on his words. He may as well pass for a rabble rouser, who hangs in the corridor of power to enjoy the perquisites of office, while pretending to unfold an agenda for the aviation industry.
The ripple effects of this illegal act are far beyond imagination. What becomes of FAAN, and its personnel attached to the old domestic terminal?

The over 300 staff posted to the GAT, as the terminal is called have their fate hanging in the balance. These so called concessionaires, whose only mission is to sap the aviation industry dry should go and invest in unviable airports scattered all over the country, in places like Akure, Maiduguri, Kaduna, Gombe, Makurdi, Sokoto, Ibadan, Ilorin ; instead of government selling off the viable airports in the name of public private partnership.

Although, Arik Air is poised to resist the illegal hand over of the old domestic terminal to Bi- Courtney Limited, industry players are watching how unions in the aviation industry will wrestle with the criminals who have combined to short change the industry. Omotoba has to clear the air, on the unfolding developments, else he has joined the ranks of sabotuers who collude with capitalists to arrest the development of the aviation industry. The whole world is watching.

By Kola Alapinni

It is with the utmost shame and sense of bewilderment that I read the headlines attributed to the current Nigerian Inspector General of Police Mr Ogbonnaya Onovo. I mean, did this man really think before speaking? How could the number one police officer of the most populous black nation in the world be on the record as saying that a man of high visibility and profile as the former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC Chairman Nuhu Ribadu did not visit Nigeria. He further said that if he did, who ever has the proof should provide it. To say the least, the Nigerian media went hay-wire providing documentary and real evidence in form of photographs both in still and motion form.

A few issues are worrisome here. Firstly, has Mallam Ribadu been found to be a criminal? If so what crime did he commit and to which court of law has he been found guilty? Secondly, did Ribadu jump bail in Nigeria so much so that his return to offer his condolences to the family of the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi triggered a discussion bordering on arresting this man (a Nigerian citizen) if he sets foot on the territory of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (his home country)?

I would proceed to draw a few inferences before concluding my analogy. It is safe to infer that if indeed Nuhu Ribadu is either officially or unofficially a marked man by the Nigerian security forces, he outsmarted them by having a safe ingress and egress out of Nigeria. It would be safe to further infer that either he enjoys so much goodwill within the country that his former colleagues in the security agencies in Nigeria would not arrest him or oust him or he has decided to utilise the Handbook of - Afenifere, NADECO, JACON, CD, CDHR et cetera, et cetera, - on evasion of State Security Agencies and he employed the expertise of no other than the great Femi Falana (a master of the famous NADECO route himself) who was at his side at all times during the video recording of his visit to Gani’s house.

As I write this piece, I cannot but share with you a little of what happened at the Oyo State High Court, Ring-Road Ibadan a few years ago during the notorious case of State vs Iyiola Omisore & Others. I covered the case as the Law Editor of New Age Newspapers in company of Sola Balogun the Oyo State Correspondent. The facts of the case were that the serving Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Chief Bola Ige was murdered at is Bodija residence at about 9-10pm. Amongst the the many twists in the drama that surrounded the case, when the late ‘Debo Akande (SAN) was cross-examining, it was revealed that the SSS guys who were detailed to protect their principal had locked up their guns in the house for’safe-keeping’ and had gone to look for bread and akara down the road. The assailants came in, met an unprotected Ige and shot him in the presence of his family. The pertinent question that Akande asked was that even if they had returned about the same time the assailants arrived or they had met the assailants inside the premises, what would they defend themselves with, not to talk of their principal?

I think I can conclude my analogy by saying the mentality of the men of our security agencies from top to bottom as encapsulated by the Inspector General of Police’s recent statements has once again brought to the fore the deep rottening mess and pile of rubbish that we have sank neck-deep into in Nigeria. And even in death, a visit to see Gani’s body still managed to make the security agencies who had for decades beaten,tear-gassed, harrassed and molested Gani and countless others look like they have lost the plot. I can bet Gani has been grinning at Beko, Aka-Bashorun, Pa Ajasin, Pa Adesanya and others saying that even in death he still made the top cop look like a flop.

Kola Alapinni
Birmingham UK

By Lateef Lawal, Lagos, Nigeria.

