Daily Archives: May 12, 2014
NIGERIA: Royal Father Hails Committee’s Recommendation on State Creation
HURIWA Urges Dangote, Others to Donate Cement for Border Fencing
NIGERIA: NLC, TUC Kick against Transfer of Labour Matters to Concurrent List
NIGERIA: Clergy Urges Delegates to Put Nation First
NIGERIA: Oyinlola, Adeleke, Others Set to Join APC on Saturday
NIGERIA: Lagos Govt Urges INEC to be Impartial, Calls for Review, Reversal of Order of Elections
NATIONAL CONFAB: Key issues before northern delegates
INTRODUCTION: In convening the 2014 National Conference, the President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, is following on the footsteps of his predecessor in office, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo whose earlier exercise was called National Political Reforms Conference, 2005.
Unlike the familiar “constitutional” conferences held both under the colonial period and military rule, the motive or purpose for calling these ‘National Conferences’ by Nigeria’s Presidents have never been clear to all Nigerians. On the contrary, they have tended to be gimmicks used by the Presidents to push through certain agenda that they fear cannot possibly pass through the National Assembly. Besides, the Presidents are quick to discard and abandon reports of these conferences once they failed to get what they wanted.
The unmistakable conclusion to be drawn from the history ofthese exercises is that the 2014 National Conference, like its 2005 predecessor, is intended to permit Mr. President to take certain actions and decisions which are not allowed without changing the constitution and which the National Assembly may not otherwise endorse.
In other words, the National Conference is a device designed to blackmail the citizenry especially the National Assembly, into a position where they may be powerless to prevent the introduction of certain policies or changes no matter how obnoxious they may be to the majority of the population. Of course, the President won’t tell anyone in advance what the hidden agenda are with respect to the Conference. One is, therefore, left to second guess his motives and to do so by analyzing his pedigree, his speeches and actions as well as those of his supporters and advisers in the five years he has been in office. On this score, the tell-tale signs of his secret ambitions are unmistakable.
President Jonathan’s supporters have missed no opportunity to remind everyone that he is the first democratically elected president of Nigeria who is both from an ethnic minority and from the oil rich Niger Delta. Both facts are pregnant with significance for what he might want to do, particularly in the light of the endless agitation by people from that part of the country to confiscate all revenue accruing from oil exploitation for themselves alone.
Whatever his motives might be, it behooves the Delegates to this Conference to ‘shine their eyes’ and use a magnifying glass while looking at all proposals being brought for their consideration. It is our hope that Northern Delegates would find the analysis and data contained in this publication helpful in appreciating some of the issues likely to prove contentious at the conference. We wish to express our appreciation to the Northern Governors, the Arewa Consultative Forum and the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation for their decision to constitute this Think-Tank and to have found the membership suitable for the task of thinking-through the key issues before the Conference. It is hoped that this intervention will help the Northern Delegates assist the Conference move Nigeria forward not backwards.
Derivation and Revenue Sharing
Under Nigeria’s Federal arrangement, the central government shares responsibilities and resources in stipulated covenants (established by the colonial masters at the inception and severally affirmed by Nigerians at different conferences and Constitutions) that seeks to achieve equity, justice and fairness to all the units for balanced development of the units and a strong enough centre for national security and ensuring orderliness and managing international relations.
How much the regions have to contribute to the centre from revenues they generate and how much they receive from revenue surpluses accrued to the centre (Federal Government) and what resources should the units and the federal government have control on, remained central issues in defining the Nigerian federation.
Records show that the Northern region contributed 75.18 per cent to the centre but it received only 18.94 per cent in services between 1914 and 1946, while the South that contributed only 24.18 per cent received 81.06 per cent. The North clearly played a key role at significant disadvantage so as to ensure a balanced development of the nation early in its history. In fact, the contributions of the North were used for the development of the oil sector and other regions whose contributions fell short of their needs as at then. Similarly, agriculture in the North still contributes much more to the national economy than is currently appreciated; the sector saves the nation billions in foreign exchange which would otherwise have gone into food and raw materials importation.
The increasing role of petroleum oil in the national economy and a declined cash contribution of the agricultural and other traditional factors (e.g. cattle tax) to the central account have agitated the South, particularly the Niger Delta to demand for new definition in revenue sharing and control of resources.
