National leader of the All Progress Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has emerged as 2015 ‘Man of the Year’ of one of Nigeria’s fastest growing monthly magazines, Thinkers Magazine. Announcing this in a statement today, the Company Secretary of Thinkers Communications Limited, said that Tinubu’s emergence as winner of the award followed a keenly contested nomination and selection process. “The Thinkers Magazine’s ‘Man of the Year’ award was instituted as part of activities towards celebrating outstanding individuals who have distinguished themselves in their chosen area of human endeavour and impacted positively on the lives of their countrymen and women. “For this particular category, Man of the Year, a number of eminent Nigerians with remarkable track records of performance and industry were nominated. After a rigorous screening exercise by the Awards’ Board of Governors, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was subsequently and unanimously picked as the best person for the honour.” Hajiya Saratu said that the award will be presented to the APC leader at a date to be announced later, even as she said that Thinkers Magazine will continue to identify extraordinary compatriots who have carved a niche for themselves in different areas of human endeavours and honour them in ways that are deserving and ennobling. [myad]
Ministries of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Environment and Health have launched a joint war against filths and environmental degradation in Abuja, the nation’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The three ministries flagged off the programme in Kuje, the capital of Kuje Area Council of the FCT on Saturday. The theme of the war is “Clean Environment; Our collective responsibility for a healthy living.” The ceremony was also attended by the Directors General and heads of Agencies and Pararstatals under the FCT Administration and Federal Ministry of Environment. Speaking at the launching, the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello made it clear that Abuja has a unique position as the capital of Nigeria and therefore should be the major gateway into the country. He said that the FCT Clean-up exercise is not just a sanitation exercise but a re-orientation effort in line with the Change Agenda of the Federal Government. He advised Abuja residents to change their attitude to the way they used to do things, saying: “we must tell ourselves the truth that our environment is very dirty and that the responsibility for ensuring a clean and healthy environment lies on us. It must start from our households, our communities and our towns and cities. A clean environment is our collective responsibility for a healthy living. “I therefore enjoin all of us to work hard in re-introducing community efforts in environmental sanitation through grassroots mobilization and to fashion out new ways of changing our attitude and the psyche of our younger ones in order to ensure a sustainable clean and healthy environment.” Muhammadu Bello called on the Area Councils’ Chairmen and Traditional rulers to organize their communities to tackle the issue of refuse that used to litter in all the nook and crannies of the Federal Capital Territory. This was even as the Minister of Environment, Hajiya Amina Mohammed said that clean environment would make for healthy living. According to Hajiya Amina, healthy people are more productive at work place even as healthy communities offer a more lucrative market for goods and services. The Environment minister emphasised that most of the common disease in the society, such as Malaria, Cholera, Typhoid Fever, Scabies and even Lassa fever are caused by poor environmental sanitation and hygiene practices. She described the war against environmental degradation as a wake-up call and an opportunity for people in Kuje and FCT in general to reflect on their general attitude to personal hygiene for the purpose of working to make correction. Also at the occasion were the minister of State for Environment, Alhaji Usman Jubril, representative of the Minister of Health, FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye, as well as traditional rulers and others. The ministers and other guests later moved to the Kuje main market where they launch the campaign for cleaner environment. [myad]
There has been so much concern about how the Federal Character principle has since its introduction in 1979, promoted mediocrity within the public service, and retarded national growth and progress. Introduced after the civil war to promote national integration, and to address the fears of sections of the country which felt marginalized, the Federal Character principle was meant to ensure that public service appointments reflect the country’s diversity: religious, ethnic, geographical and linguistic, and by extension, that resource allocation reflects the fact that this is a federal system and not a clan.
It is thus an ethnic balancing mechanism. The assumption is that if the public service is truly representative, this will promote a sense of national loyalty and inclusion. Sections 14 (3-4) and Third Schedule, Part 1(c) of the Constitution spell out the principle in clear terms and in 1996, a Federal Character Commission was established to ensure compliance. But today, the general impression is that Federal Character as applied has resulted in an erosion of merit, and that the observed inefficiency in the state bureaucracy is traceable to it, and in other areas of national life, it has not necessarily brought better spread of opportunities. The oft-recommended solution as was again reportedly argued at a recent colloquium in Lagos, in honour of Professor Anya Anya, is to abolish the Federal Character principle and replace it with a merit-based system.