Aviation workers in Nigeria are set for a show down with the Federal Ministry of Aviation over the alleged hand over of the General Aviation Terminal(GAT),Ikeja, Lagos to Bi-Courtney Aviation for management.

The workers, who were unhappy about the deal has vowed to embark on total strike as from 12mid-night today as they finalised plans to shut down Nigeria’s airspace to both local and ‘international flights.In addition and to make the strike effective, the National President of the Nigerian Union of Air Transport Employees(NUATE),Comrade Safiyanu Dauda Mohammed said workers have unanimously agreed that there would not be ‘Fire Cover’ for any airline that would want to violate the ‘No Flight’ into Nigeria warning. Safiyanu said all the international bodies such as the International Transport Federation(ITF) and others have been informed likewise.

Following the strike alert issued by the workers made up of members of NUATE and those of the Air Transport Senior Senior Staff Association Of Nigerian (ATSSSAN), the Minister of Aviation,Babatunde Omotoba held a closed door meeting with the leaderships of the two labour bodies at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos office of the union to broker a peace deal but to no avail. Instead, the Minister was told that the issues at stake were that the concession granted Bi-Courtney was not transparent as there were no bidders aside from this company against the laid down regulations and also that worhers fate in the new deal was shrouded in secrecy without carrying the workers along.

Comrade Safiyanu said they don’t want to be caught in the web of what happened to the liquidated Nigeria Airways four years ago adding"till today workers pay-off package is yet to be settled".The Minister was informed at the meeting that the union discovered that the company in question was not even registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission(CAC), and wondered how an illegal entity was awarded the conession contract.When the minister came out of the meeting,he parried journalists’ questions on the outcome of the meeting held with the labour leaders, saying, “I don’t have anything to say". However, Safiyanu who spoke with journalists said,there was no agreement reached with the minister and as such they will be embarking on the nationwide strike on Wednesday, 23, September,2009.

However, the Chairman of Bi-Courtney,Chief Wale Babalakin said the claim of the workers was unfounded and out of place in the company’s determined efforts to provide modern infrastructure and create employment opportunities for Nigerians.He assured that the handover of the controversial will not in any way lead to job losses as alleged.Babalakin assured that” the concerns of various aviation unions and other industry stakeholders are being addressed by
Bi-Courtney in consultation with relevant bodies".Meanwhile, activities, were partially disrupted at the local wings of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Ikeja as the workers in their hundreds staged trekking-protest on the crisis while awaiting the outcome of the meeting between their leadership and the Special Adviser to President Yar’Adua, Sarki Muktar on ways at ending the crisis.

Depending on the outcome of the meeting,the Assistant Secretary-General of one of the unions, Comrade Abdul-Karim Motajo of NUATE said the workers were set for a complete shut-down of the country’s airspace.

*After The Demise of VirginNigeria,This Eagle Must Fly High

By Lateef Lawal

Four years ago, when Virgin Atlantic with some powerful Nigerian foistered Virgin Nigeria on the air transport scene, hell was let loose by stakeholders as to the sincerity of those behind the venture.Specifically, members of the Airline Operators of Nigeria(AON) raised eyebrows on many aspects of the memorandum of understanding(MOU) signed between Richard Branson,Chairman of Virgin Atlantic and Nigerian Officials in the Ministry of Aviation. The AON, cried foul over the reservation of certain foreign routes for Virgin Nigeria to the detriment of already established registered Nigerian carriers. Also at issue was the 49 per cent stake the Federal Government conceded to Virgin Atlantic in Virgin Nigeria, making the British carrier the single institutional largest shareholder in the venture, while existing Nigerian registered airlines were barred from investing into Virgin Nigeria.

In the midst of all these crisis, I wrote a piece in the Nigerian Commercial Aviation News edition then titled: “Virgin Nigeria, In Whose Interest?". I tried to marshal all the points raised against the venture , including the total dominance of its management by officials seconded from Britain’s Virgin Atlantic with huge technical and management fees to go along with. Apart from the apparent capital flight engendered in this venture, it portrayed Nigerians in the field as incompetent and second hand citizens in their own country not fit for empolyment into top managerial positions. Sadly enough then, the Nigerian government looked the other side by refusing to consider serious issues raised and the negative picture been painted.

