Mr. Ugochukwu Okeke, South-east zonal coordinator of Team Goodluck Nigeria 2015, a group campaigning for President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term, speaks on the activities of the organisation and development issues in Anambra, in this   interview  Anayo Okolie

After your active participation in the last Anambra State governorship race, what next for you in politics?

 

 

Anambra election has come and gone. And things have happened the way they did. We remain resolute and committed in doing our best to bring about the desired change in the society. Don’t forget, before the election, I had been committed to the cause of human capacity development and several philanthropic programmes. Supporting and engaging in real time development will remain my top priority whether in the government circles or anywhere.

 

 

I remain a proud member of Peoples Democratic Party from my very ward to the national level. It is true that the election is over but we believe in the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan. Anambra needs to be transformed. We must start from our communities to the local government areas, political zones and the state in general. I remain committed to my slogan, which is “ka anyi dozie Anambra,” (let us build or develop Anambra).

 

 

I still believe that it is the time for youths to take over. Anambra has population, land mass, needed resources (both human and natural), and so on. Anambra can feed this country in whatever capacity you may think of. Whether you come from the south, north or central part of the state, we all need to come together and build the Anambra of our dream. And the only way to do it is through dialogue, which is contributing ideas, vast knowledge and material resources from everyone, no matter how big or small, to the table. Even the present government of APGA, if there is any way they approach us and seek our contribution, irrespective of the fact that they are not from our great party, PDP, we will make ourselves available in support, in a bid to move the state forward.

 

What areas do you think the present government in the state can focus on to fast-track development?

First and foremost, the present leadership needs to concentrate on the area of security. There is no investment that thrives without adequate security being in place. If the state can guarantee maximum security, investors will be willing to come and invest without being afraid of what becomes of their investment in the short or long run.

 

 

The previous governor did his best and I understand that the current governor is beginning to take steps in that regard. Once security is in place, you now think of economic development. The three senatorial zones in state have their areas of strength. Anambra North, for instance, boasts agricultural produce because of the nature of their land, which fertile and the agrarian nature of the people in that area. Anambra South is much into entrepreneurial or business activities. Anambra Central is more in industrial development. For example, in Anambra North, we have the biggest rice mill in Nigeria known as Omor Rice Mill. That rice mill needs to be resuscitated for economic gain and other attendant benefits.

 

 

Anambra remains the hob of agriculture in the entire South-east. So effort must be made to harness the potentials in this regard. We must come together to give every area the needed attention. Anambra has the capacity to generate over N50 billion every month if the right things are done. To achieve economic stability, we must invest massively in agriculture, more than we do in oil.

 

Do you think the Jonathan administration has delivered on his promises, especially, to the South-east?

It’s a fifty, fifty situation if you want to assess what the president has been able to do, especially for the South-east. We might not have benefited much, but I want to commend him for what he has done so far. That is why some of us who are in support of what he is doing brought ourselves together to form Team Goodluck Nigeria. We believe that the president has done well by starting the second Niger Bridge. We are going to ensure that he comes back to complete the project and others that are ongoing. His return will ensure continuity with a guarantee that he will continue his development programmes in Anambra, South-east and the country at large.

 

 

Under his government, the Igbo have enjoyed so many things. I believe that leading people is a difficult task. Even in the area where there is insurgency, he has demonstrated commitment in taking development to the people of the area. In spite of all his achievements, I believe there is room for improvement and that is why some of us are calling on him to come again to complete his good works.

 

 

President Jonathan is the most abused and misunderstood president Nigeria has ever had. I have joined in the call for him to come back for second tenure, not because he has done wonderfully well but for him to be allowed to do more in the next four years.

The Architect’s colloquium has proved to be a powerful tool for harnessing professional knowledge for the development and enhancement of the Nigerian built environment. The high level of urbanisation in Nigerian major cities such as Abuja, Kano and Lagos is alarming. Considering our population which currently stands at 170 million, and a growth rate of 2 per cent, one wonders how the nation can sustain such rapid urbanisation in the face of inadequate infrastructure in our cities.

 

 

Quite simply put, our country has a large infrastructure deficit.  Physical infrastructure such as roads, houses, power and water are essential for the growth of our economy.   Without adequate investment in infrastructure our economy will stagnate.

 

 

The infrastructure deficit is large and exists in almost every sector. For the road sector alone, we have estimated that in order to adequately support economic growth at current rates and meet vision 20:20:20, we need to be investing in construction of at least 14,000 km of new roads annually for the next 7 years. We will also have to maintain and rehabilitate the existing network as a matter of routine.  These will require the average annual expenditure on roads to increase six-fold to nearly 900 Billion naira.

The President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan-led Federal government realises that infrastructure is key in realising the objectives of the administration’s transformation agenda, and has devoted much time in exploring new ways of bridging the infrastructure gap in the country.

 

 

The Federal Government recently developed the national infrastructure master plan. The issue of financing featured prominently in the plan. The government has devoted much time in exploring new ways of bridging the infrastructure gap.   It is clear that we cannot continue to rely on the limited financial resources available to government. The challenges are all the more intense against the backdrop of current global financial tightening and increased competition for available infrastructure funds.

 

 

There is global competition amongst nations to attract private capital into infrastructure through public private partnership and other forms of engaging private capital. One of the essential ingredients for attracting private finance is the existence of strong institutions that provide the conduit for collaboration as well as buttress investor confidence. It is partly for this reason that the President Jonathan’s administration embarked on major reforms in the power sector that led to the privatisation of power generation and distribution, while concentrating on building a transmission infrastructure for the sector.

Today, the transport sector (Roads, Rails, Marine and Aviation) has reached an advanced stage; on completion, it will bring about a new lease of life in our cities and country.

 

 

Innovation in infrastructure delivery is yet another area we can harness our God-given resources to bring basic services to our citizens. We have seen new technologies emerge in areas of alternative energy source for household appliances ranging from solar panel roofing sheets to solar powered water heaters, and the ball-to-electricity technology invented by a young Nigerian-American. These innovations have huge potentials in Nigeria as we have abundance of sunlight and require diverse energy sources in order to meet the energy needs of our country.

