Nigeria Federal Government has taken a step towards the concessioning of the eastern and western lines of the Nigeria Railways, with the inauguration by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Friday, of a Steering Committee to get the job done promptly.
The committee, headed by the minister of Transport, Chief Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has been described as a means to fast-track the transformation of the railway infrastructure in the country.
Inaugurating the committee, Vice President Osinbajo, said that the purpose of the committee is to create a one-stop shop for the concession, fast track the process and beat the redtape & bureaucratic bottlenecks.
He said that the steering committee on the concession of the nation’s railway headed by the Transportation Minister, Mr. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, should be innovative, urging the members to remove whatever obstacles that stand in the way of a smooth concessioning process, hoping that the committee will meet its deadlines and end up “to be an example of how it should be done.”
He quarreled with the usual bureacratic bottlenecks in the public service delivery system, which he said the Buhari administration is determined to overcome it.
“I think this steering committee is extremely important, because we have tried to bring together everybody that should be involved in this (concessioning) project in order to see to it that we deliver quickly and efficiently in a manner that justifies Federal Government’s expense in the project.
“The whole idea of the steering committee raises the issue we are trying to address, to have a one-stop shop for all approvals, objections or problems so that we can realize our target.”
Minister of Transport said after the inauguration that the committee would ensure that the concession of the nation’s railway is made easy, assuring that the committee will submit its report within six months.
The 20-Member Committee is composed of officials and individuals from relevant public and private sector agencies & firms.
The Terms of Reference for the committee are as follows:
– To advise the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) on policy issues that impact on stakeholders interest;
– To advise the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) on efforts at improving stakeholders relations;
– To advise BPE and Federal Ministry of Transportation on planning, coordination and implementation of Nigeria Railway Corporation;
– To review existing legislations, reports, studies and any other relevant information on the railway sector and provide guidance on policy issues;
– To review economic and financial viability of the project and recommend the level of Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) investment;
– To review the concession framework developed by the Project Delivery Team;
– To review the technical, financial and legal framework for the successful preparation and concession of the project;
– To review the activities of the Project Delivery Team that would facilitate the concession, guide the project delivery team in the concession process, assist the concessionaire to obtain all clearances, approvals and permit as may be necessary;
– To assist in organisation of workshops, and public awareness campaigns on the concession process;
– To brief the NCP and Federal Executive Council (FEC) from time to time on the activities of the Steering Committee; and to carry out any other function that will facilitate the delivery. [myad
President Muhammadu Buhari commended the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie Oyegun for his leadership acumen even as he clocked 77 on August 12.
The President is particularly impressed by the his patriotism, hardwork and leadership in managing the affairs of the governing party through the period and in the aftermath of the historic 2015 elections.
Buhari celebrates with the APC boss for another year of good health and strength, adding that he has shown uncommon dedication to the peace, progress, stability and development of Nigeria.
The President also commended Chief Oyegun’s dedication to noble causes and democratic ideals which has endeared him to many Nigerians that will continue to draw inspiration from his legacies to offer their best for the country.
President Buhari prayed to God to grant him many more years of happiness and good health to see a better and prosperous Nigeria. [myad]
In some other countries of the world, a bronze medal at the Olympics is not something to be talked about or celebrated. Not even silver is satisfactory sometimes, just remember that look on Russian athlete Yulia Efimova’s face as her arch-rival, Lilly King of the United States took the gold in 100m women’s breastroke swimming. Nothing but gold is good enough – afterall, the Olympics is the biggest showcase of human talent on the planet and a demonstration of man’s capacity to express himself or herself to the limits and excel. In the US for example, there is an obsession with gold at the Olympics, this being an extension of the average America’s patriotism-driven belief that the United States is the centre of the universe. The US has the largest number of gold medals in Olympics history.
“Go for Gold” is the classic Olympics slogan, but we have also seen in the on-going Rio Olympics, episodes after episodes and tales of human ingenuity in addition to memorable events: so much hardwork and dedication – Michael Phelps winning three gold medals and still counting, so far bringing his total Olympic gold medals to a record 21, Uzbekistan’s 41-year old Oksana Chusovitina participating in her seventh Olympics as the oldest gymnast on parade, and making it to the finals, 19-year old American Simon Biles putting pure genius on display in the gymnastics, team refugees participating for the first time in the Olympics, Kosovo winning its first Olympic medal (gold!), a marriage proposal on the field showing love is more important than gold, well, an Egyptian, Sara Ahmed won a trail-blazing historic bronze in weightlifting, the mighty falling – Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams and Venus Williams crashing out of tennis, Chris Froome coming up short in cycling, and on the side lines, BBC female presenter, Rebecca Adlington reaching out under the table to squeeze Mark Foster’s thigh, and on the minus side, the organisers getting China’s flag wrong, mixing up national anthems including Nigeria’s, complaints about living conditions at the Rio Olympics village, and on the streets, a marvelous opening ceremony, and a generous display of Brazilian female nudity, and on the dark side: young Brazilian hoodlums, robbing visitors of valuables with such unpatriotic brazenness. It is less than a week, so far, but the tales are of characteristically intriguing and historic dimensions.
But again, we must not forget this: the Olympics is about the victory, and about national glory and pride. To win the gold, a country must be prepared, and its athletes must be prepared to show the excellence, the resilience and the courage that is the hallmark of the event. When the issue is not about gold however, it is about, on the humanistic side, the kind of courage in the face of adversity demonstrated by British athlete Derek Redmond at the 1992 Barcelona Games, when he tore his hamstring and simply refused to give up, reaching the finish line of the semi-finals, hanging on his father’s shoulder. The Olympics since the first modern one in 1896, has been about the human being and the many possibilities of human aspiration in the face of challenge.