In addition, I did wrote then that putting Virgin Nigeria, a new entrant into the market on a long-haul route where the likes of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic hold sway was a suicide mission as there was no way the new airline could compete with the two foreign carriers on the Lagos-London-Lagos. Nobody seemed to listen then. Today, we are all wiser! Virgin Nigeria has withdrawn from that route to concentrate on domestic and regional. Not long ago, Virgin Atlantic started withdrawing its officials and technical partnership with Virgin Nigeria. The Board of the airline did well by not wasting time in replacing all the top management team with competent Nigerians/Africans. This led to the emergence of a former deputy Managing Director of Aero Contractors, Captain Dapo Olumide as the acting Managing Director and early this year was confirmed as the de-facto Chief Executive Officer.

Events of the past few months have shown that Africa and especially Nigeria has what it takes to administer an airline/aviation business. One has to really commend the Board of of the airline in giving Captain Olumide and his team the needed support to re-brand Virgin Nigeria into Nigerian Eagle Airlines coupled with the restructuring of the airline to meet with the current dispensation, especially the choice of Ethiopia Airways as the technical partner to the new brand called Nigerian Eagle Airlines.

We wish the airline, its management and staff properous flights into the future in air travel market, with the hope that this latest venture will truly be in Nigeria and Nigerians interest.

By Oyeols Akin

Our country operates a Federal structure wherein the country is ‘broken’ up into smaller States in order to ease administration. To a large extent, the States are meant to be independent entities and in charge of these 36 States are certain individuals called Governors who are meant to direct the affairs of their States in a manner similar to the way the President directs the affairs of the country, although by virtue of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, some things may be held as the exclusive preserve of the Federal Government.

In my opinion, the States have a better capacity to affect the lives of the people in a more direct way than the Federal Government can. How easy can it be to drive visible development from Abuja for the common man on the streets of Abakaliki or Ogbomosho or Zungeru? On the other hand, a State is just about the right size to allow for meaningful development. It is big enough to allow for the meaningful pooling of resources and small enough that the eye of the Governor can effectively cover the whole State, but of course, only if the Governor is someone with the vision and wherewithal to make it happen.

Herein lies the problem! I look at all the States of this country and of all the ones I am familiar with (Western Nigeria and Eastern/South south Nigeria) and I have come to the conclusion that we have only 2 Governors. The Governor of Lagos State, Mr Fasola on the one hand and the Governor of Rivers State, Mr Amaechi on the other. The rest are just Administrators! The progress that has been made in Lagos State is visible for all to see. While to some extent, the changes there can be termed as basic, but for Goodness sake, from where we are coming from as a country, the changes there are almost on the same scale as a miracle. Unlike most “governors” who talk a lot, but have nothing to show for it (reminiscent of a certain Mr Peter Odili), Governor Fasola only talks when he is already about to take action. And action is there aplenty. The BRT has been working non-stop since it was launched, a waterways transport scheme has been launched and the Lekki master plan has been launched and its implementation has started via the improved Lekki expressway. In addition there are also concrete plans in place for a free port in Lekki, as well as an international airport. Contracts have also been awarded for the massive expansion of the Badagry Expressway, while plans for the red and blue lines of the light rail system are also making steady progress. Action they say, speaks louder than words.

In Port Harcourt also, there is a wind of change and development, the like of which has not been seen in any previous administration. The whole city is almost one huge construction site. While this has its nuisances in the fact that the traffic situation has actually worsened, the situation will sure improve remarkably once the multitude of roads being constructed in the city are all completed. The traffic situation in Port Harcourt is legendry and of all the state capitals I have been to, only Lagos beats it hands down in that regard. However the reasons for traffic in PH are not far fetched. Aside from the old PH city, which was rather planned, most of what we call Port Harcourt today grew out of the massive expansion of the city due to the influx of people in search of a better life in a city flowing with oil money. As such, whole middle class enclaves sprang up in places that where hitherto simply villages and small communities, with their small roads and pathways. It is these small roads that were later tarred and ended up not providing an adequate road network for the city, due to their narrowness.

