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politics

Cees Harrington Harmon
Economy

Brain circulation a probable panacea

by thealvingreport
written by thealvingreport 10mins read

As opposed to brain drain, international migration researchers are increasingly noting a new phenomenon they call “brain circulation,” whereby talented people leave, settle down abroad, and then return to their home countries with their intellectual assets, and yet are not fully “lost” to either place.
As Richard Devane wrote in a study issued by the World Bank, China, India, and Israel enjoyed investment or technology booms from 2000 to 2010, which are linked by expatriate leadership in all three countries.
Recently, Dr. Akintoye Akindele, in a working paper themed: Beyond Remittances: Unlocking the True Value of the African Diaspora propounded just that. Nigeria’s economic breakthrough stands a good chance of happening from diaspora assets, not necessarily from the current annual remittances of $25 billion, which is projected to reach $35 billion over the next five years, but from knowledge and skills circulation. He pushed for Nigerians living abroad who have marinated the wealth of knowledge and skills of those developed countries to transfer the same to the homeland.
There can be no gainsaying the fact that Nigeria’s diaspora population is knowledge and skills endowed. For instance, more than 5400 Nigerian-trained professionals thrive in the British NHS. Nigeria has the third-highest number of foreign doctors working in the UK. The only certified cardio nephrologist is of Nigerian origin.
37 percent of Nigerian-Americans hold a bachelor’s degree and 17 percent hold a Master’s Degree. Nigerians account for less than 1 percent of the black population in the US, yet make up ~25 percent of all black students at Harvard business school.
95,000 Nigerian students are sent abroad annually.
On the flip side, $1 billion is spent annually on medical tourism in Nigeria. Doctor to patient ratio is 1:6000, far less than the World Health Organisation’s recommended 1:600. That is due to the poor availability of skilled personnel and poor health facilities. The number of practicing medical doctors in Nigeria is approximately 35,000.
Education-wise, about 10.5 million children in Nigeria are out of school; 40 percent of primary school teachers in Nigeria are not qualified.
The rate of education accessibility in Nigeria is 20.1 percent. Nigeria’s share of the global shortage of teachers is a staggering 12 percent.
Clearly, there is a huge knowledge and skills gap between the diaspora population and the homeland that should be narrowed in order to catch up with global development speed.
While Nigerians in the diaspora have flourished abroad, they have also tried to engage the homeland but have been met with some stiff challenges.
Many Nigerians in the diaspora are willing and able to provide support to key sectors such as education and health but do not know the channels to follow.  
According to Akindele, that is due to pertinent underlying issues including Trust, which is often an issue when dealing with diaspora contributions;  Civil and Political Unrest and Uncertainty that stoke fear of political and security situations across the country, often hampering the willingness of the diaspora to make long-term home-based investment and contribution decisions;  Poor Enabling Environment to foster growth, in which Nigerians abroad have often had difficulty planning and coordinating effect impact effort or direct investment without their physical presence as issues often arise around how they will monitor progress remotely and get true updates; Infrastructure, where economic and formal institutions are still In a questionable state;  and Lack of Understanding of Local Terrain & Policy.
While the above issues remain hard nuts to crack, Akindele extrapolated low-hanging fruits representing opportunities for immediate impact for Nigerians in diaspora willing to deepen inbound engagements. They include:
Skills Development & Knowledge Transfer, which can be achieved by training programs for software talent to drive developer count upwards, coordinated and structured exchange programs, facilitation of internship programs and placements for local talent, partnership with incubation hubs and mentorship programs on the continent, and remote work engagements with local SMEs in strategic roles and positions– knowledge spillovers.
Collaborative Research & Innovation by reduced investment costs from early entry, access to co-investors after commercialization, joint laboratories with joint grants establishing research institute, centers, and laboratories cross-border peer review and collaboration.
Also, Investments through Diaspora Direct Investment (DDI) in SMEs and startups, Diaspora funds and angel networks, Diaspora bonds, and joint venture partnerships with local investors and entrepreneurs.
Trade and Product Exchange by a partnership with local producers and service providers, Patronisation of made in Nigeria products, distribution partnerships, and structures for made in Africa products, as well as IP& Licensing support for global markets.
With Nigeria’s remittance per capita currently standing at $998, Akindele propounded that besides being sentimentally linked to the home country, 54 percent of Nigerians in the diaspora hold or are likely to hold managerial positions, while 61 percent have a first degree. He, therefore, projected that Nigerians are still likely to have the financial power in the future to make hefty remittances.
Currently, 55 percent of diaspora remittances to Nigeria are sent for family upkeep, 25 percent for charity, 11 percent goes to business investments, while 9 percent goes to building projects. That trend does not impact the local economy optimally.
One commentator said on average, over 70 percent of diaspora funds are drained by consumption. “Though this helps to address poverty, efforts should be made to raise the 30 percent available for investment much higher.
Annalee Saxenian, an economic geographer at U.C. Berkeley and author of ‘The New Argonauts’ notes, “Like the Greeks who sailed with Jason in search of the Golden Fleece, the new Argonauts are foreign-born, technically skilled entrepreneurs who travel back and forth between Silicon Valley and their home countries.”
Those are the very “Argonauts” that have been instrumental in the transformation of China, India, Taiwan, and Israel over the past few decades.
Diaspora Nigerians and the local talents are all the ingredients needed for Nigeria to become the next economic miracle, except for the lack of synergy.
Left to dawdled politicians to create the right environment that time may never come. That synergy and change can begin with just the next action-taker.

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Bashorun J.K. Randle
Economy

UNITED IN GRIEF AGAIN

by Bashorun J.K. Randle
written by Bashorun J.K. Randle 10mins read

As is often the case, grief is the direct consequence of the failure of duty of care compounded by mendacity and incompetence.

Subversive neglect and/or outright negligence would escalate matters beyond toxic combination to fatal and irrevocable injury.

In a few days (7th November 2021) two King’s College families – namely our revered former Acting Principal (Headmaster) Mr. Feniobu Iroloye Ajumogobia and the Cerebral Professor Claude Ake will reflect on the profoundly clinical evidence of Justice Charles Archibong (Retd) (ex-St. Gregory’s College, Obalende).

“On 7th November 1996, a Boeing 727 aircraft, registration number 5N BBG with 144 passengers and crew onboard operating Flight 086, took off from Port Harcourt at 3.52 p.m. local time bound for Lagos.  The aircraft and flight services were those of Aviation Development Company Plc (ADC), a publicly quoted Nigerian company.

In the process of clearing the ADC aircraft for its descent into Lagos, an air traffic controller who controlled and separated air traffic set the ADC aircraft on a collision course with another aircraft.  That aircraft was a Triax Boeing 727 operating flight

TIX 185 which just departed from Lagos heading to Enugu.

The ADC aircraft plunged into the Lagoon at Ejirin, near Epe, killing all 144 passengers on board (including Mr. Ajumogobia and Professor Ake).”

After the crash, the Minister of Aviation ordered the grounding of all ADC aircraft and suspension of its operations.  He also ordered an investigation into the cause of the accident.”

That was twenty-five years ago but the grief, nightmare, shock, and mourning ensured remained fresh and galling.  If I remember rightly the Chief Investigator was Cudjoe Sagoe (ex-Igbobi College, Lagos and Imperial College, London).

By way of digression, Cudjoe died relatively young.  Matters were not helped by the fact when he returned to Nigeria with an MSc in Aeronautical Engineering, he joined the Nigerian Federal Aviation Authority (now known as Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria) only to find himself in the invidious situation whereby he (from Lagos State) had to report to a boss with inferior qualification but who was from a favored part of the nation.

Even more grievous was the case of Bestman, who was a classmate of Cudjoe.  His score in the final Bsc exam in Aeronautical Engineering was 100 percent.  The examiners could not believe what they had witnessed.  So they made him repeat the examination in the full glare of several professors.  He scored 100 percent again.  For the first time in the history of Imperial College, Bestman bypassed Msc and went directly to the Ph.D. course.  He finished it in record time.  Out of panic, he was sent off to British Aerospace in Bristol where he again astonished them with his brilliance.  It was the same story when he was sent off to Australia to lecture in rocket science.

Suddenly, he caught the fever of patriotism and returned to Nigeria. He ended up at the Rivers State Institute of Technology,  Port Harcourt.  He apparently perished in grief, frustration, and penury.  All things bright and beautiful, Nigeria devours or destroys them all !!

Back to the judgment delivered by Justice Charles Archibong on 10 November 2009 (thirteen years after the crash):

“…………………………in the circumstances that led to the crash of the ADC 727 5N BBG Flight 086, I found that the authorities (the agencies of government directly concerned) i.e. all the defendants bar the first defendant  (unnamed Mr.  X), failed severally in the discharge of their statutory duties, including the failure to release promptly the report of the panel appointed to investigate the causes of the crash.  The delay compounded the negligence that contributed to that tragic accident.  I found the failure by the Federal Ministry of Aviation and the Federal Government of Nigeria to release the panel’s report promptly after it had been completed to be negligent in the extreme and reckless, and it was irresponsible and they were culpable as a result.”

CNN’s incredibly versatile and energetic Richard Quest who combines his interest in aviation matters with stock exchange/corporate issues has been on the case.  Look out for the riveting expose:

“During that interval (thirteen years), the airline died.

Before this tragic crash, the company had been planning a major expansion program.  Deposits in United States dollars had been made on aircraft.  Negotiations by the Chairman of the Company, Captain Augustine  Okon with the aircraft leasing company in Florida, USA had to be abandoned once the crash occurred.  The leasing company refused to refund the deposit.  That formed the basis of court action in the United States.  Scheduled “D” checks for aircraft could not go ahead as planned  – no revenue.  Planned re-capitalization was aborted.  There were staff redundancies.  Leases and loans from various banks could not be serviced when they fell due.  There was a loss of cargo revenue as well.  Because aircraft could no longer be serviced due to the inability to continue the mandatory checks on aircraft, the company had to ground its aircraft long before the end of its economic life.  Insurance premiums skyrocketed due to assessed higher risks.  The company’s share price plummeted.  Losses, losses, losses.

Mr. Feniobu Iroloye Ajumogobia:

Feniobu Iroloye Ajumogobia was born Macaulay Frank Bestman, to Chief Amakiri Bestman and Madam Membereba Orubibi on 9th January 1914 in Abonnema. His father, also known as Ajumogobiaye Amakiri was the 1st son of Chief Bestman Ajumogobia Briggs from Kalabari Old Shipping, one of the 11 founding chiefs of Abonnema. His mother was a descendant of the Duweinala family who were amongst the founders of Kalabari.

He started school at Nyemoni Primary School, Abonnema in 1923 and went on to Government College Umuahia on 29th June 1930 where he completed his secondary education. It was here that he developed an interest in science, and as a student, he was appointed laboratory curator of the college. He left Government College in 1932 and went on to Yaba Higher College as a foundation student, where he studied Physics and Mathematics. It was at Yaba Higher College that he and some of his contemporaries such as Isaac Dagogo JohnBull (later Erekosima) and Horatio Briggs (later Tralapuye Oruwariye) first mooted the idea of adopting traditional family names. He changed his name to Feniobu Iroloye Ajumogobia in December 1950, a few months before his marriage to Florence Daisy Inetubo Wokoma, daughter of the late Rev. Canon A.M. Wokoma and Mrs. M.A. Wokoma.

On the completion of his studies at Higher College, he embarked upon what was to be a long and fulfilling career as a science teacher and educationist despite the strenuous efforts of his tutors to persuade him to do Medicine or Engineering, or one of the more prestigious and materially rewarding professions given his science background. He refused to be swayed, and often asserted that “Teaching is the poorest of trades, but the noblest of professions”. He was always proud to be referred to as a teacher. In his own words:

“I was sent from the Higher College, Yaba where I was pursuing the course for the Teachers Diploma (Physics & Mathematics) to Government College, Ibadan, in the last half of 1936, to learn to teach Mathematics under Mr. A.W.A. Spicer, a very effective teacher of the subject. I was posted to Edo College, Benin City in April 1937 to introduce science in the college, which had recently been established by the Nigerian Government. I was also to take charge of Mathematics in the college. Again, these experiences were most stimulating and rewarding.