Nigeria has participated in the Olympics (the Summer Olympics) 15 times, 1952 -2016. And over that period, this country of over 180 million people, has been able to win 3 gold medals (Chioma Ajunwa, 1996, Dream Team 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Men’s 4 x 400 metre relay team, 2000 Sydney Olympics), 8 silver, and 12 bronze medals, making a total of 23 Olympic medals. No cause for despair. After all, we are better than some 73 countries, which have never won a single Olympic medal, countries like Somalia, Chad, Swaziland, Oman, Palau, Benin, Belize, Cape Verde, American Samoa, Equitorial Guinea, Central African Republic, Congo, Malawi, Mali, Palestine, Nauru, Lesotho and Oman. My take however is that we could have done much better, if this had been a different country, if successive governments had paid more attention to sports as a tool for international glory and achievement.
Our poor record is the cumulative effect of the failure of the Nigeria Olympics Committee, the lack of political will in government at all levels to promote individual talent in sports on a sustainable basis, and the Nigerian disease: last-minute syndrome which means everything is done at the last minute, things that other countries spend years and resources preparing for, we wade in at the last minute and expect that miracles would happen. Major breakthroughs in sports in Nigeria as in everything have been either through miracles or individual sacrifice. Our sports community, active and retired, is made up therefore of angry and frustrated men and women who feel that they have been used and forgotten by their country, the serving ones are so poorly treated they even sometimes wonder why they are still wearing Nigeria’s caps. At the Rio 2016 Olympics, there is a Lawrence Okolie and a Christine Ohuruogu on Team Great Britain and yet another Nigerian running up and down for Italy. Nigeria has got talent. Point.
But we do not know how to use, nurture or encourage those talents. There are probably thousands of Michael Phelps in the Niger Delta who can swim from creek to creek, Olympic style, but who are busy carrying guns and looking for cheap wealth; if you go to the Mid-West, there are probably hundreds of girls who can swim better than Lilly King, Yulia Efimova and Katinka Hosszu put together, but all that talent is probably being wasted in a thigh-raising whorehouse in Benin or a city in Italy, because the Ogbe stadium is ruined and nobody has bothered about discovering the natural flying fishes in that part of the country. When I see the Olympic gymnasts doing their thing, I think of the many talented young girls in Nigeria, who due to lack of opportunities are busy putting their lithe, capable sporty bodies to other uses. Developing the sports sector does not require too much imagination: you just need to start, catch them young, groom them, give them opportunity. That is why a 16-year old from Chile can stand out in archery, and a 19-year old teenager from America, Simone Biles, can be an embodiment of human perfection. We have the people, the potentials but…
We are most certainly not prepared for big events that require state planning. It is particularly ironic that we have done much better as a country in the Paralympics – 22 Gold, 11 Silver, 12 Bronze since 1992. You can interpret that literally, I don’t want to spell it out and offend the valiant men and women who have done us proud in that alternative Olympics. What is painful is that Segun Toriola, seven times Nigerian Olympian had warned us quite early that the preparation for this year’s Olympics is the “worst Team Nigeria in Olympics history.” Underline the word, “worst”, and it looks like he is right. Before the Olympics, we heard the embarrassing story that Nigerian athletes going to the Olympics- 78 of them, 49 male, 29 female, participating in eight events (we seem trapped here!) had been asked to go and fund themselves, cap in hand. To worsen matters, the Sports Minister, the Sports Ministry and just about anyone who needed to use their brains, started sounding like Emperors.
The Nigerian soccer team, called Dream Team VI was stranded in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and the Minister’s informed response was “who send them there?” The teams trip to Brazil was postponed from Friday to Monday, to Tuesday and to Wednesday, no money, no support. The Dream Team eventually arrived in Brazil on the wings of charity: Delta Airlines had to airlift them free. They arrived a few hours to their opening match, jet-lagged, without allowances, hungry, and with a coach, Samson Siasia, who had also not been paid for five months, and yet the boys went ahead, to beat Japan, 5-4. That is the spirit of the Olympics. Dream Team VI, (we really like to dream!) has since qualified for the quarter-finals, and they may well surprise the world. No one expects that they would, maybe the Nigerian government (which likes to reap where it has not sown), but whatever happens, those boys and their coach are heroes already, and should they manage to win any medal, that medal should be presented to Delta Airlines, not Nigeria, and when that is happening, Solomon Dalung must not be anywhere near the room. Well, they say he has apologized, but must we run Nigeria’s international appearances on the basis of apology?
That is what we are doing. Better-focused countries are celebrating gold medals, we are here celebrating courage in the face of adversity: the biggest story we would probably take out of the Rio Olympics. Besides the Dream Team VI, I have seen very enthusiastic comments about how Segun Toriola is a seventh time Olympian in table tennis, and how Nigeria has produced the first African to qualify for the Quarter Finals in table tennis in the person of Aruna Quadri, and the first Nigerian rower, Chierika Ukogu. Ms Ukogu had to sponsor herself to the Rio Olympics. She had to beg for funds, and travelled on the wings of charity too. She qualified for the quarter finals and got Semi-finals C/D ranking and we are now all so proud of her, but deep in her heart, she would know that the country she promoted so much at the Rio Olympics, does not really care for her. And that is sad. There was also the Nigerian basketball team. They put up a valiant fight for love of country, but I doubt if any one of them is home-made. When will Nigeria begin to make its own athletes and geniuses, and not leave its responsibility to pure chance and accidents?
I salute the courage of all the badly treated and frustrated 78 Nigerian athletes currently fighting for our country at the Rio Olympics. They are patriots and they are all deserving of our appreciation for their faith in Nigeria despite the odds, representing Nigeria, in badly sewn track-suits. They may not win any medal- we understand! We would still be proud of them. It is their type that reminds us that indeed, there is still a country and for that alone, we must be grateful. [myad]
Do you know Ann LePage? She’s the (third) wife of Paul LePage, the right-wing weirdo, out-of-control and ever controversial governor of Maine, a man with an inspiring story of growing up on the streets after running away from an abusive step-dad at the age of 11 and who in spite of all odds went on to college, became a company executive and then a governor.