These innovations will be more quickly accepted if they are inculcated in the design stage of buildings and public facilities in a cost effective way.

 

 

It is pertinent for Nigerians in the built sector to bring up ideas that will enable Nigerians benefit from these promising innovations which have the potential of creating employment for our teaming youths.

 

 

No doubt, the reality of our nation today is that there is a yawning gap in infrastructure. This yawning gap pervades through the various sectors of the nation’s economy; from power to roads, from rail/water to air transportation, from mining to water resources, and from ICT to housing.

 

 

Countries like ours can double its Gross Domestic Product, currently put at 510 billion dollars within a few years if the right infrastructure is put in place. The question then, is how can this massive infrastructure development be funded?

 

 

The situation requires an attitudinal change; the following actions are recommended to bring Nigeria infrastructure out of the wood; Declaration of emergency in the Infrastructure sector, Establishment of an Infrastructure Development Fund (IDF) (with the National Assembly passing appropriate legislation establishing the IDF and implementation of the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan from first line charge over a 10-Year period) and better corporate governance that requires an amendment to the company and allied matters Act, which will allows companies to contribute 3-5 per cent of their pre-tax income to the IDF.

 

 

If truly good and sustainable infrastructure is needed in Nigeria not only to serve as catalyst for economic growth, but also for the creative engagement of citizens and to generate national development, then the executive and legislative arms of government must collaborate to do the Needful as recommended in order to adequately bridge the infrastructure gap.

What role can the professions play in this envisaged infrastructure renaissance in our country? This question is all the more important looking at the case study of Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano.

 

 

Easily, with the addition of Abuja, these cities showcase the threat of rapid urbanisation in Nigeria. The questions we would ask ourselves are: What happened, and where were the professionals when a city like Abuja that had a well thought out plan started degenerating into a slum? How did we contribute to this sorry past in our cities? What role did the planning and development agencies play to promote the development of slums in our cities? Why should it take upward of one, two or three years to obtain development approvals in a city like Abuja, thereby forcing developers to build without approval and fuelling corruption in the system’s checks and balances architecture? Why are the States planning departments approving building plans in areas without Lay-Outs and basic infrastructure (including flood plains), thereby promoting the emergence of slums and blighted neighbourhoods in our cities? I could go on and on.

 

 

The truth is, there has been a systemic failure and we all have a share in the blame. If only the professionals in the public or private sector had remained true to their ethics and good conscience, the story would have been different.

One significant thing about the forthcoming governorship election in Ekiti State is that it is going to put to test the extent to which good governance could be a basis for winning an electoral mandate.

 

 

Given the nature of politics in many third world countries where there is a notion that electoral mandate is a function of a clientele relationship between the candidates standing election and the electorate, it may not be difficult for any uninformed spectator of Ekiti politics to conclude that the incumbent, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, would lose the election to any of his opponents.

 

 

However, if democracy is to be understood as a system of service delivery by the government to the governed, then the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Fayemi, stand shoulder high above any of the other contenders.

Within three years, the Fayemi administration has virtually re-written the directory of infrastructural and manpower development in Ekiti State.

 

 

Following the prism of the 8-points agenda of his administration, the Fayemi-led government has touched almost every area of human and capital development indicators. In order to bring his campaign promise of opening up every community in Ekiti State through road network, Governor Fayemi devised a process of constructing five kilometre road in each of the 16 local governments in the state, constructing a total of 81.5 kilometres in the first phase and another 91 kilometres across the 16 local councils in the second phase.

In fact, Fayemi’s achievements in the area of road reconstruction remains epochal in Ekiti State, as the summation of all the roads being constructed or repaired stand at  a staggering 958 kilometres.

 

 

In the area of education, the Fayemi government has, in three years, renovated 836 primary schools and 183 secondary schools. The government also established 24 new primary schools in 2011 and another 18 in 2012 bringing the number of primary schools from 776 in 2010 to 836 by 2012. Consequently, there is a remarkable increase in primary school enrolment from 155,296 in 2010 to 170,768 while the trend nationwide is the reduction in public school enrolment to the advantage of private schools. The same feat was repeated in secondary schools; and as at today, Ekiti State has the highest per capita in terms of public school enrolment in the country.

 

 

The government’s decision to revolutionise the methodology of learning in Ekiti State gave birth to the concept of e-learning and the distribution of 33,000 laptops free of charge to students and 18,000 laptops to teachers at a subsidised price.

 

 

The government also introduced the payment of Rural Allowance to teachers in the rural areas.This is to address the lopsidedness in the student- teacher ratio because teachers are reluctant to work in rural areas. It introduced the payment of Core Subject Allowance to teachers of subjects like Mathematics, Physics, and Biology to promote the teaching of science and ensure that Ekiti students are competitive in this age of technology. In tertiary education, the government restored peace and industrial harmony to Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti; reduced fees paid in higher institutions and introduced various scholarship schemes to help many indigent and brilliant students of the state.

 

 

In two years, 2011 and 2013, a total sum of N315.7Million had been disbursed as scholarship to 2,329 students while bursary awards of N148.2Million were paid to a total of 9,919 beneficiaries.

 

 

These initiatives have shored up the level of literacy in the state from 67 per cent in 2011 to 72.2 per cent by 2012. In the formal sector, the state has recorded many recognitions of the advancement in education. The state has won the Best Overall Performance State in the Annual National Mathematics and Science Competitions by Science Teachers (STAN); first position in Mathematics for Senior Secondary School Category in the National Quiz competition organised by MAN in 2013; first position in ANCOPPS National Stage Quiz/Essay Competition in 2013; Best Male Student in 2013 WAEC result and for two years running; and has produced the best student in the Nigerian Law School.

 

 

It is in recognition of these remarkable strides that the World Bank recently announced a USD10 million support for the state under the State Education Programme Investment Project (SEPIP).