I was transferred from Edo College to King’s College, Lagos in January 1939. I recall that I arrived in Lagos on 13th January 1939. I was at King’s College, Lagos from January 1939 to September 1944 and again from July 1949 to September 1957 making a total of fourteen years. From September 1944 to June 1949 I was on a Nigerian Government Scholarship in the United Kingdom to continue my study of Physics and Mathematics at degree level.

On arrival at King’s College Lagos, I was warmly received by my former science teacher, Mr. A.J. Carpenter, who had appointed me as the science laboratory curator at Government College, Umuahia. At the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Mr. Carpenter was called to the colors.

During my 14 years at King’s College, Lagos I had the most rewarding experiences, not only in the teaching of science (including Mathematics) but also in other ways. I rose to be the Senior Science Master and was also in charge of mathematics at the college. It would be invidious to name only a few of the many young gentlemen who had the pleasure of teaching at King’s College, Lagos. Suffice it to say that many of them have been very successful and are flourishing in practically all fields of endeavor.

While I was at King’s College, I was approached by Miss W.W. Blackwell, the Principal of Queens College, Lagos (1931-1942) to teach science to selected girls of Queen’s College to enable them to have a background in general science. I undertook that assignment until I left Nigeria for Britain in September 1944.

I was truly proud to be a teacher or schoolmaster. It is also my very great pleasure to state that many of the students I taught are among my personal friends. This is the joy and reward of every successful schoolmaster”.

During his years of study in Britain from 1944 to 1949, he was associated with the Science Master’s Association (SMA). It wasKeen for his desire to form such an association in Nigeria to encourage the improvement of science teaching in Nigeria in Nigeria, h. He sent out invitations to selected teachers. The Science Teachers Association of Nigeria (STAN) was thus born and he was elected its first president. and The first meeting was held in the Lecture Theatre of King’s College, Lagos in October 1957. The Science Teachers Association of Nigeria (STAN) was born and he was elected its first president.

In September 1957, Mr. Ajumogobia was transferred from King’s College, Lagos to the Lagos Education Office as Chief Education Officer,. It was whilst he was there that where he implemented Government’s decision to establish the Federal Emergency Science School at Onikan, Lagos. Soon after this, in 1958A year later, he moved to the Nigeria Office as Education Adviser to the Nigerian Representative in London.

In February 1959, he was asked to return to Nigeria to take on the post of Adviser on Secondary Education in the Federal Ministry of Education and subsequently Adviser on Post-Secondary Education in the Federal Ministry of Education. During this period he was actively involved in the establishment of the University of Lagos and often reminisced about the citing of the university at its present location. At Nigeria’s independence on October 1st, 1960 he was appointed Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, the first Nigerian to hold the post. He retired voluntarily from the Federal Civil Service in June 1964 as Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, and joined the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1964.

As Programme Specialist in Paris, his duties included the development of educational programs and projects for the Africa Region. In 1965, UNESCO appointed him as their representative to the Economic Commission to Africa (ECA) and to the Ethiopian Government based in Addis Ababa. He was subsequently appointed UNESCO Chief of Mission to East and southeast Africa, covering Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland, and based in Dare-es-Salaam.

He spent much of his time traveling between his various missions from where he unfailingly sent individual postcards to his wife and children. Each member of his family also received a telegram on their birthdays, and even after his retirement, despite the advent of fax, telex, and e-mail, it was always a thrill to receive his telegrams, sometimes several weeks after the actual date!

Mr. Ajumogobia retired from UNESCO in 1974, he enjoyed a brief spell of research at his old college, King’s College, Cambridge, wherein in 1953 he had done postgraduate work in the History and Philosophy of Science. Upon his return to Nigeria, he settled in Port-Harcourt and was engaged by the Rivers State Government as Administrative Officer on Special Duties for 2 years after which he retired from active public service in 1977. In 1979, he was conferred with the National Award of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON).

In retirement, he rekindled his interest and devotion to the Science Teachers Association of Nigeria (STAN), which he had initiated as the Senior Science Master of King’s College, Lagos in 1957. On the occasion of the 24th Annual Conference in Akure, Ondo State in 1982, he was conferred with “Fellow of STAN” and was fondly referred to as the Father of STAN. He wrote the following words written barely 6 months before his passing; “…and I here assure that my personal interest in and close association with STAN will continue to the end of my mortal life by the grace of God.” On 18th February 1997, STAN conferred him with the posthumous award of Distinguished/Sustained Service to Science Education (DSSE).

As a father, he treated all his children with friendly dignity, and by personal example emphasized to them the values and importance of integrity and modesty. He was a thoughtful father and took an interest in all they did. His personality seemed to be shaped by what he would wish for them. At their birthday parties, he would personally organize the games. During family holidays he was involved in all activities. The last of these family holidays was in August 1995 when his wife, children, and some of his grandchildren spent a month-long eventful vacation in the United Kingdom. During this holiday, he took his family to see the 100th-anniversary performance of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of being Ernest” a play, which he had seen and enjoyed as a student in London in the mid-1940s.
In his younger days, he was a keen cricketer and a good swimmer. His children grew up hearing mythical tales about his prowess as a swimmer. His two sons (one of whom was a medallist of the British Amateur Swimming Association) regarded themselves as fine swimmers and continually challenged their father to a race. This he always politely declined until one Sunday afternoon to their great excitement, he decided to demonstrate to them that he could indeed swim. The result of this event ensured that the deference that Soboma and Odein had for their father’s swimming ability was passed on to his grandchildren. Needless to say, thereafter, family swimming contests pointedly excluded him!

As a husband, he was most companionable, kind, and extremely courteous. In his wife’s words, “Feni was one of nature’s gentlemen. His life was one of quality and substance. He had a commendable, agreeable disposition, disciplined and devoted, consistent and committed. He was gentle but firm. I like to think of him as a good husband, a good father to my children, a man of integrity. He made my life richer in quality and experience. I am a better woman for having been married to him.”

He loved his nine grandchildren dearly and was happiest in their midst especially during the last holiday they spent with him in Port-Harcourt in October 1996. His trip to Lagos in November 1996 was especially to see and be with them…

Professor Claude Ake:

Claude Ake (18 February 1939 in Omoku – 7 November 1996) was a Nigerian political scientist from Omoku, in Rivers State, Nigeria. Ake (pronounced AH-kay) was considered “one of Africa’s foremost political philosophers.” He specialised in political economy, political theory, and development studies and is well known for his research on development and democracy in Africa. He was professor of political economy and dean of the University of Port Harcourt’s Faculty of Social Sciences for some years in the 1970s and 1980s after having taught at Columbia University, where he earned his Ph.D. in 1966. He held various academic positions at institutions around the world, including at Yale University (United States), University of Nairobi (Kenya), University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), and University of Port Harcourt (Nigeria). He was active in Nigerian politics, a critic of corruption and authoritarian rule in Africa. His permanent home was in Port Harcourt.

Before becoming a dean at Port Harcourt, he taught at universities in Canada, Kenya, and Tanzania. Afterward, he held a variety of posts, at the African Journal of Political Economy, on the Social Sciences Council of Nigeria, and elsewhere.

At Yale, he taught two political science courses—one, called State in Africa, which was for undergraduates and graduate students, and another for undergraduates, about aspects of development and the state in Africa. While teaching at Yale he lived in temporary quarters on the Yale campus.

He wrote in 1985, in an essay  on the African state: “Power is everything, and those who control the coercive resources use it freely to promote their interests.” George Bond, the director of the Institute of African Studies at Columbia University’s School of International Public Affairs, said: “He was one of the pre-eminent scholars on African politics and a scholar-activist concerned with the development of Africa. His concern was primarily with the average African and how to improve the nature of his conditions.”

David E. Apter of Yale said of Ake: “In the very short time he was here, he developed a following among the students, both graduate and undergraduate, which was truly extraordinary. There were graduate students who wept at his death. Everyone was really shocked. It was an amazing testimonial to the man.” Apter said that Ake had “crackling intelligence and an outspokenly severe view of African politics and nevertheless, underneath that, a quality of understanding which was remarkably subtle and complex. But he was able to communicate the complexity in a straightforward manner.” He added that Ake “was not only, in my view, the top African political scientist, but an extraordinarily courageous person. The Nigerian Government was often at odds with him, and nevertheless, they recognized his stature.”

As regards the crucial issue of grief, even the English got it wrong.  There is no such thing as “good grief” (even as an expression of being utterly perplexed).

Thankfully, the front page of the “Daily Trust” newspaper of October 27, 2021, has provided us with the proof of evidence by the witness-In-Chief.

“INCOMPETENT PEOPLE IN GOVERNMENT REASON FOR FAILURE –EL-RUFAI.”

“The Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has said there is governance failure because there are so many incompetent people in government.

He spoke yesterday at a plenary session of the Nigerian Economic Summit. 

“We need competent people in political and public service, but this is not the case in Nigeria, and things will not work.  Unless the best and brightest hands are in the political system, the outcome will be sub-optimal and terrible,” he said.

“I have seen a level of disconnect between the political and economic elite.  We discovered that those in the economic class just want to do their business, make their money, and live at Banana Island.  But however strong your business is, without a functional political system and competent public service, that business will collapse.”

The Chairman, Africa Initiative for Governance, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede called for synergy among both political and economic players.

“Therefore, if there is a failure in the system, it is a collective failure.  Nation-building is a very deliberate exercise, which involves great risks and sacrifices.  And that is the path that we must take.”

Meanwhile, Governor Simon Bako Lalong of Plateau State, at another panel session said the state remains a very suitable business and investment hub because the government has vigorously addressed some of the major security challenges by tackling their root causes.

Lalong, in a statement by his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Dr. Makut Simon, also advocated for a review of the revenue sharing formula and state police which must accommodate adequate funding, checks and balances, and a very strong mechanism against abuse.”

Perhaps I should add that in 1957, I was in the same dormitory [F9, Harman’s House] at King’s College, Lagos as Claude Ake who was in the Lower Sixth Form, while I was in Form One.  Our beds were next to each other.  Even then it was clear that he was destined for greatness.  He held very strong views about virtually every facet of life and beyond.

As for Mr. Ajumogobia who was both a science teacher and housemaster, he and his family lived in one of the flats above our dormitory.  He was Acting Principal (Headmaster) before joining the Ministry of Education from where he went off on international posting to Nairobi, Kenya.  He took his wife and four children with him.  That explains how his two boys – Soboma and Odein (former Minister of Foreign Affairs; and former Minister of Petroleum Resources) missed out on old boys of King’s College.

He also had two daughters Emi Renner (a medical doctor) and Nimi Akinkugbe (who is currently Nigeria’s Ambassador to Greece).

One of Professor Claude Ake’s most remarkable interventions was his disdain for military government.  He famously slugged off “Those who are in authority but not in power.  They lack the moral authority to change anything.”

In other countries, on an occasion such as this, the government would organize remembrance activities to commemorate two outstanding souls that perished due to incompetence and also ensure that the duty of care is never again compromised by recklessness.  Even after twenty-five years, the latest tragedy is the collapse of a twenty-one storey building within shouting distance of my office in Ikoyi, Lagos.  At the last count, ten souls had been pronounced dead with many more unaccounted for.

Permit me to conclude by commending the Ajumogobia family for the annual classical musical feast in honor of their patriarch.

Similarly, I must thank both Professor Adele Jinadu (ex-King’s College and Oxford University) and Professor Tunji Olaopa for their unrelenting efforts to keep the formidable intellectual legacy of Professor Claude Ake alive.

The last word belongs to the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi who is like  Mr. Ajumogobia and Professor Ake is from Rivers State.  Frontpage of “ThisDay” newspaper of November 1, 2021:

“Don’t forget that what most Ministers like is this kind of situation, where contracts are expiring in their time.  I could have just renewed it (the INTELS Contract) and collected some of the contracts.”

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sam-iwuajoku
The Editor's Pick

Sam Iwuajoku – extravagantly entrepreneurial

by Joseph Edgar
written by Joseph Edgar 10mins read

It was my friend and brother Femi Omotosho prominent Banker and serial investor who mentioned at the height of the pandemic that I should make a beeline towards this gentleman and see what he was putting on the ground.