Control ofresources
The Federal Government since 1999 has taken steps which negated the principles of justice and equity to the entire federating units, clearly threatening the balanced development of the country for the common good of all. For example, the revenue received by the six states of the South-South from the Federal allocation from 1999 to date amounted to N17.74 trillion (each of the six states received on average N2.96 trillion), while the 19 states of the North received only N10.53 trillion (an average of only N554 billion per state). On the other hand, the eleven states of the South-West and the South-East combined together received N8.79 trillion (an average of N799 nillion per state) .
It is the position of this paper that the agitation made by the Niger Delta states for the abrogation of the onshore/offshore dichotomy are uncalled for and did not appreciate historical facts or meet the tenets of the federal system that we operate. The Supreme Court ruling on the onshore/offshore oil dichotomy has settled the case. Moves made by the Federal Government in awarding the contract for the protection of the pipelines and oil producing structures to ex-insurgents (purportedly for greater involvement of citizens of the oil producing areas in the management of oil matters) is ill advised and in the light of subsequent events, a security threatto the whole nation.
Recommendations: The paper, therefore, recommends that the country takes the path of equity and justice and a commitment to a balanced development of every part of Nigeria as expected in a federal system.
Claim to oilresources
The North also recommends the rejection of claims to oil resources by oil producing areas that led to the cancellation of the onshore/ offshore oil dichotomy which action gave away a national resource to littoral state, seriously eroding revenue available for distribution to all parts of the country. The North demands a reversal to status quo ante. All mineral resources should remain under the exclusive rights of the Federal Government as provided for by the international law (1982 United Nations Converltion on the Law of the Sea UNCLOS, Article 76) on territorial waters/boundaries which stipulated that 200 nautical miles off the continental shelves belongs to the central government exclusively.
The derivation which is now at 13 per cent should be reduced to at best five per cent, and must be limited only to oil on the onshore. The North demands a new revenue sharing formula which seeks to empower the strata of government closer to the people than the centre, i.e., the states and the local governments to be able to deliver on their governance responsibilities to the people. The formula is also to ensure a strong enough Federal Government for the security of the country, and give the country the stability of direction and focus on human and economic development.
Here, we recommend a vertical revenue sharing formula as follow: Federal Government, 26 per cent; States 39 per cent; Local Government Areas, 35 per cent. Also we recommend a horizontal revenue sharing formula for the states and local government areas as follows: equality 35 per cent; population 30 per cent; population density two per cent; land mass 20 per cent; terrain five per cent; internal revenue generation effort five per cent; and social development factor three per cent.
Frequent assertionson North’s population
The North rejects the frequent assertions by the South on the population figures of the North and state clearly that the rate of population growth attributed to the North over the years is extremely understated.
The North recommends that all institutions and programmes established for the benefit of a few states be abolished. These include the Niger Delta Development Commission, the Ministry for Niger Delta, and the Amnesty Programme for the Niger Delta militants and the component C of the SURE-P programme, the HYPADEC.
The responsibility for the security of the nation, including its territorial waters, and national assets should be that of the recognised security outfits (Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Police, and Nigerian Air Force) as enshrined in our constitution. The engagement of the ex-insurgents as armed coast guards should be immediately stopped while the Nigerian Navy should be adequately funded to perform their functions. The North recommends a multi-tier local government system that brings the people closer to the government and increases their level of involvement in governance. The revenue allocation formula review as recommended above (FGN 26%, States 39% and LGAs 35%) is to support the realignment of responsibilities of the tiers of government, reducing allocation of the federal government in favour of the states and the local governments. (For appreciation of the recommended formula, see the detailed report).
Resource control, onshore/offshore dichotomy, PIB Bill: The clamour for resources control has become heightened in recent years, especially due to: the increase in the profile of petroleum oil in contribution to the national income.
In addition, agitation for resource control was affected by the growing sense of ethnic chauvinism and waning attachment to the Nigerian federation in the real patriotic sense, and, an overwhelming feeling that the oil producing areas are unduly contributing more to the national coffers in relation to, particularly the North. The fallacious assumption that oil is the major contributor to the national income.
Nationalincome
While these assertions and assumptions have taken colossal proportions, the fact is, agriculture is the main stay of the economy, providing over 60 per cent of jobs and contribution to GDP. A simple exercise in per capita distribution of amounts received from the monthly allocation of revenue from the centre in the average by a northern state comes to a mere N600 per month per head. Kano State, for example, with a population of about 15 million received the sum of N6,812~887,206.72 in federally allocated revenue in February 2014. This amount distributed per head among the population will give only N462 per person for the month. This is hardly enough to feed anybody for a day. It is evident that other sources provide the bulk of the revenue for sustenance than the revenue received from the centre.