 

 

Governor Fayemi has also recorded remarkable strides in the provision of healthcare services. He introduced free health care for pregnant women, children under the age of 5, elderly citizens, the physically challenged persons and people living with HIV/AIDS. He renovated all general hospitals in the state and constructed a new one, Oba Adejugbe General Hospital, in the state capital, to bring healthcare service nearer to the people. He constructed a Cancer Diagnostic and Wellness Centre, named after the late deputy governor of the state, Aduni Olayinka, in Ado Ekiti. In general, Fayemi has increased the number of health care facilities in the state from the 350 he inherited in 2010 to 495.

 

 

Another important initiative in the health sector is the introduction of a mobile healthcare system known as Health Missions through which specialised teams of medical personnel travel across the communities to provide healthcare services to the people. At the last count, 363,050 persons have benefitted from the programme. Another 7,850 persons have benefitted from the Ilera Lafin programme through which health care services are taken to the palaces of the traditional rulers for the benefits of the communities, bringing number of beneficiaries of the health outreach programmes to 370,900.

 

 

The benefits of these initiatives are apparent.For instance, in-patient attendance of public health care facilities jumped from 9,448 in 2010 to 11,867 by 2012. Delivery of birth in the secondary health facilities increased from 2,190 in 2010 to 2,823 by 2012 while out-patient attendance at secondary health facilities rose from 62,374 in 2010 to 85,730 by 2012.

 

 

The records bear Fayemi out for these initiatives. Ekiti State now has the lowest Infant mortality in the country. It has the lowest maternal mortality in the country as well. It presently has the highest life expectancy in the country at 55 years; against the national life expectancy of 47 years.

 

 

Another significant way through which the Fayemi government is combating poverty and promoting good health among the citizenry is the enactment of the Ekiti State Senior Citizen Welfare Law under which citizens above the age of 65 are entitled to a monthly stipend of N5, 000. The government has enrolled 25,000 senior citizens of the state under the scheme. The senior citizens also enjoy free medical service.

 

 

In the area of industrial development, Fayemi resuscitated the Ire Burnt Bricks Industry which had been moribund for 23 years, established enterprise development centre at Iloro, Aisegba and Ilupeju to train the people in entrepreneur skills, increased the number of small scale industries from 1,066 in 2011 to 2,257 by 2012 through the provision of a conducive environment and several economic empowerment schemes. He also remodelled the Ikogosi Warm Springs.

 

 

Against the foregoing, it is safe to conclude that in spite of the hype of the gubernatorial contest in Ekiti State, there is no doubt that Fayemi stands tall above the other contestants in the Ekiti gubernatorial election and Fayemi’s victory at the polls will confirm that Nigeria is fast joining other parts of the world where a good performance by a contestant is a guarantee that the appreciative electorate will return him to office.

– Ajakaiye writes from Ado-Ekiti

The Supreme Court Monday May 26, 2014 in Abuja awarded N8million as costs against Dr Dickson‎ Osuala, counsel to Chief Great Ogboru of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) for what it termed as an abuse of the process of the apex court, adding that there must be an end to litigation.

 

 

To benefit from the N8million are Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, Governor of Delta State, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)‎, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) who are to get N2million each.

 

 

The Supreme Court in a unanimous ruling delivered by seven justices said the  case instituted by Dr Osuala on behalf of Ogboru amounted to an affront on the nation’s judiciary as well as an abuse of the court process.

 

 

“The said N8m is awarded as cost against the person of Dr Dickson Osuala and is to be paid from his pocket to the respondents “, said the apex court in a landmark ruling on Monday.

 

 

Ogboru, through his counsel, had unsuccessfully tried to get the Supreme Court to reopen his case challenging the election of Dr Uduaghan as governor in the 2011 gubernatorial election in the state. It is the third time the DPP standard bearer will be making such a move.

 

 

But the Supreme Court panel presided over by Justice Walter Onnoghen blamed Dr Osuala for not advising his client rightly and embarking on a clear case of gross abuse of the court process. The N8million slammed on Dr Osuala is for the said abuse and a deterrent to others who may attempt similar move in future.

 

 

Justices of the apex court on the panel were Justice Walter Onnoghen, Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, Bode Rhodes Vivour, Sylvester Ngwuta, Mary Peter Odili, Olukayode Ariwoola and Clara Bata Ogunbiyi.

 

 

Great Ogboru had dragged the Governor of Delta State Emmanuel Uduaghan before the Supreme Court challenging the validity 2011 election victory. Others joined in the suit as co-respondents were the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as 2nd respondent, INEC as 3rd respondent and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) as the 4th respondent.

 

 

Osuala had informed the court that Section 285 (7) of the 1999 Constitution which was the basis upon which the appeal was earlier thrown out was “misapprehended” by the court when the appeal was dismissed last year, adding that there was no law like that when the appeal was dismissed.

 

 

After the case was dismissed, Osuala surreptitiously brought an application to relist the matter again, a matter which the apex court described as an affront. When the counsel’s attention was drawn to the fact that the court had earlier dismissed the same appeal, he argued and insisted that the appeal must be heard.

 

 

The presiding judge, Justice Walter Onnoghen, in his ruling held that the fact of the case revealed that this was the third time the lawyer was approaching the Supreme Court on the same case, adding that the Supreme Court  had no jurisdiction to hear the case again having earlier dismissed the same.

 

 

“Applicant is advised to approach the high court since he raised the issue of the validity of Section 285 (7) of the 1999 Constitution. As far as the Supreme Court is concerned the subject has been laid to rest”, he declared.

 

 

A cost of N2million for each of the respondents was also awarded as cost payable by the lawyer.

The justices further noted that Ogboru through his counsel wanted to resurrect a dead and buried horse, and warned that this would be the last time such a case should be brought before the court.

 

 

In a reaction at the end of the hearing, Dr Uduaghan through the Secretary to the Delta State Government (SSG), Comrade Ovuozourie Macaulay, said the case and all such divisive battles were of God to deal with accordingly.

He said Monday’s ruling was a vindication that no man can fight God, hoping that Ogboru and his ilk would have learnt a lesson and allow the state to move forward.

 

 

“Our case has always been in the hands of God. And like we say in Delta, God’s Case has no appeal. That’s what the Supreme Court has affirmed today and we hope Ogboru and his people would have learnt a lesson and realised that it is time to allow the state to move forward,” he stated.