Merit is important, no doubt; indeed, this was a key outcome of the Vision 20:2020 process. The quality of human resource in any organization determines the quality of inputs and outputs. That is why organizations look for the best and the brightest. And if the public service in Nigeria can be taken as an organization, the kind of people who run, lead and manage it have not necessarily been the best and the brightest that the country should have. But I am tempted to argue that the problem is not the Federal Character principle or quota system.
In fact, in many parts of the world today, diversity and inclusiveness are actively encouraged in recruitments and other processes. In a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural country such as ours, the Federal Character principle can help promote our diversity and strengthen otherwise marginalized, less populous groups such as the minorities. The 50 wise men in the 1978 Constitution Drafting Committee who proposed the principle were right in seeking to make more Nigerians have a sense of belonging. In applying the quota system however, we have over the years, abused and ignored best practices.
Where the problem lies is when people hide under the Federal Character principle to lower standards so that their kinsmen can have opportunities, or when in the name of Federal Character, needless cost is incurred and room is created for the incompetent to rise. That is not how the principle is applied in other parts of the world. There must be certain benchmarks, below which a responsible system should not descend. The story is often told about how the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board and some universities, for example, have different cut off points for students from different parts of the country. It is this kind of story, if it is true, that raises questions about how the Federal Character principle is an assault on merit. If the required score for any prospective student of Medicine is 290, then all applicants must score 290 in the qualifying examination before they can gain admission.
Equal opportunity must be given and standards must be the same. A quota principle may then be applied in filling the available slots to ensure diversity. In the public service also, it is often said that certain less qualified persons are often promoted beyond their level of competence. That is unacceptable. The Nigerian Constitution says for example that there must be a reflection of Federal Character in the appointment of Ministers, and because of that we have ended up with a bloated Federal Executive Council. These are some of the ways in which the quota system has generated so much discontent. There is even a tendency among certain Nigerians to look down on people from other parts of the country as products of quota, whereas it has not been proven that any Nigerian group has a monopoly of competent and intelligent people.
What we need to insist on is not an abolition of a deliberate attempt to ensure diversity and inclusiveness, but that any such system in place must not negate merit and standards. Before 1979, there were serious issues about marginalization and exclusion in the Nigerian public space. There was tension between majority and minority groups over access to power and opportunities. The military made everything more complex due to a Northernization principle that defied the idea of Federalism. It is ironic, however, that today more Nigerians feel more marginalized than was the case before 1979 and 1999. If there was no Federal Character law, the situation could even have been worse. Poorly implemented as it may have been, it is still a major restraining force against the tendency of the average Nigerian leader to reduce everything to his or her own narrow interest. It is perhaps better to have a system where people in authority pretend to be nationalistic, than to have a system where nepotism and favoritism predominate.
The big problem is that we are not yet a nation. We are not yet Nigerians in the sense in which a country is propelled by love and patriotism. We are a country of villagers, of ethnic champions, locked in a primordial mode, largely incapable of thinking as Nigerians, an imperfect union. When people are in positions of authority, they do not think of the best for the system, but how they can use that position to promote ethnic and sectarian interests. The people outside the system also expect to be patronized by their kinsman in position and power. There is a “Na-my-brother-dey-there” mentality that has made nepotism the driving force of the public service system, making the problem and the associated guilt collective.
I recall a high-ranking public official boasting that he was able to get over 200 people from his state into the public service! These would be qualified persons of course, but they had the opportunity only because their brother was within the system, and if every influential person loads the system with their kinsmen, certainly better qualified or equally qualified persons who do not know anybody will have no access. When there are vacancies in certain government departments, the first group that would most likely know would be the kinsmen of the influential persons in charge. And the people who do this are very shameless about it. No matter how educated, most Nigerians only feel comfortable with people from their parts of the country or those who speak the same language with them. They find it difficult to relate with other Nigerians.
I once attended an event organized under the auspices of the office of a certain big man. It turned out that the keynote speaker was from his ethnic group, the Master of Ceremony, the Chair of the occasion, nearly all the lead paper presenters too, and when we checked, they all came from his state of origin! And yet there is a Federal Character principle in place. If there had been none, the fellow probably would have invited the audience from his village too. It is precisely that kind of attitude that makes a Federal Character principle useful. The event in question was a Federal Government event! But it didn’t matter to the man in charge. All the speakers were knowledgeable by the way, and the Master of Ceremony did a good job. Nobody could question their performance. But certainly there must be people from other parts of the country who could have discharged the responsibility just as well, and if the organizer had been a bit sensitive, he would have ensured some degree of diversity.