Therefore, this fervent increase in agitation for total resources control that overemphasised revenue from oil mineral producing states (the Niger Delta) is a complete over hyping of the contribution of to keeping the nation together. This is needless to say that the agitation is a complete negation of the tenets of a brothers’ keeper of a federal system of government which Nigeria had decided to practice long time ago. The demand for resource control is indeed also oblivious of other relevant facts:
The Nigerian constitution gave the ownership of all mineral resources found in any part of the country to the Federal Government of Nigeria. The history of revenue sharing between the regions and the centre was 50:50, but limited to revenue derived from activities that involved human effort. All mineral resources had belonged to the centre, and this new adventure on resource control is totally new concept, and alien to the practice in Nigeria..The abrogation of the onshore/offshore oil dichotomy was at best done to bend to undue, unjustifiable pressure and criminal militancy in the region led to the eventual abrogation of the onshore/offshore dichotomy, the justification rested mainly on moral justification rather than soundness of the arguments for the claims or the law.
Similarly, the international law is very clear on the claim to ownership of resources that lie outside of the continental shelf and or low water marks of the littoral states. International law also gives us a guide as to really who a littoral state is. Clearly, the coastal states of Nigeria where oil minerals are extracted are not “States”; rather, they are part of the Nigerian State who is the littoral state by the definition in international law. Therefore, in addition to the constitutional provision that all mineral resources in the country belong to the Federal Government; the coastal states where oil mineral is currently being extracted should not claim the resource as their own. International laws (decided cases in the US, and Canada) include: Article 27 of the International Convention on United States vs. California, United states vs. Texas, Canada vs. the Province of British Colombia
By international conventions governing territorial waters and boundaries, all territorial waters within 300 nautical miles off continental shelves, and resources therein belong to the exclusive preserve of the central government (the State) not regions or communities resident by such shores. That is why it is the responsibility of the Federal Government to provide security and protect the integrity of the country, not just of coastal communities. The adherence by Nigeria to principles, conventions and laws it has signed and ratified cannot be selective, or at the convenience of local interests. If that is the case, then, for example, Nigeria should not have agreed to hand over the Bakassi Peninsula to the Cameroun.
Nigeria is bound by international laws and cannot, therefore, decide at will, on issues decided by international laws and conventions to suit narcissistic purposes. The Federal Government has no liberty to deliberately create social and economic imbalance between regions simply to please an agitated group. The onshore/off shore case was merely addressed on moral grounds rather than on the legality of the case or on soundness of argument. Therefore, there must also be a moral argument, which is constitutional and more sacrosanct for engendering equity in development effort, stability and national security for the return to status quo In the onshore/offshore oil dichotomy.
Financing of oil exploration
Therefore, unless the Constitution is amended to take away this ownership from the Federal Government, total resource control by any Nigerian state is a breach of the covenant of the federation as enshrined in the Constitution and hence, akin to claim to pullout of the Nigerian Federation. Similarly, all regions of the federation are stakeholders in the Nigerian oil. In particular with regards to petroleum oil: The North played a key role in the financing of oil exploration in the Niger Delta; And made sacrifices in resources and human life to develop the oil industry, and protect the Niger Delta from total eclipsing by the protagonist of the Biafra contraption;
The reasons for the hyped clamour for total resource control are, therefore, untenable. Nevertheless, the country may be better off if all states took 100 per cent ownership of all natural resources buried under their lands. Revenue derived from activities that have material and direct human effort in their accumulation and or making should be shared in relation to the effort required in their generation.
All royalties and taxes due to the Federal Government on all mineral resources, both oil and non-oil should continue to be paid to the centre for the benefit of all the states.
The funding of the NDDC should revert to the Niger Delta states taking 100 per cent control of their resources. Thus, the NDDC shall totally be the responsibility of the states and not the Federal Government. The Niger Delta States can, however, benefit from Ecological Funds, just as all other states that have environmental challenges. Other institutional support programmes established for the Niger Delta or specifically the oil producing states should also be scrapped including the Ministry for the Niger Delta.