 

 

The SSG added: “It is a clear signal that the justices of the Supreme Court has sent out. We want to reiterate our belief in the judiciary. We steadfastly followed this case from the beginning. It’s about the fourth time we are coming here for this case. And the justices upheld the same decision. But today they went further and took the case as if it is theirs. Clearly it was an affront on the judiciary because it is the system that Ogboru and his team sought to attack. Not the governor or the state government. And the verdict tells the whole story.”

 

 

But the Delta State governor disclosed on Sunday June 1st 2014 that a total of 19 cases presided over by 77 judges/justices were instituted against him by his political opponents since May 29, 2007 when he assumed office. A battle that undoubtedly spanned seven good years.He made the disclosure at a special thanksgiving service to celebrate his recent victory at the Supreme Court in the suit instituted against him by Chief Great Ogboru.  Though the event also marked the governor ‘s third year in office for a second term, it was obvious that the Ogboru saga agitated his mind more. Dr. Uduaghan promised at the thanksgiving service, which held at the First Baptist Church, Warri to donate the N2 million costs awarded in his favour against counsel to Ogboru by the Supreme Court, to the church.

 

 

He explained that the thanksgiving service was held to appreciate God who had given him victories in the several cases that were instituted against him by his political opponents since his emergence as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the 2007 governorship polls.

 

 

“For us, this thanksgiving is very important and critical. If you know our political history, since 2007 it has been a long struggle,” the governor said, adding, “we had 19 cases within the last seven years and a total of 77 judges were involved and I hear that is the highest recorded number of cases in Nigeria today against any politician.”

 

 

The governor’s wife, Mrs. Roli Uduaghan, at the occasion however called for prayers for him to finish strong and for a God-fearing person to succeed her husband who will consolidate and improve on the gains of the current administration.

 

 

In a sermon, the Bishop of Asaba Diocese of the Anglican Communion, Most Revd. Justus Mogekwu, noted that the victory against Chief Great Ogboru at the Supreme Court was a victory for Delta State as it could have meant starting afresh and rendering a lot of persons jobless, adding, it would have amounted to someone who works for the interest of the people giving way for someone who will put selfish interest first above other considerations.

 

 

Despite this historic and resounding victory over Ogboru, by Governor Uduaghan, it is doubtful if the DPP flag bearer  had learnt any lessons. Indeed, it would not come as a surprise if he heads for the Federal High Court. The supposition being that it was an opportunity to finally prove the point he tried to establish, albeit unsuccessfully at the Supreme Court. But to what aim, when Governor Uduaghan may have left office and his successor probably rounding off a first term?

 

 

Deltans and Nigerians are waiting to see how Ogboru responds to the collapse of the Augean stable. It may well turn out to be a long wait if the man’s eyes are finally opened to the reality of the moment as well as the staccato dance by fate on his destiny. Indeed, for Great Ogboru, it may be said that his political empire has been dismantled and buried by Governor Uduaghan.

–– Ofou, is Press Secretary to the Delta State Governor

Development all over the world is work-in-progress. An objective appraisal of any administration must, therefore, be based on the amount and quality of work done within a particular time or term and the resources available. A comparative analysis is even better as it affords the public the opportunity to assess the management of their resources and sum of socio-economic development under different administrations.

 

 

When I said recently that “in less than 3 years, the Amosun administration has achieved far more than what the previous government accomplished in 8 years,” it was not a hyperbolic comment. In Ogun, as I opined, “the blind can see!”

 

 

The recent happenings in Ogun APC have turned out to be a referendum of some sort. From all I have read in the newspapers and heard on radio and television, feelers from towns, villages and hamlets, the common denominator is that the Amosun administration has been outstanding: Never in the history of Ogun has this quantity of work been done in such a short space of time with such meagre resources. Such remarks from the overwhelming majority of our people should constitute a ‘morale-booster’ for Senator Ibikunle Amosun, especially at this momentous time.  Following a report in the papers last month suggesting that Amosun was the first governor to visit the school, I went to the Social Development Institute (Shasha), Iperu. This is a college established in 1956 by Chief Obafemi Awolowo to offer leadership training to community leaders, traditional rulers, politicians and social workers. I established that the current governor was not the first to pay a visit to the 58-year-old school in a decade or two but Amosun is the first governor who made a promise to the school and fulfilled it. “Governors came, they promised, but they never fulfilled their pledge.” That much was confirmed. So the news report did not err, materially.

 

 

I was on the entourage of Amosun in June, 2013 when he paid an official visit to the college, which now offers Certificate and Diploma in Social Works and Social Development to our youths. I was numbed by the level of the decay that I saw. Just picture structures abandoned in the bush for decades or that have lost their innocence to wars or some natural disasters. I looked at the termite-infested hall – the best of the buildings – the (high) table and chairs standing grudgingly on legs that had lost their souls to the rage of termites, the pock-marked asbestos ceiling, windows without covers, roof threatening to collapse at the slightest fury of the elements… The governor was downcast: “How can this happen in Ogun State?”

“The labour of our heroes past, shall never be in vain,” goes a line of our National Anthem. The students have been evacuated; reconstruction work is going on at a steady pace.

 

 

The Social Development Institute (Shasha) is one of the thousands of abandoned structures scattered across the state. Even if you devote the entire yearly budget to education alone and consecutively for ten years, you will still be left with one or two dilapidated buildings. Yes, what Amosun inherited was a sector in ruins. Some of the buildings need to be pulled down. Some of the schools need to be relocated because they are currently choked by development. As at the time some of them were built, the locations were conducive for learning. Now, imagine voices of commercial bus drivers – Oshodi! Oshodi! Ilaro! Ijebu Ode! – drowning those of classroom teachers! Population has risen. Also, new schools have to be erected as schools are returned to their original owners.

 

 

Here is Amosun during his inauguration on May 29, 2011. “It appears that our public schools were deliberately destroyed so as to justify government’s abdication of its responsibility to educate the citizens, feigning inability to shoulder the attendant financial requirements as the basis.” My belief is that education is a social service which in the end serves the public good. Nowhere in the world is education treated as purely a profit-making venture. Chief Obafemi Awolowo, of blessed memory, will turn in his grave if he hears that due to inability to pay school fees many pupils and students are dropping out of school in his state of birth. Or that as a result of ill-conceived policies, many of them are excluded from going to the school of their choice.”