Now you will ask why he was so intent on my meeting up and spending time with Mr. Iwuajoku. Simple. I am passionate about this economy and by extension this Country. I have left the space where we are still talking of ‘potentials’ at the positive side and of separation and all the calamitous rendering we hear at the extreme negative side.

You see, I want to tell very positive stories about this country. So, stories of people doing things on the economic side, which portends major confidence in the system especially taking investment risks on long gestation projects sit very perfectly on my good side.

Mr. Iwuajoku’s business model seats on a dual portal striding Aviation and Hospitality on the very broadside. In-between those two are a varied business exposure that continues to create jobs and redistribute wealth in such a powerful way that the keen observer cannot help but marvel.

So, I walk onto the massive site that houses the prestigious Legend Hotel and the Aviation hangar that is all under his Quits Group platform. The whole site is spacious and extremely neat, you can hardly believe that a major construction job is going on.

He is inspecting the west wing extension of his Legend hotel. He is building extra rooms in a hurried bid to expand to 231 rooms from the present 60 Room positioning. This new wing will come with an ultra-modern Convention Centre that will seat 2,000 people.

As we tour the giant facility, I take a closer look at this gentleman. He looks kind but comes across like an Ojukwu lookalike with his beards, but behind the seeming hard stares, you could see his kindness and softer disposition from his penetrating eyes. I know he will soon break the tension and in fact, he cannot wait for us to exchange as friends but first, he must first understand this young man with uncombed hair and his mission.

Let’s go to the other side he says. Get a reflector jacket he orders me. we move towards a huge dugout on the way, I count almost 10 private jets. He provides the service – parking and maintenance. He maintains aircraft for four major international concerns thereby saving Nigeria huge outflows in urgently needed forex.

He wants to build an underground warehouse at the dugout and put planes on the flattened surface. The huge earth-moving machines are working strenuously. Rain is his enemy but work he must.

How did you begin, I ask? He says it was the market meltdown that threw him this way. The depression of 2008 made him start asking himself what else can he do. He had cash but the outlets were thinning out. So this sector gave him a unique opening. He would edge his revenues by having his receivables in hard currency.

He leased the huge expanse of Land surrounding the Murtala Muhammed International Airport and coursed very arrogantly towards the Local Airport from the FAAN on a 40year renewable lease arrangement.

As we walk in-between Private Jets, proudly perched on his plot, I see a different kind of man. I ask him, who owns these beautiful birds, he smiles like a kind grandfather and says ‘bro leave am’.

Then we move towards his very beautiful office. From his desk, he watches over his birds with glee. He can see the beauties as they stand majestically on the tarmac. You can feel the bond between them as he talks to me and at the same time keeps an eye on them the way a Nanny will keep an eye on an errant ward.

So, what are your succession plans I ask? This project is huge, expansion alone is $35m you must surely be thinking of succession.

What drives the question is the handsome boy I saw when I first walked in. I had called and he had said, ‘ask for Ifeanyi, he will bring you to me’. Nobody seemed to know Ifeanyi as I wandered around the huge premises till I ran to this very handsome and tall young man with a name tag that said,’ Iwuajoku’. I said, ‘are you Ifeanyi? He said no. But what do you want, I can be of assistance.

He took me to Chairman and on the way, I asked who he was. He said, ‘Son’. I said are you working here and are you on a salary? He says yes and I said you are young and he said I am married.

His confidence, sure-footed manner, and exchange with ‘Chairman” made me push later with Uncle Sam on the succession plan.

He gently deflects but positions that ‘our kids are not as strong as we are’ he says generally. I agree with him. This leads us to his journey. From the age of 16, he had started learning and working. He was the surveyor in on the Dolphin reclamation amongst other jobs he had embarked on from teen. This had hardened him, making him as Tough as Nails. He was involved in the Ports, Snake Island, and all of that. Working with expatriates, learning and positioning, getting himself ready for this pivotal role he is currently playing.

As we speak, his phones are ringing none stop. The biggest players in the economy are calling. He is custodian to their precious birds and as such they must be on speed dial to him at all times.

Today there is an issue with the customs. He must resolve it. He is calming the caller, I recognize the name, I listen to the conversation. His reassuring gait, his calming disposition, and his confidence give the billionaire on the other side enough respite to say, ‘ok, Sam I hear you.

Me too, I hear you, Sam. This Country must continue to nurture people like Sam. People who will not wait for the challenges of life both man-made and otherwise to build fences and use them as a weak justification for a loss of faith in the system.

Where are you from? I fire. He says I am Nigerian. But if you ask me where are my parents from, I will say Imo but I was born in Badagry and as such my argument is clear, I am a Nigerian.

I smile. I just love this man. Over 250 Nigerians and expatriates under his payroll, a forex saving business, a forex generating business an ambitious expansion with a long gestation and turnaround time, and a business that plays very strategically in the economy and does not fly by night, how will you not just like Uncle Sam.

Patriot.

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Joseph Edgar
The Editor's Pick

Where are the Bank MD’s

by Joseph Edgar
written by Joseph Edgar 10mins read

It just dawned on me that I do not know the MD of GTB and that Kennedy Uzoaka who is the MD of UBA is all but invincible.

This seems to be the trend in the system as it looks like we have been saddled with a different class of MDs. A class I will want to call the Intern MD.

Who is the intern MD? The Intern MD is a long-suffering albeit very loyal and brilliant banker who has over the years shown very clearly a powerful skill set which really has nothing to do with his technical capacity but points at a very essential value- loyalty and willingness to serve

80% of our giant financial institutions can be said to be run by Intern MDs.

How did we get here? In political science, we were thought about manifest destiny. This is the unintended consequence of policy action.

So in trying to strengthen Corporate Governance in the system on the back of the distress that hit the system, authorities ended the situation where one man was Chairman and MD at the same time.

The position was divided and made for different people. The manifest destiny of this threw up the father/son combo or the Husband/wife combo and in some cases the sugar Daddy/girlfriend combo

The banks were firmly held by dynastic families and they ran the institutions with the verve and favor that comes with that drama

Then policy changed. Seeming democratization of the environment was thrown up and this brought the age of the owner-managed and mercurial bankers

It was in this era, the megastars emerged. Elumelu, Ovia, Akingbola, Ibru and the rest

They moved like pop stars. They had the vision, youth, energy, and passion to drive these institutions from mere backwater players to major international concerns.

Daily we could feel their movements. The increase in share capitalization was a joke to them as they raised the capital almost effortlessly driving the financial system into advanced markets.

Then another policy came. Tenure limits. And immediately the megastars had to leave the stage.

However the difference between these ones and the Balogun’s is that they were still on top of their games, they still had age on their side and the push to conquer was still flowing in their blood

So within 24hours, almost all of them named successors and the dawn of the Intern MD hit us.

Apart from Herbert at Access and maybe Ebenezer at Zenith the rest fall very perfectly into this mold.

So how does this work? The Intern MD sees his appointment solely as luck and his closeness to the source of power. Hence his actions and movements are a direct reflection of the whims of the source.

I even hear that some sources attend bankers committee meetings and come back to brief the Intern MD. So the Intern MD is still in a subservient and docile position

The immediate effects of this situation, are a dearth of vision since it’s not yours, more red tape, sluggish decision making, a dearth of innovative ideas, and a zombified management.

I was with a huge entrepreneur who is embarking on a $35m expansion project which would employ 250 workers and deepen engagements in a critical sector and his lament was palpable.

He was talking to a management team that didn’t seem to understand the transaction dynamics and as such couldn’t even relay very clearly his prayers to the source thereby almost killing the relationship.

This is the stark immediate consequence of this manifest policy that has thrown up the Intern MD.

One would want to ask what role the Board plays in this. Same you would say. All you have to do is take a cursory look at the Board composition of some of these Banks and you will find a complete village meeting, secondary School alumni, inlaws, and lovers.

There you see your answer. It’s not all that dark though as the system seems to be working especially if we are to believe the figures that are churned out as Profits regularly.

But it’s like driving a car with a misfiring plug, you will get to your destination but would it be a smooth ride?

I keep quiet.

Edgar Joseph
Editor in Chief
Thealvinreport.com

Ps go to Thealvinreport.com to see some of the best-written articles on the economy and business

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Magnus Onyibe
Economy

Nigerian Presidency, 2023: Where Are The Igbo Candidates?