It may be difficult to know how offensive nepotism can be until you actually encounter it. It is a fact that people in power and position use that privilege to develop their own village and state as a mater of course. Their first instinct is to use public funds to set up infrastructure in their own states and villages, before they think of other Nigerians. From the village and the state, they may then think of their region. The contractors are either their friends or agents. This is the case because the average Nigerian sees public service as an opportunity to serve and please his own people, and not Nigerians. I have been in situations where public officials, surrounded by their kinsmen, will suddenly stop a conversation and relapse into their mother tongue, leaving you to start screaming “Speak English, speak English, don’t shut the rest of us out of this conversation”. Most Nigerians see anyone who does not speak their mother tongue as an outsider and when it comes to the distribution of opportunities, they will treat you exactly as an outsider.
Have you not noticed how the pattern of dressing and attitudes in Abuja, the Federal Capital, reflect the changes in the leadership of the country? When a Yoruba man is in power, the Yoruba are all over the city. When it is the turn of a Northerner, every Northerner stumps the floor of Abuja with greater ease and confidence. If anyone didn’t have Ijaw friends before President Jonathan became President, they had to seek out one and befriend. Our governance process is terribly driven by a certain “It-is-our-turn” mentality, which influences everything else. Even in the states, a Governor is first and foremost, the Governor of his constituency, and he seeks to please that constituency before any other part of the state. “If I don’t develop my area, another governor from another area will not bring development to my people”. Such a system as we run where people are not held accountable on the basis of ideas and principles, can only promote division.
Religion is part of the equation. Some people are so unscrupulous, when they head a department, they would insist on surrounding themselves only with their church members or adherents of their faith. The result is an occultic system that stands in the way of performance and efficiency. I believe that the existence of a Federal Character principle is the only reason why some people still manage to pretend to be Nigerian. It should be retained, if only to keep reminding people that this country cannot be run at the level of a village and that it belongs to over 450 nationalities, but greater emphasis should be placed on merit and standards.
To rise gradually above it all, we must grow an enlightened society. We must develop a sense of Nigerian-ness, build a nation, such that people will be given opportunities, and promoted, not on the basis of affiliations, but their ability and the content of their character. [myad]
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said that the allure of power and the worries about what would become of him after leaving office would have made him to hold to power even at the expense of the peace and unity of the country.
Jonathan who spoke during a dinner in his honor by Cercle Diplomatique, Geneva, Switzerland remarked: “Again, I have to agree with Blum that it was not an easy decision to take. This is because the allure of power and the worries about what would become of you after leaving office constitute an irresistible force. It has an attraction so controlling and powerful that it takes a man who has the fear of God and who loves his people and nation to relinquish power so easily in Africa.”
“I was actually in that valley on March 28, 2015. I never knew that the human brain had the capacity for such enhanced rapid thinking. One hundred and one things were coursing through my mind every second. My country was at the verge of collapse. The tension in the land was abysmally high and palpable, in the months and days leading to the election. The country became more polarized more than ever before, such that the gap between the North and the South and between Christians and Muslims became quite pronounced. In fact, it became so disturbing that some interest groups in the United States began to predict that Nigeria would disintegrate in 2015. And, indeed, many Nigerians did buy into this doomsday prophesy as they began to brace themselves for the worst. As the President, I reminded myself that the Government I led had invested so much effort into building our country. I worked hard with my top officials to encourage Nigerians and non-Nigerians to invest in our country to be able to provide jobs and improve the lives of our people. We worked hard to grow our economy and to improve and bring Nigeria up as the biggest economy in Africa, with a GDP of about half a trillion dollars.
“Should I then, for the love of power, watch Nigeria slide into a theatre of war, with my fellow country men and women dying, and many more pouring into other nations in Africa and beyond, as refugees?
“Should I hang on to power and tussle with my challengers, while the investments of hard working citizens of the world go down the drain? I then said to myself, NO!
“I promised my God that I will not let that fate befall Nigeria under my watch, hence the historic telephone call I put through to congratulate my challenger even when the results were still being tallied. I believe that for a country to be great, both the leaders and the led must be prepared to make sacrifices. This is why, everywhere I go, I always advise that the new generation of African leaders must think differently. We can no longer afford to wilfully sacrifice the blood of our citizens on the altar of dangerous partisan politics. It is not worth it. This reminds me of one of my campaign statements to the effect that my ambition was not worth the shedding of the blood of any Nigerian. Some people took it then as mere political slogan but I knew that I meant it when I said it”.