However, Governor Amaechi has taken the bull by the horn by undertaking a huge road construction and dualisation exercise. Within the city, at least 2 flyovers are being built, 4 major roads are at different stages of dualisation and not less than 4 other major single lane roads have been marked for dualisation. In addition, there are many other brand new roads being built to reduce traffic by diverting traffic away from areas that were usually grid locked. I have not seen any road construction of this scale all at once in any city, except Abuja and perhaps Lagos. His administration has also embarked on a massive urban renewal exercise. Lots of buildings that were too close to the road have been demolished, shops in many areas that lined certain roads have been demolished, businesses residing in commercial areas have been given one year to vacate, while business concerns on the popular and busy Aba Road that have no provision for parking for their customers have been told to either relocate or face closure/demolition. These are all visible signs of development that will immediately benefit the people and impact their lives.

On the other hand, the Oyo State Governor was recently interviewed and was quoted as saying in response to claims that his government was not working, that his government had achieved a lot because it was paying salaries on time!!! Isn’t it amazing that in this day and age paying salaries on time is considered an achievement!! I am sure that one of his claims, along with that of many of the other governors, would be that his state has no funds. In my opinion, this claim has no basis because seated right here, typing this, I can think of dozens of ways that a State can raise its revenue profile. A province I once read about in South Africa gets about 35% of its revenues from fines!! Every day people are breaking laws in this country. Laws relating to sanitation, traffic/driving, failure to follow building plans and approvals and so on. All the government needs to do is to put in place strong structures to ensure enforcement and collection. This will have a 2-pronged effect. First, it will improve the government’s revenue and secondly, once people see that the government is serious about enforcement, it will bring about greater compliance to the laws of the land. In Lagos, LASTMA, though they are often high handed, has engendered a greater sense of compliance to traffic regulations.

Our governors seem to think that their jobs are only about going to Abuja to collect allocation and then returning to their states to pay salaries. They do not realise that they have the capacity to develop their own states at an even faster rate than the Federal government can. Thank goodness Mr Fasola and Mr Amaechi have realised that they can do more for their States than Yar A’dua. All that is required is a fair bit of creativity, imagination and vision and voila…. an administrator can become a Governor!

By Oyeols Akin

For the umpteenth time, the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities is on strike. ASUU is the union that has gone on strike the most over the last 20 years. And what are they on strike for this time? From what I gather they intend to draw the governments’ attention to the decaying infrastructure in our universities, get a pay rise, among other things.

There is no doubt that our educational system has rotted beyond belief. There is no doubt that the quality of our graduates is very poor, except for the rare few who still manage to excel (by Nigerian standards anyway). There is no doubt that the government should have done so much more for the sector. But the truth of the matter is that the education sector is not the only one that has suffered massive government neglect. Look at our roads and bridges; look at our electricity infrastructure, our police force and our health care. The whole country has been neglected and has had its infrastructure shredded to bits, so why do we continue to have ASUU in the news the way no other Union is?
It seems that ASUU has an over inflated opinion of its power. This bloated perception of itself seems to stem from the successes of ASUU in the Babangida era, where ASUU in conjunction with NUPENG and PENGASSAN and other unions successfully brought this country to a halt (the success of that era is also the reason NUPENG and PENGASSAN also strike at the slightest whim). However, in my opinion ASUU is not really that powerful. All the strikes that the union has embarked upon over the last decade or so have had little impact on the government. The governments’ receipts and revenues are generally guaranteed whatever ASUU does. In fact, ASUU’s continued strike actions have their greatest effects on the students, the very same ones ASUU claims to be fighting for, as well as the Nigerian Nation as an entity. Over the years, in all of the various altercations between ASUU and the government, ASUU has usually been painted as the hero and the government as the villain. This may well be, but rather than focus on the government, let me focus on ASUU for a change.

It is a well-said proverb that it is only a fool that does the same thing the exact same way every time and expects a different result. ASUU has been striking consistently for over 20years now. Has anything changed significantly over the years? If not, why on earth would it suddenly change now? Has ASUU ever turned its spotlight on itself and challenged the Vice Chancellors of the various universities? The sector may be poorly funded, but we all know that like everywhere in this country, there is rather large-scale corruption and nepotism in the ivory towers. There is room for much better management of available resources. We are also all too aware of the scourge of handouts and the harassment of female students in our universities. Lecturers, who are ASUU members, carry out many of these practices. How many times have we heard ASUU challenge any of these practices successfully? If ASUU is not happy about the educational policies of the government, why does it not sponsor a bill at the National Assembly to right any wrongs that may be in our current laws? There are many other ways that ASUU can engage its energies to better the educational system, rather than its continued blind sighted approach to strike actions at every opportunity. Strikes may be necessary some of the time, but they certainly can’t be as necessary as the uncountable times the union has used the strategy.