by Magnus Onyibe
written by Magnus Onyibe 10mins read

In the People Democratic Party, PDP whose convention comes up 30-31st October which is a few days’ time, the front runners for the presidential tickets are already very well known.
Ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar who had faced- off with the incumbent president Mohammadu Buhari in the 2019 presidential contest with significant impact, is on top of the pecking order. This has been confirmed by Oyo state governor and secretary of the PDP convention committee, Seyi Makinde who revealed the identity of the other presidential candidates during a recent Channels television interview.
“…PDP has eminently qualified personalities that can lead this country successfully. Some have indicated interest, like former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, like Governor (Aminu) Tambuwal, like Governor Bala Mohammed.”
Curiously, former senate president, and ex Kwara state governor, Bukola Saraki who was a serious contender for the presidency in 1999 was not mentioned. Just as no Igbo man/woman whose region is supposed to present the next president in 2023 is featured in governor Makinde’s list of PDP presidential candidates that would slug it out in presidential primaries.
With respect to the ruling party, All Progressives Party, APC, the man with the appellation, National Leader, also known as both the Jagaban of Borgu and Asiwaju of Lagos, Bola Ahmed Tinubu who served as governor of Lagos 1999-2007 is clearly the leader of the pack.
So it is almost like an entitlement for the man also nicknamed the Lion Of Bourdilon to become the president of Nigeria in 2023. That is simply because he played a pivotal role in the emergence of President Buhari as president in 2015 via his ability to swing the very critical south-west or Yoruba votes in favor of a then-presidential candidate, Buhari. Since it is the nature of politicians to give and later demand a return on lOUs, it appears to me that it is now payback time between Buhari and Tinubu. To actualize the presumed presidential ambition of Tinubu, South West Agenda For Asiwaju, SWAGA, a well-oiled campaign organization that has been founded by Tinubu’s ardent supporters has been making waves.
The criticality of Tinubu’s role in making Buhari president is accentuated by the fact it happened after Buhari’s three previous failed attempts (in 2003, 2007, and 2011) to win the presidency.
As someone contended elsewhere, it would not be far-fetched for observers of Nigerian political developments to come to the conclusion that Tinubu has been waiting for seven years to gain a foothold in the presidency of Nigeria. That is after the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN that Tinubu leads, struck the deal with then-candidate Buhari’s, Congress for Progressive Change, CPC between 2013/14 to harness Yoruba votes for Buhari’s victory in 2015.
Considering that the Asiwaju had to give up his initial ambition to serve as Vice Presidential candidate to Buhari in 2015, which is owed to the fact that the concept of a Muslim president and Vice President is a sort of anathema in Nigeria, his burning ambition to succeed Buhari as president must have remained aglow.
But how the burning desire can be converted into reality is a lump currently lodged in the throats of both the Asiwaju who is yet to verbalize his apparently lifelong quest, and his political godson, Yemi Osinbajo, that is being coy about his interest in the plump job of being president of the republic.
Be that as it may, a presidential campaign organization, ostensibly without Osinbajo’s public endorsement known as ‘Osinbajo Support Movement’ (OSM) has
created a website as far back as May to chronicle the achievements of the Vice-President and public garner support for him. Without being told, the emergence of OSM is in pursuit of the cause of elevating the current Vice President to the next level-the presidency.
To consolidate the publicity that had been achieved with the website, in the course of president Buhari daughter’s high octane wedding ceremonies recently held in Kano, the streets of the ancient city were adorned with posters pitching Osinbajo for president and incumbent Kano state governor, Abdullahi Ganduje for vice president with the carefully crafted message:
“If power rotates to the South, Osinbajo is best placed to unite, heal and inspire our great nation. We also firmly believe that Ganduje’s antecedents as Governor of Kano make him the perfect Northern vice presidential candidate to Osinbajo; one who will advance and protect the interests of a Northern Nigeria plagued by poverty and insecurity.”
By and large, it can be stated without equivocation that the presidency of Nigeria in 2023 from the ruling party prism appears to be beaconing on the current Vice President, who is a prodigy of the Jagaban, Bola Tinubu.
Keeping in mind that it was Tinubu that conceded the role of Vice President to Osinbajo by virtue of the fact that he was his trusted ally, would he be willing to concede the presidency to him this time?
Osinbajo, who is a high-ranking Pentecostal pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God and an astute legal scholar has been on the saddle as Vice President since 2015 and Tinubu his erstwhile boss has been on the sideline.
If the feelers in the political space are anything to go by, Osinbajo is not resisting the allure of change of nomenclature from Vice President to President-a natural progression that very few mortals can resist. But would his mentor, and if you like, an earthly master concede the presidency to him? That is the elephant in the room.
In my calculations, although Osinbajo may be able to garner the votes of a vast number of Christians nationwide by virtue of his being a member of the Redeem Church (believed to be the largest Pentecostal church denomination) he does not appear to possess what it takes to take on his former boss in political warfare and win in the main political battleground, south-west. It is perhaps why the Vice President has been demurring from advancing his purported presidential dream from the subliminal level to the realms of reality.
Even when the block votes in north-west are mobilized by Ganduje backed by Buhari for Osinbajo/Ganduje presidency, the nature of politics in Nigeria is that the block votes of the southwest are also required to secure the presidency which only Tinubu appears to have the capacity and ability to procure.
So, once again, the man often referred to as pastor/professor may have to predicate his presidential ambition on the will of God.
The third personality from Yoruba land that may be nursing presidential ambition in 2023 is the present Ekiti state governor, Kayode Fayemi who is also an ex-minister of solid minerals development.
As the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF, he has chalked up some national influence enough to earn himself national name recognition. Again, like Osinbajo, he is one of Tinubu’s surrogates who honed his political skills in the days of NADECO-the Yoruba political pressure movement that is one of the forces that pushed for the exit of Sani Abacha as Nigeria’s military head of state(1994-8).
So, Fayemi’s reported ambition may also be in abeyance, which is in line with the wisdom to engage in dalliance with Tinubu political family as a political tactic, so as not to cross paths with the APC national leader, who is apparently believed to hold the ace in Yoruba politics.
Now, our country, Nigeria is anchored, metaphorically, on a tripod formed by Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo nationalities, with each representing one of the three legs on which Nigeria stands.
They jostle for the presidency by the Yoruba and Hausa/Fulani nationalities gleaned from mainstream and online media sources has been cataloged in the preceding paragraphs.
But shockingly, alarmingly, and embarrassingly absent in the milieu are activities or information about the potential presidential or even vice-presidential candidates of Igbo origin from the ruling or main opposition parties jostling for the presidency in 2023.
So, where are the Igbo candidates?
Yes, Kingsley Moghalu, ex Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN deputy governor, and presidential candidate of one of the small political parties in 2019 may be angling for the presidency again in 2023. But, for the obvious reasons of lack of nationwide political structures, and inability to raise the humongous financial resources which by some estimates can be as high as one hundred billion nairas required to execute a presidential campaign, Moghalu has zero chance. The underlying reason for that assertion is that he is not vying for the presidency on the platform of the ruling APC or main opposition, PDP whose affluent members-governors, legislators, and ministers could have provided the financial resources and political structures once a candidate is adopted by the party. Basically if becoming the president of Nigeria in 2023 is in Moghalu’s gaze, it would have done his political career greater good, if he had joined the ruling or main opposition parties.
The other Igbo politicians of notable national status weighty enough to contemplate contesting for the presidency of Nigeria are Orji Uzo Kalu, ex Abia state governor, currently a senator; Ken Nnamani and Anyim Pius Anyim, both of whom are former senate Presidents at different times. To further give him more heft, Pius Anyim also served as Secretary to the government of the Federation under Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency.
But the aforementioned Igbo politicians who were on track to entrench themselves politically at the national level, have recently been literarily ‘damaged’ and have thus become political liabilities via their indictments by the EFCC for financial malfeasance. That is the case with Orji Kalu who was jailed under curious circumstances for corruption. But he escaped a long jail term by the whiskers when he was soon after discharged and acquitted. Pius Anyim has also been recently grilled by the anti-corruption agency, EFCC for alleged involvement of a company where he has a beneficial interest in an aviation ministry contract.
Regarding, Ken Nnamani, he has been in the cold politically for nearly fifteen years since he was compelled by his political leader( Chimaroke Nnamani, then governor of his state, currently a senator ) from seeking re-election to the senate after he played a prominent role in scuttling president Obasanjo’s presumed third term agenda in 2007. That much was revealed in Nnamani’s recently published memoir.
In a piece titled: How To Become President Of Nigeria which l wrote and published on the back page of Thisday newspaper on Monday, September 20, 2021, and on numerous online newspapers, l had made a case that the Igbo nation may be suffering from a dearth of ‘presidential materials’.
ln, the piece, l listed elder statesman, Emmanuel lwuanyanwu, the
owner of defunct Champion newspaper and lwuanyanwu Babes-football club (socioeconomic endeavors which gave him national name recognition) as a potential presidential candidate of Igbo extraction. But he is currently past his prime in terms of age and political relevance.
Another Igbo personality that l had also beamed the light on is Peter Obi, who is the 2019 vice presidential candidate of the PDP and former governor of Anambra state. He too is currently under the yoke of the recently leaked Pandora papers(a catalog of illicit financial flows into a tax haven in Monaco) which has put him under the scrutiny of Nigerian anti-fraud agencies which are getting under his skin in a bid to ferret out information to determine if the former state governor breached the code of conduct rules in public service by not disclosing some of his wealth tucked away in secret foreign jurisdictions.
In my interactions with multiple members of the Igbo ethnic stock, l get the sense that they desire, as desperately as can be imagined, to be the tribe calling the shots in the presidency from2023.
This was affirmed by the president-general of Ohaneze Indigbo, the region sociocultural organization, George
Obiozor had passionately made a case for the Igbo presidency of Nigeria after president Buhari exits the Aso Rock villa in 2023. Here is how he put it: “We support the Igbo president with open arms. It is the most important thing that will happen to Igbos. Finally, it is our turn. And we are going to work it so hard,” Obiozor further made the following emphasis:
“We will talk to other parts of Nigeria to give us a chance. Because it is right, reasonable, deserving, and timely. It is wonderful to consider it done by this time. Igbo presidency is our agenda.”
Another Igbo elder statesman and former Anambra state governor (1992-3) Chukwuemeka Ezeife had also lent his voice to the call for the next president to be Igbo.
Said he ” power comes from God but we (Ndigbo) have been doing our homework, reaching out to our brothers from the Northern, Western, and South-South part of Nigeria to support us in 2023. Ordinary Nigerians from the other geopolitical zones want an Igbo to be the next President for equity, justice, and fair play”.
Although, there has been a deluge of rhetorical statements that can be likened to the roars of lions from Igbos at home and in the diaspora about 2023 being a watershed year for a member of their ethnic group to be the president of Nigeria on the premise of the fact that both the Yoruba and Hausa/Fulani nations have had their turns in the presidential power rotation arrangement introduced since 1999: in terms of the physical mobilization of Igbo voters and the actual preparation of Igbo candidates, there has not been any significant evidence to match the vigor displayed in the media. Rather the hoopla in the mainstream and social media without commensurate practical action on the ground makes the Igbo appear like whimpering kittens as far as the struggle for the presidency of Nigeria in 2023 is concerned.
The clearly un-Igbo tame and timid attitude has been in part attributed to the resistance being put up by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, separatist movement via their seat-at-home order in Igbo land; and their disruption of political activities in the South-East through other civil disobedience actions which are having crippling effects on the socio-economic and political activities in the region.
The political inactivity in Igbo land with respect to the presidency of Nigeria in 2023 is quite the opposite of the preparatory activities towards the forthcoming November 6, governorship election in which both president Buhari and NEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu have vowed must hold on schedule, despite the IPOB threat.
Somehow, the quartet of Andy Uba of APC, Val Ozigbo of PDP, Chukwuma Soludo of APGA, and Ifeanyi Uba of YPP representing the main political parties have been ramping up their campaigns.
Given the scenario above, and if the Igbos are really not politicking for the presidency like their Yoruba and Hausa/Fulani counterparts, (which is evident by the reality on the ground) the prospect of an Igbo presidency in 2023 that may already be in peril, can be given a shot-in-the-arm through a strategic partnership that would provide political structures and financial muscle.
That is what informed my proposal in the earlier referenced article: “How To Become The President Of Nigeria” that the Igbo should align with Atiku Abubakar as PDP presidential candidate in 2023 to achieve the dream of Igbo presidency in 2027.
My proposal is underscored by the belief that it would be unlikely that the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who has become a veteran in presidential contests since 2003 with enormous practical experience, would seek his re-election in 2027 if elected president in 2023 via an Igbo alliance and PDP support.
Unless, other northern contenders like Aminu Tambuwal or Bala Mohammed are willing to serve only one term and hand over to an Igbo Vice President, which is a highly unlikely scenario simply because of their relatively young age compared to the former Vice President who would be 75 years next month, Igbo quest for the presidency of Nigeria may remain a mirage.
In my view, a partnership with Atiku Abubakar as a pathway to Aso Rock Villa remains the most viable trajectory for an Igbo man/woman to become president of Nigeria in 2027 on the PDP platform. That is because, Atiku Abubakar is liberal, broad-minded, business savvy, and has links by marriage to all the three major ethnic groups-Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo in Nigeria. It implies that Atiku Abubakar’s presidency would likely be more inclusive than the nepotistic-a trademark of the current government in power that is fueling the current gale of separatism.
The point being made here is that under Atiku Abubakar’s watch as president, separatism would be consigned to the dustbin as inclusiveness becomes a major plank in government policy. With inclusiveness becoming a center point of public policy in Nigeria, secessionist tendencies would die a natural death in the manner that Niger delta militancy ceased after the late president Umaru Yar’adua took strategic steps to stabilize the volatile region via his offer of Amnesty to former militants after meeting some of their demands.
The existential reality in Nigeria’s current political equation is that the Igbos need help to actualize their quest for the presidency of Nigeria. As Atilla, the Hun advised, “choose your enemies wisely and your friends carefully.”
It should be obvious to the average Igbo that they can not ascend the throne in Aso Rock Villa by themself. And they must accept that their mastery of business can not overnight translate into the political savviness that is required for someone of Igbo extraction to become the number 1 citizen presiding over our country in Aso Rock Villa seat of power from 2023.
So an alliance with the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar whose political fortune has been built since the time that he first contested against former the late MKO Abiola in Social Democratic Party, SDP primaries held in 1992, remains the most viable political catapult that can propel the Igbo nation into Aso Rock Villa, after Alex Ekwueme’s partnership with Shehu Shagari for the presidency of Nigeria (1979-1983). It is disappointing that it is the last time the Igbo enjoyed worthy political significance in a country that they have indisputable ancestry.
Without adopting or resorting to the application of such cold calculations, the Igbo’s demand to have someone from their ethnic stock as number occupant in
Aso Rock Villa would very likely remain a mission impossible as the demand would continue to be elusive beyond 2023 and even 2027.
As a follow-up article to How To Become President Of Nigeria, l wrote another piece titled: “A Citizen’s Guide on How To Become President of Nigeria” also published on the back page of Thisday newspaper on October 22, 2021, and other mainstream newspapers, including Daily independence, Vanguard as well as online platforms, the following points were brought to the attention of readers:
“Although presidential power play is largely about popularity, it also significantly utilizes conspiracies and alliances as the oxygen and blood for positioning popular candidates for victory in presidential polls.”
In light of the above reality, which ethnic nationality or nationalities in the Nigerian Union is the Igbo building alliance or conspiring with, overtly or covertly? None in my opinion. But l stand to be corrected.
Now, I have read some news items indicating that some ethnic nationalities in the middle belt have been co-opted into the agitation for the Igbo presidency in 2023. The pertinent question is: does the north-central political zone hold significant votes compared to southwest or northwest that are the most prolific sources of votes in our present political configuration? Again, the response is a negative affirmation.
Even as the political link-ups being weaved like spider webs between the Yoruba and the Hausa/Fulani politicians as reflected by the subterranean alliances are being tagged conspiracy theories since they are yet to be acknowledged by the key actors, there are practically neither conspiracy theories nor alliances between the Igbos or any other major tribes for the presidency of Nigeria in 2023.
It is disappointing that while the eastern region is prevaricating or pussyfooting on the strategy to adopt in order to achieve her over 50 years aspiration for self-rule, or at least get critically involved in running the affairs of the only country that can call their own, the southwest and more appropriately, the Yoruba nation, leveraging the ruling party, APC platform is at the cusp of taking the slot of the south for the second time in the presidency rotation calculus which commenced with president Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999. And I get the uncanny sense that the APC is more oriented towards rotating the presidency to the southeast in 2023 than the PDP, as such it may end up specifically zoning the presidency to the Igbos even as the PDP by all intents and purposes are likely to throw it open. But the easterners may not be able to positively convert the opportunity if offered by the APC because their house has not been literarily put in order.
Perhaps, the Igbo nation would be jolted from its reverie if it is reminded of how one time Vice President of Nigeria, Alex Ekwueme of blessed memory suffered the negative effect of Igbo republicanism when multiple fellow Igbos contested against him and split the votes in the PDP primaries held in Jos, Plateau state in 1998.
Although the election of Goodluck Jonathan to serve as Vice President under Umaru Yar’adua’s presidency (2007-10) and his subsequent elevation to the position of president (2010-2015) in the aftermath of Yar’adua’s sudden death offered a window of opportunity for the Igbos to have a say in the country, 2023 represents an epoch for them to be on top of the pecking order in Aso Rock Villa. Beyond the feeling of accomplishment amongst the Igbos that may be elicited by an Igbo presidency, it is even being canvassed in some quarters that it would also moderate their separatist tendencies that have severely damaged the fabric of the unity of our beloved country in the manner that the concession of the presidency to the Yorubas in 1999 via the fielding of both Olusegun Obasanjo and Olu Falae as the presidential candidates of the two major political parties, healed the wound inflicted on the collective psyche of the Yoruba nation by the annulment of June 12, 1993, presidential election; presumably won by their son, MKO Abiola; the assassination of his delightful and heroic wife, Kudirat and his subsequent passage while in the custody of government in the course of his struggle to claim his presidential mandate.
In the likely event that the Igbos have forgotten.
It would interest them to know that of the five presidents that have led Nigeria -Shehu Shagari, Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’adua Adua, Goodluck Jonathan, and Mohammadu Buhari currently in the saddle, only two have been from the south. Both of them- Obasanjo and Jonathan made it to the presidency directly or indirectly following the sudden death of their principals- either via assassination or natural causes.
In other words, they rode on the apron strings of northern Political leaders who got selected after a military putsch, as is the case with Murtala Muhamed and Obasanjo (1976-9) or got elected president via a general election following the death of an elected sitting president, which is what happened with the Umaru Yar’adua and Goodluck Jonathan presidency(2007-15).
It is also pertinent to bear in mind that Obasanjo did not get elected president in 1999 on the voting strength of the Yoruba nation. Rather, he became president despite being rejected by his Yoruba kith and kin that preferred his opponent, Olu Falae.
So he only became no 1 citizen through the political engineering reportedly driven by the duo of former military head of state Ibrahim Babangida and ex-chief of army staff, TY Danjuma. The pair of whom are leading members of the northern intelligentsia or the so-called Kaduna mafia.
It is the foregoing political developments that have informed my unique perspective that it would be more pragmatic for the Igbo nation to be fully conscious of the dynamics of politics in our country in order to be guided and thus be appreciative of the propriety of weaning itself off the utopian idea of winning the presidency without the type of strategic alliances espoused in my earlier proposition.
Allow me to indulge you by being a bit prescient as l reference an AriseTv interview with late northern political power broker and bridge builder, late Isa Funtua in January 2020 where he made a prediction that the Igbo can not be given the presidency on a platter of gold:
“They want to do things on their own and because they are Igbo, we should dash them the presidency?”
The straight-talking lsa Funtua further made the following declarative statement about the Igbos :
“Nobody will carry you like a newly born baby.
With due respect to the Igbo, they fail to understand that when the South-West chose to remain on their own as opposition, they did not go near (national) power”
With the benefit of hindsight, my candid advice to the Igbo nation is that it is time for them to collectively pull themselves out of their current state of lethargy and do their spadework if they truly want to be the ethnic nationality calling the shots in Aso Rock Villa in 2023.
Need l say more?
ONYIBE, an entrepreneur, public policy analyst, author, development strategist, an alumnus of Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA, and a former commissioner in Delta state government, sent this piece from Lagos.
The conversation continues on: www.magnum.ng