Onshore/Offshore Dichotomy: The basis for the abrogation of the laws that ensured the inclusion or otherwise of oils extracted from offshore wells for the accruing of revenues earned from mineral oil for the calculation of the percentage allocation on derivation (to take care of particular developmental challenges) to oil mineral producing states has been subject of intense debate. Clearly, the Supreme Court has ruled that revenues from oil gotten from deep water seas and offshore wells should not be part of the sums available for calculation of the derivation percentage to be given to coastal states. We must demand for reversal to the old order (status quo ante) and the states that unduly benefited from the baseless decisions of the recent past should be made to refund such all sums for sharing by the three tiers of government.
Other related issues:.
The Petroleum Industry Bill: It is important for our delegates to be aware of the inherent dangers in the PIB which is now in the National Assembly for ratification as law. Passing the Bill in its current form will perhaps be worse than the results of the abrogation of the onshore/offshore oil dichotomy. In particular, three areas that should be of major concern to the North are: •The proposed powers of the Minister of Petroleum, nearly boundless over policy, regulatory and operational issues, •The provision on National Frontier Exploration, which is consigned to an administrative unit in the office of the Minister. This is against what was preserved for all other key industry activities which are to be conducted through specific and autonomous institutions •Provision of a Host Community Fund. This is of course another layer of funding, over and above what is already being given through the NDDC, the Ministry for Niger Delta and the percentage derivation allocation to the Niger Delta states.
Nigeria is not poor, but has people with poverty of ideas ”EEEFY IKE
Eeefy Ify Ikeh is the Chief Executive Officer of Style is Innate, an outfit that is into hand-crafted jewelries made with exotic stones and exotic skin bags from Nigeria.
A multi-talented lady, Eeefy is a successful model, actress, author, motivational speaker, presenter and a designer, all rolled into one. In this chat with Vanguard, she speaks on her love for Nigeria, saying that unless Nigerians learn to love Nigeria and work to make her great, Nigeria will continue to move round in circles. Excerpts:
What brought about your outfit, Style is Innate?
Actually, Style is Innate – the designs, jewelleries and exotic skin bags, was inspired by my youth movement, called Patriotic Movement. The organisation is set out to promote peace, unity, patriotism and to raise change vanguards among Nigerian youths.
There is crisis in the country like in other parts of the world, not just in Nigeria but we have to fix our own. You can’t have fire burning in your house and you are trying to quench the fire in another person’s house, you quench yours first so the need to heal and build the nation was what inspired my creativity.
How can the youths help build Nigeria when they have been neglected for so long?
Yes, it is true that Nigerian youths are repressed and they are complaining a lot because of their struggles, but instead of waiting for someone to help you out of that struggle, you have to try to help yourself and pull yourself out of the hole. What if somebody doesn’t come by, what are you going to do?
The government you are expecting to do their work well, unfortunately, has disappointed you, but what about the responsibility you owe yourself? Government owes you the responsibility to provide the foundation upon which you can structure your life, your parents owe you the responsibility to ground you, to instill certain discipline and morals in you, but you, as an individual, owe yourself the responsibility to develop yourself.
You have a purpose that you must fulfill and with or without anyone, you must try to fulfill your purpose in life. Part of it is looking within, discovering your talents and developing them to the appreciation of people; that is how you can translate it into money.
Leading by example:
Now, I had to lead by example; I could not go out there and deliver messages that I don’t know the source or that I don’t really understand; you can’t give what you don’t have.
So I had to first research the nation to know and to understand Nigeria and her resources so I can disseminate the right information to the youths I was trying to inspire. In the process, I discovered the exotic leathers – ostrich, snake, crocodile, cow hides etc. I used them to design bags and shoes.
Nigeria is blessed:
We are always importing these things. When I came to Nigeria and saw these things, I was actually very angry because I thought I was spending thousands of dollars in the US on bags made out of exotic materials, meanwhile, I have it at my backyard in Nigeria wasting away because people don’t know the value and where they do, the finishing is not good.
We do everything in such lackadaisical manner and I am like ‘for crying out loud, we could also learn to create quality bags from our own materials and export.’ Why do we have to import everything? How can you build your nation when you are importing almost everything and depleting the nation’s foreign reserve?
So I started creating the bags and then I saw the stones! Oh my God! We have precious stones like topaz, garnet, moonstone, agate, tourmaline, emerald, corals, pearls, turquoise, amber, glass bead, camel bone, cow horn, rubies, just name it. I discovered all these in Nigeria.
