President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the National Planning Commission (NPC) to go back to the drawing board and produce the framework for a 2016 national budget that will reduce recurrent expenditure and prioritize developmental projects.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists today.
Shehu said the President gave the order after receiving a briefing from the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Dr. Bassey Akpanyung at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said the President told Akpanyung and Directors of the NPC, that capital projects must now be given the fullest possible priority, because Nigeria couldnot achieve real development without adequate investment in capital and infrastructural projects.
“In carrying out its role in surveillance of the economy, review and appraisal of policies, the Commission should devise a plan for a realignment of the budget so that capital projects can be really prioritised,” the President directed.
The Executive Secretary of the NPC had informed the President that Nigeria’s planning system was beset by many challenges.
These challenges, he said, included the non-alignment of national plans with the annual budget and inadequate capacity in the departments of Planning, Research and Statistics in the various government ministries.
He later told State House correspondents that he used the opportunity of the meeting with the President to inform him that the commission had on the ground, a perspective plan which is the national vision 20:20:20.
He said they were in the process of developing a medium term plan to cover Vision 2016 to 2019 which will address the core elements of the present administration’s priorities.
“Of course, we sought the President’s support for the articulation and finalisation of that document because his pronouncement on it will assist us in rapidly doing so.
” Planning, like I said will make it effective from 2016 to 2019. “So, we should be working already very seriously to pick out the elements that will form the document
“The core areas: security, the areas of diversification, the area of restabilising the polity, the micro economic situation that are going to be addressed.
“Of course, we can’t forget the issues of unemployment, agric in the real sectors. These are the areas that will drive and ensure that the employment situation is improved upon and that will impart the poverty level.” [myad]
Wife of the richest man in the world, Melinda Gates, today, joined villagers, carrying on her head, a bucket of water fetched from a village in Malawi.
The billionaire’s spouse, who described herself as “philanthropist, businesswoman, mother, passionate advocate for women and girls,” posted a photo of herself with a 20-litre bucket of water on her head alongside two other Malawian women, walking on a dirt road.
The net worth of the United States’ billionaire Bill Gates, according to Forbes magazine’s annual list of the world’s billionaires, stands at $76 billion.
In another picture posted on her Instagram page, Melinda was seen doing the dishes in a Malawian village.
Describing her experience, she said on her Facebook page: “During my stay in Malawi, I joined the women collecting drinking water. I carried 20 litres and it was tough. Meanwhile, Chrissy (middle) is carrying about 40 litres. Many women do this every day.”
She has been described as one of the world’s famous social activist “who is trying to serve the people in ignorance.”
In June, wife of the US billionaire met with Malawian President, Peter Mutharika at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe. The agenda was to discuss the promotion of safe motherhood and maternal health in the country. [myad]
FA Cup holders, Arsenal won the Community Shield for a second season in a row as they beat Premier League champions, Chelsea at Wembley.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored the winner with a powerful drive into the top corner with his weaker left foot.
Ramires headed wide unmarked from Loic Remy’s cross as Chelsea failed to hit the target before the break.
Eden Hazard skied a chance over the bar before Oscar’s free-kick was parried wide by Arsenal debutant Peter Cech.
It was the first time the former Chelsea goalkeeper had been called into action – after 68 minutes of play – and soon after he comfortably held on to Kurt Zouma’s header.
Arsenal went close late on through Santi Cazorla and Kieran Gibbs in a match where both sides looked rusty a week before their Premier League opener.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger finally had reason to celebrate against Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea having failed to win in any of his previous 13 attempts.
In February 2014 the Chelsea boss called his opposite number a “specialist in failure”, and then in October the Gunners boss shoved his rival during a heated touchline quarrel.
Oxlade-Chamberlain’s stunning strike was Arsenal’s first goal against Chelsea for 506 minutes, a run that stretched back to 2007, as the Gunners ended the Blues’ eight-match unbeaten run against them.
Chelsea though can argue they are a week behind Arsenal in terms of preparation, with Italian side Fiorentina visiting Stamford Bridge in their final pre-season match in midweek. [myad]
Great shakeup has hit the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), as the new acting Director General/Chief Executive Officer, Haruna Baba Jauro approved the redeployment of some senior management staff of the Agency.
According to the Acting Director General, the new postings are expected to reposition the Agency towards meeting its statutory mandate as enshrined in the NIMASA Act and other enabling instruments.
A statement by the deputy director and head of public relations, Hajia Lami Tumaka, said that the deployment exercise saw Mr. Ibrahim Jibril being moved as the Director of Administration and Personnel Services department as Mr. Felix Bob Nabena becomes Director of SERVICOM while Mr. Olayemi Abass takes over as the Head of Financial Services department and Mr. Suleman Abdulsalam as the Ag. Legal Adviser. Mr. Mohammed Sani was made the Head of Procurement department while Hassan el-Yakub is Head of Cabotage Department.
The statement said that Hajia Lami Tumaka is now the Deputy Director/Head of Public Relations as Aisha Musa was redeployed to Head the Western Zone while Mr. Isichei Osamgbi is Deputy Director, Maritime Guard Command and Mr. Dele Ejekuko is in charge of Zones in the DG’s Office even as Mr. Eric Orji is the Acting Registrar of Ships. [myad]
There is something wrong with the average Nigerian politician. He never learns from his mistakes. Every contest is treated as a game of chance (try your luck) and he expects to be declared winner in the end. It does not matter if there are more than a dozen political parties or if the contestants are more than half a dozen. Each party would boast of winning and expects to win, despite the odds. That is the lot of most politicians. Often living a lie or living in self denial.
For Nigeria’s Peoples Democratic Party, the walk towards ignominy began from its first national convention in Jos where former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, clearly the favourites of the delegates was mysteriously “manipulated” to pave way for General Olusegun Obasanjo who was drafted by the military oligarchy to emerge as the presidential candidate of the party.