We must all fight for the enthronement of political stability in Africa, for in it lies the panacea for sustainable growth and development. For Africa to record the kind of advancement that will be competitive and beneficial to our citizens, we must have stable states supported by strong institutions. That appears to be the irreducible minimum that is common to all developed societies. Africa’s political odyssey can distinctly be categorised into three eras, and probably another that would later signpost its classification as a developed continent”.
“Some may doubt this, but it is no fluke that Africa is growing and rising. However I will admit before you here that we still have challenges. That is why people like us did all we could to ensure that Nigeria, the biggest black nation on earth, would not drift into anarchy because such a situation would have spelt doom for the rest of the continent. It would have affected not just Nigeria alone, but the GDP and economy of the entire West Africa. And if the economy of West Africa crashes, it would definitely affect the performance of the economy of the whole of Africa. As you know, the GDP of Africa is less than three trillion dollars, with only six African countries able to boast of nominal GDP above $100 billion. Even for those in this ‘elite’ category, you can’t really say that they are rich countries. Apart from maybe South Africa that has an industrially competitive economy, the rest are still mainly commodity exporting countries. Even the case of that of South Africa is not very encouraging, because we have a situation which we could refer to as a first world economic performance, yet the ordinary people live the life of the people in the so called third world.”
In the case of Nigeria which is even the biggest economy on the continent, the reality is that we have an unenviable per capita GDP of $3,203, which is the World Bank average for a period covering 2011-2015.
“Even then, I still believe that Africa has a bright future; a promising prognosis that is supported by the fact that the continent remains a very fertile and attractive territory that yields irresistible returns on investments. I believe that in the next few years many more big investors will be jostling to come to Africa, if only we will do the right thing. The process of getting it right has already started with a democratic and increasingly democratising Africa. But we have to deepen and strengthen our democratic credentials through regular, free and fair elections. This will in turn bring about the stability necessary to improve the infrastructure that promotes rapid economic growth. These are the guarantees that would lead us into the next period which I would like to call the era of a developed Africa. I have no doubt in my mind that we will get there someday.
“I will be applying myself diligently to two key areas. First, is to work for good governance by promoting credible and transparent elections. This will bring about the strengthening of our institutions and the enthronement of stability. I also believe that there is the urgent need to create jobs for our teeming young population. This is another area that will be receiving my attention. I recall that the Vice President of your association made reference in his speech to my achievements in that regard through what we called Youth Enterprises with Innovation (YouWin) and the Nagropreneur programme which encouraged young people to go into agriculture. I believe more programmes like that should be established to promote youth entrepreneurship. That way, we reduce their reliance on paid employment. We will not only teach them to become entrepreneurs, they will also acquire the capacity to employ other people. We will be paying special attention to this segment of our society, especially young people and women.
We will develop programmes that will inculcate in them business skills to be able to set up micro, small and medium enterprises. We shall assist them to access take-off grants when they acquire the relevant skills and capacities. There are many areas that they can go into; food processing, light manufacturing and the services sector are just some of them. I can tell you from experience that this works. As we speak, Our Nagropreneur programme, to promote youth involvement in agriculture value chain, is being scaled up by the African Development Bank presently. It is already being replicated in 19 African countries because of the success of the programme in Nigeria. I invite all of you here today, cabinet ministers, diplomats and private sector people to remain committed to the cause of improving lives, especially those lives in Africa, and making our world a better place. For those of you that will be sharing in this vision for Africa, I assure you that you will not be disappointed. I am very optimistic that if we encourage young men and women in this continent to develop businesses of their own, the story of Africa will change within 10 years.” [myad]
The Gomo of Kuje, Alhaji Haruna Tanko Jibril has warned residents of the area against tampering with electricity equipment, describing vandalism as an act of economic sabotage.
In his brief remarks at a customer forum organized by Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) at the Kuje Town Hall yesterday, the Gomo, who is also the Chairman of the Council of Traditional Rulers in the area, further warned all the traditional rulers under his province to ensure the protection of electricity equipment in their respective areas.
“All of us should be ‘Ambassadors of AEDC’ against vandals. We must be very vigilant and report economic saboteurs. This is necessary for us to help them (AEDC) to sustain the relative steady power supply that we currently enjoy in Kuje,” AlhajiTankoJibril stated.