What is wrong with us? I mean, these things cost so much money in the western world because I spend a lot of money buying them. Here, we have the stones but we don’t have the machines.
That is what I say to government and the private sector, why can’t we build this industry? How can you become successful as a nation unless you can build industries to provide employment for the people? We have the human and natural resources that we can cultivate and nurture to fruition to build industries, so why can’t we do it?
Change of attitude:
I told myself that we can do it but I have to start from myself. The change starts from you, from within and then it is projected into the society. I had to change my own attitude, how I see Nigeria, what I want for Nigeria and how I can contribute. My thinking had to change so I became patriotic – nation before self – and that is why I am doing this.
I am saying to the Nigerian youth, listen, if employment is not there, you can create it, look, I did it. I started with N15,000. A lot of people say, oh, but I don’t have a sponsor. Almost everybody has a Blackberry phone in Nigeria, the money you spent to buy Blackberry how about you buy the little phone that goes for N3,500, make a sacrifice because let me tell you something, growth is about sacrifice.
You sacrifice your careless and extravagant lifestyle, your luxury, greed, friendships and all kinds of stuff, for growth. So if you normally spend N100,000 on your hair, stop. I always say to the girls that want to wear Brazilian hair… ‘darling, I don’t have any problem with you wearing Brazilian hair, but the problem I have is this:You don’t even have a future because you don’t have a career, no goals, you don’t even dream and you are not working towards anything that would sustain your future but you are wearing a N100,000 hair, you don’t impress me.’
The N100,000 you spent to buy the hair can be channeled to something else that would propel your success. It takes focus, discipline and consistency. In the face of trial, you must be persistent, that is part of growth. That is how you can appreciate the success when you achieve it.
So I like to lead by example because that’s what leadership is about. It’s about nurturing, creating, building, harnessing. What I do is that I discover these materials and create something from them.
I started with N15,000, bought stones and made one necklace, people appreciated it and I made another and another. Every little money I have, I invested in the business. I sacrificed a lot. I have seven empoyees. In the US, I would go to a store and spend $4,000 to $5,000 to buy one bag but here, I am not shopping, I am investing money in making the bag.
Why should I always buy? Why can’t I produce and sell? Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Chanel, Armani, Versace, all of these designers are human beings that conceived a great idea and worked to implement it. They are not different from me. If they can do it, Eeefy can do it. All I have to do is make sacrifices, change my attitude, cut down on all the crazy lifestyle, focus and I will get it done.
Go through the struggles and challenges and grow; that is what life is all about. One day, I will succeed because when people see you being consistent, they will begin to appreciate it and help and then you grow. If they can produce these designs and people go to Italy to buy them, one day, people can come to Nigeria to buy because it’s all about healing and building our home, it’s all about loving and protecting Nigeria and that’s the responsibility of every Nigerian child. That is why I am doing what I am doing. Anything I discover in Nigeria and I can conceive a lucrative idea around it, I pick it up; I am that aggressive.
I pick it up because it is not about the party anymore, it’s not about the yanga, no, because all of that is lacking in substance. It’s about what I can produce, about being significant to society and not a nuisance, it’s about helping the youth and society. I am very excited about Nigeria because with the things I see in Nigeria, I get angry when they say Nigeria is poor. Nigeria is not poor, what Nigeria has is people with poverty of ideas.
Looking within:
Nigeria is a wealthy nation that needs people to start to think and implement. Nigeria is not poor but Nigerians need to start to identify and harness the talents that we have. We have so many talented youths but nobody is paying any attention to them and they themselves are not paying attention to their talents. I did not know I could write, but I have written four inspirational books. I never studied journalism or psychology but when you read my books, you would think I studied those two at least.
It’s all about looking within. We think that wealth is external but it is internal. You have to look within, discover it and develop it so that people can appreciate it. If you do not bring it out, people will not see it to appreciate it. You need to cultivate the courage to conceive ideas and pursue goals. You need courage to say: ‘yes, I can do it. Let me be calm and tranquil in my spirit and think of what I can do. Let me start to dream. You have to learn to dream. Great success is achieved through dreams and the dreams must be implemented.