 

 

“(i) Education is now free in both primary and secondary schools. (ii) All illegal fees and levies in both primary and secondary schools are hereby abolished. (iii) The government will also be responsible for the payment of the final examination fees for primary and secondary school leavers in Ogun State. (iv) Tuition fees will be drastically reduced in all the state’s tertiary institutions. (v)  The bursary and scholarship scheme for students in tertiary institutions will be reinvigorated. (vi)  Allocation of at least 20 per cent of our annual budget to education with emphasis placed on improving the quality and capacity of staff through training and re-training, improved welfare packages and provision of teaching and research facilities. (vii) Three state-of-the-art and well-stocked public libraries will be established, with one in each senatorial district. (viii)  Immediate commencement of construction, rehabilitation and expansion of physical facilities in the sector with a target to achieve a ratio of 30 students per class in our primary and secondary schools. (ix) and Reinvigoration of the inspectorate division of the Ministry of Education.”

 

 

Three years on, I believe Senator Ibikunle Amosun can look back and take pride in his achievements, for he has accomplished between 75 and 80 per cent of his promises. Indeed, by the time the world-class model schools under construction are completed, the governor would have recorded between 90 and 95 per cent success. For instance, instead of three state-of-the-art and well-stocked public libraries, you now have fifteen in the first phase. Even in ‘WAEC’, once you have 75 per cent, that is “Distinction or A1”. If politicians in Nigeria could just fulfill 50 per cent of their promises, I’m sure our nation would be better off.

 

 

Today, the over 20,000 children that would have been out of school due to the policy faux pas of the last government are in school. Enrolment figures have soared as more children are abandoning private education in order to enjoy the free education policy of the current administration. TASUED has been taken off the life support while OOU is gradually coming out of the stench. Revenue from the Federation Account has slumped drastically from 2013, but due to prudent financial husbandry, teachers are receiving their salaries.

 

 

Of course, occasional hiccups are inevitable under our warped federal arrangement, but with the very first bridges and international standard roads adorning our state, the restoration of the climate of security, which has resulted in investment of about N730 billion in two years with attendant thousands of jobs, introduction of luxury buses and brand new taxis on Ogun roads for the very first time, distribution of new 500 transformers to revive SMEs, generation of over 50,000 direct and indirect jobs, scale-up of free health policy (Gbomoro) and launch of Community Based Health Insurance Scheme (Araya), payment of backlog of salaries, pensions and gratuities inherited from the last government, on-going construction of power plant to ensure steady supply of potable water, construction of state-of-the-art markets, strategically located in business districts (not in the bush), revival of agriculture through release of N1 billion to farmers to boost production, purchase of massive land-clearing equipment to aid mechanized agriculture, resuscitation of Farm Settlements, among others, the current government has, indeed, sustained the legacies of Awo.  Senator Ibikunle Amosun can hold his head high for having launched modern Ogun into its golden years.

––Soyombo, a journalist, sent in this piece via densityshow@yahoo.com

Air Marshall Alex Badeh is Nigeria’s 15th Chief of Defence Staff. His appointment came at a time the war on insurgency in the Northern part of the country entered a new phase. A brilliant military officer, Badeh’s  meteoric rise to the topmost position in the armed forces is not a surprise having had a distinguished career in the air force. With over 6000 flying hours on several aircraft types in the Nigerian Air Force to his credit  as well as  extensive international flight operations experience, Badeh  who is the immediate past Chief of Air Staff, had previously served as National Defence College’s Director  of National Military Strategy. In this interview with THISDAY Board of Editors, he speaks on the ongoing  campaign against terror in the Northeast, the challenges facing the military, the controversy over state of emergency and the collaboration with foreign partners. He also speaks on the abducted Chibok schoolgirls. Excerpts

 

 

Where are we today in the war against terror and is it winnable?

The war on terror is ongoing and the war is certainly winnable.

 

Few weeks ago, you told the world that the key defining issue of this war was the abduction of over 200 girls and you told the world that you knew where they were but you didn’t want to use force to rescue them. Are you likely to use the latest ‘Obama doctrine’ with the Taliban or what other steps are you taking?

As at the time I made that statement, you know what was happening, the military was being bashed left, right and centre for inaction and of course we have our own sources. Some people said I was being too hasty by saying I knew where the girls were. But to bring down the temperature that time, you sometimes have to give little information, and that was what I did. We gave out little information, but all the cards are on the table on how to get our girls back.  The president has said we should step up to the plate but we know we can’t go ahead and use force to extricate those girls from where they are. It’s impossible, if you do, you endanger their lives and have us facing more problems.

 

Is that to imply that the girls are still safe where they are being kept? Can you assure Nigerians of this fact?

 

I don’t want to commit myself to say that they are safe or not. We just know where they are, from information gotten from different sources, it’s still assumed that the girls are safe.

 

So when are we likely to see a rescue of these girls whether from negotiations or other means, because it is not enough to know that they are safe, we want the girls brought back home?

 

I don’t want to commit myself on that. As I said, all things are on the table. We are working with our international partners, the people who have offered us help, we are discussing and building things up.

 

The bigger issue for some people is not just that the abduction happened but the rate of response. What do you have to say to that because the people of Chibok said that they gave notice and there was no response and many days after there still wasn’t any response, and that the parents themselves had to embark on a personal rescue journey and all of that?

 

You see, when you are going for military operations they don’t just tell you that the enemy is in there, just go and meet him. You don’t just go, you have to assess what the enemy has before you go and if we had gone immediately into that forest, where they were probably trying to keep the girls, what would have happened? It will be an all-out war and fight, and then you endanger their (the girls’) lives instead of rescuing them. We are not saying we should go and rescue the girls and get 20 or get 180 out of  the total figure of girls that had been taken. We want all of them out.

 

Before the kidnap, there were worries that Boko Haram was on the way to Chibok, but the Army did not respond on time. We were told that we had 15 men on the road block but these insurgents came in their hundreds?