He also used the opportunity to enjoin all residents to cooperate with the utility on the new tariff regime that is expected to take effect from 1st February, 2016, stressing: “we all know the value of electricity to our lives and must therefore help the AEDC to serve us better.”
Also speaking, the Interim Chairman of the Kuje Electricity Consumers Forum, Mr.BayoOdejinmi, also aligned himself with the position of the monarch, saying that “power supply has improved in Kuje in recent times.
“I also want to support the Gomo’s position by appealing for understanding on the upcoming tariff increase because electricity from the national grid will still be cheaper than powering our generator sets”.
Mr.Odejinmi advised all electricity consumers in the area to acquire meters, saying that “once you have meters there will be no need for fights again with AEDC staff.”
The Forum chairman however called on the AEDC to use the opportunity of the tariff adjustment to upgrade its facilities in Kuje, adding that the company should also increase the number of its staff in the area to ensure speedy clearance of faults and response to customers’ complaints.
Earlier, the Regional Manager of the AEDC for FCT South, Engr. Abdulmutalib Mohammed and the Area Manager of Kuje, HajiyaJummai Suleiman had appealed to customers to refrain from all forms of hostilities against staff of the company during their legitimate duties.
HajiyaJummai also urged the customers to pay their electricity bills, decrying that in December last year alone, the Kuje area office of the company incurred a loss of over N25 million in the power supplied to it for that month. [myad]
Vice-Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Professor Ibrahim Garba, has announced that the institution has produced 305 Ph.D. Degree holders and 98 First Class degree holders for 2013/2014 academic session. Professor Garba who spoke at the 38th convocation ceremony of the university at the main campus, Samaru, Zaria, Kaduna State said: “The Chancellor, Egwe, Nnaemeka Alfred Ugochukwu, will in today’s convocation ceremony confer a total of 13,149 First Degrees and 4,598 Higher Degrees and Diplomas to deserving graduates for the 2013/2014 academic session.” He gave the breakdown as follows: First Class, 89 persons; Second Class Upper, 2,086; Second Class Lower, 7,108; Third Class, 3,161; Pass, 262; and 443 Unclassified Degrees. According to him Higher Degrees and Diplomas include 305 Ph.Ds; 2,669 Masters of Arts and Masters of Science; and 1,624 Post Graduate Diplomas. Professor Garba reminded the graduates that they have been added to the list of alumni of the university and should therefore see themselves as members of the larger ABU family. He said the university had continued to discharge its mandate of teaching, research innovation and community service diligently. “The university had from its inception, continued to train men and women without any distinction on grounds of race, religion or political beliefs. It has remained the most national in character in the Nigerian university system.” The Vice Chancellor however lamented that the university, with a population of about 40,000 students, has accommodation for only 11,000 students on its campus. “It is important to note that the growth of student population is not accompanied by any addition of hostels in the last 35 years, while the existing ones have been degraded over time.” The V-C said discussions were on with private investors to build more hostels through public-private partnership. “A huge donation was yesterday pledged by Alhaji Aliko Dangote to build 10 hostels for ABU. This is unprecedented and has certainly come at the right time.” [myad]
Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) may soon cut off Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory over huge debts which the residents were said to have refused to settle. The Regional Manager of the company, Engineer I. Ahmed Mohammed, who dropped this hint today at an interactive session with consumers in Kuje town, said that the company has been running at a great loss as a result of the accumulated debts. Ahmed said that the owner of the company bought it from the government at the rate of $168 Million with a view to improve the electricity supply to the people, but regretted that instead of making profit, the company has been returning to banks to take loans for the purpose of remaining in business. He recalled that before the company bought the electricity generation from government, Kuje had suffered months in darkness because of low level of generation and supply, adding that the situation had greatly improved with the coming of the company. Ahmed regretted that despite the improvement in the supply, many residents have refused to pay their bills, stressing that electricity is no longer a social service but a conventional business where the owner would want to make profit to be able to pay the salaries of the staff. This was even as the company’s Area Manager in Kuje, Hajiya Jummai S. Suleiman recalled that the highest energy delivered to Kuje in 2013 was 1,563,408KWH “but this has gradually increased to 4,263,959.4KWH as at November 2015.” Hajiya Jumai added that Kuje and its environs have since been connected to the 330KV transmission line from Gwagwalada sub-station even as she said that so far the company has provided eleven new transformers both new and replaced ones in Kuje. The Area Manager said that the highest billing before the relatively stable power supply situation was about N20 Million and a collection of about N9,600.000. She said that the billing as at December 2015 was about N45 Million with the highest collection of N29 Million, saying: “what this statistic represents is that Kuje Area Office is running at a loss because we have not been able to collect our revenue. This explains why we have embarked on aggressive revenue drive.” The Gomo of Kuje, Alhaji Tanko Jibril, who led a number of District heads and other traditional chiefs to the meeting, appealed to the electricity consumers to pay their bills as and when due to avoid a situation where the distribution company would cut them off. Alhaji Jibril warned also that henceforth, any traditional ruler in whose territory electricity facilities are vandalized would be held responsible, even as he called on his subjects to desist from tampering with the facilities illegally. [myad]
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has said that it is intensifying surveillance to locate the abducted Chibok girls and other captives held by the Boko Haram terrorists in Sambisa forest
The Deputy Theater Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole in charge of Air Component, Air Vice Marshal Isiaka Amao, told newsmen in Maiduguri that NAF had also destroyed the terrorists’ leadership hideouts; logistics support bases and infrastructure in its numerous air strikes.