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Tope Fasua edited
Business & Finance

FOR GOD’S SAKE WHO NEEDS eNAIRA?!

by Tope Fasua
written by Tope Fasua 10mins read

After all, the Naira as is, is already quite digital, isn’t it? Nigeria does have one of the most sophisticated financial systems in the world – especially in terms of payment systems. This is probably necessitated by the fact that because of our low per capita income and the informal structure of the economy, so many Nigerians altogether have to make millions of small transfers daily, especially to dependants. In developed countries, this is not the case. A typical worker abroad has all the debits – for rent or mortgage, insurance, taxes, tenement, loans, and so on, set up such that they hit their account by month-end and they get by on what is left. Our economy – perhaps like many other African economies – is structurally different from what obtains in those places. Therefore, we saw quite a bit of innovation in our financial sector that may not be deemed particularly necessary elsewhere. Some of us economists criticize the fact that the financial sector in Nigeria is running ahead of everyone else. We call it financialization, as different from what we actually need; industrialization. We also see that quirk manifest in the yearly declaration of superlative profits by our banks, even in a year like 2020 when half the time businesses were shut, and in the face of expanding poverty in the land.

So, who needs an e-Naira?  Why is it necessary?  Is it going to solve the problem of inflation, and corruption, and unemployment, and everything that ails the economy? Will it lead to a revaluation of the Naira which seems to be in a death spiral?  Is the idea just a further ‘financialization’ of the economy?  Or is this not just another gimmick to embezzle funds at the CBN? All these and more are the questions that Nigerians are asking.

I think the e-Naira is very useful, timely, and perhaps one of the smartest things that our central bank has been able to pull off in a while, even though it will certainly not solve every problem that ails our economy. I will therefore attempt to break down some of its likely uses below, even though I must admit that the whole idea of such hyper-digital currency, is still nouvelle to everyone in the world. In other words, a number of central banks around the world are taking the initiative, and 90% of them are thinking in this direction, but certain mistakes will be made, lessons will be learned before the concept stabilizes. The future of currency is digital. And the future is here. Let’s look at the critical questions:

What is the e-Naira?

The e-Naira is a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Though the Naira was fairly digital before (as you can transfer value from your phone or laptop once you are connected to the internet, and via USSD without internet), this is a digital currency on fire! However, unlike other digital currencies (cryptocurrencies), the CBDC is backed by the sovereign – Nigeria – and is tied to the Naira (fiat currency).  If we need to compare it to a cryptocurrency, we can compare it to say USDT (a stable currency tied to the US Dollar, called Tether).

What is this idea of being backed by the Naira?

Well, this means that the e-Naira and the fiat Naira will not diverge in value. The two types of currency will be the same value at all times. Also, that the currency is backed by the government through the CBN is comfort, because people know that the CBN cannot default on its obligations. Investments with the central bank of a country are deemed to be the safest kind that anyone could undertake.  Ordinarily, cryptocurrencies have some issues. People die, and if no one knows the key (their pin), their money is lost forever. People save their keys on devices. Devices get stolen or corrupted and their money is gone if they have no backups anywhere. Meanwhile, people are scared of backing up their keys anywhere because if anyone gets access to it, they can be wiped out. All sorts of issues occur because the idea is still developing. We have even heard of situations where crypto exchanges have collapsed (like Quadriga in Canada), and those who left money on the table for the exchange to help manage, were wiped out. And with cryptocurrencies, there is no arbiter; no one to run to; no one to guarantee the transactions; no deposit insurance. Nothing. It’s usually a case of ‘who sent you?

Where did the idea come from?

Whereas the central banks will hardly mention this, it is my strong belief that this is a reaction by central banks to the idea of cryptocurrencies. What started circa 2006/7 as a crazy idea by some crazy folks who were rather miffed by how central banks especially in developed countries bailed out investment and commercial bankers who had used people’s deposits to gamble on arcane derivative products like Credit Default Swaps, Collateralized Debt Obligations and such like, had become a major issue, with a market valuation of more than $1 trillion. There are suddenly more than 8,000 cryptocurrencies around the world. It has become a swarm and no one knew which crazy bee among the lot could sting the system in the eye at any point in time. The proponents of cryptocurrencies actually started out with the radical idea of taking down what we know as the financial system today, for past infractions – including for arbitrarily printing currencies or hiking interest rates thereby devaluing the money in people’s pockets and accounts, in the name of monetary policy management. They call their plan ‘decentralized’ banking or finance (Defi), which means ‘down with Central Banks!’. The only thing they didn’t reckon with was that they will need the central banks, investment, and commercial banks to achieve this laudable feat.  But will the traditional banks and central banks allow them?  The central banks then got wise and decided to piggyback on their idea, to save themselves, the banking sector, and the government. Why? The day you take down central banks, you will have taken down every bank because there’ll be nobody to manage currencies or maintain sanity or fidelity in the system. Then how do governments get their taxes? In what currency? Anarchy is the endpoint.  This move by the central banks around the world is to prevent themselves from becoming so weakened and made vulnerable by the crypto warriors.

In the case of e-Naira particularly, Nigeria showed up as the second-highest trading nation in cryptocurrency as at April 2021, allegedly. We are talking of a country with barely $2,000 in per capita income, and the lowest in the world in terms of economic complexity. In other words, the most unsophisticated nation in the world in terms of what we produce. Could it be corruption and crime money driving this… in the main? Therefore, it was important for the CBN to have a response. If the CBN was sitting on its hands and whining, that is when we should be concerned.

Which problem will it solve?

For one, the future of everything is digital. The future of man himself is digital. The world has stopped talking of the internet of things, now it is the internet of EVERYTHING. If the future of currency is digital – and indeed these young Generation Z kids (born between the year 2000 and today), and raised by their smartphones only understand digital things – then Nigeria had better get on board and fast. So, the earlier we get on this new reality, the better. But which other problem can it solve? Inflation? Ehmmmm, long shot. But e-Naira can help. How? For one, the more successful e-Naira becomes, the less money the CBN will spend printing new money. This should reduce the CBN’s budget. However, if the e-Naira is successful, then the world will have a little more respect for our currency, and the Naira may appreciate it a bit. If the Naira appreciates, then inflation will slow down, because a considerable part of the inflation we suffer today is as a result of imported goods, and the adjustments that local producers are making, in the fear of further devaluation. You see, devaluation of currency does not only mean that imported goods will cost more. In fact, in our economy, locally-produced goods prices leap much higher. Visit any local store or the market and see what has happened to prices in the last one or two years! Nigerians are really struggling to survive.

So, e-Naira can help us in getting a firmer naira. And there is one other reason for that. If it is what they say it will be, then the e-Naira wallet is sitting in CBN’s books. This means that the e-Naira can, subject to limits, allow Naira to be more convertible. What does this mean? You see, about 35 years ago, when you travel to London, you don’t need to be chasing pounds and dollars around before you go. You just go. When you get to London you change some naira directly into pounds right at the airport, or you go to Oxford Street and make the change. Then we started losing it. They kept devaluing. And no one was sure what the value of the naira will be the next day, so people stopped accepting the naira. But since e-Naira is a central bank currency, sitting right on CBN systems, we should be able to convert eNaira to any other currency in a jiffy and get transactions cleared without the rigmarole of going to a commercial bank. This is a great advantage, isn’t it?  Surely the CBN will set limits. Equally, the CBN hopes to use this platform to ease the inflow of foreign currency into the country, by enabling Nigerians to sidestep the usually punitive charges taken by money transfer organizations. Companies like Western Union and Moneygram have always taken delight in slamming transactions heading to Nigeria with high fees. Now remittances could be easier… but you will get official rates. The black market for foreign currency will still exist, but this kind of reform could be the shock treatment that reduces the spread to something negligible.

Which other problem will it solve?

