Heineken buys five Nigerian breweries
Heineken N.V. has
announced that it has strengthened its platform for growth in Nigeria
via the acquisition of two holding companies from the Sona Group.
The two acquired
businesses have controlling interests in each of the Sona Breweries,
International Beer & Beverages Ind., Benue Brewery, Life Breweries
Co., and Champion Breweries.
The acquisition provides Heineken with an additional technical capacity of 3.7 million hectolitres.
Foreign investor appetite to bolster Egypt in 2011
Investors are
likely to pour more funds into Egypt in 2011 as a strengthening economy
and attractive yields outweigh a fragile social backdrop and
uncertainty ahead of a presidential election.
Egypt’s main stock
index rose 20 percent in the past six months even as soaring food
prices hit the poor, sectarian tension grew and the country held
parliamentary elections marred by accusations of fraud and bullying. A
church bombing in the northern city of Alexandria killed 23 people at
New Year and sparked angry protests by Egyptian Christians demanding
more protection from Islamist extremists. Egypt’s benchmark index
wavered in the days after the attack before rallying to an eight-month
high on January 5.
A strengthened economy
Explaining that
strength, analysts point to accelerating economic growth and a broader
shift to emerging market risk prompted by quantitative easing in the
United States and lingering uncertainty over economic recovery in
developed nations. That also seems to override uncertainty over whether
President Hosni Mubarak, 82, will run for a sixth term in office in
September. He has no deputy or obvious successor. “We do not believe
that either the run-up to the presidential elections or any overhang
from the parliamentary elections will impact economic policy – focusing
on supporting growth,” said EFG-Hermes in a research report. The
investment bank gave Egypt an “overweight” rating, saying domestic
demand should continue to strengthen this year due to faster credit
growth and rising investment.
Election rules and
the opposition’s weakness make it virtually impossible for anyone but
the ruling National Democratic Party’s (NDP) candidate to win in
September. Mubarak has not said if he will run for another term that
would take him to 89, but ruling party officials say he is their
natural candidate. Mubarak has no clear successor and has denied talk
that his son Gamal is being groomed for power. His three decades in
office have fostered a stable business environment but the strength in
a system that revolves around one man is viewed by some as a weakness
as post-colonial Egypt has no precedent of a voluntary handover of
power. “Uncertainty over the succession is a source of real concern for
overseas investors,” said HSBC Economist Simon Williams. “But while
this will wensure they stay cautious, I think Egypt’s economic
fundamentals are too good, and the yield on offer is too high, to push
them away from the trade.”
Inflation concerns
Egypt’s government
estimates the economy grew 6-6.2 percent in the final quarter of 2010
after gaining gradually from 4.7 percent in the year to June 2009. It
is aiming for 7 percent in the 2011-2012 fiscal year. The central bank
has held its main interest rate steady since September 2009 as the
government seeks to push growth high enough to create enough jobs for a
fast-growing population. That means prices, not politics, could pose
the biggest risk to the inward flow of portfolio funds, say some
economists, who forecast inflation could accelerate in the first half
of 2011. “It’s mainly about inflation – politics will be secondary as
long as there are no major political shocks related to the presidential
election,” said Brahim Razgallah, Middle and North Africa Chief
Economist at J.P. Morgan.
Core inflation,
which excludes subsidised goods and volatile items, rose in November to
8.58 percent from 7.65 percent in October. High prices hurt the poor in
Egypt, where about a fifth of people live on less than $2 a day
according to the United Nations. Inflation can also dampen demand for
treasury bills, which soak up the biggest chunk of foreign portfolio
investments. Foreigners’ share of Egyptian T-bills went from 14.6
percent in July to around 23 percent in early November, according to
J.P. Morgan. Razgallah said he expected it to remain stable in coming
months as inflation accelerates further but may rise to around 30
percent once inflation stabilises and slows.
Encouraging signs
The yield on
Egyptian 182-day T-bills rose to 10.3 percent this month from around
9.5 percent in late October, an appealing return as developed nations
hold interest rates low in an attempt to kick-start their recession-hit
economies. “I think another 0.5-1.0 percent rise in yields is
possible,” said Monette Doss, senior analyst at Prime Securities in
Cairo. “This will result in stable exchange rates because I highly
believe that if it were not for the high yields the Egyptian pound
would have depreciated more.” Economists see the Egyptian pound – which
has been testing five-year lows above 5.8 against the dollar –
strengthening to around 5.7 in coming months and say that prospect
could bolster inflows into Egyptian bonds and equities. “The FX is
quite important. As long as it remains stable with a bias to
appreciation, that will encourage foreign investments,” said Razgallah
at J.P. Morgan.
