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Memories are made of this

07/11/2010 No comments

Memories are made of this

At the Expo Hall of Eko Hotel and Suites on Sunday, November 7, history will be made when the two most enduring legends of Juju music play a joint concert backed by one band. There are many firsts to be achieved by the concert, a memorable ‘One Night Stand’ featuring Ebenezer Obey and Sunny Ade, a show that is not likely to be repeated.

It will be the first time Obey will be seen by a secular audience since becoming a man of the cloth nearly 20 years ago. He was the philosopher-king who gave us the timeless wisdom of ‘Man and Horse’, a song about man’s never-ending existential dilemma, a Myth of Sisyphus for Nigerian lives. Then he became an evangelist, and his legion of fans have thirsted for more ever since. It is a testament to the undying legacy already laid down by Obey during his productive years, that his listening public has remained devoted. The love of his music has not waned but increased and garnered fans among the younger generations over his long years of absence.

In the case of Sunny, popularly known as KSA, the great achievement of this maestro has been the commendable feat of staying at the very top of Juju music, since the heyday of the genre in the 70s. Through perennial classics like ‘Synchro System’, ‘Ariya Special’ and ‘E Kilo F’Omo ‘De’, Sunny has captured the mood of the times for millions. Like his followers, he has had ups and downs and weathered the storms to retain his unerring magic touch. Worldwide, there is hardly any other music star that has stayed solidly in reckoning so constantly, for so long.

This weekend’s gig will also be the first time that King Sunny Ade and the erstwhile Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey will play together, by most people’s recollection. At the height of the popularity of Juju music, the two were said to be rivals. The genre is replete with albums that fanned the flames of the speculation about the legendary rivalry of the bandleaders, especially Obey and Sunny. Even their fans were said to be at loggerheads.

Obey and Sunny have always downplayed the supposed rivalry, saying they were in fact like brothers. And with the Eko Hotel concert, they will lay to rest the final embers of the imagined rivalry, with a band under the direction of the respected producer, Laolu Akins.

It is indeed the stuff dreams are made of. It is hoped that this historic concert will not just float into the air once it is concluded, to be grasped at only in memory. It should not be lost on the organisers, the fact that this concert should be captured for posterity.

‘One Night Stand’ with Obey and Sunny should be captured in a masterful audio-visual recording, for sale as CDs and DVDs to the teeming fans, many of whom will not have the privilege of attending the concert. It is fitting and right, given the importance of Obey and Sunny’s imminent performance together. Such recordings would also be immensely lucrative for all involved.

Thanks to Obey and Sunny, Juju music has survived the onslaught of other genres like Fuji and Hip-Hop to remain relevant in a changing world. The two leading exponents of the genre have, in their different ways, typified the very essence of their craft.

A new book on an international touring exhibition, ‘African Lace’, says of Juju music: “The Yoruba ariya in the post-colonial aftermath is at once a revue and performance of sociability and kinship.”

As Obey and Sunny put on a show of sociability and kinship for us once more, we say: Thanks for the memories.

Subsequent to going to press, NEXT was informed that the concert has been postponed.

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FORENSIC FORCE: From speech writing to policy-making

07/11/2010 No comments

FORENSIC FORCE: From speech writing to policy-making

I had just turned 22, freshly out of NYSC, and a few months into my first job. It was at a federal government ministry and I was deployed to the minister’s office. By the curious civil service mechanism of passing all tasks to subordinate officers, I found myself at the bottom of the rung. The task at hand was to draft a speech for the minister to commemorate activities marking Nigeria’s observation of World Food Day, in line with the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation, FAO.

None of the officers above me made any input into the speech, and I could not get clear policy or research materials indicating Nigeria’s position.

In short, I was stumped, but resolved to produce a rough draft. The outcome was a four-page speech for the minister written entirely on my own, detailing what the situation in Nigeria was and what I thought government was doing to enhance food security through the effective management of water resources and irrigated agriculture.