So, it’s really looking like if some Nigerians and their collaborators don’t spoil this with the usual waywardness, cynicism, lack of patriotism, predilection to defraud, or deception from high places, we may be on to something great with this e-Naira. We may be buying a new lease of life for the currency and the economy. Already, as the CBN stopped selling millions of US Dollars to thousands of BDCs every week, our foreign reserves have leaped by about $4 billion in just a couple of months. We are talking of $40 billion now. That’s great news. Even on the streets, the dollar frenzy has tapered. Smart Alecs have probably found other vocations. We knew they were just bragging and trying to tip this country over so that they can pick up the pieces. When last I checked, the Mallams will not buy dollars at more than N550, with prospects of further strengthening.

The Central Bank of Nigeria also hopes to use this eNaira for better monetary policy management. For every eNaira created, that is one Naira more in the direct control of the CBN. There will therefore be better oversight over Money Supply. The CBN – like their brother central banks around the world – believes that this is a great tool to reach out to citizens in periods of crisis by being able to make direct transfers to citizens where necessary. Of course, the Bank has to mind operational risks lest some smart guys begin to play games with their system.  Citizens must also continue to alert the CBN to wherever lapses may occur. I have also heard it said that this is like the CBN taking on the functions of commercial banks. Well, it is the sign of the times. It is the evolution of banking and finance. The banks are smart enough to see, that the central banks are only trying to save the entire traditional banking system as we know it from cataclysm.

I will urge Nigerians to be less cynical but more circumspect. Let us see if this initiative will deliver. Let us do away with all that negative view of the country. Truly, leaders have failed us. But we need not fail ourselves and enter into a spiral of grief. Nothing is bad about this country. Billions of people around the world would wish they had what we have all year round.  We have a country to save. And a currency too. Let’s get on with it.

So, yes. We do need an eNaira.

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udom-emmanuel
The Editor's Pick

Dawn of the new Akwa Ibom

by Joseph Edgar
written by Joseph Edgar 10mins read

As I sit in the belly of the giant Ibom Air aircraft as we embark on a return journey, Orman Esin’s walk on the Runway comes to mind

Orman Esin is the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism and core to the evolving tourist ecosystem that is tying IBom Air, the many hospitality concerns like the famed Ibom Hotel and Resort with beautifully managed boutique oasis like the Monty Suites and world-class events like this Fashion Show, the Christmas Village and an emerging theatre culture with the staging of the much expected Ufok Ibaan come December.

In a chat with Orman during Lunch at the Ibom Resort, he talks so passionately about the Christmas Village. His baby.

He boasts. We are expecting 30,000 people daily for one month, never happened, he gloats sounding like me.

Security is top-notch and Akwa Ibom will be the center of the Universe.

His boasts have a basis. For some time now even during the Pandemic, the Christmas Village has pulled in billions into the State economy boosted internal tourism and structured infrastructure creating employment opportunities for its people.

It is no wonder that the Udom Administration has put tourism and hospitality the main fulcrum of its push towards legacy as it begins a wind-down.

This night, Orman walks the runaway having executed a major coup. Pulling in the billion Naira Big Brother Stars into the state with some legendary personalities like Mudi and Charly Boi who unfortunately couldn’t make it.

The scene was electric. The host Uti Nwachukwu himself a Big Brother Alumnus was expansive in his praises for Akwa Ibom and the talents on show were excellent.

As Nollywood elites led by devastatingly beautiful home girl Ini Edo give the front row of the fashion shows the Kardashian effect, Akwa Ibom begins to unveil its new self.

The State is better positioning itself, despite some grim economic statistics as can be gleaned in some reports, the air of optimism cannot be missed.

6m people, rich in Natural resources, with one of the highest literacy rates and a 70% internet penetration amongst youths, Akwa Ibom parades well-prepared condiments ready to be pulled together into a major economic force by an entrepreneurial push at leadership.

Akwa Ibom is burnished Gold. Waiting to be polished by the right leadership.

Udom Emmanuel in his steady and sure-handed manner has consolidated the initial gains of the state especially in the areas of infrastructure, pulling in FDI among others like the new Urea Plant and the Deep Sea Port project amongst other such huge capital intensive projects.

So last night, was a clear illustration that the state was no longer that of unending potentials but was on the road to the actualization of varied visions.

Beside me was the Director of Tourism for the State and you could see the perfect blend of the old and the new.

He sat excitedly in his white Native spotting his Akwa Ibom felt hat in sharp contrast to Orman’s new age get up which he had complimented with an elegant crucifix that looks like something Kanye west will wear, you could feel the fluidity that had provoked this storm.

The show was exciting and grand. The Big Brother stars played up to their billing with Emmanuel the Homeboy taking in a lot of the applause with his proud parents in the audience, Akwa Ibom opened its warm embrace to the stars.

Then Orman led Senator Akon to unveil the prototype of this year’s Christmas Village amidst a sumptuous dinner and dances by a well-curated traditional ensemble made up of some very beautiful Akwa Ibom damsels.

Then at the last minute, I look across and see my friend Meflyn seated just behind the Senator.

Meflyn Awanna is the Special Assistant to His Excellency on Entrepreneurial Development and from what I am hearing she is doing a brilliant job.

The 19-year-old protégé who displayed despite losing his mum a few days earlier I hear is a product of the training and engagement Meflyn’s team is fostering on the system.

Human Capital Development will provide the fluidity the system needs to oil its economic growth and this is already happening with what was being showcased and many more examples all over the state.

As the Ibom Air Plane taxes on the runaway, I catch a glimpse of a massive construction site taking off just by my left-hand side and then to my right, the lush greenery that seems to have captivated me perfectly illustrating the partnership between man and Nature as this oasis of love stands out in the madness that is today’s Nigeria.

This was truly a brilliant weekend.

Duke of Shomolu

Ufok Ibaan will be playing at the Ibom Hall, uyo Dec 23,24, 25 2021. Book your tickets now.

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Bashorun J.K. Randle
Economy

THE FIRST LADIES (AND THE LAST MAN) PT2

by Bashorun J.K. Randle
written by Bashorun J.K. Randle 10mins read

“WHY WE HAVE NOT REMOVED DEAD PERSONS FROM VOTER REGISTER, BY INEC”

The Independent National Electoral Commission has linked its inability to expunge dead Nigerians from the nation’s voter registration to the absence of adequate data of dead people.

INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu stated this when he received chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Nasir Kwarra, at the headquarters of the commission in Abuja on Friday.

Currently, 84,004,084 Nigerians are registered to vote but there are fears that the INEC register is grossly inaccurate due to the failure of the commission to remove dead persons from it.

INEC and the NPC had in 2018 signed a Memorandum of Understanding that would see the NPC providing information of dead voters to the electoral umpire but not much has been achieved.

Yakubu explained that the commission had been conducting a periodical cleaning of the voter register by removing ineligible persons or multiple registrants from it using a combination of technology.

He, however, regretted that technology cannot assist the commission to identify and remove dead persons from the record.

He maintained that although INEC has the largest biometric register of citizens in Nigeria complete with photographs and fingerprint information for voter authentication, there is a need to further enhance the credibility of the voter register.

The INEC boss, therefore, called on the NPC to periodically avail the electrical umpire data of deceased Nigerians for a proper clean-up of the register.

“Perhaps you may wish to start by availing us with the list of prominent Nigerians who have passed on, civil and public servants compiled from the official records of Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies and other Nigerians from hospital and funeral records across the country,” Yakubu told Kwara.

“We appreciate that this is a herculean task but that is partly why we have an NPC. We are confident that NPC has the capacity to do so. This information is critical for INEC to enhance the credibility of the National Register of Voters,” Yakubu said.

Curiously, old boys of St. Gregory’s College love dogs.  However, their wives are not so keen on keeping dogs as pets.  Beware.  Hence, they have sent out a huge warning courtesy of the front page of “The Punch” newspaper of September 25, 2021.

“UNGUARDED DOG BITES OFF ONDO UNDERGRADUATE’S PRIVATE PARTS.”

 “A dog, identified as Charlie, has bitten off a part of the private parts of a yet-to-be-identified undergraduate of the Adekunle Ajasin University, in the Akungba Akoko area of Ondo State.

City Round gathered that the student had visited a friend at the Vanilla Villa, around the Permanent Site, outside the school premises when the dog attacked him.

During the attack, the dog reportedly bit the victim’s private parts but some good Samaritans came to his rescue.

The Public Relations Officer of the institution’s Students Union Government, Oluwafemi Adegbeyeni, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent, said the undergraduate was rushed to a nearby hospital.

He said, “From what I gathered, the student went to visit a friend at Vanilla Villa, around the Permanent Site. Maybe knowingly or unknowingly he was bitten by the unguarded dog. The victim was quickly rushed to a hospital for treatment because the dog bit off part of his private parts.

He is currently being treated and still alive and that is the information I got from people who live in the area. The incident happened in the morning and from what we gathered, the dog has been a threat to people living in that area but we have been warning students to secure their dogs. The incident happened outside the school premises.”

A post on Instagram made by Instablog9ja showed when men of the Ondo State Police Command arrested the dog at a hostel where the incident occurred.

Footage attached to the post showed a man tying the dog to a patrol van. The police were later seen taking the dog away in the van.

Efforts to get a reaction from the state Police Public Relations Officer proved abortive.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Funmi Odulami, said the dog bit the upper thigh of the victim, adding that the impact of the attack affected the undergraduate’s scrotum.

She said, “A pit-bull dog known as Charlie, two years and three months old, owned by one Abass Olagunju, 24, a 400-level Animal Science student at the Faculty of Agriculture, Adekunle Ajasin University, attacked and bit one Sadiq Opeyemi, 18, 100-level of the same department, at their hostel in Vanilla Villa Permanent Site, Akungba.

Opeyemi Sadiq, who was running to meet the owner of the dog, was attacked by Charlie. The bite affected the skin of his scrotum. He was immediately rushed to Inland Specialist Hospital, Ikare, where he was treated and discharged.”

As evidence that human beings can be as savage as dogs, “The Punch” newspaper added the following headline:

“HOW HOODLUMS KILLED LAGOS POLICE CHIEF WITH MASTER’S IN LAW MONTHS TO RETIREMENT”

“Fresh facts have revealed the gruesome manner in which a Chief Superintendent of Police attached to the Lagos State Police Command, Kazeem Abonde, was murdered on Thursday by hoodlums in the Ajao Estate area of the state.

Abonde, who was also a lawyer, was killed nine months after his retirement from the Nigeria Police Force and became a full-time legal practitioner at a chamber based in Osogbo, Osun State, City Round learned on Friday.

He was lynched during a joint operation on the enforcement of the ban on motorcycles plying restricted routes in the state while one of the police operational vans took to the neighborhood was destroyed.

The raid was reportedly carried out by a tactical team comprising operatives from the Operations Department of the state police command headquarters, Ikeja, the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit, Rapid Response Squad, and the Ajao Estate Police Division.

The spokesperson for the police in the state, CSP Adekunle Ajisebutu, in a statement on Friday, said the team had also raided flashpoints in the area and wanted to leave the estate when the hoodlums struck.

He said, “After the successful operations which led to the arrest of some of the suspects, other criminal elements and hoodlums in their large numbers laid siege to the exit of the estate and attacked the policemen with guns, cutlasses and other weapons. Unfortunately, during the fatal attack, CSP Kazeem Sumonu Abonde attached to the Operations Department of the command was brutally killed by the hoodlums.

“The DPO Ajao Estate, CSP Abdullahi Malla, and other police officers equally sustained varying degrees of injury. The corpse of the deceased officer has been deposited at the Yaba Mainland Hospital for autopsy.”

Ajisebutu said the Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, had ordered an investigation into the incident and vowed to ensure that those responsible for the dastardly act would be brought to book.

A colleague of the deceased who spoke on condition of anonymity told our correspondent on Friday that Abonde was supposed to retire from the Force in June 2022 and had planned to practice as a lawyer afterward.

“He was already preparing for his retirement. He was a lawyer and wanted to join a chamber he co-founded in Osun after retirement. Abonde was a fine officer and we will sorely miss him,” the colleague said.

Another source close to the late Abonde said the 54-year-old slain officer was enlisted in the Nigeria Police Force in June 1987 and rose through the ranks to a CSP in June 2019, lamenting that his death was devastating.