Analysts are recommending stocks likely to benefit from a stepped-up
infrastructure drive and growing spending by Egypt’s expanding middle
class after the period of low interest rates spurred consumer lending.
HSBC has “buy” recommendations on Ezz Steel and Orascom Telecom. Among
buys for EFG-Hermes are drugmaker Eipico, Maridive, Credit Agricole
Egypt, National Societe Generale Bank El Sewedy Electric and Palm Hills
Development.
Zenith Bank becomes investors’ toast
Recent trading
activities at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) revealed that some
investors are currently showing more interest in Zenith Bank’s shares
as over 1.050 billion units of the stock have been traded in the last
one week.
Zenith Bank,
according to the NSE, was the most active stock in 2010 with 6.302
billion shares traded while it also ranked as the third most
capitalised stock with N471.3 billion after Dangote Cement and Nigerian
Breweries.
While some market
watchers say the motivation behind investors’ interest in the bank’s
stock may be connected to government’s intervention in the banking
industry, others say some investors may have information about the bank
that is not known to the public.
Dimeji Akintayo,
analyst at Resource Cap, a business advisory company, said it was
obvious that investors are positioning themselves in banks’ shares
generally because the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON)
is already buying toxic assets in the banking sector.
Mr. Akintayo,
however, said, “The funds been invested in Zenith Bank are actually
coming from portfolio managers who are the main profit takers in the
market.”
Emmanuel Ikazoboh,
interim administrator of the NSE, during a media briefing on Monday,
also said that investors’ pessimism that was widespread after two
consecutive years of losses has “gradually given way to cautious
optimism.”
“The various
confidence building measures initiated by the regulatory authorities
such as the introduction of AMCON, zero tolerance for market
infractions, and compliance with post listing requirements, have begin
to yield results,” Mr. Ikazoboh said.
Market rebounds
Meanwhile, at the
close of Wednesday’s trading, the NSE’s market capitalisation, which
recorded N44 billion gains on Tuesday, further gained over N121 billion
or 1.45 per cent increase to close at N8.471 trillion from N8.350
trillion.
The number of
gainers at the end of trading session on Wednesday closed higher at 47
stocks as against the 41 gainers recorded the previous session, while
losers also closed higher at 21 stocks when compared with the 18 losers
recorded on Tuesday.
The Banking
subsector maintained its lead as the most active with 492.883 million
units valued at N4.706 billion as against the 483.696 million units
valued at N4.981 billion recorded the previous trading day.
The volume recorded
in the subsector was driven by transaction in the shares of Zenith
Bank, Wema Bank, Diamond Bank, First Bank, and Intercontinental Bank.
The total volume of 308.34 million units valued at N3.62 billion traded
in the shares of the five stocks accounted for 52.58 per cent of the
entire market volume. Trading in Zenith Bank’s shares, yesterday, was
168.319 million units, worth N2.684 billion, and it accounted for 34.15
per cent of the banking subsector’s volume.
No plan to hike electricity tariffs
The
Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has said that it does
not plan to introduce higher electricity tariffs in the country.
Sam
Amadi, the Commission’s chairman, said in Abuja yesterday that the
reported impending hike in electricity tariffs under the multi-year
tariff order (MYTO) is untrue.
Mr. Amadi further assured consumers that no such action was being contemplated by the commission.
“No
decision has been taken yet by the government on new electricity tariff
in the country, contrary to speculative reports making the rounds in
some media in recent times. If there is any such plans, NERC, which is
the only agency mandated through the provisions of the Electric Power
Sector Reform (EPSR) Act 2005 to regulate the Nigeria Electricity
Supply Industry (NESI) and take decisions on tariffs, should know,” Mr.
Amadi said.
He
added that the EPSR Act 2005 mandates the Commission to, among other
responsibilities, set end-user electricity tariffs, utilising the
methodology of the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) to arrive at
cost-reflective tariffs for different categories of consumers.
The
MYTO scheme, which came into effect in 2008, was adopted to allow
fixing of electricity prices for up to five years in place of single
year tariff order previously in operation, which limited tariffs to be
set only for the in-coming year.
