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Last September, the
world gathered again in New York for the UN Special Review Summit on
the Millennium Development Goals (also known as the MDGs+10 Summit).
The event was a significant milestone in the global quest to halve
poverty and inequality by the year 2015. Two-thirds of the way down the
line, the world had to pause for a breath, as it were, to reflect on
what had been done so far and what more needed to be done.

As usual, the
Nigerian government and civil society were strongly represented, with
our officials reporting that the country is on track to achieve most of
the goals. On MDGs 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 relating to universal primary
education, gender and women’s empowerment, reducing child mortality,
combating HIV/AIDS and other diseases, and global partnership for
development, the lights show green and amber, says Nigeria’s 2010 MDGs
Report. The report, however, admits an emphatic red light for goals 1,
5 and 7 on extreme poverty and hunger, maternal health and
environmental sustainability.

To be fair, there
has been good progress on some of the goals. There has been an amazing
effort by the MDGs Office at the Presidency to channel debt relief
gains into poverty-reducing projects across the country. Despite
teething challenges, the Conditional Grants Scheme (CGS) which makes
funds available to states and local governments for use on locally
identified pro-poor priorities has been hugely successful in delivering
social infrastructure, strengthening the partnership between the three
tiers of government and improving public expenditure practices in some
ways.

But achieving the
MDGs for Nigeria does not begin and end with the MDGs Office or the
micro-level interventions it coordinates. What about the macro-economy?
In the past few years, we have seen growth in Gross domestic product
(GDP), but this has not been accompanied by any significant development
outcomes for the majority of Nigerians. Jobs are critical to poverty
reduction but they cannot be created in an economy that lacks the
critical infrastructure to support business. The commitment to building
Nigeria’s road network and overhauling the power sector, for instance,
must move beyond rhetoric to concrete action, if the private sector is
to gain the confidence it needs to play well in the economy.

Over 70 per cent of
Nigeria’s population, its poorest, may remain poor for a long time to
come because they continue to depend on the natural environment for
their survival. Unfortunately, while climate change continues to wreak
havoc on their livelihoods, governments at state and local levels
remain oblivious to the challenge, with little or no effort to
implement actions to promote adaptation at that level.

And then the
question of international partnerships for development keeps nagging.
Granted, the 2005 debt relief has led to the freeing up of at least $1
billion a year for pro-poor, MDGs-related spending. Yet those gains are
threatened by international protection for stolen assets which
continues to block progress in the fight against corruption in-country.
Besides, aid in-flows at under $10 per capita still fall far short of
donor promises, while the quality of that aid and the actual percentage
of it that touches the ground remain dubious. Civil society
partnerships, long proven to facilitate development efficiency, are
widely being undermined by aid agencies.

Even as
agricultural productivity in the country has increased, the vast
majority of Nigeria’s over 60 million peasant farmers are still locked
in a vicious cycle of poverty. This is mainly due to the skewed
international trade system which denies their products access to
markets while condoning massive dumping and subsidies for farmers in
the USA and Europe. Nigeria’s government and its international friends
need to realise that without a genuine international partnership for
development, the MDGs will turn out to be another celebrated waste of
time.

Lack of social
data, especially at sub-national levels, is still a huge obstacle to
monitoring progress. Similarly, coordination between targeted MDGs
projects and wider development efforts in the context of Vision 20:2020
seems to be lacking. Policy reversals and inertia usually associated
with change in political leadership in Nigeria also pose a serious risk
to the sustainability of MDGs projects.

But nothing appears
to be standing in the way of the MDGs like money. The MDGs Office is
currently implementing its projects in arrears, due to budget gaps. In
2010, over N65 billion was appropriated for the office but only N38
billion was released. Due to this shortfall, many of the 2008/09 quick
win projects and the CGS and monitoring and evaluation activities for
last year have been rolled over 2011. A review of Nigeria’s funding
gaps for the MDGs conducted in 2009 put the cost of meeting the MDGs
between 2010 and 2015 at $171 billion, or between US$19 billion and $27
billion annually.

At the current rate
of progress, and in the context of time constraints and limited
financial and human resources, Nigeria is very unlikely to achieve many
of the goals.

So beyond practical
action on the goals and targets, government must also be willing to
make an important strategic choice. It is critical at this point to
decide whether we still want to achieve all the goals in four and a
half years or we want to double up efforts to reach a few of the goals
that we consider most critical for the country’s long-term development.