Even though Obasanjo was drafted to atone for the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election considered a robbery of the South West, the resolve by the cabal to shove Ekwueme aside dealt a terrible blow on the bludgeoning democratic process that was unfolding at the advent of the civilian rule in 1999.
With the compromise of the internal democracy in the PDP came other challenges which helped to weaken the party. Money politics or the inducement of delegates, godfatherism, thuggery and threat or persecution of perceived political opponents were introduced in quick succession. And slowly but surely the death knell of the PDP became an unavoidable reality.
It is also important to recall that President Obasanjo after taking over from General Abdulsalami Abubakar on May 29, 1999 soon arm twisted the National Executive Committee of the PDP to become the leader of the party, a position which gave him powers to play God literally. So powerful was the then Nigerian President that he determined who became a counsellor, local government chairmen and in some ridiculous instances, the ward chairman.
Sadly, successive rulers who took over from Obasanjo, including late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan did not see anything wrong in what Obasanjo did nor the potential threat to the survival and existence of the party by that singular decision. Instead, they exploited whatever perceived advantages to ensure that their cronies occupied key positions in the party as well as other top government positions in the country.
But it is a negative commentary on leaders of the party who failed to stand up to the evident forceful take over initiated by Obasanjo, and copied by Yar’Adua and Jonathan. The only exceptions were former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Chief Audu Ogbeh, one time national chairman of the PDP. However, their opposition was not effective leading to their ouster from the party. Today, the duo are among the leading lights in the rival All Progressives Congress on which platform President Muhammadu Buhari won election on March 28, 2015.
Yet the leaders of the PDP had the first, second and aborted third republics to learn how party politics is played and nurtured even if they did not want to bother with what is obtainable in neighbouring Ghana, or in the United Kingdom, the United States of America or South Africa where the leader of the party can ask the President to quit as was the case when Thabo Mbeki was forced to step down.
Take the first republic for instance, the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, opted to stay behind in the North as Premier and leader of the defunct Nigeria Peoples Congress (NPC) when the opportunity presented itself for him to go to the centre. Instead, he put forward Tafawa Balewa who later became Prime Minister of Nigeria at Independence in 1960.
The late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was Leader of the defunct Action Group as Premier of the Western Region and he had no qualms putting forward the late Chief Ladoke Akintola although the latter somewhat betrayed Awolowo in the end. Being Leader of the party was definitely more important and no shrewd politician was willing to trade it for another position except in addition to that he already had.
Nigerians of course would recall the glamour and opulence associated with the late Chief Adisa Akinloye, national chairman of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) whose home in Ibadan became a Mecca for power mongers and others seeking to peddle influence. So powerful was Akinloye that a champagne party was going on in his house when the military struck in 1983. And it was no surprise that the NPN chairman was targeted more than President Shehu Shagari who was in power at that time.
Unfortunately none of the PDP leaders, including Jonathan and his kitchen cabinet anticipated the imminent downfall of the party. Neither did they expect that from a projected 60 years, the party would rule Nigeria for only 16. Not to talk of the fact that it would be downgraded from being the largest in Africa to an opposition party.
President Buhari’s victory at the polls shook the PDP like a tsunami. Nobody anticipated the party’s loss more so when it was spending money, including American dollars to buy support for the PDP candidate, President Jonathan. The APC easily crushed the PDP to become the ruling party and confined the latter to the opposition .
Was PDP’s loss a surprise to any discerning student of politics and contemporary history? I don’t think so. The signs were clearly visible and only a blind man could have attempted to take a walk into an alley that leads to a burning furnace as Jonathan and his co-travelers in the PDP did.
With the 2015 elections approaching, President Jonathan against his wish was forced to jettison Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and accepted former Governor Adamu Mu’azu as National Chairman of the PDP. Then came a string of victories in Ekiti and Ondo governorship elections and the party was fooled into believing that as had been the case in the past 16 years the PDP would have an easy win over the APC. Little did they realise that nemesis was lurking around the corner.
Analysts believe that the greatest mistake made by President Jonathan and the PDP was in allowing the five governors to walk out of the Eagle Square in Abuja. They are wrong. The very first misstep took place when the No 1 citizen picked a quarrel with former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi. For that action stoked the fire that eventually consumed the PDP, Jonathan and the blithering hope of the South South to have a President who served for two terms.
Whether Goodluck Jonathan picked a proxy fight with Amaechi because of his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan or as a result of famed obstinacy on the part of the ex-governor, the resulting clash saw the PDP kissing the dust in the 2015 polls.
Until the former Rivers State helmsman joined forces with then General Muhammadu Buhari, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and other gladiators in the budding APC, the party was regarded more as a northern arrangement with a few sympathisers in the South West. But it was Amaechi’s arrival that gave the party a national outlook.
Of course, it was the bid to stop Amaechi’s rising profile that caused the Presidency under Goodluck to polarise the Nigeria Governors Forum, another grave mistake which led to the birth of a rival faction led by former Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang.
The walk out of the five governors therefore became the icing on a cake fresh from oven of crisis, but fuelled by distrust, conspiracy and bigoted pride. First, they announced the formation of nPDP and following the courts invalidation of the process berthed finally in the APC. Even though two of them, Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State and his Jigawa State counterpart, Sule Lamido later retraced their steps and remained in the PDP, it was a huge surprise for me that they almost fooled everyone about being “born again”.
If the self styled former servant Leader, Aliyu and his Jigawa State ally were not Janus faced how come they eventually “crumbled” under the rampaging menace of the APC in their states? Is it a coincidence that PDP lost in Niger and Jigawa. Apparently the rain started raining long before those who should know found out too late.
Signs that all was not well with the PDP became apparent when the National Working Committee (NWC) and the Presidential Campaign Council adopted separate modus operandi on how best to prosecute the 2015 polls. Failure to observe internal democracy in choosing the party’s candidates, imposition and outright substitution of candidates without due process, and collection of money from unpopular candidates, combined to see the downfall of the so called largest party in Africa.