Under
the plan, provisions are made for limited tariff adjustments each year,
according to prevailing inflationary trend and changes in fuel costs,
with major reviews conducted at five year intervals to allow the
evolution of appropriate tariff template within a projected time frame
of 15-years.
At
present, government-approved electricity pricing per kilowatt hour
(KWH) averages between N4 and N6 for single-phase customers as well as
N6 and N8 for industrial users, while maximum demand users pay between
N8 and N12 per KWH.
Subsidy provisions
To
reduce the impact of regular tariff adjustments envisaged under MYTO on
consumers within the low income bracket, government resolved to make
annual provisions for subsidy to take care of the difference in the
tariff template.
In
the 2009 budget, about N40.31billion was appropriated for the scheme,
as against a provision of N65.78 billion last year, and an allocation
of N67 billion in the 2011 budget.
Though
the major review of tariffs under the MYTO scheme designed to help
reduce some of the risks associated with high electricity price for
consumers and investors in the industry was to have fallen due in 2013,
NERC recently brought the deadline forward from 2013 to 2011 in order
to incorporate other sources of electricity generation, considering
recent major policy decision in the section.
The
MYTO review involves a number of stages, including the ongoing data
collection from relevant agencies, valuation of existing industry
assets liabilities, and consultations.
“These critical regulatory processes are ongoing. NERC expects that
these processes will culminate in the publication of a new MYTO by the
beginning of second quarter of 2011. It is, therefore, presumptuous at
this time to suggest what the tariff will be,” Mr. Amadi said.
OIL POLITICS: A nation split by oil
As Sudanese vote
this week on staying as one nation or becoming two, my mind goes back
to when civil war broke out in Nigeria in 1967. I recall that when
Biafra was announced, I leapt in celebration at the novelty of suddenly
being a citizen of a new country under a new flag and with a bearded
man at the head of state. What my young mind could not fathom, and did
not question, were the reasons for the emergence of the new nation.
What were the announced reasons and what were the unspoken ones?
Before we could
settle to savour the change expected from the split, things took a
different turn. The war drums sounded, and bullets began to fly.
Streams of refugees flooded through our village and soon enough, we
were on the move. I still recall seeing starving kids, rotting corpses
by the roadside, and I can hear the screams of young ladies who were
captured and forcibly married by rampaging troops.
We see the great
mobilisations by the peoples of Southern Sudan for a split and when the
result of the referendum is announced, we can bet that the result is
like a dream long foretold.
There are many
reasons why the South should be eager to drift away. Indices of
development from the country are severely skewed against the region.
Reports have it that over 80 per cent of the inhabitants of Southern
Sudan have no sanitation facilities.
While almost 70 per
cent of the people living in Khartoum, River Nile, and Gezira states
have access to pipe borne water, the people in the south depend on
boreholes and rudimentary water wells. They and those in the Darfur
area depend largely on food aid for survival on account of the
dislocation of the agricultural sector by entrenched violent conflict.
Certainly, all will
agree that oil is a major factor in the political fortunes of Nigeria.
We may squabble and bicker under the cover of ethnic or regional
differences, but beneath the surface, the struggle is over who controls
the massive oil and gas resources and revenues of the land. The
struggle for power at the centre was set the moment a unitary system of
government was decreed in 1966 and has since coloured the sort of
federal system that the nation runs on.
Oil is a principal
factor in the current political situation in Sudan. Exploration
activities started in the 1960s by AGIP, the Italian oil company, which
found natural gas in the Red Sea. The American oil giant, Chevron,
followed suit but never revealed what they found, according to reports.
Like Nigeria, like Sudan
As time went on, a
number of Chinese and Asian companies jumped in and finally oil was
produced from the Muglad Oil Basin, Blocks 2 and 4. Sudan is divided
into 17 oil concession blocks with SUDAPET, the government owned
company, working in joint partnership with the various Asian and
European oil companies.
As aptly captured
by a Sudanese academic in a recent Oilwatch Africa meeting, “Sudanese
oil has been developed against the background of war, international
sanctions, and political isolation. It has been developed at a time of
imposing demand by emerging economies like India and China and a time
of unprecedented soaring prices of both food and oil and the
controversial use of agricultural crops as a source of bio-energy.”
Quite like Nigeria,
oil produces over 75 per cent of the foreign exchange earnings of
Sudan. Other production sectors have equally been almost completely
neglected. Before oil, over 50 per cent of Sudan’s revenues came from
the agriculture sector, contributed 95 per cent of the export earnings,
and employed a high percentage of the total labour force in the country.