You can’t just stop at dreaming, you must implement and when you face challenges, it’s okay, you have to keep pushing, that’s why we talk about being persistent; you have to persevere. It would only build the character in you. It will help you with sustenance, you have to have gone through the valley to appreciate it when you are on the highest mountain because if they hand everything over to you, you will have no appreciation for it because you did not even know how it came about; you did not work, shed tears or sweat for it, so how will you begin to appreciate it?
Attitudinal change:
The struggles are okay, we just need to learn to change our attitude. The kids here have very bad attitude. They are very argumentative, they are very eager to defend everything; very defensive spirit and I say to them: ‘darling, don’t try to defend it, you are talking to Eeefy. I used to spend $3,000 to make a wig so you are talking to the wrong person.’
I used to spend huge sums of money on clothes, shoes, bags etc. But now, you won’t catch me going to buy all that. I am creating so that others can buy.
I realise that my beauty is lacking in substance, that’s just for instant gratification; it’s not going to sustain my future, it’s not going to retain the positive attention that I want. I need to develop myself internally; I need to create things that people can appreciate, then it will make the beauty more appealing to people. And that is why I want the Nigerian youths and especially the women, to understand that they play a major role in nation-building.
But the youths feel that government has failed them…
We talk about government creating an enabling environment, but who is the government? We are the government we are so eager to condemn. We produce the government. Today’s citizen is tomorrow’s leader. Yesterday, the president didn’t have shoes, today, he is the president. Today, I am just Eeefy, if it’s God’s will that tomorrow I become some minister or governor or even president, what would I say? Oh, now I am governor, I will act differently? No, the principle that I used in my life as an ordinary citizen, is the same that I will employ when I become a leader.
That is why I preach patriotism. If you fall in love with Nigeria, you will take care of her. If you drink and throw the bottle in a trash can and not on the street, when you become a governor, that same principle will be employed on a higher level. So, that is why I say to Nigerians as you are eager to condemn government, remember that the change you desire will start with you so that tomorrow if you become a governor, you will do something better, you will act as a leader is supposed to act.
Work of a leader:
That means you will create, nurture, build, harness talents, build industries etc. Those are the things you need to do as a leader not just sit down and amass wealth.
So our problem in Nigeria is not for government alone to solve, it is for all Nigerians. It doesn’t matter where you live, I live in America but I came here to do this because I am a Nigerian.
Even though I am a naturalized citizen of America, I am who I am because there is a Nigeria so I am first a Nigerian, and as a Nigerian citizen, a youth and a woman, it is my responsibility to heal and build the nation and every Nigerian has to feel the same responsibility because it takes a collective effort to resolve a national challenge.
The president and governors can’t do it alone, yes we employed them to work but in order for us to heal their mistakes, we have to heal ourselves first so that we can produce better leaders tomorrow.
Crises:
First we had to deal with militancy,now it is Boko Haram. What are we fighting about? The kidnapping, shooting and all the bombings would not induce good governance and effective leadership in case Boko Haram is a plot to make Nigeria ungovernable for the president.
Another question: Is Boko Haram a plot to impose Islam on Nigeria? Are they trying to cause armageddon in our country? I want to know because I don’t think the perpetrators will succeed.
Nigerians need to understand that Boko Haram is a menace that we must collectively condemn otherwise we will deter the growth of this nation because our women and our children are dying. Women play a major role in nation-building so manipulating, abusing, kidnappping, raping, exploiting and marrying them off at will, is destructive to the growth of the nation. A broken woman is a broken nation. I want to know what kind of country, leaders or children we are going to produce through a broken woman. If the mothers of the future of this nation are broken, the nation is broken.
Nigerians must understand that. Patriotic Movement commends government for the efforts so far but we plead with government, relevant organisations and international bodies to come together to fix this war. It is war and Nigerians please don’t get it twisted. It is not a problem for government alone; it is our collective problem so we must come together to fight this war. There is power in synergy. It takes a colletive effort to resolve a national challenge.
We are celebrating 100 years of amalgamation but we have not even learnt to co-exist. How can we operate from injustice, lack of human rights, and treat each other with so much hate and unpatriotism and expect good governance and effective leadership?
Every state in Nigeria is rich but we need to discover the wealth. Every state in Nigeria can heal herself from within but we need think-tanks, visionaries, nation-builders, people that can plan and implement, harness talents, people with innovative ideas, youthful exuberance, people that appreciate and understand humanity, that believe in justice and human right in government.