“In continuation of the counter-terrorism operations under Operation Lafiya Dole, the air component has intensified air strikes against the Boko Haram terrorists.
“The air effort was focused on further degrading the terrorists operational capability as well as command and control structure, restricting their freedom of movement and destroying their logistics support base.’
He said that the Air Force had successfully carried out 286 operational sorties against the terrorists’ targets between Dec. 25, 2015 and now.
“The air operation also intensified surveillance towards locating the abducted Chibok Girls and other citizens that may have been abducted by the terrorists group.
“The missions conducted led to the destruction of newly discovered terrorists hideouts, enclaves, logistics support bases and infrastructure, especially as they flee Sambisa to nearby locations due to aerial bombardments.
Amao said that the air efforts had further degraded the terrorists and denied them the opportunity to regroup as the case was in the past.
“Notable among the missions during the period was an air strike on Dec. 25, where some Boko Haram leaders and junior commanders who had gathered for a meeting in Sambisa forest were neutralised by a precision strike.
“Post strike assessment indicated that over 15 terrorists were killed.’’
He said that NAF also conducted several interdiction missions against terrorists’ targets on part of Sambisa forest on different occasion.
“The most significant strike was conducted on Jan. 17, after an intelligence report on the location of a high value terrorists leader taking refuge at a location south of Arra in Sambisa forest.
“Consequently air strikes were conducted to neutralise the target.” [myad]
Two persons were said to have died in Ugieda, South Ibie, in Etsako West local government area of Edo state after consuming locally brewed gin, popularly called ogogoro. This is even as three other persons, who also consumed the substance which is suspected to be contaminated, have been hospitalized with doctors battling to save their lives.
The incident is coming months after several persons reportedly died in Ondo and Rivers states, after consuming similar substance.
It was gathered that the five persons complained of unusual hotness and aches in their stomach after consuming the local dry gin.
Narrating how the incident occurred, one of the eyewitnesses, Lukman Rilwan, said: “After they had consumed the Ogogoro, they began complaining of stomach ache. Unfortunately the two died while three are currently hospitalized.”
The traditional ruler of the community, the Aidonigie of South Ibie, Alhaji Kelvin Danisi, said that a ban would be placed on sales and consumption of the illicit gin.
”So we are doing everything to make sure that such thing does not happen again. I have already summoned a meeting of all those that are into sales of alcohol and we are going to place a ban on illicit gin.”
Speaking in the same vein, the Chairman of Etsako West local government council, Mr. Yesufu Busari who also confirmed the incident, said he got report “that two persons have died and three others are still critically ill at the hospital.”
Busari said that the council would liaise with relevant stakeholders, especially dealers of the local gin, to educate and enlighten the people on current happenings.
He appealed to people of the council to desist from consuming illicit gin. [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has admitted that members of Boko Haram are still hiding in the Sambisa Forest, Borno State of Nigeria.
He told a high-level meeting of the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council, in Addis Ababa today that there is no single territory which members of the Boko Haram are now occupying in Nigeria other than their hide out in Sambisa Forest.
“As at now, there is no single Nigerian territory under the control of the insurgents other than their hideouts in Sambisa Forest.”
The President who said that the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) are now being resettled in their respective homes, promised that Nigeria will soon redeem its pledge of $100 Million for the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to enhance the operations of the Task Force against Boko Haram.