But the resolve by Jonathan and his kitchen cabinet to side step Adamu Mu’azu during the campaigns heralded the descent to ignominy. Notwithstanding his overriding powers, Mu’azu became a distant face as the Campaign progressed as a result of the plot. In his place, Chief Uche Secondus was propped up and backed with money and Presidential powers.
Mu’azus exit from the leadership of the party was therefore an anticlimax as his departure had been foretold much earlier. Likewise the exit of Chief Tony Anenih, chairman of the Board of Trustees(BOT). Both men were expected to pilot the PDP to victory, but had been sidelined. They were however forced to swallow the bitter pill of defeat and bear the brunt of the attendant failure that came with it. A case of giving a dog a bad name.
. Felix Ofou, a journalist, writes from Lagos. [myad]
Once again, I take the liberty offered by the opportune occasion of the 82nd birthday of Chief Anthony Akhakon Anenih, former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), which comes up on Tuesday, August 4, to paint his portrait in the hope that I will be able to remark the “warts and all” as I see him, but not necessarily for a recompense.
It is apposite to remark that the Iyasele (Prime Minister) of Esanland has not come to the terminus of his odysseys yet, even with his graceful exit from the Chair of the Conscience Department of the PDP in the aftermath of the party’s loss to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in this year’s presidential election. He is still making himself available for resolution of critical issues in the party, albeit behind the scene.
Consider his reported advisory role in the negotiation of the PDP into the senate leadership with Ike Ekweremadu emerging as Deputy Senate President. That explicates his longing for more actions in his political odyssey that has spanned well over three decades. Anenih’s longing fits in well into the architecture on which he has built a life and time of robust politics and politicking. Thus, his belonging in the political circles is quite understandable.
Regardless of his panache and accomplishments in politics, one must not fail to trace his trajectory in life, especially his starting point, which was hitherto not highlighted until his 80th birthday in 2013 when, through publications in the print media, Nigerians were apprised of his grass-to-grace narrative, the nitty-gritty of which touched the sensibilities of readers and provided a new perspective of his individuality. It was chronicled that after his successful sojourn at Government School, Uromi, he could not proceed to Saint Thomas’ Teacher Training College, Ibusa, subsequent to passing the qualifying examination due to the inability of his parents to afford the six pounds required for scholarship; and, he had to, among other things, take to rubber tapping to raise fund for his education.
That narrative had shattered the mindset in some quarters that Anenih came from an aristocratic background. Truth is, he had endured the vicissitudes of life: he headed for Benin City to stay with and serve, for one year, Lance Corporal Omeben, the father of retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, Christopher Omeben, who was then in Edo College. It was the late older Omeben who advised and encouraged Anenih to enlist in the Nigeria Police Force in 1951 (from where he voluntarily retired in 1976 as Commissioner of Police to venture into private business, which he later combined with politics.)
The occasion of Anenih’s birthday always affords him obligatory introspection on the journey of life and the vagaries of socio-economic and political tempers that he had to deal with. The consequences of this annual introspection must have informed his devotion to the service of God and humanity, which adverts attention to the silent chapter of his life: his philanthropy that is hardly celebrated. Among countless individuals and institutions, both academic and religious that have benefitted from his eleemosynary are: Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma; the University of Benin; Igbinedion University, Okada; and Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. In 2012, he endowed a multi-million naira Geriatric Centre at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, the first in Africa, to support the care of the aged and senior citizens.
I will like to recap part of what I wrote last year concerning Anenih: “Without doubt, it is all about Anenih’s humanity: here is a leader with a heart to help; a principal who is always touched by the feelings of the infirmity of his associates and followers; and, tries as much as it is possible to provide them succor. Yet, this inimitable benefactor does not make noise about his good deeds whether in the political or private lives of the beneficiaries…. It is curious that in a society where politicians clamour for recognition, and advantageously position themselves in the media to gain mileages, Anenih would rather restrain himself and choose, instead, to dance to the quiet rhythm of his soul. This is a disposition that has helped to define his persona as a taciturn and decorous politician, whose maturity, experience and fidelity cannot be faulted.
Anenih is a purposeful and quintessential politician, a politician who has earned his place in the nation’s politics as a Leader of his people and his numerous followers within and outside his political sphere of influence. But his tenacity of purpose and legerdemain had actually crystallized in the defunct Second Republic when, as Chairman of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the old Bendel State, he plotted and led the political/electoral onslaught that saw his party’s candidate, Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia, defeat the then sitting governor, the late Professor Ambrose Alli of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).
The strategist had replicated similar feat in the ill-fated Third Republic as Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and in the current Fourth Republic when, during Obasanjo’s re-election gambit in 2002/2003, he had taken charge of the machinery that fashioned out strategies that ensured the defeat of opposition to Obasanjo within and outside the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In 2007 and 2011 general elections, he played a frontline strategic role in the electoral success of the PDP.
Anenih’s ability to consistently, at every turn, resolve knotty political puzzles would later earn him the sobriquet- “Mr. Fix It”, which the opposition elements had tried to twist negatively to demonise him. The deprecating aura that the ‘Mr Fix It’ tag exudes in the nation’s political arena does not aptly convey the essential content of the Anenih persona. Yet, the other camps have always played it up in their deliberate schema to demonize him within and outside the cosmos of political affairs where he hit the limelight. It is, indeed, paradoxical that politics, which brought him fame, has also earned him scorn in the camps of the opposition elements.
But then, he has chosen to bear the cross philosophically: politics is in his blood and he plays it with the passion and devotion of a religious aficionado. He accepts the compliments that come with it as well as the bashings. He relishes the victories, the accomplishments and the bravura performances of his party and candidates during electoral contests. He has also learned to live with the pains of defeat whenever he suffers any….”