With oil as a major
economic factor, and seeing that the bulk comes from the South,
developments nevertheless eluded the region. An example can be seen in
the first refinery which was sited about 70 Km north of Khartoum. Crude
export pipelines runs northward and amount to about 5326 km in length.
The reality is that
with the available infrastructure, the South cannot export its oil
except through the North. In addition, as the date of possible
separation drew nearer, new oil blocks that transverse northern and
southern areas were being allocated.
Oil companies
operating in Sudan are exempted from paying taxes. The contracts were
mostly negotiated when the price of an oil barrel of oil was less than
20 US dollars. Surely, the companies operating here could not hope for
a better space for reckless exploitation and incredibly high profit
margins. Added to this is the fact that the regulatory regime is
largely non-existent and even the conduct of environmental impact
assessments are selective.
With Sudan having
about five billion barrels of oil in reserves and currently exporting
billions of dollars worth of oil per year, it must be painful for
Khartoum to let the oil rich South go. About 80 per cent of Sudan’s oil
exports come from the southern states. Only 50 per cent of revenue
accruing from oil goes to the South, a factor that undoubtedly stokes
the embers of discontent in the area.
As the peoples of
Sudan vote for the emergence of a new Southern nation, dreams of the
desperately poor and those traumatised by war and cruelties will run
high. Children who never experienced peaceful environments will be
marvelling at great possibilities. Oil has certainly greased the
engines of exploitation, oppression and war in Sudan. It is oiling the
machines of separation today. What will it lubricate next?
These are questions we must mull over, but a bigger question is over
the implication of continued fragmentation for Africa as a whole. At a
time when the continent should be coming together and erasing the
arbitrary boundary lines drawn by colonialist adventurers, we continue
to fragment. Certainly, this cannot be the only way to overcome poor
and parasitic governance.
Agency urges Nigerians to embrace financial literacy
The Abuja Enterprise Agency (AEA) has advised Nigerians to embrace financial literacy as a means of reducing poverty.
Bashir Muse, a
training officer with the agency, on Tuesday, said that people need to
always have good reasons for spending their income.
He said the AEA
will embark on a rally to educate the public on financial literacy, its
benefits, and how to reduce poverty among the populace.
“Being financially literate is one sure way of empowering people and
making them financially independent. Our mission is to provide
excellent support for the Federal Capital Territory residents by
developing relevant programmes and activities for starting and
nurturing business,” he said.
FORENSIC FORCE: How the mighty are fallen…
No, today’s piece is not about who won
or lost various party primaries across Nigeria. That hurricane will not
settle anytime soon. Our focus today is on a different kind of breeze
blowing across Europe and leaving once mighty powers in the throes of
destitution. The aftermath has been a fundamental shift of power that
has reduced former empires and colonial masters to new economic
colonies.
Great Britain once ruled seventy
percent of the world’s oceans and dominated military, economic and
political power across the world. It colonised America and large parts
of Canada. It owned Australia, New Zealand and parts of China,
including Hong Kong. The entire continent of Africa was a playground
for British colonial masters and a source of slaves and commodities.
Today’s Zambia and Zimbabwe were essentially the property of one
Englishman – Cecil Rhodes who naturally named them for himself. The
entire Indian Subcontinent and South East Asia – Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Myanmar, Thailand and the Malay Archipelago were British dominions.
That was then. Today, Nigerians own
some of the most valuable and sought after properties in the UK. It is
difficult not to smile at the sight of Britons working as chauffeurs,
domestic assistants and chefs (drivers, house helps and cooks) for
Nigerian families in the UK. It is hard not to applaud Indian and
Chinese businesses buying British icons such as Jaguar Land Rover and
MG to save them from bankruptcy. Africa used to be the abode of debt,
but today, public sector debt today in the UK is over £800 billion.
Today, Arabs, Russians, Indians and
other nationals own some of the major teams in English football. A
decade ago, great sporting franchises like Manchester United,
Manchester City, Chelsea and others represented the best of British
sporting traditions. Of great import also in sports, is the way the
stars of English and international cricket are being auctioned in the
Indian Cricket League which is now the richest in the world.
The wind of change is not limited to
Britain alone. Spain was once a global leader and it fleet dominated
the seas and the known world. Spain colonised practically all of
Central and South America. The devastation wreaked by its
conquistador’s left permanent damage on the populations of its
colonies. Entire populations were wiped out through conscription to
work in the gold and silver mines of central and South America.