Why I dumped acting for movie productions – Chinney Eke
When did you start producing movies?
My first movie that I ever produced was in 2012. ‘The Cartel’. It was a cinema movie.
What other movies have you done apart from The Cartel?
I’ve done Maduka Daughters. I’ve done Sisters Quest. There’s a comedy I just did called Okrika and now, I’m working on a movie that I’m supposed to start in 3 weeks’ time but no title yet.
Why did you decide to go into movie production?
Okay, basically I started as an actress. I did a couple of movies. I think I acted over 12 movies first then I thought to myself, I’m a business person. I’m a core business person. Maybe it’s because of where I’m from, Anambra state. So I told myself, why don’t I just go into this part of management. I’ve always liked to manage, I’ve always liked to put things together. So instead of always being in front of the camera, why don’t I just put things together since I’m good at that. So I tried it, I did my movie. It was a big movie. A movie that had cast from all over Africa when I did it, it came out big, it came out well. I loved every bit of it so I just thought that this is it. This is what I’m doing. So I quit acting
How was it like working with the cast & crew of The Cartel?
I loved working on that set. It was amazing. The Cartel comprised of artistes from all over Africa. I had an artiste from South Africa, from Ghana, from Tanzania then I had a star artiste from Nigeria. These people, I’m not trying to downplay our artistes here, have a kind of discipline when it comes to work ethics. They keep to the core time, there’s nothing like a celebrity thing. If you say 7am, it is 7am, it doesn’t matter how hard or late they worked the previous night. I didn’t have to start battering ‘Oh now come and shoot now’ and stuff like that. They knew their job. They knew it was work so it was quite easy for me. They knew what they came for and they did it well. Everybody was on point I would say
Your new movie is Maduka Daughters?
That’s not the latest. Maduka daughters is already out. Maduka daughters is a family story and I had to shoot it in the east because of the kind of story I was trying to sell and it was for commercial value. So I looked at a story that would appeal to our commercial people because this Nigeria, 60% of Nigerians live below the poverty line so I just did a story that would appeal to them. Basically it’s a family story. I used artistes like Michael Godson, he’s raving at the moment now. Artistes like Moyo Lawal, Chinyere Wilfred and Walter Anga
What has been the high point of your career?
You know when you actually do work and you get appreciation for it and people are like ‘Are you the one that did this movie? I love your movie,’ it means people appreciate you. Those are the most amazing moments. When I know that I just did something that people love, that people can associate with and can’t get enough. To me, that’s the most amazing thing ever. Doing something that appeals to the society.
How do you view Nollywood in general?
We are growing but we still have a long way to go. We still need a lot of discipline, a lot of schemes that have not been applied like distribution strategy after doing a movie. As a producer, you should be able to get returns but I think that our distribution system here is not as strong as its supposed to be so we still need to work on that.
If you could change one thing in Nollywood, what would it be?
I would stop the piracy stuff. It’s killing the business. I’m talking as a producer because I’m not an artiste. You would do your work, spend money and then you don’t make as much as you expected because little boys on the streets are pirating your movie. It’s a ripoff. It’s really painful.
In terms of movie production, who is your biggest inspiration in Nollywood?
Basically, I’ve never met Emem Isong before. I’ve met her a couple of times in premieres but I don’t know her one on one but I like her spirit. I like the fact that she just gave it a try and there’s no going back for her. She’s doing it big and she’s one of the biggest Nollywood producers in Nigeria. So I saw it, I liked it and I said let me follow her trend. When I see her movies come out day in day out, month in month out, she inspires me to want to work.
Are you currently in any relationship?
No, I’m single. Right now, I’m just facing my career
What qualities do you look out for in a man?
I like guys that are very funny, I like witty guys. Great sense of humor. Aside God-fearing, a funny guy that can make me laugh and I’m fine
What’s your main philosophy of life?
Be the best you can be. Don’t let people dictate to you. Just be the best you can be. Don’t listen to people. Don’t let negative comments bring you back. Just do what you want to do, do what make you happy and everybody else that does not like it can jump inside the river
Which actor/actress are you looking forward to working with in the future?
I would love to work with Majid. I think that’s the only person I want to work with very soon
What more should people expect from you?
They should just expect lots and lots of good things. All the movies I’ve done have always had positive comments, so just expect lots of good stuffs. A lot of good movies coming from me. I’ve just started and I’m going to get bigger and better