He is presently living with the defeat of the PDP by the APC in the 2015 presidential election. He is not hysterical about the development. He had congratulated General Muhammadu Buhari, the winner of the election, on his victory. His April 6 2015 press statement on the Buhari victory was clear: “I congratulate the President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, on his victory. Nigerians are expecting great things from him; it is my hope that he will take this great country to greater heights in the journey towards our manifest destiny.”
To be sure, the Iyasele of Esanland is taking a well-deserved rest having survived the dangerous intrigues, tempest and ballyhoo that characterised the dark alleys of our cloak and dagger politics. This is not a declaration that he has opted out of politics. Politics is in his blood. He is quietly pondering ways to assist the PDP regain its lost prize. He would calmly admonish his associates and loyalists to remain steadfast and not to despair as there would be dispensations and eras. This is his inspirational disposition to politics, which is far flung from the myth of invincibility that has been created around him by his traducers who have tried to create the erroneous impression in the minds of those who do not know him (Anenih) that he behaves as a god in human flesh as far as politics and electoral contestations are concerned.
Permit me to surmise in much bolder but apt reliefs the correct portrait of Anenih: a grand and archetypal politician who is consistently and persistently loyal to his leadership and followership; an ardent mobiliser of human resources; a political strategist with the can-do spirit, who believes in positive thinking as well as the force of great and reasonable expectations. All these represent the sum of his inspirational life as he longs for more political odysseys (of course, with restrained intensity due to age factor) at 82.
“Mr Lely, I desire you would use all your skill to paint my picture truly like me, and not flatter me at all; but remark all these roughnesses, pimples, warts and everything as you see me, otherwise I will never pay a farthing for it.” Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, to his Portrait Painter, Sir Peter Lely.
Professor Yemi Osinbajo has emerged from obscurity to become a household name in Nigeria. As a runing mate to the first candidate to defeat an incumbent President in a free and fair election, he is certainly a prominent figure in a historic government.
At a lunch in Africa House in Kano last Saturday, I had my first close encounter with him. He has been on the road, going places, since he and President Muhammadu Buhari were sworn into office on May 29th. It is just as well that he came to Kano in these early days of their ascendancy to power.
Kano is not an ordinary State in the politics of Nigeria. It has the highest population of all the 36 states. In the last Presidential election, it gave the Buhari /Osinbajo tag a whooping 1.9 million votes, the highest they got in any state.
Historically, Kano was founded by Kano, a blacksmith of the Gaya tribe who in ancient times came to Dalla Hill in search of iron. It was selected as the capital of the Hausa state of Kano in (1095–1134). After the Jihad (1804–07), the city was chosen to be the capital of an emirate centred on the city. Later still when the British colonized what they called the Northern Protectorate, they enhanced the status of Kano as a center of administration by making it the capital of the protectorate until this was shifted to Kaduna. Kano was also a vortex of international trade and received kola nuts from Ghana; salt from the Sahara; slaves from the Bauchi and Adamawa emirates; natron from Lake Chad; and sword blades, weaponry, silk, spices, perfumes, and books brought from Europe by the trans-Saharan camel caravans in return for Hausa leather work, cloth, and metal wares. British forces captured the city in 1903 opening the railway from Lagos in 1912 hence changing the direction of trade south to the Gulf of Guinea. Even though Kano was made famous as an international trading center, it also developed a bubbling industrial base which retained its prosperity up to the 80’s. The industrial districts of Sharada, Bompaietc were churning out textiles, knit fabrics, tents, bedding, foam rubber products, clothing, and cosmetics among others while heavy industries manufactured asbestos, cement, concrete blocks, metal structural products, bicycles, automobiles, trucks and chemicals, products that could compete with those from any part of the world. Sadly, the Kano of today is not the good old Kano I knew and enjoyed – forty, thirty years ago. Certainly it has lost the allure and the innocence that attracted young men with their dreams, ideas and skills from all over Nigeria and abroad. Frequent social upheavals – beginning from the Maitatsine uprising of 1980, have scared away alot of skilled manpower from Kano. The industrial districts now look like grave yards.
Still, apart from the huge votes it offers, Kano remains a significant town to Osinbajo. At the Lunch, speaker after speaker referred to the state as the first home of his principal, President Buhari. In his speech, Osinbajo himself said Buhari had given him some secret assignments to carry out while in Kano.
But what took the Vice President to Kano in the first instance? We shall return to that in a moment.
In 1980, the far sighted Governor of the State, Abubakar Rimi established a newspaper he called the Triumph. He appointed Rasheed Haroun Adamu as the founding Managing Director. Rasheed came to town with a rich profile from the Daily Times, the most successful newspaper in Nigeria and Africa at the time. He did a good job of his appointment by assemblying brilliant younger journalists to start the paper.
Mallam Abba Dabo his successor also came with a rich background as a former Editor from the New Nigerian and Chief Press Secretary to Shehu Shagari. He continued in the tradition Rasheed. It was Abba who brought to Triumph Kabiru Yusuf who has made history as the first Northerner to start and run a successful newspaper in a terrain littered with dead publications, including the ones started by yours sincerely. By all standards, both local and global, the Trust newspapers are a huge success. Abba brought in Ujudud Sherif who rose quickly to become a Commissioner in the Kano state cabinet at a very youthful age.
Abba dragged me to Kano from Kaduna. At the time, I was “protesting and screaming” as he frequently puts it when we meet these days. Ironically, it was in Kano I first attained the office of Editor in my turbulent and itinerant life as a reporter. Today I have fond memories of Kano; have some of my best friends from there.
The Lunch attended by Osinbajo last Saturday was put together in honour of Garba Shehu, an exceedingly brilliant journalist and public relations guru who came to Triumph while Abba presided. He took over from me as acting Editor of Sunday Triumph when I left in continuation of my itinerant professional life to work with the Gongola State government. He stayed on, becoming the Editor of Daily Triumph, Editor in Chief and finally the Managing Director of the company.