 

When they said they were going to Chibok, we didn’t know exactly where they were going to in Chibok. So people couldn’t have mobilised themselves to go and lay siege to the school because you know any town they go to, they do massive killings, lots of looting. Therefore, if so many of them came, it will be suicidal for you to face, maybe, a hundred people armed to the teeth that want to die. If you kill them, to them it’s gain, if they kill you, well, they haven’t done anything. If you are not deployed in number, you don’t get up to go to war. And because they are in Borno, which is so large, you can’t possibly cover the whole state. You see the kind of war we are fighting is something that people never contemplated. When you form an army, it is to go and face other armies, not to go and face every village in a state as big as Borno. Therefore, because we are covering such a vast area, you can’t deploy in number. Don’t forget that the people we are fighting they see us, count us in numbers, but we don’t know them. They know how many people are deployed in a particular place, they go and prepare and come back with 20 times more people than you have.

 

Therefore, are we likely to win this war or do we just give up?

No, God forbid, we cannot give up, we will win.

 

How?

I cannot say. I gave out information (on Chibok girls and April deadline) and you saw the outcome. So now we keep things under wraps and we are planning.

 

If you say that they (Boko Haram) are seeing us (Security forces) how come they see you, is there some form of infiltration?

 

That is not what I mean. When we deploy, because you don’t know where they are, you are deployed at a particular place to defend a town, and then the number of those in that town can be ascertained, then they are passing information. Don’t forget that in Borno State, there are too many sympathisers in the communities.

 

So how can we win the heart of our communities where we are operating?

 

Government did it last year. Federal Government gave lots of food aid to the three affected states. I remembered the army trying to win hearts and minds (of the people), went and dug boreholes, gave the people good water. Unfortunately, Boko Haram came and destroyed all the boreholes that we dug. So it’s not going to be a quick fix thing, but gradually as we take over our communities, we give them what they require.

 

There is also a school of thought that there are many sympathisers of Boko Haram because there are several extra-judicial killings in these communities?

 

Someone who kills without uniform and runs into a house, but you know him, if you go inside, and see him with a rifle that unknown to you might be loaded or not, what step would you take? But that is what we are facing. They hide in civilian clothes, have guns, and of course, anyone who takes up arms against the state, and is killed, is a combatant.

 

What many people from Borno have said is that immediately after an operation, the army will come in and round up people and they also profile people based on how they look, and they take them to some places and execute them, of which there have been human rights reports and reports of other bodies. That in a sense, some people will prefer to cover Boko Haram than the military that comes and assumes that one of them is Boko Haram?

 

That is their words against our own. You know that anything that happens they just call BBC or Aljezeera and report all manner of things that have no truth and you know what they want to do is to paint us black.

 

You are from a Northeast community, so you are a member of the Northeast even as an individual, and your community (Mubi) was attacked only a few days ago. How can you win back the confidence and trust of the people of the Northeast?

 

I don’t want to be drawn into this. Fighting this war is not for the Federal Government alone, it is also not the lone function of our armed forces. It is everybody’s fight. Every state has a government and local government, what are they doing? Because all we hear about is the President. The governor said that the Federal Government is blind, deaf and dumb. Is it possible? It has to start with the people, the people see us as enemies and we are not. We are there to protect the state.

 

There is disparity between your office and that of the Finance Ministry about the budget that is needed to fight the war against terror. Have you resolved that or is there still a problem with budgetary allocations?

 

The military is part of Nigeria, and everybody goes to the same pool to go and get money. Whatever we are given we use it judiciously for the purpose of which it was given. There is no government money that is released and people don’t follow it up and find out how it is being used. So we make judicious use of whatever we get.

 

In the last census, where there were 100 million Nigerians, we had about 200,000 members of the Armed Forces, but as at today, we are at about 170 million  Nigerians, we have 130,000 members of the armed forces. Without equipment can you really function with your hands tied to the back? Why don’t you tell Nigerians what the issues are?

 

I know that the military have equipment and we are making the best use of it. The President yesterday said; “We are doing more for the armed forces”. This is in terms of equipment. In terms of numbers, the armed forces don’t go to build barracks, barracks are built by government. We are no longer in the days where we are 250,000 with 200,000 living in batchers and then 50,000 living in good accommodation. We are much more civilised now. We are looking to improve the number of soldiers that we have and we are recruiting as well. The Air Force is training, the Army is doing recruitment, and as they are recruited, they will have to be accommodated.

 

This means that there are challenges facing the military?

 

I don’t want to say that it is a challenge. Soldiers always say obey before complain. So we recruit, somehow we accommodate them, and we are doing what we are doing.

 

You said the soldiers are now more enlightened and more civilised, and have a measure of good life. Is that the reason why there are rising cases of complaints about funding and soldiers’ welfare?

 

We have been fighting in Niger Delta for a very long time, since 2002, and soldiers have lost their lives, did anybody complain? We got to Maidugiri and everyone is complaining about shifting bases and being posted on peacekeeping. We didn’t come into the military to sit in offices; it was part of the attestation that they had signed prior to their appointment. If it means sacrificing your life in defence of your fatherland, you will. This is serious times, the people complaining about welfare, from the defence headquarters, we give soldiers their allowances in advance, but you don’t expect that the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) will go to every unit to supervise what every Commander is doing.

 

Can you help us make a sense out of the foreign support. Can you tell us how many groups, what they are doing and how much response are we getting?

 

Since we brought them on board, they have been here, and as a matter of fact, the head of the United States Assistance Team visited and they understand the situation better and we also understand what they are doing better. They are working harmoniously. We are getting information from them, which we are using, but I think we need to go a step further, and that is what he is going to take to his political masters.

 

There are series of reported cases of attempted mutiny but not yet  defined as such. There is an allegation of sabotage and infiltration on the part of soldiers, whereby they release information to the enemy, part of which resulted in the last unfortunate event.  There is also the issue of selling of uniforms to the enemy. So I want you to respond to these series of allegations especially that of the top military mutiny?