As customary in the West, Paul took a sharp pay cut for transitioning from the private to public sector. According to the US Census data, the average yearly income for a married-couple family in Maine is about $87,000. As the lowest paid governor in the country, LePage gets a salary of $70,000, a figure that has remained unchanged in the state since 1987 which Paul unsuccessfully attempted to double for his successor, starting in 2019, after which his term would have ended.
Ann has dreams, goals and aspiration and like any woman with a knack for good taste, she has her eyes set on getting a new SUV – Toyota RAV4 which costs around $24,350, as one of her immediate dreams. Having given up her a job to wholly put herself behind her husband and knowing full well that Paul’s income – the family’s only – cannot support this dream, she knew she had to do something about it. Full-time job was not an option because of her Stately commitments. Candidly, $70,000 is too little for a governor in America, more so for a man with the need to support his five children – four biological from his two previous marriages and one adopted son, the son of his former caddy in Jamaica.
Many governors and even the US president would tell you that living in the State House doesn’t necessarily come cheap. Like in a luxury hotel, at the end of each month, the president or a governor receives bills for their food and incidental expenses. It can be really frustrating for some of them.
Nancy Reagan didn’t hide her surprise at this practice when an usher presented her first bill in 1981, saying, “Nobody ever told us the president and his wife are charged for every meal, as well as incidentals like dry cleaning, toothpaste, and other toiletries.”
Similarly, former first lady Laura Bush wrote in her post-White House memoir – “Spoken from the Heart” – that “the presidential room, as it were, is covered, but not the board……it is more than fair that they pay for personal items like every American household…..There were some costs that I was not prepared for……..I was amazed by the sheer number of designer clothes that I was expected to buy, like the women before me, to meet the expectations for a first lady.” Bush wrote that a bill came monthly, itemising everything she and her family owed, including food, dry cleaning and hourly wages for waiters and cleanup crews at private parties. Little wonder the Bushes often found it far cheaper to eat meals outside the White House.
Not everything is free for the First families. They even have to pay to take family members or friends who are outside the official delegation for any official trip.
What Did(n’t) Ann do?
Ann wanted the car badly but she couldn’t and wouldn’t go the easy ways that could be self-destructing. The easiest options are not necessarily the best! She wouldn’t coerce her husband to ‘goatify’ the state’s ‘yam’, a parlance for illicitly digging hands in public treasury by government officials in spite of her husband overseeing a $6.7b (N2.13 trillion) budget that is more than a third of Nigeria’s Federal government budget notwithstanding that Maine, a state with 1.33m population ended the 2015/16 financial year with $93 million (N29.6b) budget surplus.
Ann wouldn’t take kickbacks from state contractors and lobbyists who might want to curry her favour and she wouldn’t take gift from affluent friends who would be pleased to associate with the State’s first family.
Apart from the honour and glamour of office, politics can be financially rewarding as well but this usually happens after leaving office when opportunities like book deals, commercial endorsement, boardroom participation and public speeches abound. Public servants are usually forbidden to use their positions for financial gains while still in office because of conflict of interest.
Ann chose to go the honourable way. She laid down pride, took a part-time job as a waitress in a local restaurant by following in the footsteps of her stepdaughter as described here by Paul, her husband: “My daughter last year, she’s in law school, she made $28 an hour working in Boothbay as a waitress, server. She did so well, my wife, the first lady, to supplement the governor’s salarymen is waitressing this summer. I’m kidding — not kidding really” – Governor LePage
Ann LePage has proven that there’s dignity of labour, a philosophy that all types of jobs are to be respected equally. If you by any chance go to McSeagull’s restaurant in Boothbay Harbor this summer, there is a likelihood that the first lady will be your your waiter.
Also, last week, the internet was awash with the story of Sasha, the younger daughter of US President Barack Obama being spotted taking some time off from the comforts of the White House to work at Nancy’s, a seafood joint on Martha’s Vineyard at Cape Cod in Massachusetts where the family is currently having their summer vacation. Regardless of their positions, the Obamas teach their children the simple ways of life, hard work and the dignity of labour.
Last year elder daughter Malia also did a summer job at the set of HBO’s “Girls.” with Lena Dunham. She is currently taking a “gap year” off schooling most probably to do some voluntary work before attending Harvard University (like her parents, who both attended Harvard Law School) in 2017.
From these stories and for the benefit of all, I hope Nigerians, especially politicians can learn to always eschew corruption, live within their legitimate means and do the honourable, and also teach their children hard work and humility so that they can grow up to be useful members of the society.
Oteniy, a public affairs commentator can be reached on oteniyark@hotmail.com. [myad]
Despite the fall in crude oil prices, which has made it imperative for government to source for funds, experts argue that borrowing locally to meet long and short-term needs is inappropriate. The alternative is to seek foreign facility because of the rising interest rate, which has raised the cost of domestic loans. With loans available to private sector affected by public borrowing, these are indeed tough times, writes COLLINS NWEZE.
Just when many Nigerians were beginning to cheer the rising prices of crude oil, where the country derives over 85 per cent of her revenues, the prices slumped to a new low last week.
Oil prices had crossed $50 per barrel late July, before dropping significantly last week to $41.80 per barrel. Fueling the oil price decline is the worry that the net Chinese oil imports will weaken this year, and with global and domestic demand for oil on the decline, the prices of crude oil are bound to fall.
Rebalancing the oil market has proved to be long and frustrating as oil-exporting countries, including Nigeria, are hit hardest by the 2014 and 2015 price slump. The countries are counting their losses.