If ASUU is to achieve its objective of making our educational system better, if indeed that is the true objective, then it must begin to think out of the box and perhaps seek to influence the formulation of acceptable policy, rather than seek to demolish already formulated but unacceptable policy. The Professors and Doctors who make up ASUU are meant to be highly intelligent, but they certainly don’t always act like it!

By Ifeatu Agbu.

Joblessness among Nigerian youths is now a serious security threat that can no longer be treated cavalierly. The increasing cases of kidnappings in the Niger Delta and the South East are part of the prize a society pays for not constructively engaging its youths in productive endeavours.
From all indications, the precarious situation in the Niger Delta has been compounded by an army of unemployed youths, who vent their frustrations on an uncaring society. Some of these restive youths may have been forced into militancy and criminality for survival. Bringing them back to the path of rectitude would therefore require providing them with jobs.
The recent victims of kidnapping have one message for the government, which is to provide jobs for the youths. Ace actor and broadcaster, Chief Pete Edochie, who regained his freedom from kidnappers after 24-hour captivity, said his abductors told him they held him to express their displeasure over politicians’ flamboyant lifestyle at the expense of the youths, who suffer economic hardship because of unemployment. “They warned me to let government know exactly how they feel,” he said.

The kidnappers of Chief Elechi Amadi, a renowned author, also asked him to pass the same message to the government. The septuagenarian gave a first-hand account of what joblessness can lead to in a society which is abundantly blessed by nature yet seriously impoverished by a visionless and selfish ruling class.

According to Elechi Amadi, who is concerned about the plight of youths in the oil-producing region, his captors complained bitterly thus: ‘We don’t have jobs, we have skills. The governor is not providing jobs. Even Okada which some of us were riding, is now banned. We don’t have money…” Of course, these can not justify resorting to criminality, but they nevertheless underscore the well known fact that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.

For the celebrated author, the solution lies in making jobs available, for the youths. “Let them acquire skills and then empower them so that they can make a living. If people are employed, they wouldn’t have time to take people to the bush to extort money,” he advised the government.

Another victim, Chief Godwin Okeke, chairman of G.U.O Group of Companies who was kidnapped last month in Onitsha said that what the boys were constantly telling him while he was with them was that they have no job, adding that those of them who were working were later sacked.

He appealed to the five governors of the South East states to provide jobs for university graduates, as according to him, the boys who abducted him sounded so brilliant and spoke good English. They also have marvellous planning strategy, he said.
Put simply, the message is that the energies of the youths need to be positively channelled through educational and vocational training. This will enhance their chances of getting good jobs. Better Still, it will make them to become self-employed and subsequently become employers of labour.
This is a challenge for all the stakeholders in the Niger Delta, particularly the federal, state and local governments as well as the oil companies. The Niger Delta Development Commission [NDDC] appreciated this fact earlier and has since been organizing skill acquisition trainings in different fields.

In January 2008, the commission started an agricultural training programme in conjunction with Songhai Delta, a reputable capacity building and youth empowerment centre based in Amupke, Delta State. The scheme was designed to train 3,400 youths in the Niger Delta in various aspects of agriculture. In the first phase, 1,700 participants selected from Bayelsa and Delta states were exposed to modern techniques of aquaculture, poultry production, bee keeping, grass cutter production, piggery, agro-processing, among others.

Also last year, 7,732 youths from the Niger Delta graduated from other Skills Acquisition programmes of the NDDC. Out of this number, 2,204 were trained in computer literacy and 1,929 in welding. Another 3,599 young boys and girls acquired skills in such areas as automobile mechanics, aluminium and furniture works, electrical installation and maintenance, home management skills outboard engine maintenance, printing, photography as well as refrigeration and cooling technology.