Mr Bolton is an associate director of DevPro Group, a development consulting and policy advisory firm, based in Abuja.

Something positive
is stirring in India. Over the past few weeks, a number of senior
government officials have been frog-marched through the country’s
courts to answer to charges of fraud and corrupt self-enrichment.

Last Tuesday, an
India court remanded Suresh Kalmadi, the former chief organiser of the
Delhi Commonwealth Games, for eight days. Mr Kalmadi, a senior lawmaker
who has been suspended from the Congress party, is charged with
cheating in tenders for timing equipment worth millions of dollars in
the sporting event which held last October.

The $6 billion
Commonwealth Games were originally billed as India’s answer to the
highly successful 2008 Beijing Olympics. It, however, almost never
held, as preparations descended into acrimony over leaking stadiums,
dirty and unsafe athletes’ rooms and gross corruption. As Mr Kalmadi
headed to the courtroom, an enraged Indian threw a sandal at the
accused – an insult in the Middle East which has spread across the
world.

Mr Kalmadi is not
the most senior politician to be facing trial. Andimuthu Raja, a former
telecoms minister sacked because of his manipulation of the sale of
telecoms licenses and spectrum in which India lost close to $39 billion
in revenue, is also facing trial. Mr Raja is being arraigned alongside
executives from telecoms firms and the daughter of the chief minister
of Tamil Nadu state. She was accused of taking bribes routed via a TV
channel owned by her family.

Indians are,
naturally, excited by this crackdown on corrupt businessmen and
government officials. It is not every day that senior politicians in
the country are hauled before judges and these ongoing trials are being
held amidst stiff opposition by other political grandees, some of whom
have threatened to bring the government down. It is thus a credit to
the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, and the leadership of the Congress
party that this trial is permitted to take place. Perceived impunity by
the political leadership has dented the image of the country and is
seen as one reason why it lags behind China in the receipt of foreign
investment.

This holds major
lessons for our country. In many ways, the Nigerian society is as
corrupt as India’s, if not more. The thieving elites in government and
business also routinely evade punishment, or escape with a slap on
their well-connected wrists. It would be a good departure from the
usual if the incoming government of Goodluck Jonathan would make a
concerted effort to break the myth of invincibility surrounding corrupt
senior government and political officials.

We would like to
suggest that President Jonathan pay his first official visit to India
to consult with Prime Minister Singh on how he is dealing with the
pressure by his political allies who are opposed to seeing their
colleagues publicly sanctioned. The Indian leader might then also be
persuaded to throw in some advice on how the country is tackling its
infrastructure challenges – including the ongoing registration of
Indians that will result in the provision of cutting edge identity
cards to the over one billion of them.

In other words, Mr
Jonathan should fight corruption with the same single-minded zeal with
which he had prosecuted his electoral reform agenda. One of the bogeys
associated with the ruling People’s Democratic Party, which made a
number of voters turn their backs on the party, is the perception that
its ranks are filled with unreconstructed looters of public treasury.
Mr Jonathan could start his reform of his party by letting his
supporters know that it will no longer be business as usual. He should
also strengthen the EFCC – possibly with new leadership if that is what
it takes – for optimal performance. If INEC could become a qualified
success, then the EFCC should also become one as well.

Mr Jonathan’s election represents a new opportunity for Nigeria. One
way he can effect the positive change he often spoke about for his
nation during his pre-election campaigns, is by tackling heads-on, the
hydra-headed monster of corruption. NEXT has done several
groundbreaking stories to expose skulduggery in high places. The most
recent, published on April 15, 2011, concerned Diezani Allison-Madueke,
the petroleum minister’s involvement in a N2.2 billion bribe scandal.
That case could be a good place for the president to start.

One of the several strategies adopted by companies to entrench
their brands in the minds of consumers is free trial.

This is a key marketing effort intended to engage consumers and
deepen their experience of the brand. It also helps the brand make appropriate
adjustments in order to enhance consumer satisfaction. Free trial aids direct
connection with the target audience.

The brand connects to consumers through several touch points and
free trial is a major one. It is indeed a veritable avenue to build consumer
loyalty and followership.

This strategy is aimed at selling the values and benefits of the
brand to the consumers, and empowers them to differentiate between brands they
can trust and the ones they should not.