Oil prices had declined by more than 70 per cent from about $115 in June 2014 to $27 in February, this year. Since 1973, this reverse oil shock is matched only twice: in the 1980s,when oil prices fell below $10; and in 2008 to 2009, when it fell from about $147 to about $40, but proved short-lived.
With oil prices still down, the impact on revenues, the government’s ability to deliver on major developmental projects remains challenging. The way out remains to borrow from the right places to fix Nigeria’s infrastructure needs.
The Debt Management Office (DMO) Director-General, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, believes borrowing to fix the country’s infrastructure should come from outside.
He explained that in contrast to external borrowing, domestic borrowing would not be appropriate because of some reasons. First, Nwankwo says, is high average cost of domestic debt, which is significantly higher than the average cost of external debt.
He said in the public debt portfolio, the domestic debt ratio against external debt ratio of about 85:15 needed to be changed towards 60: 40 mix.
According to him, such mix is appropriate in Nigeria’s Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy formulated by the DMO.
“Significant additional domestic borrowing would exacerbate the domestic debt service revenue ratio, which has already become unacceptably high. To avoid crowding out the private sector, the government domestic borrowing should be minimised. Specifically, as the government provides the policy and infrastructure environment for rising economic activity, the private sector is expected to respond by playing the lead role in direct production in the real sector,” he said.
Eurobonds
According to DMO, beyond the more attractive multilateral and bilateral borrowing sources, the quantum of money required and the various projects to be financed dictate that Nigeria should also establish a programme for issuing Eurobond in the international capital market, to tap the market repeatedly over the next three to five years.
Nwankwo explained that although global market conditions and local economic challenges have become quite tough since mid-2014, the country can still take advantage of its experience of successfully issuing Eurobonds in 2011 and 2013.
The debt to GDP ration with the proposed additional borrowing will be about 17.8 per cent by the end of next year. More importantly, because of the long-tenor and low interest on the external debts, the new borrowing will not impact significantly on the debt service-revenue ratio.
On the other hand, significant additional domestic borrowing would push the debt service burden over the cliff. Therefore, overall, it could be recommended that an additional $15 billion per year could be sustainably borrowed over the next four years to build a strong economy.
Moreover, in the context of financing a de-recession and structural transformation programme of an economy, distinction should be made between conventional debt sustainability, which is essentially static, and structural debt sustainability which is based on a forward view of the economy.
For many weak economies forced into recession by exogenous commodity-based or other shocks, and in need of recovery, it would be expected that their public debts are not sustainable; hence it would not be reasonable to expect that with sizeable additional borrowing, their debts would be sustainable, when the assessment is based on the macroeconomic indicators.
West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), Director-General Prof. Akpan Ekpo argues that with declining government revenues from oil, budgetary allocations alone may not be enough to finance the infrastructure deficit in the country.
Prof. Ekpo admitted that the debt option is still the most viable at this time. He said Nigeria’s rebased $510 billion Gross Domestic Product (GDP) economy gives it more room to borrow more to bridge infrastructure gap.
To Ekpo, Nigeria could borrow up to 40 per cent of its GDP externally, adding that the DMO has in the past, demonstrated good negotiation skills in dealing with the country’s debt matters, either with internal or external creditors.
He believes the viable option for the government to take is to borrow from the World Bank or African Development Bank (AfDB) to fund the key developmental projects. The government can also borrow internally to achieve the feat, but disclosed that internal borrowing is short term while external borrowing has longer tenor.
Besides, the Nigeria Trust Fund with the AfDB can be used as a leverage while borrowing from the bank, adding that borrowing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be expensive because Nigeria is classified as a Middle Income Country on the Fund’s list.
Funding projects with borrowed funds
The DMO captures the benefits of using debts to fund projects more succinctly. “If you want to build a railway from Lagos to Aba, there are two options. Firstly, you can save up the money for 10 years, before starting the project. The second option is to borrow and build the railway, and within 10 years, generate enough revenues to offset the debt,” DMO’s Head, Policy Strategy and Risk Management, Joe Ugolala said.
He sees the second option as more plausible as it captures the benefits of borrowing to build infrastructure that is in the interest of the economy. He explained that for one to borrow, there must be that inherent capacity to repay, whether the debt came from internal or external sources.
He explained that the Federal Government has the capacity to borrow from outside to fund budget, and support specific projects including infrastructure.
He said that despite challenges with external and internal economic volatility, the DMO is committed to supporting opportunities for employment generation. “We are more than ever committed to doing what we know how to do best, democritisation of public debt. We need to use debt to tackle poverty. We are committed to employment generation. Now that things are tight, we need to show that we are resilient people,” he said. “We need to reassure ourselves that we have what it takes to achieve a sustainable growth”.
Deployment of funds
According to Nwankwo, the proceeds of the external loans will be used for capital projects (physical and social infrastructure), programmed to achieve turnaround, generate self-sustaining growth with maximum employment, and guarantee repayment of the debts. Rigorous prioritisation, sequencing and justification guide will determine the capital allocation.
He explained that given the size of the borrowing required, the coverage and mix of prospective lenders, and the need to ensure that the loan proceeds are available as programmed, the loan negotiation efforts will need backing at the highest level of the political leadership.
Besides, Nigeria’s diplomatic capabilities and instruments will need to be deployed to complement the financial and technical efforts towards obtaining the loans. Therefore, the Ministries of Finance, Industry, Trade and investment, National Planning and Foreign Affairs will need to work closely. [myad]
Nobel Laureate, Playwright, Poet, Author, Teacher and Political activist, Professor Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka; Wole Soyika for short, was on Thursday in Aso Rock where he had a private audience with President Muhammadu Buhari. Buhari sees him off after some minutes meeting. [myad]
The Rivers State governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the April 2015 election, Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside has accused the state governor, Chief Nyeson Wike of turning the state into what he called the Hobbesian state of nature, where life is ‘brutish, nasty and short.’