The skill acquisition strategy seems to have taken roots as it is now being factored into development plans of several state and local governments in the region. Perhaps, this also informed the position of the Ledum Mitee-led Technical Committee on the Niger Delta on the matter. The committee recommended the creation of a Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES) – where 2,000 jobs will be provided in each local government council in the zone, to keep the youths meaningfully busy and away from the temptations of militancy and other untoward behaviour.

It is reassuring that the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PTDF, is also towing the same line of using jobs as the antidote to criminality in the Niger Delta. Its Executive Secretary, Engr. Mustapha Rabe Darma said recently that the fund is establishing a centre for skills development and training in Port Harcourt. The centre, which will be housed in a five-storey building, will train 500 Nigerians with or without formal education annually in areas such as computer literacy, continuing education, beauty and hair dressing, baking and catering, soap and detergent making, tailoring, carpentry as well as the processing of polymer and its by-products. It will also have a library.

Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Chief Ufot Ekaette, said in Abuja while delivering a speech titled: “Our Roadmap to Peace and Security in the Niger Delta Region: The 7-Point Agenda Connection,” at the opening of a 3-day National Programme on Human Resource Development for Enhanced National Security that “in preparation for the provision of employment for ex-militants, the ministry has already identified qualified private sector service providers to train and provide jobs for trainees.”

Ekaette explained that “while the security agencies are handling the disarmament and demobilisation of the ex-militants, my ministry has worked out modalities for the re-integration of those who sign up for the amnesty. The re-integration involves reconciliation of ex-militants with the society through value re-orientation, mental adjustment as well as rehabilitation.”

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua also appreciates the importance of youth empowerment in addressing the Niger Delta crisis. This probably explains why the 2009 budget made provision for the building of world class skill acquisition centres. Apparently, the government was alarmed by the recent statistics released by the Ministry of Youth Development which shows that 80 per cent of our youths are unemployed, while ten per cent are under-employed.

All the efforts at achieving rapid socio-economic transformation of the country will come to naught if our youths, including graduates, are allowed to roam the streets with little or no prospects of getting jobs. In that circumstance, no amount of preachment will reduce criminality. The most potent weapon against youth criminality is gainful employment. This can best be achieved if the President gives teeth to the fight against corruption, which makes the ruling class to blatantly steal all the money meant for the development of the country, which would have led to the generation of jobs.

* Mr. Agbu writes from Port Harcourt.

By Kola Alapinni

Sometimes in 1997, I was a research assistant as a Part IV Law student in UI to one of my lecturers. She asked me to pop into the Chief’s office to set up a meeting since I was in Lagos gathering some research material for her. The Owolabi Afuye Memorial Lectures of the Ibadan NBA were coming up and my teacher was in charge of organizing the ceremony for the NBA. She wanted the Chief to play a part.

I remember being ushered into his office by his then Deputy Head of Chambers Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, himself an alumnae of the Ibadan Law Faculty. The rain had beat me silly on the ‘okada’ from Anthony Village Junction to his Law Office had had me drenched and shivering from head to toe. But as soon as I laid my eyes on this great man, I was well! I was simply awestruck by the simplicity exuded by this great man. He offered me a handshake but I didn’t even notice! I had been consumed and lost in ‘Ganiphilia’. The pictures on the wall, various memorabilia, the books and books and books all around and scores of people all waiting in the lobby downstairs.

I did set up the meeting and I drove Mrs. E.S. Olarinde there the following week in the company of Mr. Akanbi, now Justice Akanbi of the Oyo State High Court. Unfortunately as typical of the military years, the operatives of the State Security Service SSS were hovering round his office premises. He called the office from his car to inform us of his inability to meet with us and he offered his apologies. I remember the other members of the entourage were absolutely gutted on not being able to meet him on that occasion. Such was the magnet of the man called Gani.

The second was shortly before a trip to South Africa in January 2001, I had just won a scholarship to study for an ill-fated LLM at the Center for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, the whole world was at my feet or so it seemed. The LLM programme coordinator Norman Taku, now the Deputy Director of the Centre had requested via a phone call if I could get him one of Gani’s books; Murder of Dele Giwa: The Rights of a Private Prosecutor. There was only one place to go again, Gani’s Chambers.