Consumer experience has a great impact on brand equity, as it
helps them experience the perceived quality, thereby encouraging loyalty. This
can be achieved through free trial, which fosters interaction between consumers
and the brand.

Free trial also ensures a renewed focus on the consumers, as it
empowers them to feel the brand to determine whether it aligns with their
aspirations. DStv mobile was an innovation and value added mobile television
entertainment for subscribers and when unveiled in the Nigerian market, the
company announced free trials which lasted for over a year for subscribers.

The ultimate goal was to enable the subscribers experience the
unique service of mobile entertainment on the go and also promote brand
acceptability. The approach yielded the desired results.

The free trial strategy also helps to measure consumer
experience, as it increases the word of mouth effect. There is every likelihood
of satisfied consumers recommending the service to others.

It is important to inquire from them how their experiences have
been in order to offer them premium services. The feedback mechanism put in
place revealed exciting experiences for subscribers, as the DStv mobile service
gave subscribers memorable moments, especially during the World Cup.

When a brand aligns with the lifestyle of consumers, they are
poised to tap into the enormous benefits of value and entertainment.

DStv mobile has a deliberate strategy to stimulate consumer
experience through exciting service delivery and the free trial was a vantage
platform to achieve this. Indeed, there had never been mobile TV entertainment
in Nigeria before the DStv mobile free trial which was relevant and meaningful
for the consumers.

The benefits of free trial are enormous, as it generates a
relationship building direct marketing programme. It definitely expands the
frontiers of bonding touch points that have been created with the consumers.

The governorship
election has provided yet more proof of the seismic shift in Nigerian
politics that has taken place over the past few weeks.

In many parts of
our country, it was a tale of hitherto strong-men of local politics
being humbled right on home turf. While the surprising defeat of a
politician in and of itself is nothing to be cheerful about – and in
many cases, there is hardly an ideological difference between victors
and vanquished – it is remarkable as a demonstration of people-power
when the people who appear to have held our hard-won democracy hostage,
are sent a strong message.

Across the country
for the past two days, that has been the case. As one newspaper put it,
for the first time in Kwara State, it appears that Olusola Saraki,
variously referred to as the godfather of the state’s politics, was not
responsible by influence or activity for the ‘installation’ of a
governor-elect. In Anambra State, the assumed favourite, Dora Akunyili,
after a run-off, missed the mark by a few hundred votes – to the
surprise of many. In Delta State, Great Ogboru almost reached to snatch
the mandate from the sitting governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan; and in the
south west, many strongmen came tumbling down, including the scion of
the late Lamidi Adedibu’s ‘amala politics’ heritage – Adebayo
Alao-Akala, governor of Oyo State.

Indeed, the south
west, following the trend of the National Assembly elections,
effectively went back to the hands of the opposition – the result of
almost four years of strategy and grassroots mobilization; and a
combination of street smartness and aggressive politicking.

In Imo State, it
is a titanic battle between the incumbent, Ikedi Ohakim and perennial
candidate, Rochas Okorocha – a mishmash of accusations, cancellations
and rumours. No one knows exactly who the leading candidate is. The
electoral commission sounds and looks as confused as impatient
onlookers, but one thing is clear: Mr. Ohakim – whose image has taken a
beating following a string of media stories about strong-arm tactics on
his part – is in the fight of his life to retain his seat, and to save
face.

This is a state of
affairs that should be pleasing to Nigerians – and by this we do refer,
not to the fate of individual candidates, but to the atmosphere and
appearance of robust democracy that it suggests. Clearly, politicians
now have to go to the people for power. It used to be that when two
elephants fight, the grass underneath suffers – but it begins to appear
that where democracy is alive and well, when the elephants fight, the
people have the last laugh.

There are of
course, a lot of factors involved in this – a vibrant, even militant,
opposition; a media that has admirably taken its place as an unbiased
umpire; an Independent National Electoral Commission that is determined
to see through its promise of credible, if not completely fair,
elections; a Presidency that continues to impress with its complete
refusal to interfere with electoral processes and a country that is,
finally, ready for some real change in the way it is governed.

Twelve years ago,
the headliners of Nigeria’s ruling party, the People’s Democratic
Party, would wave away any imperfections – natural or man-made – in the
system with a casual “this is a nascent democracy”. With the benefit of
hindsight, they were right. Our democracy has had its teething
problems, and it has struggled and stumbled along the way, but it has
continued to grow.