In a statement to mark the International Youth Day for 2016, Peterside, who is also Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), bemoaned the overwhelming insecurity that the youths of Rivers State are now living with.
“Unfortunately today, our youths in Rivers State are forced to live under the dangerous environment of a State that has been identified as one of the most dangerous states to live in Nigeria. This rating is occasioned by the short life expectancy caused by unprecedented cases of armed robberies, kidnapping, cultism, murder and piracy amongst other crimes.
“It is never in doubt that this sordid situation was created and still being sustained and promoted by a state government that came into existence through the patronage of criminality. It is also easily understood that as a beneficiary of crime, the state government has compromised the morality and vigour to fight crime. The result is that Rivers State has become the Hobbesian state of nature, where life is ‘brutish, nasty and short.’
“However, mine is a message of hope to our youths that they should not despair; they should not give up and indeed they should not quit as quitters cannot win and winners do not quit. Somewhere at the end of the tunnel is a ray of light signifying hope, greatness and prosperity for our youth, people and the future. When the right people take up the mantle of political leadership in Rivers State, young people will heave a sigh of relief because the perilous times of today will be quickly dumped in the abyss of history.
“It is important for our youths to develop their abilities in critical thinking and deploy same in discerning what is good from bad, what is right from wrong and engage only in those things that will bring about progress, better life and advancement to themselves and the society. Our young people must shun political thuggery, cultism and killings.
“Therefore, on the occasion of this year’s International Youth Day, I urge our young people in Rivers State to continue to shun violence and vices; they should rather engage their hands and minds meaningfully to ensure a better future for themselves and the society. It is only by so doing that the youths and our people will consummate their dreams and aspirations in life.”
Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside called on the youths in the state to shun violence to ensure a secured future for themselves and a better society.
“Without doubt, the future of every society and indeed mankind depends on the wellbeing of young people.” [myad]
A national chairmanship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Raymond Dokpesi, has predicted that the party will die if its forthcoming national convention flops.
“The party will break and disappear into oblivion. I tell you that if the party does not reform now, it won’t survive the crisis,” he told journalists in Abuja on Thursday.
“Time has come for the party to determine its future. I represent reform. If we love the party and if we want to move the party forward and also deepen democracy then we have to leave the old way of overbearing, imposition that brought us to where we are. We are hungry for a new way of doing things.”
On the zoning of the office of the national chairman to the southern part of the country, he said: “the constitution of the party vested the power to zone on the National Working Committee as represented by the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker committee.
“It zoned the office to the entire south. When you are in government, you can do micro zoning, but now you have to look for the best. The zoning of the president was done to the entire north. The office had not been zoned to any of the three zones from the north.
“Makarfi has said so, that anyone who feels he can win the election and knows he is capable of leading the party, is free.
“I have visited about 24 states when that micro zoning was done. Now, I have covered 34 states and FCT, leaving Taraba and Adamawa States.”
Dokoesi insisted that he remained the best candidate for the job because, according to him, he did not belong to any faction in the party. [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has confessed that it has been difficult running Nigeria’s economy because of the fall in the price of crude oil globally. “It has been a very difficult year for Nigeria. Before we came to office, petroleum sold for about $100 per barrel. Then it crashed to $37, and now oscillates between $40 and $45 per barrel. “Suddenly, we are a poor country, but commitment to transparency and accountability is not making people know that there is severe shortage.” President Buhari spoke Thursday at State House, Abuja, while receiving the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director and Under Secretary General of the United Nations, Professor Babatunde Osotimehin. He said that what the country needed to survive the difficult time as a result of severe shortage of resources is commitment to transparency and accountability. Buhari begged UNFPA to bear with Nigeria in whichever area the country could not live up to its responsibilities for now. He reminded UNFPA that explosion in the population and different cultural practices in the country should be a fertile ground for its research. The President thanked the UN agency for its commitment to saving lives in Nigeria, particularly of women and children. On food security, President Buhari said that reports from the North-East of the country are encouraging, as people have started returning to their farmlands, with the guarantee of relative security. Prof Osotimehin, who is former Minister of Health in Nigeria, said that UNFPA is determined to promote health care facilities across the country. He said that reduction of maternal mortality is possible if the country would pay more attention to access to health facilities and human resources to run them. He encouraged Nigeria to commit to providing resources for health care, on a rollover basis, pledging that the UN would work with the country to provide humanitarian assistance not only in the North-East, “but even extended to the Lake Chad basin.” [myad]
Nigeria’s Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has announced that the sum of N1.4 Trillion has so far been saved as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy. “This action (fuel subsidy removal) has led to reduced daily demand for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) for which the daily demand has reduced from 1,600 trucks per day to 850 trucks per day. This has resulted in the savings of N1.4 trillion on subsidy payments thereby conserving budget resources.” Vice President Osinbajo spoke on Thursday in Lagos at the Presidential policy dialogue, organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry and was chaired by the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote. Osinbajo recalled that removal of subsidy was one of the interventions which the Muhammadu Buhari government implemented and has so far helped to boost household and social spending and to prevent the economy from falling into deep recession. “Deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector has equally had significant increase in the availability of PMS throughout the country. This has been achieved at a price of N145 per litre as against over N200 per litre been paid at most parts of the country prior to the deregulation.” He said that the subsidy removal has also reduced demand for foreign exchange required to import volumes of fuel that was often smuggled to neighbouring countries because of the previous price differential. “The recent introduction of a flexible exchange rate regime, which has helped to ease the pressure on the external reserves, is equally of note. It is of course true that the immediate effect is depreciation of the Naira and some of the consequences for inflation, etc., but we expect that with the greater clarity we are seeing in the implementation of the policy by the CBN, the foreign exchange market will stabilise, and confidence will be restored. “There will be an increase in the supply of foreign exchange especially due to inward investment and increased receipts from non-oil exports.” Osinbajo said that the federal government had pledged to keep capital spending in the budget at a minimum of 30 percent, adding that the government is determined to meet the set target since it is investment that grows an economy. “Accordingly, we have already made capital releases of N332billion, which is more than the entire amount released last year for capital expenditure, with another N100 billion set to be released in the next few days. “The main sectors for which the funds have been released are power, works and housing; defence; transportation and agriculture.” He told the business moguls that one of the first areas in which the government brought change about was in public financial management and that it had a consequential effect of saving jobs as well as money. According to him, every “ghost worker” has been eliminated at the Federal level thereby saving many jobs. The Vice President said that the on-going implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System is bringing about monthly savings of N8 billion, while the creation of the Efficiency Unit is projected to save N14 billion in 2016 fiscal year. He said that a great effort has been made to improve non-oil revenues, saying: “this includes bringing an additional 700,000 companies into the tax net as compared to the targeted 500,000 set at the beginning of the year. Non-oil revenue from both FIRS and Customs continues to lag behind projections partly due to seasonal factors and economic conditions. The FIRS has implemented VAT-COLLECT for auto-tracking and remittance of VAT, increased collaboration with State Governments in tax collection. “FIRS has achieved 73.17% of its target for the first half of the year. In a similar vein, the Customs have undertaken substantial revision of incentives, control and enforcement measures.” Osinbajo said that in deepening the diversification efforts of the government, agriculture is clearly a major priority. He said that the gains would be in food security and a reduction in the financial burden and pressure on foreign exchange resulting from importing foods that we can produce. We reproduced here, the full text of the Vice President Osinbajo speech:
I am honoured to have been invited to participate at this important policy dialogue.