According to President Buhari, Nigeria had already released $21 Million to the task force in June last year, adding that the balance of $79 Million will soon be remitted.
He assured the Council that Boko Haram’s capacity to conduct conventional attacks has been “heavily degraded.
“This feat totally accords with our promise to Nigerians to rid the country of terrorism and extremism within few months of our assumption of office.
“Our efforts are already yielding dividends and we will not relent until the terrorist groups are totally decimated and wiped out of our country and sub-region,” he declared.
The President also reaffirmed Nigeria’s readiness to support measures to end the conflicts in Burundi and South Sudan, including the proposed deployment of troops by the AU to Burundi.
“Let me re-iterate Nigeria’s deep commitment to ensuring durable peace, stability and security on our continent.
“Without peace, there will be no development. It is therefore vital for all of us to join hands in taking appropriate measures to end the conflicts and bring a stop to the incalculable damage being inflicted on innocent citizens in the affected countries.” [myad]
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Federal Character And Its Discontents, By Reuben Abati
There has been so much concern about how the Federal Character principle has since its introduction in 1979, promoted mediocrity within the public service, and retarded national growth and progress. Introduced after the civil war to promote national integration, and to address the fears of sections of the country which felt marginalized, the Federal Character principle was meant to ensure that public service appointments reflect the country’s diversity: religious, ethnic, geographical and linguistic, and by extension, that resource allocation reflects the fact that this is a federal system and not a clan.
It is thus an ethnic balancing mechanism. The assumption is that if the public service is truly representative, this will promote a sense of national loyalty and inclusion. Sections 14 (3-4) and Third Schedule, Part 1(c) of the Constitution spell out the principle in clear terms and in 1996, a Federal Character Commission was established to ensure compliance. But today, the general impression is that Federal Character as applied has resulted in an erosion of merit, and that the observed inefficiency in the state bureaucracy is traceable to it, and in other areas of national life, it has not necessarily brought better spread of opportunities. The oft-recommended solution as was again reportedly argued at a recent colloquium in Lagos, in honour of Professor Anya Anya, is to abolish the Federal Character principle and replace it with a merit-based system.
Merit is important, no doubt; indeed, this was a key outcome of the Vision 20:2020 process. The quality of human resource in any organization determines the quality of inputs and outputs. That is why organizations look for the best and the brightest. And if the public service in Nigeria can be taken as an organization, the kind of people who run, lead and manage it have not necessarily been the best and the brightest that the country should have. But I am tempted to argue that the problem is not the Federal Character principle or quota system.
In fact, in many parts of the world today, diversity and inclusiveness are actively encouraged in recruitments and other processes. In a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural country such as ours, the Federal Character principle can help promote our diversity and strengthen otherwise marginalized, less populous groups such as the minorities. The 50 wise men in the 1978 Constitution Drafting Committee who proposed the principle were right in seeking to make more Nigerians have a sense of belonging. In applying the quota system however, we have over the years, abused and ignored best practices.
Where the problem lies is when people hide under the Federal Character principle to lower standards so that their kinsmen can have opportunities, or when in the name of Federal Character, needless cost is incurred and room is created for the incompetent to rise. That is not how the principle is applied in other parts of the world. There must be certain benchmarks, below which a responsible system should not descend. The story is often told about how the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board and some universities, for example, have different cut off points for students from different parts of the country. It is this kind of story, if it is true, that raises questions about how the Federal Character principle is an assault on merit. If the required score for any prospective student of Medicine is 290, then all applicants must score 290 in the qualifying examination before they can gain admission.
Equal opportunity must be given and standards must be the same. A quota principle may then be applied in filling the available slots to ensure diversity. In the public service also, it is often said that certain less qualified persons are often promoted beyond their level of competence. That is unacceptable. The Nigerian Constitution says for example that there must be a reflection of Federal Character in the appointment of Ministers, and because of that we have ended up with a bloated Federal Executive Council. These are some of the ways in which the quota system has generated so much discontent. There is even a tendency among certain Nigerians to look down on people from other parts of the country as products of quota, whereas it has not been proven that any Nigerian group has a monopoly of competent and intelligent people.