 

The term mutiny in the military is a very big word; the implication is so grave. So I don’t want to use the word mutiny or anything that the people are insinuating. If there was mutiny, we would not be fighting. It’s just people’s perception. On infiltration, I also do not want to believe it. We might have one bad element or the other, but it’s not something that have gotten to our attention. If it ever happens, we will get the people and deal with them. Selling uniforms, uniforms are the cheapest things to buy in the whole world. Do you know how many times customs have arrested container load of uniforms. They are sold in the market because these are materials that can be bought. How many uniforms do our army have that you go and sell yours? You have what you need for your operations. We are not saying we have not lost people, if the enemy starts using the uniform of the dead, there is nothing you can do about it.

 

Why can’t you storm Sambisa forest? Why can’t we have such a major entry into Sambisa like the D-Day landing in Normandy or  the way we did it in Liberia in the early 90’s?

 

You might have heard of what we call pyrrhic victory, but you come out worse than you entered, and you wish you didn’t even start it. On the D-Day, do you know how many lives were lost because there was attack from everywhere – both land, air and in the sea?  You storm Sambisa and then lose everybody, then what have you done? The aim (of rescuing the girls) is not to lose anybody. In fact, let those people (terrorists) die for their own cause, we don’t want to die (for their cause). Yes, you could storm Sambisa but what are you going to meet? If you don’t know the weapon of the enemy can you prepare for it? So it’s going to be gradual. Nibble by nibble we will enter into the forest.

 

The Air Force is heavily dependent on air power and we have the best trained by this country in air warfare, why are we not deploying our air assets against Boko Haram?

 

We are deploying our assets against Boko Haram. The issue is that they are spread all over, and in small groups.  So if a bomb is thrown at them from air, do you know how much a bomb cost? It cost a lot of money. More air assets are going to join in the fight. The use of air power in counter-insurgency is very difficult. You don’t want to talk about throwing bombs indiscriminately but targeting the enemy infrastructure. You want to go and destroy the factory where they are making their weapons and all their means of survival. However, the challenge is that there is none there like that. It’s humans that they are chasing and this involves the use of helicopters.

 

The state of emergency was declared last year in the northeastern states. However, most people and the governors of this affected states are saying that it’s of no effect?

 

What is state of emergency? What does it deprive the people of? Apart from curfew if things get bad, every other activities are carried on normally. And the CDS have not asked for any financial support from the states. Therefore, when you say that state of emergency is not working, it is because it allows the security forces to be able to carry out duties, make arrest without charging you to court and can detain for interrogation for 24 hours. We can search your house without court permit. So it just gives us power to search. Other than that, there is absolutely no infringement. If state of emergency was that bad it would not be in the constitution. In the constitution, it says a governor can ask the presidency to declare a state of emergency in his state. So if those who crafted the constitution knew it was bad, it wouldn’t have been in the constitution.

 

There are people who have noted that the military is not as effective as it should be because they don’t have total control over the state, meaning the governors should have been removed and in its place have sole administrators. Do you support that?

 

The military are defenders of democracy. So when people are saying go and remove state governors so that you have total emergency, what is total emergency? The constitution doesn’t talk about the removal of governor. There is nothing like total emergency. It is alien to our constitution.

 

You mentioned that fighting insurgency is a community warfare, that it is not what soldiers are traditionally trained for, but this is what we have to contend with. What has been done to bring up to speed with this kind of warfare?

 

Working with our international partners, we do lots of training on counter terrorism and fighting in difficult places and we do courses and training for the sake of human rights, lots of arm conflict. But as you said, its alien to us. We were never trained to fight our brothers within a particular place.  So it’s something that is totally new. If a soldier gets scared and does something wrong, that is what we call tug of war, but we are learning. Don’t forget that several conflicts are involved in fighting insurgency. It’s not something you wish away in one day.

 

People believe that the military does not have incentive to win this war and as long as this continues more money will be appropriated?

 

Yes, more money will be appropriated.  It’s not going into personal pockets, it’s used to get back equipment lost in the cause of fighting this insurgency. The Value Added Tax isn’t coming to me also, it’s going to the government.

 

You are aware of this allegation of corruption and the National Assembly have claimed it is difficult to carry out an oversight on the defence budget, what is your response to that?

 

I have been reading it, but corruption according to who now? We have always made our requirements known. Any penny due to us, there are people who look at it and monitor it. I was at the Presidential Air Fleet (PAF) in 2002 and that was when I started going to the National Assembly to defend budget and budgetary expenditures.

 

In the past weeks there have been consistent attacks especially in particular corners of Borno State all constituted around the Cameroonian border and all the reports keep insisting that the soldiers were not on ground. Why hasn’t the military changed its strategy by trying to deploy a bit more soldiers to those areas since there seems to be a concentration of insurgents who go there to attack the place?

 

You know if you move soldiers from other places to these areas, they will now change base. By the way, we don’t have to deploy in numbers, and we have seen from the air where three vehicles went to Michika and started killing people, of course it was in the night and we didn’t have soldiers there to monitor all that they where doing. When they finished, we followed them up (with surveillance) to their houses. The next day after knowing their abode we went and picked them up.

 

In the fight against Boko Haram, what will be your response to it? Can we get real time information of their operations?

 

What those people do to people they consider have given information is shocking. Human intelligence is very difficult in that area; we have caught people, even those that would not strike you as leaking information to the enemy.

 

What is your message to the Nigerian people? Should they have more confidence, should they be prepared for the worse?

 

The government of Nigeria is doing everything it can to ensure peace and security as charged. Daily killings happen everywhere in the world, it’s just that the number that is given is the difference. In other countries and in major cities, they kill up to 500 people in a day but they don’t report it, but in our own case because of the freedom (of information), anything that happens is being voiced out. By the way, all the numbers being put out as death casualties, who has ever verified it? In fact, the veracity of such information sometimes are questionable. (For authentication) we even wait to hear if the governor has gone there. If he has, then we know something serious has happened, if they don’t go we just probably assume that it’s a ruse.

 

You just get reports from journalists in Maidugiri not on a war front, giving figures even from international media. Why is the military information machinery not giving information or balancing those facts, because that is what is reported globally? What are you doing to bring the facts to the people?