“He studied Law at the Lagos State University. He graduated in 2014 and proceeded to Law School. He became a barrister in law in 2016 and went back to LASU for a master’s degree. He bagged LLM (Master in Law) in 2019,” the source added.

Our correspondent learned that Abonde, a  native of Ona Ara Local Government, Oyo State, was the Divisional Police Officer, Ilemba Hausa, Lagos, before he was posted to DOPs, his last place of assignment where he was Operation Officer 1.

Meanwhile, the Executive Chairman, Isolo Local Council Development Area, Adebayo Olasoju, has appealed for calm by the residents of Ajao Estate and other concerned parties regarding the attack.

Olasoju in a statement on Friday by his Chief Press Secretary, Iskilu Alao, said the chairman, some officials of the council, and the Area Commander, Area D Command had visited the scene of the incident.

The statement read in part, “Ajao Estate being a major entry point especially to foreigners coming into our dear nation deserves the serenity obtainable in a city of equal status in advanced countries.

While the investigation into both the remote and immediate causes of the violence is being carried out, the law-abiding citizens of Ajao Estate are hereby urged to go about their lawful business as there is enough security presence to forestall resurgence.”

The Chairman, Community Development Committee, Isolo LCDA, Adesegun Olatunde, said the executive had stopped movement of Okada motorcycles on the estate as one of the immediate measures to address the violence.

He said, “No okada motorcycle is allowed on the estate for now. We are going to have a PCRC (Police Community Relations Committee) meeting today (Friday) to deliberate more on it. Some years back, they (okada motorcycle riders) had issues and they went destroyed an armored tank.

After that incident, they were not allowed to operate in Ajao Estate. But after the #EndSARS protests, they suddenly resurfaced and started operating. On Osolo Way and the 7/8 bus stop, you would see them on the road. They were not organized at all. Now, they have created problems for themselves. You cannot kill a senior police officer and go scot-free.”

The task force said on Thursday that 410 motorcycles were impounded on prohibited routes in Isolo, Ojodu-Berger, Ojota, Lagos Island, Surulere, and Second Rainbow along Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.”

“The Guardian” newspaper confirmed its appetite for dodgy (or dog) stories with its front-page story on September 25, 2021.

“ANAMBRA DOG TRAGEDY:  UNDERSTANDING PERSONALITIES OF FOREMOST DOMESTICATED ANIMAL.”

“The dog has been a human companion for more than 18,000 years, making it one of the first domesticated animals in history. However, keeping dogs as a pet comes with a lot of responsibilities. In fact, in the southeastern part of the country, there is an adage that warns thus: “The dog that laughs also bites”. Thus, as friendly as dogs are, they can also be very aggressive.

In a response to a question on why people keep pets, particularly dogs, on www.quora.com, one MJ Lejer wrote: “Because dogs can be a wonderful addition to someone’s family and/or themselves. Dogs are affectionate, loyal, loving, can offer an alarm system, and are the warm and cuddly nest to you if you have been kind and loving to them! But dogs are a responsibility; they require care, food, water, shelter… and some training if they are to be good pet citizens. And that responsibility can be from eight to 20+ years, depending on the breed! But their companionship and unconditional love can be a tremendous reward for taking care of them right!”

Lejer’s submission is quite apt, especially when considered against the backdrop of the incident that happened at Global Growth Academy, Amokpo, Umuanunwa, Nteje, Anambra State, last Saturday, where 11 dogs belonging to the owner of the school feasted on a two-year-old pupil.

It was reported that the school’s proprietor, Chief Chinedu Oka, is a returnee from the United Kingdom and that the victim was taken to the school for enrolment by his parent when the incident happened.

A source had said: “A parent took the child to the school for enrolment when the incident happened. The owner of the school rears dogs on the premises, despite the community’s warning against it. While the parent of the child was perfecting the documentation and registration of the child, the child wandered off.

On sighting the baby, one of the dogs rushed at him and dragged him into their pen where about 10 of them devoured the two-year-old boy without any school official on hand to rescue him.”

The development reportedly angered members of the community’s vigilante group who entered the school’s premises and killed all the dogs.

A similar incident had happened in September 2014 at 35 Adegboyega Street, Akesan, Igando, Lagos. In the incident, then four-year-old Omoniho Isaac Abraham narrowly escaped death as two dogs belonging to the caretaker of the house, Stanley Jegede, pulled out his skull. Two elder brothers to the victim also got injured while trying to evade the dogs’ attack.

Narrating the incident then, the father of the victim, Abraham Odia, said his wife went to buy something for the children, shortly after she left, the children came downstairs with their bicycles to play as he lives upstairs.

But unknown to them, the giant dogs belonging to the landlord’s brother, Jegede, were not chained.

“Immediately the kids came down, two of the dogs chased them. The third dog was chained. The children ran back upstairs, but the dogs chased them up. Three of them ran up, but the dogs still attacked them forcing the other two who were 12 and seven years old to jump down and leave their younger one who could not jump. They sustained fractures on their legs. The dogs pounced on the boy who could not jump, tore his skull, and battered his face,” he said.

What could have gone wrong with the dogs that made them turn violent? Or was it the fault of the victims? What should a household consider before choosing a dog as a pet and what kind of dog should they get?

The wives of Old Boys of St. Gregory’s College were adamant:

“NO DOGS ALLOWED WITHIN THE PREMISES

OF THE COLLEGE”

At King’s College, some dogs are more equal than others !!

Bashorun J.K. Randle is a former
President of the Institute of the Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN)
and former Chairman of KPMG Nigeria and Africa Region.
He is currently the Chair

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Bashorun J.K. Randle
Economy

THE FIRST LADIES (AND THE LAST MAN) PT1

by Bashorun J.K. Randle
written by Bashorun J.K. Randle 10mins read

Straight after delivering my address to the Society of Women Accountants of Nigeria I walked into an ambush outside the hall.  It turned out that among women chartered accountants there is a core group – those who are married to old boys of St. Gregory’s College, Obalende, Lagos.  They were wearing T-shirts (Green and Purple !!) with “J K  For  President” boldly emblazoned.  What they wanted was for me to agree to their terms for supporting my candidacy for election as the president of St. Gregory’s College Old Boys Association.  They have been fiercely loyal regardless of the fact that it is their husbands who would actually vote.   They assured me that their beloved husbands would do their bidding to the last man.

They promptly informed me that they had constituted themselves into a focus group with the principal aim of taking on the cynics who have been making loud noises over the prospects of an old boy of King’s College (which I am) emerging as the President of St. Gregory’s College Old Boys’ Association. 

After all, this is Nigeria – the land of the free and home of the brave.  They particularly like my campaign slogan which is a quotation:

“If you find a path with no obstacles,

it probably doesn’t lead anywhere”

  • Frank A. Clark

(1860 to 1936).

What has galvanized my campaign is the bombshell announcement I made at both my nationwide broadcast and World Press Conference that within one hundred days of becoming the President of St. Gregory’s College Old Boys’ Association, I shall introduce to the letter (and the spirit) the radical views espoused by Emeritus Professor Olugbemiro Jegede when he was interviewed by Christian T. Alabi.

In bold headlines, “Daily Trust” newspaper delivered the message on its front page on September 30, 2021.

“WHY NIGERIA [ESPECIALLY ST. GREGORY’S COLLEGE] MUST ABOLISH EXAMINATIONS IN ITS EDUCATION SYSTEM”

“Why the call for the abolishing of examination in schools and how can that be actualized in the Nigerian education system? 

Examinations in schools have never been true tests of the learner’s full capabilities. Think of a student taking examinations at the worst emotional time of his life, probably lost his mobile phone with all information, or lost one of his parents, or has been battling with malaria all week before examinations. How do you expect such a student to do well or perform to the optimum of his intellectual ability? At best, examinations and tests are good for ranking learners. But no system should exist just to rank students because learning should never be a competition.

In education, the progress of a whole class is dependent on the slowest learner. If you, therefore, rely on examination as a yardstick to measure real learning, we shall never make the comprehensive progress needed in our educational system. That is why Singapore has done away with examination and especially ranking of performance in the primary and secondary school levels and considered doing the same at the tertiary education level.

What that country and other progressive countries, especially in Asia, are doing now is using qualitative descriptors such as a learner’s discussion participation, homework, group work, and other less competitive means to assess learning by individuals. At the secondary school level, even though learners may still be graded, including decimal points in any marking scheme is a waste of time. What is being done is to use the portfolio system which will contain a learner’s performance in group projects and the learner’s proficiency in demonstrating skills acquired in any learning situation.

The current century no more looks for marks grading or ranking of students to decide if learning has taken place. That is why our first-class graduates cannot perform as well as third-class graduates on the field where the use of our hands integrated with brainpower is required. It is what skills you can demonstrate with the mathematics or science or geography you have learned that employers now look for. In any case, the new development in the recognition of learning achievement is to use learning badges.

A learning badge (digital or physical) is a validated display of accomplishment, skill, quality, or interest that can be earned in any learning environment. Badges can represent traditional academic achievement or the acquisition of skills such as collaboration, teamwork, leadership, and other 21st century skills.

What kind of change are we expecting when exams are abolished?

Examinations encourage unhealthy competition in our learning environment and this is an inherent threat to the total development of a child. Encourage a learner to use all his or her senses, hands, and brain in an integrated fashion to demonstrate innovation and creativity.

That is why in interviews, it is no more adequate to show a certificate from a business center that you are computer literate; they put the computer before you and ask you to word process something or do some excel spreadsheet or whatever to demonstrate your proficiency and skills in the use of the computer.

We need to abolish examinations in schools and devise other means to replace entrance and final year examinations. We must borrow a lesson from the latest developments around the world in an industry where Google, Apple, and 12 other companies no longer require employees to have a university degree to be hired.

In fact, they say they will now hire accountants, historians, and non-scientific qualifications and train them hands-on in computer science and information technology. Many of the world’s most popular global companies that young ones now rush out of Nigeria to work for, don’t require a university degree, and certain jobs are more likely to be filled with non-college graduates than others, as the World Economic Forum tells us with regard to the world’s most sought-after skills for the 21st century.

As reported in many pieces of literature around the world, top business executives have begun questioning whether degrees or certificates from institutions of higher learning really prepare workers for careers, while some are starting to hire more and more non-tertiary graduates.

We must rethink everything about our examination systems and what they portent for our education system in Nigeria. How come most of our youth are excelling exceptionally well outside of Nigeria than within? It is because the environment is quite conducive and there is no stress about examinations but a lot of emphasis on what you can do with your acquired skills.

 In general, our examination system at all levels should have been goal-based, process-based, and outcomes-based but a critical analysis of the examinations we give to learners in Nigeria shows it is not.

If we do not revise our examination systems and indeed our education system by 2030, Nigeria will be left at the train station or most probably at the motor parks.

Of course, any parent would be pleased that his son or daughter has come first or second in class or level, and in a system where our prize-giving ceremonies are traditionally to recognize student’s achievement, based on what students crammed and regurgitated for examinations. And yet, they say education is what is left in your head when all you crammed for examinations have disappeared!

If exams are abolished, by what parameters would learners be assessed in Nigeria?

For now, we must throw our archaic examination system out through the window and welcome with a broad and huge bear hug the need to use proficiency, performance badges simulations, open question, one on one sessions, online forums and discussion groups, group projects and peer-based feedbacks, and scenario-based assessment and case studies to instill self-discipline in our children to enable them to master all the skills they need to succeed in life.”

The focus group (consisting of wives of old boys of St. Gregory’s College) has encouraged me to venture into tackling crucial national issues particularly drugs.

“Daily Trust” newspaper, September 25, 2021

“DRUG ABUSE: PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS FLOCK HOSPITALS

IN CALABAR, AWKA”

“The principal psychologist at the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Calabar, Dr. Eyo Asuquo, has disclosed that there is an increasing number of psychiatric patients arriving at their facility in recent times.

In an interview, he attributed the reason to increasing abuse of hard drugs, such as Tramadol, Nicotine, Cannabis, Indian hemp, as well as high intake of alcohol by victims.

Findings revealed that as of press time, 93 drug-related patients were accommodated at the seven wards of the hospital.