What we need to insist on is not an abolition of a deliberate attempt to ensure diversity and inclusiveness, but that any such system in place must not negate merit and standards. Before 1979, there were serious issues about marginalization and exclusion in the Nigerian public space. There was tension between majority and minority groups over access to power and opportunities. The military made everything more complex due to a Northernization principle that defied the idea of Federalism. It is ironic, however, that today more Nigerians feel more marginalized than was the case before 1979 and 1999. If there was no Federal Character law, the situation could even have been worse. Poorly implemented as it may have been, it is still a major restraining force against the tendency of the average Nigerian leader to reduce everything to his or her own narrow interest. It is perhaps better to have a system where people in authority pretend to be nationalistic, than to have a system where nepotism and favoritism predominate.
The big problem is that we are not yet a nation. We are not yet Nigerians in the sense in which a country is propelled by love and patriotism. We are a country of villagers, of ethnic champions, locked in a primordial mode, largely incapable of thinking as Nigerians, an imperfect union. When people are in positions of authority, they do not think of the best for the system, but how they can use that position to promote ethnic and sectarian interests. The people outside the system also expect to be patronized by their kinsman in position and power. There is a “Na-my-brother-dey-there” mentality that has made nepotism the driving force of the public service system, making the problem and the associated guilt collective.
I recall a high-ranking public official boasting that he was able to get over 200 people from his state into the public service! These would be qualified persons of course, but they had the opportunity only because their brother was within the system, and if every influential person loads the system with their kinsmen, certainly better qualified or equally qualified persons who do not know anybody will have no access. When there are vacancies in certain government departments, the first group that would most likely know would be the kinsmen of the influential persons in charge. And the people who do this are very shameless about it. No matter how educated, most Nigerians only feel comfortable with people from their parts of the country or those who speak the same language with them. They find it difficult to relate with other Nigerians.
I once attended an event organized under the auspices of the office of a certain big man. It turned out that the keynote speaker was from his ethnic group, the Master of Ceremony, the Chair of the occasion, nearly all the lead paper presenters too, and when we checked, they all came from his state of origin! And yet there is a Federal Character principle in place. If there had been none, the fellow probably would have invited the audience from his village too. It is precisely that kind of attitude that makes a Federal Character principle useful. The event in question was a Federal Government event! But it didn’t matter to the man in charge. All the speakers were knowledgeable by the way, and the Master of Ceremony did a good job. Nobody could question their performance. But certainly there must be people from other parts of the country who could have discharged the responsibility just as well, and if the organizer had been a bit sensitive, he would have ensured some degree of diversity.
It may be difficult to know how offensive nepotism can be until you actually encounter it. It is a fact that people in power and position use that privilege to develop their own village and state as a mater of course. Their first instinct is to use public funds to set up infrastructure in their own states and villages, before they think of other Nigerians. From the village and the state, they may then think of their region. The contractors are either their friends or agents. This is the case because the average Nigerian sees public service as an opportunity to serve and please his own people, and not Nigerians. I have been in situations where public officials, surrounded by their kinsmen, will suddenly stop a conversation and relapse into their mother tongue, leaving you to start screaming “Speak English, speak English, don’t shut the rest of us out of this conversation”. Most Nigerians see anyone who does not speak their mother tongue as an outsider and when it comes to the distribution of opportunities, they will treat you exactly as an outsider.
Have you not noticed how the pattern of dressing and attitudes in Abuja, the Federal Capital, reflect the changes in the leadership of the country? When a Yoruba man is in power, the Yoruba are all over the city. When it is the turn of a Northerner, every Northerner stumps the floor of Abuja with greater ease and confidence. If anyone didn’t have Ijaw friends before President Jonathan became President, they had to seek out one and befriend. Our governance process is terribly driven by a certain “It-is-our-turn” mentality, which influences everything else. Even in the states, a Governor is first and foremost, the Governor of his constituency, and he seeks to please that constituency before any other part of the state. “If I don’t develop my area, another governor from another area will not bring development to my people”. Such a system as we run where people are not held accountable on the basis of ideas and principles, can only promote division.
Religion is part of the equation. Some people are so unscrupulous, when they head a department, they would insist on surrounding themselves only with their church members or adherents of their faith. The result is an occultic system that stands in the way of performance and efficiency. I believe that the existence of a Federal Character principle is the only reason why some people still manage to pretend to be Nigerian. It should be retained, if only to keep reminding people that this country cannot be run at the level of a village and that it belongs to over 450 nationalities, but greater emphasis should be placed on merit and standards.
To rise gradually above it all, we must grow an enlightened society. We must develop a sense of Nigerian-ness, build a nation, such that people will be given opportunities, and promoted, not on the basis of affiliations, but their ability and the content of their character. [myad]