I expected my superiors to trash what I had written and replace it with a proper position paper for the minister’s televised address. The speech did not only pass through unaltered and without additional inputs, but went straight to the minister who read it with a pious conviction on television and radio.

Next day, practically all newspapers in the country reported the minister’s address as a key policy of government! To say that I was aghast is an understatement. How can the simple essay written by a fresh employee with little experience, but more importantly, without serious research or considered opinions become government policy? My greatest shock came when I was commended for doing a good job. Then the speech was promptly filed away.

Little has changed

Government policy is still mostly ad-hoc. There are few master plans to guide the actions of government officials in line with public policy. There are few policies to streamline the operations of many government agencies, and where such exist, few officials are aware of, or even willing to work with them, if they conflict with vested interests.

Over time, I drafted what were intended as mere speeches that somehow became keynote addresses. Some of them reached the highest echelons of government and were presented as public policy. They were often written with minimal input from established frameworks because such guides simply did not exit, or where they did, were of little use. My disillusionment grew as I watched, listened, or read ordinary speeches meant for specific events substituting as public policy. This hastened my eventual departure.

In the countdown to the 2011 elections, the same contradictions are beginning to manifest from the campaign teams of the major aspirants. Informed writers are tasked with producing beautiful manifestos for aspirants, but as usual, these documents that should guide that candidate’s administration in the event of victory at the polls, will be discarded as soon as victory is announced. The candidates often do not contribute to, or even understand what they are pitching to the public; that is why they mumble and fumble through them.

Forgive the digression

The crux of this piece is whether there is a line between speech writing in Nigeria and policy-making. In ideal circumstances, every course of government action should be guided by well streamlined policy processes from initiation to completion.

Speeches and addresses should be excerpts from government policy in that sector. But because policy is often lacking in government, pedestrian speeches, keynote addresses, and even ordinary comments by government officials often end up being reported or even regarded as public policy.

Part of the problem may be because the public service has been unable to drop the toga of colonial heritage when it was dominated by Europeans on whom were concentrated executive, judicial, and legislative powers.
Succeeding constitutional reviews increased the stake of Nigerians at the helm of the public service until iIndependence in 1960. Independence was supposed to catalyse the evolution of the service as a national institution for spearheading the rapid transformation of the nation and modernising administrative processes.

But on a visit to the National Archives in Kaduna in 2007, I caught sight of a memo that was being scanned for digitization. A white colonial official had written it back in 1907, exactly 100 years ago. The same diction, style, and procedure are still in use today.

Then it hit me: a hundred years ago, the word of the colonial official was law. Today, the speech of a government official is public policy.

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When will votes count in Africa?

07/11/2010 No comments

When will votes count in Africa?

The beauty of democracy is the power a single vote gives to the electorate, power to choose who governs them, power to remove a non-performing leader.

Democratic practice in Africa has over the years become more and more lopsided. Here, power does not rest with the electorate, but has been hijacked by the political class who, over the years, enshrined a system of election manipulation characterised by financial inducements, ballot rigging, stuffing and snatching, as well as assassination of opponents.

Stories of electoral manipulation resonate all over Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, where the norm is sit-tight despotic leaders who, usually after completing the constitutional terms, try very hard to alter the constitution to allow for extra terms, and where this is not possible, install a sympathetic lackey to oversee affairs on their behalf.

In recent years, another form of manipulation, popularised by the likes of late Zaire president, Mobutu Sese Seko, appears to be garnering converts amongst the political class. A good instance is ousted President Mamoudu Tanja of Niger, who had to be forced out of office by the military after he attempted to change the constitution to accommodate his power extension scheme. Another is President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos of oil-rich Angola, in power for three decades, who recently signed into law a new constitution that scrapped the post of prime minister while concentrating executive responsibility in the hands of the president. The new constitution also empowers the president to appoint a vice president, the judges of the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, and the Court of Audit.