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry is perhaps Nigeria’s most significant private sector group even if only because it is located in the Nation’s commercial nerve centre, and of course draws its membership from that crucial community. Please accept my commendations for this laudable initiative.
I doubt whether there is any need to say that Nigeria in the past 15 months has gone through probably its most challenging period in recent history.
First just by way of providing a context let me start by recalling some of the challenges that we were confronted with when we came into office.
The immediate problem was the sharp decline in oil prices and production, and the lack of savings to cushion the impact. The crisis affected nearly all the sectors of the economy, as reflected in:
Declining external reserves;
Scarcity of foreign exchange
Fuel supply shortages;
Derelict infrastructure, especially crippling power outages;
Mounting salary arrears at both State and Local Government levels;
Increasing unemployment and poverty levels;
Failing business confidence; and
A vicious cycle of corruption, evidenced by huge leakages, fiscal misdemeanours and indiscipline
All these things have been compounded in various ways due to continued weakness in the overall global economy and inherent structural deficiencies in the domestic economy:
GDP declined from 6.3% in 2014 to 2.15% in 2015 and -0.36% in Q1 2016;
Insecurity, especially in the North East, elongated by the corruption in Defence procurement;
FDI, which stood at about USD395 million in Q1 2015 declined by 56% to USD175million by Q1 of 2016. FPI, which averaged USD621 million in Q1 of 2015, had declined to USD90.3 million by Q1 2016.
With the decline in the value of Naira, value of equities have been eroded by over 43% closing at market capitalisation of USD48billion in May 2016 against USD84 billion in same period 2014.
Inflation is at 16.5%. Depreciation of the Naira, increase in importation costs due to scarcity of FX,
Declining earnings from oil in the past eight months due to vandalization of pipelines and export assets in the Delta.
Power output fell from a historic high of 5000MW in February to about 2500 in recent times on account of over 60% loss in gas production due to vandalization of pipelines.
It was in order to tackle these problems that we undertook some specific interventions, which were prioritized and reflected in various ways in the 2016 Budget and its Strategic Implementation Plan.
Permit me to elaborate on some of the steps taken in this regard.
In order to safeguard jobs and prevent further increases in unemployment, the Federal Government paid priority attention to assisting the States and Local Governments so that they could pay the salaries of their workers, which were several months in arrears.
We have had three such interventions including the latest loan of N90bn as part of a fiscal responsibility plan for States. In order to access these funds States are required to comply with a fiscal responsibility plan, which includes cleaning up their payrolls, the use of TSA and showing clear plans for improving IGR.
These interventions have helped to boost household and social spending which were key steps to prevent the economy from falling into deep recession.
Deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector has equally had significant increase in the availability of PMS throughout the country. This has been achieved at a price of N145 per litre as against over N200 per litre been paid at most parts of the country prior to the deregulation.
This action has led to reduced daily demand for premium motor spirit (PMS) for which the daily demand has reduced from 1,600 trucks per day to 850 trucks per day. This has resulted in the savings of N1.4 trillion on subsidy payments thereby conserving budget resources and reducing demand for foreign exchange required to import such volumes, which were also smuggled to neighbouring countries because of the previous price differential.
The recent introduction of a flexible exchange rate regime, which has helped to ease the pressure on the external reserves, is equally of note. It is of course true that the immediate effect is depreciation of the Naira and some of the consequences for inflation, etc., but we expect that with the greater clarity we are seeing in the implementation of the policy by the CBN the foreign exchange market will stabilise, and confidence will be restored.
There will be an increase in the supply of foreign exchange especially due to inward investment and increased receipts from non-oil exports. There is already anecdotal evidence that Nigerian agricultural products are being exported to neighbouring countries in substantial quantities and credible sources in the banking sector have also informed us about incipient response in terms of portfolio and foreign direct investments.
We had also pledged to keep capital spending in the budget at a minimum of 30%. This is a target that we are determined to keep since it is investment that grows an economy.
Accordingly, we have already made capital releases of N332billion, which is more than the entire amount released last year for capital expenditure, with another N100 billion set to be released in the next few days.
The main sectors for which the funds have been released are power, works and housing; defence; transportation and agriculture.