The Lunch in his honour was well attended by the invited and univited. Hosted by Dr Umar Ganduje the Governor of Kano State, it was chaired by Dr Maitama Sule, Nigeria’s former Ambassador at the United Nations. Mr Dan Agbese, the co founder of Newswatch Magazine delivered a talk on Media – Government Relations. The chairman described Garba as “a journalist, a special journalist – a dependable man of integrity and loyalty”. Osibanjo himself said he has an abiding attraction to Garba Shehu for his ability to speak the truth to power.
Ironically the event was kidnapped from friends of Garba Shehu – his Triumph old boys – who muted the idea of hosting him. Once Governor Ganduje heard of it, he hijacked it and extended an invitation to the VP who surprised all by turning up. It turned out to be a huge successful PR for Osinbajo for as revealed by Chairman Maitama Yusuf, it was him who made it possible for the Kano people to get the huge pay off from Pfizer.
Still, Garba Shehu remains a toast and pride of the Triumph old boys. There are many media icons in the group: Kabiru Yusuf, Chairman Trust Media, Baba Dantiye, former President Nigerian Guild of Editors, Sani Zorro, former President, Nigerian Union of Journalists NUJ, Garba Mohammed, immediate past President, NUJ and present Commissioner for Information Kano State. There are many more.
Sadly, Triumph itself is as good as dead. Here lies the challenge to the Triumph old boys. [myad]
When in 1995 some academics from Bayero University, Kano made a submission to the University management through the Congregation, demanding the inclusion of a parley with Vice Chancellor ship candidates to be part of the processes for the selection of a new Vice Chancellor, many people expressed reservation as to the work ability of the new innovation. Prior to its introduction, the proponents of this policy argued that the University community have not been carried along in the process of appointing a Vice Chancellor, thus making successive management of the University govern with disdain and in the most despotic manner. They further advanced that Vice Chancellors were not answerable to the university community, neither were they accountable for their misdeeds; instead they served the interest of their external masters who they believed, had influenced their emergence. Therefore, in a bid to provide a responsible and accountable leadership at the ivory tower, they pushed for the adoption of a policy where the University staff would have an input in the selection process; by so doing they further explained that there would be no imposition of leaders from certain quarters as had been the norm over the years. Indeed, it took several efforts and intrigues before the management could finally agreed to consider the proposal. It was a tug of war between the progressive academics on the one hand and the conservatives on the other side, but eventually, the protagonist of the ‘new innovation’ triumphed, and subsequently, Congregational parley was internally incorporated to be part of the process of the selection of new Vice Chancellor. Interestingly, the introduction of the Congregational parley some 20 years ago, with the one held last month as the fifth in the series, has been very successful as it has been conducted most transparently, fairly and full of democratic procedures. First, it was Professor Bello Bako Danbatta in 1995, then the late Professor Musa Abdullahi in 2000, Professor Attahiru Muhammad Jega in 2005 followed by Professor Abubakar Adamu Rasheed in 2010 whose tenure is expiring this August. Congregation, in the university setting, is a gathering of all employees of that particular institution who have a degree whether a bachelors degree or a higher one obtained from any recognised degree awarding institution in the world. Undoubtedly, this forum is one of the statutory bodies recognised by the Nigerian University laws and statutes. It is a convention where management renders account of its stewardship periodically to the staff. Equally, decisions and policies that could help in moving the University forward are being discussed and moulded thoroughly and resolutions arrived at. To put it more aptly, congregation could simply be termed as an avenue for mutual discourse between the management on the one hand and the staff on the other; it is more or less a stock taking meeting. Therefore in line with the tradition of the University, any time there is a vacancy for the office of the Vice Chancellor, as part of the process, a Congregational parley would be hosted between the Vice Chancellor ship candidates and the members of the University community comprising both the academics and the professional staff, during which an election that will indicate the community’s preferred candidate would be conducted and contestants would be ranked according the number of votes they were able to score during the Congregational parley. The outcome will clearly indicate the candidates’ acceptability by the community. It should, however, be noted that Congregational parley is neither part of the criteria nor among the statutory process of selecting a Vice Chancellor. The criteria and conditions stipulated for any candidate vying the position of a Vice Chancellor in any Nigerian University are very clear. Among other things, one must have a PhD; he must be a Professor for a minimum of five years, and must not be above 65 years on the year he is contesting the position while the selection processes were vividly explained in Section 3 (2) and (3) of Decree No. 11 of 1993 which stipulates the guidelines and process. Since its introduction the Congregational parley has been exciting and generating special interest among the university community each time. Therefore, the one conducted on Tuesday, July 21st, 2015, was not an exception; indeed, it turned out to be more exciting than all the previous ones held. The event which was held on the day most workers resumed of work after Sallah break had recorded a massive turnout of congregation members, almost the highest figure ever with over 1000 in attendance. Eight candidates addressed the congregation and were ranked after an election according to their acceptability by the members as follows: Professor Muhammad Yahuza Bello who was ranked as 1st choice with a 834 votes, followed by Professor Muhammad Sani Sule as 2nd best with 116 votes; Professor Muhammad Dahiru Suleiman came 3rd with 102 votes; Professor Kamilu Sani Fagge was 4th having polled 61 votes; Professor Muhammad Abdullahi was 5th with 36 votes, while the duo of Professors Abdulrahman Adejo Audu and Lawal Danladi Yalwa came 6th with 17 votes each. The only outsider, Professor Yahya Oyewole Imam from University of Ilorin came 8th after scoring 4 votes and an American-based academic, Professor Duke Urhobo Ophori, who was absent at the parley, came 9th with 0 votes. As it stands now, congregation parley in Bayero University has turned out to be a blessing to the University in particular and the academia in general. The parley has been the most public and interesting aspect of the process of the selection of a new Vice Chancellor. Perhaps Bayero University’s culture of democratisation of the selection process of the appointment of new Vice Chancellor through the adoption of Congregational parley, has become a source of pride among Nigerian Universities thereby earning the University a special respect and commendation. The approach is described as innovative, which should be emulated by all Universities. The parley process which has come to stay has indeed become a strong force to reckon with in addition to making university administrators accountable and responsible in their management of human and capital resources. It equally instils humanism, discipline and culture of respect in the minds of every potential Vice Chancellor and/or anybody who nurses the ambition to head the University. As a result, BUK is always selecting the best among its academics to lead it.