I met him once again and he congratulated me on my scholarship. I stated my mission and he asked one of his men to get the book from a portakabin downstairs. As a good measure, he also gave me his Human Rights in Africa Law Reports when he found out my area of study was in Human Rights Law and a few other books. And he autographed them as well. Norman was well pleased I should say. These books were all donated to the Centre for Human Rights Law Library in Pretoria. And I am happy to say that I facilitated them. Such is the kind gesture of this great man.

Amongst all the numerous stories and anecdotes that abound of Gani, let it be remembered that this great human rights activist also sowed into the study of human rights law in a land where human wrongs and man’s oppression and segregation of his fellow man based on the colour of his skin had been Africa’s greatest festering sore.

Rest in Peace Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi

Kola Alapinni
Birmingham, UK
10th September 2009

By Oyeols Akin

The issue of privatising and deregulation of public enterprises has been in the front burner for quite some time now. My first memories of privatisation were in the era of former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida with the now defunct TCPC (Technical Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation) as its arrowhead. Over time we have changed names, changed responsibilities, and now the organisation we know to be saddled with the responsibility of privatisation is the BPE (Bureau for Public Enterprises).

Privatisation cum deregulation in Nigeria has however been a very bumpy and uneven road. For many diverse reasons, we have not done too well with out privatisation experiment. The moment the government announces that a company or industry is to be privatised or liberalised, the polity seems to heat up. Unions begin to make themselves heard and in most cases, what we tend to hear first are threats of strike and all manner of related actions. Politicians, economists and many social commentators begin to say this and that, either for or against (usually against) and in most cases, the Government, not having enough will and probably never clear enough about the direction it wanted to go in the first place, backs down and things go on as usual. But to whose benefit?

Our Government has not been able to run any enterprise successfully for as long as I can remember. The list of failed government enterprises is amazingly long. PHCN, Nitel, Nigeria Airways, Nigeria Railways, Ajaokuta Steel Complex, Nigerian National Shipping Line, Alscon (before it was privatised), NAFCON, National Theatre, Refineries, Eleme Petrochemical (before privatisation), Hotels, Banks, Newspapers and many more I can’t even remember! What makes us think the government can do any better anytime soon? The longer these enterprises fail, especially the ones with no substitutes, the more the costs to the Nigerian economy and by extension, its people.

Yet, the many unions who go on strike to prevent the privatisation of all these enterprises don’t seem to think so. Usually they claim that once funding is in place, the organisations will work, but I far as I am concerned, that is a farce!! My opinion is that the unions of PHCN, Nitel etc, do not want these organisations privatised in order to maintain the status quo. They know all too well that they cannot compete in the private sector. The truth of the matter is that they have spent too long working in a civil service way, and by this I mean incompetently, lacking creativity and with low levels of efficiency. The unions usually claim they are striking to protect Nigerian worker, but in actual fact they are fighting tooth and nail to keep their jobs at the expense of a more efficient Nigeria. Although their actions usually tend to benefit the workers in the short term, in the long term both the Nigerian worker and the Nigerian nation lose out as the whole country looses efficiency and productivity. Perhaps, if we had privatised our power industry early in the 80’s, Nigerian industries wouldn’t have closed in droves the way they have in the last 10 years. I wouldn’t be surprised if the idea was brought up then, but it was most likely killed via the unions. Short-term benefit, maybe, but who is paying the price now?

Lets take a look at a public enterprise (Nitel) and a private one (the GSM companies). The GSM companies have brought in billions of dollars in investment, paid billions of Naira in taxes, created thousands of direct jobs and tens of thousand of indirect ones (from hawkers of recharge cards, distributors of recharge cards, builders of masts, steel fabricators, IT consultants, advertising agencies etc). On the other hand, how many times has Nitel advertised for staff in recent memory? When did they last engage in massive investment for expansion purposes, capable of providing jobs and adding value to the economy? Or when did it last contribute to Government income by way of dividend or payment of taxes? Rather, it constitutes a drain on the Nations resources, as salaries are paid for little or no value of work done. The same questions can be asked of our refineries? Who has ever heard of any of our refineries putting out adverts for employment? Yet these are the places where our Petroleum Engineers, Mechanical Engineers and the like should be dreaming of working. On the other hand, we regularly see Shell, Oando, Mobil, NLNG et al advertise for vacancies in the newspapers.