Hundreds of ships laden with gold, silver and other looted treasure
sailed to Spain, making it the richest country in the world at one
time. Today, Spain has an unemployment rate of about 20 percent and is
begging China to buy Spanish government bonds – to enable it raise
money.
Similarly, Portugal was a major naval
and merchandising country with colonies all over the world. It once
owned Brazil; a country that is several times its size. Today, a
Portuguese youth with ambition is better headed for Brazil where he has
better prospects than in Portugal itself. A great deal of choice
property in Portugal today belongs to foreigners (including former
colonial subjects from Brazil and Angola) who only use them for
holidays, while many Portuguese live in poverty. The same thing can be
said of Belgium’s king Leopold II who once owned the entire Congo –
several times the size of Belgium. The brutality of the king in
exploiting this vast country is unsurpassed. Today, in addition to
economic problems, Belgium itself is divided along ethnic lines with
the Flemish and Walloons seemingly unable to live together. Tribalism
is not an African invention.
In addition to Britain, Spain, Portugal
and Belgium, other former colonial and economic powers like France,
Italy and Netherlands are being supplanted by the economic miracles of
China and India. Poverty and economic failure are no longer synonymous
with Africa and Latin America. Today, there are many workers in Europe
who do not earn what their Nigerian counterparts earn. The streets of
Africa are no more dominated by British and French automobiles but by
Toyotas, Nissans and increasingly, TATAs and Geelys. Global finance is
shifting from London to Shanghai, Dubai and Mumbai. It is comical,
watching government and business leaders of Europe kowtowing to minor
visiting officials from China.
As we move ahead towards general
elections, we must reflect on the fact that had we voted right and
protected our votes over time, it would not have been inconceivable
that representatives of Her Majesty, the Queen’s government would be
combing Lagos and Abuja, trying to convince Nigerian businesses and
government to invest in British government bonds and to reschedule
British debts to Nigeria….
EXCUSE ME: Bringing the books
This was meant to
be my 2011 inaugural piece, but urgent presidential matters took
precedence last week. I must apologize. But wait before I go on to the
gist of today, I must confess that I am in a state of confusion. And it
is my friend that has thrown me into this conundrum, which if I am not
careful can lead this column to calumny.
You all know I love
writing about Dr. Jonathan Ebele Goodluck, but now I don’t know how to
reference him in the next four months. I can’t really call him
presidential aspirant, he is already my president. And if I keep
calling him Mr. President, other candidates would say it is unfair
because I am creating an unequal playing field. And why is it that it
is only Goodluck that throws me this rope?
Last year when I
called him Acting President, Yar’Adua’s boys kept referring to him as
Vice President until God came to his rescue. By the way, where are
those cabal guys? Those that thought they had the knife and the yam and
could just wake up and call a gentle man vice president when he was
already declared acting president? Anyway, soja go soja come.
Actually one of my
New Year resolutions is to be very apolitical this year. Since I am
politically challenged and I can never catch up with what our
politicians are up to. Just as you think you have a grasp of what is
happening in Abuja, things get muddled up if not blown up and you can’t
even tell when the earth under your feet was shifted.
The rate at which
some of the old senators failed in their primaries reminds one of
recent WAEC and JAMB results. What they did not know was that failure
can be infectious; when they did not do anything to make sure that our
secondary school students pass their exams, they should not expect to
pass their primaries too. There is a saying in my village, ‘who say I
nor go pass my secondary, im too nor go pass im primary’. That is a
warning to in-coming politicians, who managed to pass the very
expensive and difficult primaries.
Ok, I need to
actually respect and stick to my new resolution to stay out of
politics. Let’s move to other more important things in Nigeria. Before
I left for my village for Christmas, the current administration
launched what it called Bring Back The Book. I was very excited about
the whole programme, and with exuberance I decided to do everything
within my power to help make it a success. So when I got to the
village, where most of my primary, secondary and university books are
kept, I went to work.
I opened all the
old boxes that contained my books and started dusting them. It was a
pleasure to reconnect with my books again and each one of them held
special memories for me: my Queen Primer, Brighter Grammar all the way
to Lexis and Structure. I reconnected with authors like SMO Aka, Olu
Tomori, Senanu and Vincent. The books written by Stone and Cozen were
as new as the day my father bought them at Uromi because I never liked
those guys.