Garba Azare is Senior Assistant Registrar, Directorate of Public Affairs, Office of the Vice Chancellor, Bayero University, Kano. [myad]
There have been several media comments on the Centenary City Project and we have deliberately refrained from responding to most of them. The reason is quite simple: some are outrightly mischievous, uninformed or speculative, while others, in countering the mischief, sought to advance public discourse. With both sides of the debate out in the public domain, our view was that truth would emerge in the course of the exchanges. But because many of the commentators are motivated by genuine patriotism and desire to place all the cards on the table, so that Nigerians would be better guided in their perceptions of, and comments, the management of Centenary City management has a duty to clarify the issues.
One of the more sober comments came via a well-meaning editorial comment in Thisday newspaper of Monday, July 6, 2015. Our Board of Directors, led by General (rtd.) Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar, GCFR, is convinced that what is at stake is of great importance to our country and has urged management to respond only to informed and purposeful comments in the media. The Editorial under reference, and others like it, calls for information of the status of the project and the rights of original inhabitants, among others. Such interventions do not set out to undermine the project and thus damage the economic visibility of Nigeria as a favoured Foreign Direct investment (FDI) destination.
I shall attempt to straighten the records in this response and give some details about the project and its development so far. The newspaper’s call on Nigerians to exercise the necessary vigilance so that we get the best of this Centenary Legacy Project, which was initiated as part of the programmes and activities for Nigeria’s Centenary Celebration in 2014, is very apt. The Project set out to focus the attention of the investing world on Nigeria and trigger investment opportunities, the way cities like Dubai (UAE), Monaco (France), Shenzhen (China), Singapore (Singapore) and Songdo (South Korea); impacted the development of their respective nations.
Following the Concept Document for the City, an Investors Forum was held on the 5th of February 2013, after the successful flag-off of Nigeria’s Centenary Celebration the previous day by President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR. The Forum attracted one hundred and twenty four (124) potential investors and other professionals representing eleven (11) countries. At the end of the Investment Forum, twenty-nine (29) potential investors from nine countries (including Nigeria) expressed interest as “Promoter Investors”. To further expand the opportunities, advertorials were later placed in three (3) national newspapers, to enable those who did not have the opportunity to register their interest and commitment at the Investors Forum to express similar interest as Promoter Investors.
A meeting of interested parties was later called, where it was resolved that: (1) a company to promote the Centenary City be formed with potential investors as its Promoters; (2) Equity Call in the Company would be a minimum of US$250,000 and a maximum of US$5 Million (to forestall the possibility of any particular investor having overwhelming majority); (3) subscribers of up to US$5 Million were to constitute the Board and appoint a Chairman that may or may not be a subscriber; (4) the Company would be a Public Limited Liability Company whose stock would be quoted in both local and international stock exchanges in due course and (5)the Legal Adviser and Financial Advisers were to be appointed by the Promoters, to perfect the decisions reached in the meeting.
The Promoter Investors who confirmed their interest and commitment met on March 1, 2013 and agreed to appoint a Legal Adviser to incorporate the Company. They also agreed on the appointment of a Consulting Firm to work with the Legal Adviser to: (1) work out the Share Structure and Corporate Governance Framework of the Company (2) conduct Feasibility Studies for the Centenary City and (3) consider the Concept Master Plan for the Centenary City, in addition to any other business that may arise therefrom. The competitive presentations from invited professional firms at the above meeting led to the emergence of Sterling Partnership Legal Practitioners (“Sterling Partnership”) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (“PwC”) as Legal Adviser and Financial Advisers, respectively. They were to finalize the Company Registration, Share Structure and Corporate Governance Framework. The Capital Call of US$5,000,000 (maximum) and US$250,000(minimum) was also restated at the meeting.
On 25th of March, 2013, another meeting of Promoter Investors was held, to re-confirm Capital Call commitments and to deliberate on key issues to be included in the Shareholders Agreement. A draft discussion table provided at the meeting enabled Promoter Investors to discuss a number of issues from the Legal and Financial Advisers. The major milestones achieved within the intervening period (4th February 2013 to 19th May, 2015), include the registration of Centenary City Plc. with an authorized share capital of One Billion Naira by Registered Nominees of Sterling Partnership (First Limited and Basic Start Limited) with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) pending the finalisation of the Shareholders Agreement and the distribution of Shares to subscribing Promoter Investors. The Company also received Capital commitments in excess of US$80,000,000 from forty (40) private sector Nigerian, UAE and USA Promoter Investors. The Board of Directors was elected and inaugurated, with General (rtd) Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar, GCFR as Chairman; thus making Centenary City Plc. a 100% privately owned public limited liability company. The senior management reports to the Board and functions in accordance with the provisions of the Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).
We have also since negotiated and executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Eagle Hills International Properties LLC (“Eagle Hills”), a UAE-government supported company based in Abu Dhabi, for 100% development of the Centenary City site at a development cost of US$18 Billion. This represents the single largest private Foreign Direct investment (FDI) in the history of Nigeria, with the capacity to create over 250,000 well-paying permanent jobs. Management and the Federal Capital Development Authority (“FCDA”) also delineated the Final Boundaries and Coordinates for Centenary City site and negotiated a modified Land Swap Agreement with the Federal Capital City Administration (“FCTA”). The Certificate of Occupancy is for 1,267 hectares of land issued to Centenary City Plc., with the FCTA holding a 5% Equity interest and a Board Seat.