There is no doubt that many of the staff at our public companies may loose their jobs if privatised. But the truth of the matter is that many of them are only currently employed due to the inefficiencies of the system. What 5 staff in the current PHCN do, 1 person in a privatised PHCN could probably do with a laptop- more efficiently for that matter!! After all, I’ve had a PHCN official come to severe my power connection, unaware that I had paid my bill about 10 days earlier at the exact same office he was operating from!! How inefficient and incompetent is that!? The sooner the old, ancient and incompetent staffs of these companies give way to a younger, more vibrant and competent generation, the better for the Nigerian economy.

It is also true that in the short term, the prices of the goods and services provided by these failed government enterprises may increase if privatised, as investments are made to bring existing facilities up to scratch, but I put forward that in the long term the prices will come down. After all, we started GSM at N50 per minute in 2001, but now, depending on the contract you are running, you may be charged as low as N12 per minute and that does not take depreciation of the Naira and inflation into consideration. In real terms it is even cheaper. What is the point of paying N6/Kwh of electricity that will never come and then spend thousands of Naira purchasing fuel to run generators? Wouldn’t it be better to pay N11/kwh for stable electricity from a private company and have peace of mind to stock your freezer and conduct your business?

No matter what the unions think and say, the truth is that the private sector will always be better at capital formation and allocation. The sooner we get the government to stop attempting to run businesses, and to convert Nigeria Ltd to Nigeria Plc, the better for us all, especially in the long run!

www.wayforwardnaija.blogspot.com

By Oyeols Akin

For the greater part of my lifetime, I have been fed with this rhetoric of Nigeria being the Giant of Africa, a Nation with great potential! However, the more I grow older and wiser and continue to analyze this country, the more I realize that Nigeria is far from being a great country. The definition of a great country may vary slightly from one person to the other, but I expect all the definitions to contain some of the same ingredients. I expect to hear that a great country is one that protects its citizens, where the political system is relatively stable, one that provides quality education and healthcare to its people, one where basic infrastructure such as water supply, electricity, an efficient transport system are available and work, whether or not they are provided by the private or public sector and one where the rule of law reigns and citizens can find redress in the law courts.

Unfortunately, all of these things are currently not ingredients of the Nigerian state. Roads, water, healthcare, education, security, access to justice and electricity (to mention a few) are not readily available to the majority of Nigerians. Maybe they once were, but no more.

The recent shunning of Nigeria by the president of the United States of Nigeria and the scathing remarks of the US Secretary of State, Mrs Hilary Clinton, on her recent visit to Nigeria show just how far down the rungs of greatness Nigeria has fallen. The sad part of all of this is that those in government have not realized that Nigeria is longer great, if it ever was. I would rather posit that Nigeria was never really great or a giant, she was just once rich, but even that wealth is no more. With a ballooning population of about 150 million people, its much vaunted oil wealth is but a drop in the ocean when calculated in per capita terms.

We continue to beat our chests and boast of the being the 9th largest producer of crude oil, 6th largest exporter of the product and the largest in Africa. But have any of the top functionaries at the Ministry of Finance stopped to re-calculate those statistics? If they have, they will probably discover that Angola has swiftly relegated Nigeria to the 2nd largest producer and exporter of crude oil on the African continent. And the way other countries are attracting investment whilst Nigeria looses out on investment, it may not be long before we slip further to the 3rd and possibly 4th. What a tragedy!

Whilst South Africa is preparing to host the soccer world in 2010 and has already successfully staged the Confederations Cup, beaming high quality signals to the world, we are struggling to host the U-17 championships and fighting in-house about whether AIT or NTA has been given the broadcast rights, when FIFA is just a phone call or an e-mail away. Most Nigerians know more about the World Cup holding in South Africa in a year’s time than they do about a competition holding in their own backyard in 2 months time. Such is the shoddy way we do things.

Is Nigeria a great Nation? All things considered, my answer to that is far from it! And the sooner those in Aso rock and Abuja realize this and begin to take urgent steps to remedy the situation, the better.

www.wayforwardnaija.blogspot.com