I moved on to the
ones that made me sniff a little bit in my class one, like Eze Goes To
School, Chike and the River, An African Night Entertainment, The
Passport of Mallam Ilia and The Drummer Boy. I set those aside and
leafed through more advanced ones like Mission to Kala, Poor Christ of
Bomba, Burning Grass, Zambia Shall Be Free, Jagua Nana, Arrow of God,
No Longer at Ease, A Man of the People and got to the almighty iroko of
them all, Things Fall Apart in its orange glory and the beautiful
illustrations I used to copy in my drawing book.
I moved on to Weep
Not Child, The River Between and remembered how The Beautiful Ones are
Not Yet Born portrayed the politicians of the 60s and started wracking
my brain to see if African politicians have changed in our day and age.
When things started getting heavy, I moved to light weights like
Veronica My Daughter, Evbu My Love and these also brought too much
misty memories.
I opened another
box and it was filled with James Hadley Chase and Robert Ludlum, I
closed that because those are not the books the president wants to
bring back for now. After going through all the boxes and realizing how
much reading I did in the village, I began to wonder where things
started falling apart. I shook my head and said truly, the president
must bring back the books and I must help him.
So I loaded all the boxes of books into my boot and zoomed off
happily to Lagos. My intention was to donate them to primary schools
and secondary schools around Lagos (where else will I get press
coverage for such political mileage), only to be told that schools have
been closed because of politicians. What does one have to do in this
country to help? Sigh. My people I brought back the books o, but where
do I take them, I have no storage o!
The rise of political dynasties
Nigerian politicians are ‘coming of
age’ as evidenced by the results of the primaries for legislative
chambers at state and federal level. Across all the parties,
politicians are toeing the line of passing the torch to their family
members, very much as you would pass on an inheritance.
In Lagos, the strong man of South West
politics, Ahmed Tinubu is not content with influencing the outcome of
who becomes a governor in what state; he believes members of his family
should also hold political office. So his wife, Oluremi, is now the
Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate for the Lagos Central
Senatorial district. Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, his daughter has won the ACN
ticket to run for the House of Reps seat in Agege, while the former
governor’s son in-law is also a contender for a House of Assembly seat
also under the platform of the party.
Mr. Tinubu is not the only ACN
chieftain who wants plum political positions for his family. Former
governor of Ogun State, Olusegun Osoba who is now the leader of the ACN
in the state endorsed his son, Olumide Osoba’s ambition for a state
assembly seat. Mr. Osoba Jnr has now been imposed as consensus
candidate to the detriment of the ambition of Lekan Abiola, son of the
late politician and business mogul, Moshood Abiola. Mr. Abiola’s
supporters are very unhappy with this outcome.
In Oyo State, Dapo Adesina, son of ACN
leader in Oyo State and former governor, Lam Adesina is the party’s
candidate for a State House of Assembly seat. Also, a son of the ACN
national spokesman, Lai Mohammed has won the party’s ticket for a state
assembly seat.
Ruling party politicians are not left
out of the scramble to ensure their families continue to reap the
benefit of being in public office, long after they may have ‘retired’.
So in Ogun, former president Olusegun Obasanjo has thrown his weight
firmly behind his daughter Iyabo Obasanjo for a return to the senate
seat under the flag of the People’s Democratic Candidate ( PDP).
However, another woman who also has strong political antecedents has
put a dampener on the party. Lola Abiola-Edewor, sibling to Lekan
Abiola, is desirous of becoming a Senator of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria. The result of this has been two conventions run by two
factions. One endorsed Obasanjo, the other Abiola- Edewor.
Kamorudeen Adedibu, son of late strong
man of Oyo politics, Lamidi Adedibu, has won the PDP senatorial ticket
in Oyo. His performance, though, has not reached the pinnacle of
success for the Adedibu family. When the patriarch of the family was
alive, both Kamorudeen and an Adedibu son-in -law and an aide became
senators.
In Katsina, the daughter of late
President Yar’Adua, Mariam, has replaced her husband, Badamasi Kabir,
who is reported ill, as the PDP House of Reps member for Katsina
Federal constituency.
There is also of course the much
reported saga that is unfolding among the Saraki family of Kwara, where
a sister is gunning to succeed her brother as governor of the state.
Although her sibling has refused to support her ambition, her father is
more than willing and has abandoned the ruling party to pitch his tent
with the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), in the hope it will
provide the winning platform for his daughter.