 

When we lose our people, we tell the exact numbers we lost. However, we don’t have control of the casualty figures the enemy gives out. I don’t think Nigeria will be at peace if such facts are given out.

 

Is there something you think the Nigeria military would have done better that is not doing?

 

No! Of course, any day you go to school you learn something.

 

How are you going to get the equipment to fight this insurgency?

 

Government is doing a lot for the armed forces, we have heard that from the President and we are looking for more and government is providing more. That I can tell you. 

Nigeria’s current challenges in her gas-to-power sector may continue unabated for as long as the federal government allegedly fails to exert its political weight on extant issues hampering adequate and sustainable supply of gas to upstream thermal power generation companies in the country, THISDAY has learnt.

 

Currently, Nigeria’s gas-to-power sector, which is described as a very critical part of her ongoing power sector reform, appears totally overwhelmed by various forms of challenges which experts in the country’s energy sector consider too significant to be ignored by the federal government.

 

One of the industry experts who worked under former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration and helped in designing Nigeria’s gas master plan that is being implemented by the ministry of petroleum resources, Mr. Dan Kunle, stated in an exclusive interview with THISDAY yesterday in Abuja that Nigeria’s power industry vis-à-vis, its gas-to-power sector will likely continue to experience challenges of low gas supply to power plants; pending when the government decides to de-bottleneck certain impediments to investment in the sector.

 

Kunle, who was also part of the technical team in the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) that crafted the Electricity Power Sector Reforms (EPSR) Act 2005 amongst other reform documents in Nigeria’s energy sector, explained that the federal government appears uninterested in mustering adequate political will to address critical structural challenges in Nigeria’s gas-to-power sector.

 

Although, he described the privatisation of generation and distribution assets created from the unbundling of successor companies of defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) as very germane to Nigeria’s industrialisation efforts, Kunle however stated that the government will have to follow up its privatisation of the upstream part of the power sector with a restructuring of Nigeria’s gas-to-power sector for a meaningful reform to be seen.

 

“The gas sector of Nigeria’s hydrocarbon industry is a very critical sector. Nigeria’s hydrocarbon industry dates back to 1956 but if you check properly, we had no law on mining gas; we have some regulations and bye-laws like the decree for Bonny LNG but no deliberate law for our gas resources in Nigeria and so gas was tied together with oil.

 

“All the mining leases for the hydrocarbon industry did not define gas but oil mining and since 2007 to date, we still have not succeeded in having a deliberate separation of gas from oil, we attempted it when President Obasanjo created the ministry of energy but President Yar’Adua came and said it should be oil, gas and power with three ministers, then himself being the super minister,” Kunle said.

While responding to a question on what could be the sectors’ major challenges, Kunle said: “Political will, deliberate funding for gas production and institutional framework that should be driving all these transactions are not properly coordinated; if these three things are right, the industry will not be like this.

As part of measures to ensure a smooth transition into retirement, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, has approved a bill to transform the Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre (NAFRC) into a National Resettlement Institute.

 

The Commandant, Air Vice Marshal Monday Morgan, made this disclosure at the briefing to intimate the public about the forthcoming June 13 graduation ceremony of yet another batch of 404 retirees drawn from the Nigerian Army (NA), Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and the Nigerian Navy (NN) collectively.

 

The bill, when formally executed, will see civilians go through training alongside their military counterparts, in the centre which has churned out over 40,000 military retirees since inception.

He said, “The mandate of NAFRC is to equip retiring personnel of the Nigerian Armed Forces with relevant trade and vocational skills to enable them integrate into civil society and enjoy a productive and fulfilling life in retirement.

 

“Recently, a bill to transform the centre into a National Resettlement Institute has been approved by the AGF and the NAFRC governing board. The bill will be forwarded to the National Assembly as an executive bill.

 

“When passed into law, this will allow NAFRC to train the other rank cadre (ratings) and also officers in (pre-retirement) management and entrepreneurial skills. Additionally, personnel of other para-military and security agencies as well as deserving civilians will have the training opportunity at the centre”, he said.

 

He said, “NAFRC is developing a framework to enter into public partnership with a number of reputable companies in a wide range of areas that will upgrade all the training workshops.”

Although the goals for the centre are still evolving, Morgan said over 300 officers have so far benefitted from the managerial and entrepreneurial training programmes, carried out in collaboration with the Entrepreneurship and Managerial Training (EMPRETEC). 

As the nation grapples with the challenges of insecurity following the abduction of Chibok school girls by Boko Haram insurgents, the President, Ika Community Ladies Welfare Association, Mrs. Margaret Obaigbena, has stressed the need for the protection and development of the girl child in the country.

Obaigbena stated this at the weekend in Boji Boji, Ika, Delta State during the association’s annual lecture series with the theme “Development of the Girl Child in a development society.”

 

She pointed out that no nation could attain meaningful socio-economic and political greatness without focusing on the intellectual, mental, physical and spiritual development of the girl child because she is the future mother of the society.

 

She said: “You will all agree with me that looking out there, you and I may not be happy seeing some of our children who are suppose to be in school, are rather out there, hawking round and selling wares for their parents , mostly the girls , whom the parents considered doing the job better.

 

“Honestly this is a sign post to a bleak future, we need the involvement of parents, teachers, pastors and law enforcement agencies to see that the girl child is allowed to have a quality upbringing, education and to acquire skills that will make her a wholesome individual to herself and the nation.”

 

Director, Information Communication Technology Unit (ICTU), University of Benin, Professor S.C Chiemeke in his eleven page paper presentation, pointed out that the girl child and indeed women especially in Africa and Nigeria has had their destiny sealed from birth by tradition and culture on account of their biological sex.

He said girl child and women have been called the weaker sex in order to justify society discrimination and oppression against them, consequently their rights are circumscribed by tradition , custom and male chauvinism.

 

To free the girl child from these vicious cycle, Chiemeke suggested that the girl child should have access to qualitative information communication technology education, access to free qualitative education , the abrogation of obnortious laws , culture and traditional practices against the girl child and provision of equal opportunities for the girl child.