Asuquo said, “As a result of the increase in the number of patients, an emergency ward was created to receive them.  We have seven wards that accommodate different levels of psychiatric disorders.  We have a multi-disciplinary approach to their treatment.”

He said they took time to attend to individual cases and discharge those whose conditions got better than when they were admitted.

He also said the rate of recovery differed from one patient to another, depending on the degree of disorder.

He expressed gratitude to the federal government for restoring and re-equipping the facility better than when hoodlums destroyed it during the #ENDSARS protest last October.

A member of staff of the hospital, who did not want his name mentioned, said patients were brought in from different parts of the state and other places.

“At present, the facility is functioning as it should. Patients are brought in from parts of the state and outside. Our experts attend to them every working day, except Wednesday,” he disclosed.

Another member of staff said they only received 10 percent instead of the 40 percent hazard allowance promised them by the government.

In Anambra State, the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Nawfia, Awka South, has many patients.

Our correspondent who visited the hospital observed that as early as 8.30 am, doctors were already in their consulting offices attending to patients.

Speaking with our correspondent, a patient, who identified himself as Mike, thanked the hospital management for the care and treatment he received.

He said the journey to the facility was a long one that he did not want to share with anybody.

One of his relatives, Uche Daniel said, “We thank God for healing him. We hope he would not repeat the cause of the problem.”

One of the doctors who spoke on condition of anonymity said the hospital received an average of five patients every week.

He said most of the patients were induced by hard drugs or the popular Indian hemp, adding that the state government should pay special attention to the hospital.

On the challenges of the hospital, he said it lacked adequate funding and manpower like any other public institution in the country.”

The focus group also wants me to tackle gas flaring.

Frontpage headline “The Guardian” newspaper of September 30, 2021.

“NIGERIA, OTHERS LOSING $82 BILLION FROM GAS FLARING YEARLY”

“By flaring, rather than utilizing gas for power generation or other domestic needs, Nigeria and other nations involved in such act, could lose up to $82bn a year due to global gas flaring, says GlobalData report.

The report identified the biggest gas flares, accounting for over 87 percent of all flared gas in 2020, to include Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, the US, and Venezuela.

Though the Federal Government had pledged to end the burning of gas as a by-product of oil production by 2030, under its latest climate plan submitted to the United Nations, independent sources state that Nigeria flared an average of 11.1m3/bbl of gas last year.

With 7.83bcm in 2019, up from 7.44bcm in 2018, the World Bank ranked Nigeria as having the seventh-largest volume under the Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report (GCFR), despite having a low level of energy access.

Nigeria reduced flaring by 70 percent between 2000 and 2020, according to the International Energy Agency, as a result of tougher penalties and incentives to capture and sell the gas.

However, the Nigeria Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP) has loopholes, and penalties are low and weakly enforced. International oil majors report slow progress in eliminating wasteful flaring, analysts have claimed.

GlobalData notes that, even though technological solutions exist to avoid gas flaring, many countries persist with the activity – including developed countries such as the United States and Russia. Besides lost revenue, this is also an environmental issue, as gas flaring is one of the major contributors to CO2 emissions.

According to GlobalData’s report, ‘Gas Flaring-Thematic Research’ countries could make up to $82bn if they utilize this gas instead of flaring it.

Senior Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, Anna Belova, said: “It would do many countries, especially in Europe and Asia where natural gas prices are setting all-time records, a lot of good if oil and gas operators found the strategy to sell this gas rather than lose it – not only for the money but for meeting their CO2 targets too.”

Belova added: “The top 12 gas-flaring countries, flared almost 13 billion cubic feet of gas per day (bcfd). To put that into context, that amount of gas could easily keep the whole of Japan well supplied for a year. All of that power has simply gone to waste.”

Many countries flare gas because of lack of access to these markets, combined with the small volumes of gas produced at individual oil sites. The situation is further complicated by low domestic gas prices in most of the top flaring countries.

The value of flared gas, when priced at domestic prices in Russia or the US for example, is often less than a quarter of what the gas could command on Europe or Asia markets.

Belova said: “Reducing global gas flaring will require a multi-prong approach due to unique regional drivers that prioritize flaring over monetization of gas. Small-scale modular technologies, aimed at converting gas into liquids or chemicals, represent a logical choice for remote and distributed flaring sites.”

At a meeting hosted by KPMG in Durban, South Africa the late charismatic Nelson Mandela who was no longer the President of South Africa beamed his gaze on the old boys of King’s College and St. Gregory’s College and proceeded to deliver the following message:

“If this meeting has been useful, I am glad.  But it will be more useful to me if you go back to Nigeria and work to give young Nigerians good education.  Teach them to value hard work and sacrifice, and discourage them from crimes that are destroying your image as a good people.  Then you have to spend a lot of your resources on education.

Educate the children of the poor, so they can get out of poverty.  Poverty does not breed confidence.  Only confident people can bring changes.  The black people of the world need Nigeria to be great as a source of pride and confidence.  Nigerians love freedom and hate oppression.  Why do you do it (keep shafting yourselves)?”

By way of digression, the women accountants who are married to old boys of St. Gregory’s College deserve a medal for their sense of humor.  They have adopted the “The Nation” newspaper of October 2, 2021, as a collector’s item.

On its front page, it carried the following headline:

“WHY I DUMPED MY ACCOUNTANT HUSBAND, GOT PREGNANT FOR JOBLESS GRADUATE”

(Says he’s crap in bed; I had no choice but to look outside).

In the inside pages, the sizzling story is given plenty of space to accommodate the anguish of the dejected husband, the triumph of the elated lover, and the fury of the unrepentant wife.

Having regained its poise, the focus group of ladies proceeded to remind me:

“What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.”

  • Ralph Waldo Emerson

(1803 to 1882)

What followed was a trenchant complaint via WhatsApp by one of their members who had quit accountancy to venture into farming.  Along with the distress call was the front-page headline of the “Daily Trust” newspaper of September 25, 2021.

“BANDITS IMPOSE TAX ON KATSINA FARMERS”

  • Gunmen demand labour and fertiliser for own farms
  • Food crisis may worsen as resident desert farms.
  • The worsening security situation in northwestern Nigeria has since assumed alarming proportions.  Bandits are still on a killing spree, maiming or abducting people in broad daylight, forcing many to flee the rural areas and rustling their animals.  Farmers in some of the areas are also compelled to pay taxes to access their farms.  Some say by this, the bandits seem to be running a parallel government in some areas.  An investigation by Daily Trust in Danmusa, Batsari, Dandume and Dutsin-Ma local government areas in Katsina State revealed that people in villages close to forests are either forced to pay taxes to the bandits not to be harmed and to access their farms or work on the bandits’ farms and serve as their informants.
  • Despite taxing us, we’re not spared from their atrocities; they’d always come to your farm and seize your phone, money or motorbike, even shoes – anything valuable.  For nearly three weeks, I couldn’t go to my farm out of fear of the unknown.”

In a country where many are literarily voting with their feet, “The Guardian” newspaper delivered a bombshell with its front-page report on September 25, 2021.

Bashorun J.K. Randle is a former
President of the Institute of the Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN)
and former Chairman of KPMG Nigeria and Africa Region.
He is currently the Chairman, JK Randle Professional Services

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minister-of-petroleum-in-nigeria
Corruption

BUILDING A CAPABLE STATE, NOT CORRUPTION IS NIGERIA’S PROBLEM

by Abdulrauf Aliyu
written by Abdulrauf Aliyu 10mins read

In 2014, while on a tour of Latin American countries, Pope Francis was reported to have said: “corruption is the moth, the gangrene of a people.” The corrupt deserve to be “tied to a rock and cast into the sea.”

Indeed, corruption is bad, and tackling it is a good thing to do. But that won’t necessarily make a country or society more prosperous.

Here in Nigeria, it is common to hear people say the country is poor because those who have held public office or presently are at the helm of affairs are corrupt. And, unless citizens ensure that public resources are not stolen and that public power is not used for private gain, the country will remain poor, right?

It certainly is enticing to believe so. Here, after all, is a narrative that neatly aligns the promise of prosperity with the struggle against poverty, squalor, inequality, and injustice in Nigeria.

For example, the World Bank’s Control of Corruption Indicator, which has been published since 1996 for over 180 countries shows that while rich countries tend to be less corrupt than poor ones, countries that are relatively less corrupt, for their level of development, such as Ghana, Costa Rica, or Denmark, do not grow any faster than others.

Similarly, countries that have had significant improvement in their CCI scores, such as Zambia, Macedonia, Uruguay, or New Zealand, didn’t really grow faster. By contrast, the World Bank’s Government Effectiveness Indicator suggests that countries that, given their income level, have relatively effective governments or improve their performance, do tend to grow faster.

For some reason, our moral sentiments are strongly related to feelings of empathy in the face of injustice and unfairness.  Meaning that it is easier for citizens to mobilize against injustice than for justice. Nigerians are more enthusiastic to fight the bad than to fight for, say, the kind of growth and development that makes education and healthcare available, accessible and affordable; and food and sustainable livelihoods plentiful.

Sometimes switching from the “bad” to the corresponding “good” is simply a matter of semantics: to fight against ethnicity and tribalism is to fight for non-discrimination. But, in the case of corruption, which is bad that is caused by the absence of a good, attacking the bad is very different from creating the good.

The good is a capable state: a bureaucracy that can protect Nigeria and its citizens, keep the peace, enforce rules and contracts, provide infrastructure and social services, regulate economic activity, credibly enter into inter-temporal obligations, and tax society to pay for it all. It is the absence of a capable state that causes corruption (the inability to prevent public officials, often in collusion with other members of society, from subverting decision-making for private gain), as well as underdevelopment.

Some might argue that reducing corruption entails the creation of a capable state; the good is created out of the fight against the bad. But is it? Curtailing side payments does not imply the ability to collect taxes. Policemen may stop asking for bribes, but that will not make them any better at catching criminals and preventing crime. Doctors, nurses, or teachers often do not show up for work, but that does not mean that their performance would improve much if they did.

Aside from prosecuting some bad elements in our society, measures to fight corruption typically involve reforming procurement rules, public financial management systems, and anti-corruption legislation. The underlying assumption is that the new rules, unlike the previous rules, will be enforced.

That has not been Nigeria’s experience. In 2003, under pressure from the aid community, the Federal Government of Nigeria embarked on aggressive public service reforms and even enacted what was billed at the time as one the best anti-corruption legislation in the world – which led to the establishment of ICPC, NFIU, and EFCC – and yet the country’s corruption ranking hasn’t fared any better.

Matt Andrews, a Professor of Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School has documented the failure of public service reforms designed to prevent graft. And the reasons for these failures are not specific to public financial management practices – treasury single accounts, public procurement, open budgeting, etc.

All government organizations need to be perceived as legitimate. They can create this perception by actually performing the function for which they were created, which is difficult. Alternatively, they can borrow from the natural world a strategy called isomorphic mimicry: just as non-poisonous snakes evolve to resemble a poisonous species, organizations can make themselves look like institutions in other places that are perceived as legitimate.

And this is what Nigeria’s anti-corruption agenda often ends up stimulating: the creation of organizations that are more obsessed with abiding by the new and burdensome processes than they are with achieving their stated goals. As the trio of Lant Pritchett, Michael Woolcock, and Matt Andrews will argue, when inept organizations adopt “best practices”, they become too distracted by decision-distorting protocols to do what they were established to do.

Francis Fukuyama on his own part pointed out, that the development of a capable state that is accountable and ruled by law is one of the crowning achievements of human civilization. It involves the creation of what Benedict Anderson refers to as an imagined community.

This is not an easy task when the Nigerian state is deeply divided along tribal, ethnic, or religious lines. After all, who is the state for? All Northern Nigerians or just the Hausas among them? All Yorubas or just the Christians or Traditionalists among them? What is to prevent the ethnic or religious group currently in power from diverting resources to itself on the argument that “it’s our turn to eat?” Why shouldn’t those currently in control of the state transform it into their patrimony?

So, as we all mobilize to fight against corruption because we want to do away with evil and injustice, we must or should remember that casting the bad into the sea does not imply the sudden appearance on our shores of the good that we need. To develop we need an effective and capable government. A government that can deliver results.

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