Knowing the controversies that often trail land compensation in Nigeria, management worked closely with the FCDA and concluded the evaluation and payment of approximately N1,234,747,077 in compensation for Economic Trees and Crops to the Original Inhabitants and other Private Property interests at the site. This is in addition to the on-going construction of 671 houses and engineering infrastructure, at a cost estimate of about N6,000,000,000 to resettle the Original Inhabitants. The cost is to be borne by the Company.
With the supervision of the FCDA, a 330 KVA High Tension Transmission Line crossing the Project site was relocated, at a cost of N984,462,583. The Company also completed a Master Plan, which has undergone four intensive Clarification Workshops with the FCDA, to make sure it meets the requirements of the Abuja Master Plan (sequel to a Final Engineering Master Plan), at a cost of N486,900,000. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Project has received an Initial Approval from the Federal Ministry of Environment (“FMEnv”) and we have helped Eagle Hills to construct the Access Road to their well-designed Showroom and Sales Center, at the Project site on Airport Road, Abuja at a cost of N110,000,000.
Centenary City Plc., at the request of (and in conjunction with) Eagle Hills, sought various incentives as Success Factors for the proposed Centenary City, such as Free Trade Zone. An application to the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority(NEPZA) for the declaration of Centenary City as a Free Zone followed due process and met the requirements for a free zone. Mr. President’s approval was subsequently conveyed, making Centenary City site a Free Zone to be known as “Centenary Economic City” (CEC). It is one of four (4) free zones approved by Mr. President in 2014 including the Eko Atlantic City Free Zone in Lagos.
On June 24th, 2014, in the company of the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, and Chairperson of Eagle Hills, Sheikh Mohammed Alabbar, President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR, performed the official Groundbreaking Ceremony and Unveiling of the Centenary City. This was broadcast live on the international network of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). On December 2nd and 3rd 2014, Eagle Hills began clearing the Project site. It also officially launched the first project on site – The Address Villas & Apartments, which quickly sold out. It is a matter of record that no other Free Zone in Nigeria has attracted a better-financed foreign investor, nor achieved a faster movement to site, with over 150 well-paying permanent jobs already created!
On May 19th 2015, Centenary City Plc held its first Annual General Meeting (AGM) to, among others, (1) verify deposits/contributions made by the Promoter Investors for Shares, (2) inaugurate its Statutory Audit Committee, (3) consider the 2013 and 2014 Audited Financial Statements by Akintola Williams Deloitte; and (4) approve the Shareholders Agreement; all of which would be updated shortly with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
Let us note for the record that the major local and international drivers of Centenary City Plc.have been involved in private and public markets for more than 300 years. Their corporate governance and public-private company management credentials are impeccable. Thisday`s concern regarding the fortunes of the Original Inhabitants of the site is already addressed in a two-pronged compensation package that covers payment for (1) crops/economic trees and (2) resettlement. Thisday may wish to confirm that no allegations of wrongdoing have been leveled against the Company or its Promoters by any government or regulatory agency anywhere in the world. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which has ranked Nigeria as the number one country for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa, is being proven right by with the Centenary City Project.
The foregoing is the full story of The Centenary City Project, which is a worthy legacy of our attainment of 100 years as one nation. We are convinced that the economic visibility of Nigeria as a favoured FDI destination is guaranteed by this Project. I urge the reading public to disregard the mischievous insinuations of those who fail to adopt the mature and nationalistic thrust of Thisday and who also do not investigate, educate, and inform themselves on the details of the Centenary City, so that their comments will improve national discourse.
Dr. Odenigwe Ike Michaels, Jr., is the Managing Director, Centenary City PLC. [MYAD]
An elder-statesman, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule has said that God brought President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo together to “bring the Nigeria of our dreams.” Maitama Sule who was the former Nigerian Permanent Representative to the United Nations believed that the President and the Vice President have all it takes for them to bring the desired change to the country.
The elder statesman was speaking in Kano today at a reception in honour of the senior special assistant to President Buhari on media and publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu.
Maitama Sule said that the good thing is that even the international community has observed the discipline and integrity of both leaders, adding: “what God has joined together let no man put asunder.” vice President Osinbajo who was at the reception said that the Buhari administration will continue with its plan for what he called a Conditional Cash Transfer scheme and other social welfare interventions in order to ensure that no one is left behind.
He said that time has come for the government to give real opportunity and hope to the 110 million extremely poor people in the country, adding that the Buhari administration is very clear on what needs to be done. According to him, some people who truly want good governance insisted that the best way to go about it is to let business work first, then more jobs will be created and the poor will be taken care of. Professor Osinbajo argued that such should not be the solution as “the poor will all be dead before industry can provide enough to go round.” He said the answer is that while providing an environment for free enterprise, “government must proactively intervene by way of social protection and enhancement of opportunity for the poor.” [myad]
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Chief Tony Anenih At 82 And The Longing For More Odysseys, By Sufuyan Ojeifo
Once again, I take the liberty offered by the opportune occasion of the 82nd birthday of Chief Anthony Akhakon Anenih, former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), which comes up on Tuesday, August 4, to paint his portrait in the hope that I will be able to remark the “warts and all” as I see him, but not necessarily for a recompense.
It is apposite to remark that the Iyasele (Prime Minister) of Esanland has not come to the terminus of his odysseys yet, even with his graceful exit from the Chair of the Conscience Department of the PDP in the aftermath of the party’s loss to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in this year’s presidential election. He is still making himself available for resolution of critical issues in the party, albeit behind the scene.
Consider his reported advisory role in the negotiation of the PDP into the senate leadership with Ike Ekweremadu emerging as Deputy Senate President. That explicates his longing for more actions in his political odyssey that has spanned well over three decades. Anenih’s longing fits in well into the architecture on which he has built a life and time of robust politics and politicking. Thus, his belonging in the political circles is quite understandable.