That, fortunately
for Nigerians, was where the ruling class missed it. Yes, once it was
nascent, but now it has grown. If Nigerians keep up this tempo, the
balance of power will really change hands. In another four short years.

Look, officer, I
was going to stay out of this, but after watching CNN and seeing the
kind of pekelemes preparations for Prince William’s wedding, I can’t
stay out of this matter anymore. From all indications, it seems you
British people think a royal wedding should be like that of a Nigeria
Railway junior staff’s marriage. Therefore, I am applying for visas for
the best wedding planners in Lagos. I am sure you have been around long
enough in Nigeria to see how weddings are conducted here. We want your
people to have a taste of that.

We will bring Lagos
high life to London and shake whatever cold off your bodies, and throw
summer colours into your sombre hued London Fog coats. All of these
people applying for visas today are owanbe specialists. It’s a pity you
are going to be in Lagos while we are leaving a taste of a lifetime in
your palace dwellers’ palates.

Here are the applicants, please:

Mama Tunde – she is
locally known as the aso-ebi queen. Let’s assume you sneeze right now,
instead of her to say “bless you” and offer you a hankie, right under
your nose she would sew and sell aso-ebi (uniform) for the entire
embassy staff, gate men, security guards and other visa applicants just
to tell you “e pele o, e pele o”. Mama Tunde knows every textile mill
in Sub-Saharan Africa and by the time she is done donning ankara,
damask, tie and dye, etc on white wedding attendants, you would think
you were in a Yinka Shonibare art opening at the Smithsonian, instead
of a royal wedding.

Aunty Titilayo –
she is our souvenir baroness. If you want to know the meaning of
‘branding’, check her out first. She will brand everything under the
sun for William’s wedding. Name it: from Raleigh bicycles to Mini
Coopers, office chairs, jacuzzis, shower curtains and pure water. If
you need branded babies (just in case the likes of Madonna would be
attending the wedding), let Aunty Titilayo know. And she would have no
qualms distributing these items during the reception, no matter the
crowd.

Iya Buki – she is
also known as Mama Silk. She has no problem covering the entire
Trafalgar Square with yards and yards of silk. If you need her to lay a
red carpet on the road from Heathrow Airport to Buckingham Palace, that
would simply be like asking her for a throw pillow on your living room
couch. She can also give the London Bridge the ‘Breadfruit Effect’,
which is what she does with balloons at events.

Ronke – she is the
Change Agent. People need to ‘spray’ the newlyweds with money during
their first dance and that is where she comes in. Forget the fact that
the Royal Family is wealthy; you British should learn to show off a
little bit. Ronke’s job is to break your large notes to manageable
smaller crisp pounds sterling notes. If you need to break a hundred to
fives, her charge is two percent – you need to be quick on mental
arithmetic or Ronke will show you that Balogun Street is smarter than
Broad Street.

Mama Ngozi –
Emotion Generator. What does she do? Ah, she is very important; she
whips up emotions during wedding speeches. Something like, “I wish
Sister Diana was alive to see this William her son on this beautiful
day…boohoohoo.” And before you know it, everybody is crying and
donating their houses and cars to William and Kate without thinking
twice.

Uncle Bankole – The
Wine Merchant. You people’s plan is to serve wine in glasses and
calculate how much each glass costs? That is not how we do it in Lagos,
please. Leave this matter to Uncle Bankole, who will give each and
every one of the invited guests as many bottles of the most expensive
wine on earth as they can drink. Beer, champagne, brandy and other
kinds or drinks will be distributed in cartons by his boys. As we used
to say in Ekpoma, don’t count the people on a table, count the bottles.

Iya Bose – Chef
Extraordinaire. This woman here can cook jollof rice and fried meat
that will send an aroma from the British Isles to the Isle of Pigs. For
the vegetarians among you, she has Lagos Special Salad. I must warn you
that our salads are full meals, not appetizers, please. As for the
wedding cake, she has already designed one of Buckingham Palace, with
William and Kate sitting on the roof.

Meet Pastor
Adeboye. He will pray for the royal family and cast out all those
generational curses that may have plagued the royal family since they
looted arts and artefacts from Benin Kingdom.

Pastor Kumuyi will
pray for the Middletons and abate their fears in case they are nervous
about their daughter’s future. You know our people say inhabitants fear
ordinary lizards in a house where snakes bite.