One of the first areas in which we brought change about is in public financial management. This has had a consequential effect of saving jobs as well as money. The reality is that every “ghost worker” eliminated at the Federal level is a job saved.
Other policy instruments used in this regard include the Treasury Single Account, which has brought transparency into inflows and outflows of government monies.
The on-going implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System is bringing about monthly savings of N8billion, while the creation of the Efficiency Unit is projected to save N14billion in 2016 fiscal year.
A great effort has been made to improve non-oil revenues; this includes bringing an additional 700,000 companies into the tax net as compared to the targeted 500,000 set at the beginning of the year. Non-oil revenue from both FIRS and Customs continues to lag behind projections partly due to seasonal factors and economic conditions. The FIRS has implemented VAT-COLLECT for auto-tracking and remittance of VAT, increased collaboration with State Governments in tax collection.
FIRS has achieved 73.17% of its target for the first half of the year. In a similar vein, the Customs have undertaken substantial revision of incentives, control and enforcement measures.
In deepening the diversification efforts agriculture is clearly a major priority of this government. The obvious gains are food security and a reduction in the financial burden and pressure on foreign exchange resulting from importing foods that we can produce.
The problem of the agricultural sector is two-fold:
Inability to meet domestic food requirements. This is a productivity challenge driven by an input system and farming model that is largely inefficient – (inadequate seeds, fertilisers, irrigation, crop protection, etc.)
Inability to export at levels required for market success – (inefficient system for setting and enforcing food quality standards, poor knowledge of target markets, weak inspectorate system, poor coordination amongst relevant agencies).
The Government has commenced the process of resolving some of these issues with the objective of ensuring that Nigeria is self-sufficient in food production particularly rice, wheat, sugar, maize, beans, soya beans, millet, sorghum, fish, vegetable oils, meat, milk, fruits and vegetables.
This has led to increased rice yields in Kebbi State from 3.5tons per hectare to 7.5tons per hectare.
Similarly, milled rice capacity is being increased from 3million tons annually to 10million tons of paddy annually.
Going forward, the Ministry of Agriculture has now published a roadmap named ‘The Green Alternative’, which is our administration’s strategy for unlocking growth in the agricultural sector.
We do realize of course that the private sector has been the engine of growth in successful economies. This is why we continue to support and encourage massive investments by private investors and key employers of labour as demonstrated by the development of the Dangote Refinery, the Indorama Eleme Petrochemical facilities, Honeywell Sorghum Plant as well as the Golden Sugar and Savannah Sugar projects.
Our intention with other solid minerals is to emulate what has already been achieved in turning limestone into cement. Our recent settlement on Ajaokuta holds out the promise for reviving our iron and steel industry in similar manner.
In addition to benefitting from an improved skills mix in the labour market, the private sector will be a major beneficiary of the infrastructural investments that the Federal Government is making in power, roads, rail and airports. Just to mention some of them, the Abuja-Kaduna standard gauge rail line is up and running while work in underway with regard to the first leg of the Lagos-Kano railway which will run from Lagos to Ibadan and the Calabar-Lagos line which will start at that end.
On road rehabilitation, government has paid N70billion to contractors who had not been paid in over two years with over 70 construction firms benefitting. This has resulted in the recall of not less than 5000 workers. Indeed, work has started on sections of Kano-Katsina; Kano-Maiduguri; Ilorin-Jebba; and Lagos-Ibadan roads amongst others.
You are all witnesses to the fact that the power situation had started to improve after this Administration came into office. The data available shows that average generation rose from 3565MW from January to May 2015 to as high as 5000MW in February 2016.
The situation however has become more challenging by the recent spate of insecurity in the Niger Delta, impacting on the supply of gas for electricity generation. The sabotage of the Forcados export terminal alone cost the loss of 40% of gas supply to power plants.
However, efforts are underway to continue to diversify sources of energy including hydro, biomass, coal and solar amongst others. The recent signing of agreements with 14 solar companies, which is expected to add 1,125 megawatts to the National Grid, is an example in this regard.
In addressing the intolerably high levels of poverty and youth unemployment especially, the Buhari administration established the most far reaching socio investment programme yet. The N500billion is provided in the current budget for social investments.
The programme includes the Home Grown School Feeding Programme, which has started through collaboration with two states already. The number of participating States is expected to become ten by the time schools resume in September 2016.
Similarly, since over 60% of Nigerians are under the age of 25 we are determined to leverage their vigour, dynamism and creativity by tackling youth unemployment upfront.
Current applications on the N-Power website for recruiting young graduates to the Teacher Corps have reached 710,000 and counting.
The delivery model that we are using relies on private sector participation across the value chain.
These measures will be accompanied by improvements in soft infrastructure of rules and processes by removing red tape and other impediments to doing business. By this, I mean that it will become easier to register businesses, obtain land titles, clear goods from the ports, obtain a business visa and pay taxes among other things.
This is why President Buhari has approved the establishment of Presidential Council on Ease of Doing Business. We are already seeing results at the Corporate Affairs Commission, with construction permits and registration of property.
The present administration is a strong believer in public-private dialogue. We have scheduled periodic meetings with the private sector to ensure quality feedback and to make the policy process inclusive. Indeed, we will institutionalize a Quarterly Business Briefing as a means of institutionalizing such policy dialogue starting next quarter.
We fully realize that our plans have to continue and be rapidly implemented if they are to have the desired impact. Nevertheless, we are firmly convinced the Nigerian economy is resilient and will surely turn the corner.
Our economy is robust and resilient; we have incredibly innovative and dynamic entrepreneurs; we have a vibrant market; we have the tremendous resource endowments and we have an uncontested reputation for hardwork.
On the part of government, our tasks are clear: To ensure security, fight corruption and improve the economy.