Regardless of his panache and accomplishments in politics, one must not fail to trace his trajectory in life, especially his starting point, which was hitherto not highlighted until his 80th birthday in 2013 when, through publications in the print media, Nigerians were apprised of his grass-to-grace narrative, the nitty-gritty of which touched the sensibilities of readers and provided a new perspective of his individuality. It was chronicled that after his successful sojourn at Government School, Uromi, he could not proceed to Saint Thomas’ Teacher Training College, Ibusa, subsequent to passing the qualifying examination due to the inability of his parents to afford the six pounds required for scholarship; and, he had to, among other things, take to rubber tapping to raise fund for his education.
That narrative had shattered the mindset in some quarters that Anenih came from an aristocratic background. Truth is, he had endured the vicissitudes of life: he headed for Benin City to stay with and serve, for one year, Lance Corporal Omeben, the father of retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, Christopher Omeben, who was then in Edo College. It was the late older Omeben who advised and encouraged Anenih to enlist in the Nigeria Police Force in 1951 (from where he voluntarily retired in 1976 as Commissioner of Police to venture into private business, which he later combined with politics.)
The occasion of Anenih’s birthday always affords him obligatory introspection on the journey of life and the vagaries of socio-economic and political tempers that he had to deal with. The consequences of this annual introspection must have informed his devotion to the service of God and humanity, which adverts attention to the silent chapter of his life: his philanthropy that is hardly celebrated. Among countless individuals and institutions, both academic and religious that have benefitted from his eleemosynary are: Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma; the University of Benin; Igbinedion University, Okada; and Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. In 2012, he endowed a multi-million naira Geriatric Centre at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, the first in Africa, to support the care of the aged and senior citizens.
I will like to recap part of what I wrote last year concerning Anenih: “Without doubt, it is all about Anenih’s humanity: here is a leader with a heart to help; a principal who is always touched by the feelings of the infirmity of his associates and followers; and, tries as much as it is possible to provide them succor. Yet, this inimitable benefactor does not make noise about his good deeds whether in the political or private lives of the beneficiaries…. It is curious that in a society where politicians clamour for recognition, and advantageously position themselves in the media to gain mileages, Anenih would rather restrain himself and choose, instead, to dance to the quiet rhythm of his soul. This is a disposition that has helped to define his persona as a taciturn and decorous politician, whose maturity, experience and fidelity cannot be faulted.
Anenih is a purposeful and quintessential politician, a politician who has earned his place in the nation’s politics as a Leader of his people and his numerous followers within and outside his political sphere of influence. But his tenacity of purpose and legerdemain had actually crystallized in the defunct Second Republic when, as Chairman of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the old Bendel State, he plotted and led the political/electoral onslaught that saw his party’s candidate, Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia, defeat the then sitting governor, the late Professor Ambrose Alli of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).
The strategist had replicated similar feat in the ill-fated Third Republic as Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and in the current Fourth Republic when, during Obasanjo’s re-election gambit in 2002/2003, he had taken charge of the machinery that fashioned out strategies that ensured the defeat of opposition to Obasanjo within and outside the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In 2007 and 2011 general elections, he played a frontline strategic role in the electoral success of the PDP.
Anenih’s ability to consistently, at every turn, resolve knotty political puzzles would later earn him the sobriquet- “Mr. Fix It”, which the opposition elements had tried to twist negatively to demonise him. The deprecating aura that the ‘Mr Fix It’ tag exudes in the nation’s political arena does not aptly convey the essential content of the Anenih persona. Yet, the other camps have always played it up in their deliberate schema to demonize him within and outside the cosmos of political affairs where he hit the limelight. It is, indeed, paradoxical that politics, which brought him fame, has also earned him scorn in the camps of the opposition elements.
But then, he has chosen to bear the cross philosophically: politics is in his blood and he plays it with the passion and devotion of a religious aficionado. He accepts the compliments that come with it as well as the bashings. He relishes the victories, the accomplishments and the bravura performances of his party and candidates during electoral contests. He has also learned to live with the pains of defeat whenever he suffers any….”
He is presently living with the defeat of the PDP by the APC in the 2015 presidential election. He is not hysterical about the development. He had congratulated General Muhammadu Buhari, the winner of the election, on his victory. His April 6 2015 press statement on the Buhari victory was clear: “I congratulate the President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, on his victory. Nigerians are expecting great things from him; it is my hope that he will take this great country to greater heights in the journey towards our manifest destiny.”
To be sure, the Iyasele of Esanland is taking a well-deserved rest having survived the dangerous intrigues, tempest and ballyhoo that characterised the dark alleys of our cloak and dagger politics. This is not a declaration that he has opted out of politics. Politics is in his blood. He is quietly pondering ways to assist the PDP regain its lost prize. He would calmly admonish his associates and loyalists to remain steadfast and not to despair as there would be dispensations and eras. This is his inspirational disposition to politics, which is far flung from the myth of invincibility that has been created around him by his traducers who have tried to create the erroneous impression in the minds of those who do not know him (Anenih) that he behaves as a god in human flesh as far as politics and electoral contestations are concerned.
Permit me to surmise in much bolder but apt reliefs the correct portrait of Anenih: a grand and archetypal politician who is consistently and persistently loyal to his leadership and followership; an ardent mobiliser of human resources; a political strategist with the can-do spirit, who believes in positive thinking as well as the force of great and reasonable expectations. All these represent the sum of his inspirational life as he longs for more political odysseys (of course, with restrained intensity due to age factor) at 82.
“Mr Lely, I desire you would use all your skill to paint my picture truly like me, and not flatter me at all; but remark all these roughnesses, pimples, warts and everything as you see me, otherwise I will never pay a farthing for it.” Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, to his Portrait Painter, Sir Peter Lely.