Pastor Chris will pray for the newlyweds. His acquired accent is the only one the youngsters can understand.

Did you ask who will pay for all this? The federal government of
Nigeria, of course. We all delivered our wards and constituencies
during the presidential election.

If there is
anything the repressive Arab regimes of the middle east and north
Africa and the traditional institutions in parts of northern Nigeria
share, it is the deliberate misinterpretation of Islam to hold on to
power while abusing human rights and dignity. There is often a
convenient convergence of culture and the clergy to perpetuate this
fraud on the people. In Saudi Arabia, less than 1,000 princes and
members of the royal family control a country that earns about $1
billion every day when oil prices climb above 100 dollars a barrel.

Similarly, in parts
of northern Nigeria, members of royal houses and those ‘honoured’ with
traditional titles dominate choice positions in government and
elsewhere. Few people know that during the 1979 primaries of the
National Party of Nigeria (NPN), blue-blooded Shehu Shagari was the
preferred choice of the northern elite over ‘commoner’ Maitama Sule.
One of the first politicians to challenge the power of the northern
traditional establishment was the late Aminu Kano who ran for president
under the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP). Kano. Just like the CPC’s
Muhammadu Buhari, Mr Kano never got the backing of that powerful group.

History teaches
that injustice and oppression do not last forever. That is why after
decades of misrule, a new generation has finally mustered the courage
to say ‘enough is enough’. First, it was Tunisia, then Egypt. Yemen is
burning. Syria is on edge. Morocco, Jordan, Algeria and Saudi Arabia
are trembling. The United States conveniently overlooked the crushing
of the pro-democracy movement in Bahrain, while the West has hijacked a
popular movement in Libya with a dubious military intervention.
Whatever form it may take, one thing is clear – democracy is in the
air. In a way, the Arab awakening is also blowing across the north.
True, we have many people who have risen above the system to educate
themselves and confront the challenges of today’s world head on. For
these, education has been the key. Conversely, for a majority of
northerners, illiteracy is all-pervading. It is a sad reflection on the
quality of leadership that even when ‘commoners’ make it to positions
of power and authority, they are quickly absorbed into the elite class
and given traditional titles. In gratitude, these new ‘royalty’ forget
their roots and serve the interests of the traditional establishment.

But like our Arab
contemporaries, a new generation of people in the north is beginning to
realise that a distorted version of Islam has been used to enslave them
for too long; there is nothing Islamic about poverty and illiteracy.
The only leader they could trust is General Buhari in whom they saw a
beacon of hope – that explains their support for the incorruptible
general. He represented a change from leaders that only exploit and
impoverish them; Buhari’s loss resulted in massive voter apathy in the
north and the virtual collapse of the opposition in the governorship
elections, to PDP’s joy. People say: “Why bother voting when nothing
will change?”

When the results of
the presidential elections (under-aged voting and 99.96 percent and
all) came out, the north’s long oppressed and downtrodden saw their
hope of emancipation dashed, triggering the senseless slaughter of
innocent people. Unfortunately, there are no military (or violent)
solutions to political problems. This may explain why the peaceful
change in Tunisia and Egypt succeeded while Libya’s armed rebellion is
festering. If those who engaged in this dastardly act read newspapers,
I would have asked: did the ordinary citizen eking out a livelihood and
minding his business inflate the figures? No religion condones the
killings and the subsequent reprisals. The violence serves no purpose;
it is condemnable and completely uncalled for. It is totally
indefensible and can only be explained, but certainly not justified, as
the result of mindless, directionless mob action. Even Buhari’s
motorcade unknowingly drove into the mayhem and was equally attacked.

Ultimately, for the northern traditional establishment and political
elite, the chickens have come home to roost. Who would have imagined
northern masses approaching the palaces of emirs not to pay homage, but
with intent to loot and burn? Or reports that the Sultan was pelted
with sachets of ‘pure water’? True, a revolt against an anachronistic
feudal system is needed, but that does not excuse killing innocent
people. For genuine change agents seeking to kick out a corrupt and
visionless ruling class, (another plentiful national resource), our
support and edification is needed, not the usual ‘almajiri’ or
‘bloodthirsty’ northerner taunts. The road to liberty is paved with
adversity, but with understanding, the Nigeria of our dreams may yet
emerge.