Our immediate tasks to achieve our economic objectives are:
reduce fiscal and forex imbalances;
boost dollar liquidity;
curb inflation;
lower interest rate and ensure lending to the real sector;
increase FDIs and FPI by sustaining enabling policies;
encourage PPPs and other collaborative engagements in the private sector;
deepen diversification;
create jobs directly and indirectly; and
reduce poverty
I am convinced that if we optimize all of these, Nigeria will finally embark on the path of sustained growth and transformation.
Let me thank the Lagos Chamber of Commerce once again for organizing this dialogue session and assure you that the government will always engage with the private sector in line with the best democratic ideals.
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The Rivers State governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the April 2015 election, Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside has accused the state governor, Chief Nyeson Wike of turning the state into what he called the Hobbesian state of nature, where life is ‘brutish, nasty and short.’
Nigeria’s Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has announced that the sum of N1.4 Trillion has so far been saved as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy.
Lessons From The First Families, By Rufus Kayode Oteniya
Do you know Ann LePage? She’s the (third) wife of Paul LePage, the right-wing weirdo, out-of-control and ever controversial governor of Maine, a man with an inspiring story of growing up on the streets after running away from an abusive step-dad at the age of 11 and who in spite of all odds went on to college, became a company executive and then a governor.
As customary in the West, Paul took a sharp pay cut for transitioning from the private to public sector. According to the US Census data, the average yearly income for a married-couple family in Maine is about $87,000. As the lowest paid governor in the country, LePage gets a salary of $70,000, a figure that has remained unchanged in the state since 1987 which Paul unsuccessfully attempted to double for his successor, starting in 2019, after which his term would have ended.
Ann has dreams, goals and aspiration and like any woman with a knack for good taste, she has her eyes set on getting a new SUV – Toyota RAV4 which costs around $24,350, as one of her immediate dreams. Having given up her a job to wholly put herself behind her husband and knowing full well that Paul’s income – the family’s only – cannot support this dream, she knew she had to do something about it. Full-time job was not an option because of her Stately commitments. Candidly, $70,000 is too little for a governor in America, more so for a man with the need to support his five children – four biological from his two previous marriages and one adopted son, the son of his former caddy in Jamaica.
Many governors and even the US president would tell you that living in the State House doesn’t necessarily come cheap. Like in a luxury hotel, at the end of each month, the president or a governor receives bills for their food and incidental expenses. It can be really frustrating for some of them.
Nancy Reagan didn’t hide her surprise at this practice when an usher presented her first bill in 1981, saying, “Nobody ever told us the president and his wife are charged for every meal, as well as incidentals like dry cleaning, toothpaste, and other toiletries.”
Similarly, former first lady Laura Bush wrote in her post-White House memoir – “Spoken from the Heart” – that “the presidential room, as it were, is covered, but not the board……it is more than fair that they pay for personal items like every American household…..There were some costs that I was not prepared for……..I was amazed by the sheer number of designer clothes that I was expected to buy, like the women before me, to meet the expectations for a first lady.” Bush wrote that a bill came monthly, itemising everything she and her family owed, including food, dry cleaning and hourly wages for waiters and cleanup crews at private parties. Little wonder the Bushes often found it far cheaper to eat meals outside the White House.
Not everything is free for the First families. They even have to pay to take family members or friends who are outside the official delegation for any official trip.
What Did(n’t) Ann do?
Ann wanted the car badly but she couldn’t and wouldn’t go the easy ways that could be self-destructing. The easiest options are not necessarily the best! She wouldn’t coerce her husband to ‘goatify’ the state’s ‘yam’, a parlance for illicitly digging hands in public treasury by government officials in spite of her husband overseeing a $6.7b (N2.13 trillion) budget that is more than a third of Nigeria’s Federal government budget notwithstanding that Maine, a state with 1.33m population ended the 2015/16 financial year with $93 million (N29.6b) budget surplus.
Ann wouldn’t take kickbacks from state contractors and lobbyists who might want to curry her favour and she wouldn’t take gift from affluent friends who would be pleased to associate with the State’s first family.
Apart from the honour and glamour of office, politics can be financially rewarding as well but this usually happens after leaving office when opportunities like book deals, commercial endorsement, boardroom participation and public speeches abound. Public servants are usually forbidden to use their positions for financial gains while still in office because of conflict of interest.
Ann chose to go the honourable way. She laid down pride, took a part-time job as a waitress in a local restaurant by following in the footsteps of her stepdaughter as described here by Paul, her husband: “My daughter last year, she’s in law school, she made $28 an hour working in Boothbay as a waitress, server. She did so well, my wife, the first lady, to supplement the governor’s salarymen is waitressing this summer. I’m kidding — not kidding really” – Governor LePage
Ann LePage has proven that there’s dignity of labour, a philosophy that all types of jobs are to be respected equally. If you by any chance go to McSeagull’s restaurant in Boothbay Harbor this summer, there is a likelihood that the first lady will be your your waiter.
Also, last week, the internet was awash with the story of Sasha, the younger daughter of US President Barack Obama being spotted taking some time off from the comforts of the White House to work at Nancy’s, a seafood joint on Martha’s Vineyard at Cape Cod in Massachusetts where the family is currently having their summer vacation. Regardless of their positions, the Obamas teach their children the simple ways of life, hard work and the dignity of labour.
Last year elder daughter Malia also did a summer job at the set of HBO’s “Girls.” with Lena Dunham. She is currently taking a “gap year” off schooling most probably to do some voluntary work before attending Harvard University (like her parents, who both attended Harvard Law School) in 2017.
From these stories and for the benefit of all, I hope Nigerians, especially politicians can learn to always eschew corruption, live within their legitimate means and do the honourable, and also teach their children hard work and humility so that they can grow up to be useful members of the society.
Oteniy, a public affairs commentator can be reached on oteniyark@hotmail.com. [myad]