Every Nigerian, of course, has a right
to aspire to any office; our concern at NEXT however is the sort of
influence those who want to turn political office into family dynasty
can exercise on the political process. The imposition of Osoba Jnr for
example contravenes all principles of fairness and is not good for our
nascent democracy. Neither, frankly, do the shenanigans and goings on
in the Ogun PDP. It cannot be right that our political process is
compromised or circumvented to keep certain families in power.
It is hoped that Nigerians will begin
to pay attention to these sorts of issues and, if necessary, show their
displeasure and opposition by firmly rejecting these sorts of
candidates at the polls.
</
Fashola and the elitist argument
Recently, the Lagos State Government was accused of being an
elitist government that is insensitive to the needs of the masses. It has
become imperative for the government to set the records straight.
As a government that is passionate about the people, the state
government’s empowerment and poverty alleviation programme has provided
opportunities for all classes of people to learn various vocations, after which
they are provided with needed capital to start off on their own. Through these
initiatives, over 55,000 Lagosians have been trained across the 20 Local
Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas.
In the area of education, the state government has transformed
public education in the state through its systematic school rehabilitation
programme. Aside its rehabilitation exercise, it has equipped public schools
with necessary facilities. This is in addition to the continuous payment of
NECO fees of SSS3 students, provision of toilets in 339 schools, fencing of
over 91 schools, completion of 6 multi-lingual laboratories -one each in the
six Education Districts, rehabilitation of the 5 Government Technical Colleges,
upgrading of 30 model schools, provision of completely new laboratories for 105
schools, provision of brand new furniture for students and teachers in over 88
public schools, acquisition of a new 2-colour printing machine for the
Education Resource Centre, to mention just a few of the numerous efforts of the
state government in public education
With regard to job creation, the Fashola Administration, in
2009, created about 156,779 jobs across various sectors in the state. A
breakdown shows 6,114 people being employed directly into the medical and
education sectors at the lower levels in the public sector, 52, 685 jobs
outside the public sector, in such areas as micro credit finance, business
support and field training. Over 98, 000 others are involved in various
construction sites as sub contractors, employees of major contractors, in such
projects as school construction and rehabilitation, drainage clearance and
construction, construction of roads and bridges, hospitals and city cleaning.
A total number of 2,500 graduate teachers were also offered
appointments into the State Public Service. This is in addition to the over 3,
000 NCE graduates that had previously been absorbed.
Road Construction and rehabilitation is another area where the
state government has touched the lives of Lagosians from all walks of life. All
the on-going and completed road projects met the highest specification
including provision of streetlights, pedestrian walkways, service duck drainage
channels, grassing and beautification of the median.
To make the rural areas attractive for reversing rural-urban
drift, the state government embarked on the construction of access roads to
link up these villages
One other vital area where the government has transformed rural
Lagos is in terms of rural electrification. Presently, it has completed a total
number of 165 rural electrification projects under its rural intervention
scheme. In terms of rural water supply, the state government has provided over
116 communities across the state with potable water. Out of these, 65 were
provided with small scale water schemes of various options.
Just recently Fashola commissioned the N45 million Isawo micro
water works, which has the capacity to produce 60,000 gallons of water daily,
in the Ikorodu axis of the state.
Only God knows how many children of the elites were involved in
all these exercises!
Space will not permit me to talk about the efforts of the state
government in improving the health sector, ensuring public security, enhancing
internal revenue generation, transforming the environment, boosting grassroots
sports development, developing modern markets among others. All these efforts
have been to the advantage of Lagosians across all divides. It is no longer
secret that the state government has raised the bar of governance in the
country and from every indication its best is yet to come.
Every democratically elected government is accountable to the
people, to whom it owes its existence. This is why it has become traditional
for the Fashola administration to render periodic accounts of its stewardship
to the people every 100 days. It has consistently thrown its doors open to
divergent opinions and views from various sources, the opposition inclusive.
Here, the administration has convened stakeholder meetings on various issues
ranging from the Coroners Law, to the Inland Waterways Law, to the GIS project.
In addition, the state legislature is organizing public hearings and Town Hall
meetings. In fact, the telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of public
functionaries have become public property in order to make them more accessible
to members of the public.
In as much as it does not expect everyone to applaud its developmental
efforts, it is, however, desirable that criticisms are constructive and issue
based. This is the only way to build a viable democratic culture. This is the
only way forward!
Ogunbiyi works at the
Ministry of Information & Strategy, Ikeja.
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