Invariably, the new constitution, aside from granting Mr. Santos more powers, also allows him to run for a fresh five-year term against an opposition that is already claiming that results of the yet-to-be held election is already fixed.

Though some analysts have argued that the problem of electoral manipulation and the subsequent bad leadership it breeds are effects of the much beleaguered colonial heritage, some others, like Godsway Yaw Sappor, writing about the failure of African Leadership, argued that:

“Colonialism did not bestow much to Africa, but the African leadership could not retain, let alone increase, the little that it inherited. Corrupt leaders destroyed the inherited infrastructure – roads, bridges, schools, universities, hospitals, telephones, and even the civil service machinery, are now in shambles.

“Common sense dictates looking both ways before crossing a street, or risk being hit by a truck. For decades, African leaders looked only one way, at “external factors”: colonial legacies, the lingering effects of the slave trade, an unjust international economic system, and predatory practices of multi-national corporations, among others, to explain the miserable economic performance of the continent,” he concluded.

We can infer from the position of Sappor that African leaders tend to blame outside forces for the massive lapses that characterise electioneering in Africa. Perhaps, it is time they changed that orientation.
Though electoral manipulations can and do occur outside of Africa, with or without the resultant violence, the biting question is, when will Africa become an exception to this bitter rule?

Many supposedly progressive African politicians have argued that resorting to the status quo (here, electoral manipulations) is a means to an end, since they might never get anywhere unless they get their hands dirty.
In their argument, they tend to forget a fundamental truth; that electoral manipulation throws up more problems than it solves, especially where good governance is concerned, because it is impossible for a politician who willingly breaks the law to get into office to work for the good of the society.

The Post Newspaper, Zambia, in its editorial of Monday, 26 June 2006, sums the argument thus: “Elections are very important to the governance of our country and should not be conducted in a manner that is similar to an auction sale.”

A political blogger

Uche Ohia puts it in better perspective when he said: “When votes do not count or are not counted, ‘victory‘ does not go to the best candidate but to the best rigger – that is the candidate whose political party has greater capacity to intimidate, cheat, or compromise electoral officials, security agents and, if need be, to unleash violence.

“When votes do not count, candidates seek not to outscore each other in the ballot, but to out-manoeuvre (or, if you like, out-rig) each other. When votes do not count, the electoral process becomes devoid of even a modicum of morality: the end justifies the means.”

Suffice it to say here that for Africa to begin that long road that leads towards mental and economic emancipation, the institutionalised evils of sycophancy and nepotism must give way to an enduring system of government that is closer to the true ideals of democratic governance. The prevailing system whereby a certain class sees politics as a profit-orientated business must give way before any meaningful economic development will take place in the continent.

The gains of democracy, which should include a credible electoral system, need to be consolidated in Africa, especially now that the continent aims to clean up its image in the world.

With 2010 and 2011 being election years in Africa, the hope is that Africa would emerge without the usual anarchy associated with the electoral process in the continent.

That, in itself, would be a great improvement.

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What is your greatest source of stress?

07/11/2010 No comments

What is your greatest source of stress?

“Debt is my biggest source of money stress. I owe so much money that it keeps me awake at night”. Jide – architect.

• “I stress about money because I haven’t got any!” Omowunmi – receptionist.

• “Looking for money gives me stress.
As a country, we have money, yet we are all suffering and still lack.
The major cause of my daily stress is what I have to go through to have
money.” John – recharge cards and engine oil trader.

• “My biggest help in alleviating money
stress is my husband, because he and I always talk about money and
about both our short and long-term goals. Over the past year, we have
been educating ourselves about money and looking for ways to cut back
on our expenses and save.” Sammy – teacher.

• “…and when one closes in the
evening, you usually feel pain, not only because of the search for
money, but also because of the political, social, economic situation of
the country”. Israel – real estate consultant

A sample of opinions about money and
stress show that financial worries rank as a major cause of stress.
This can lead to feelings of insecurity, panic, fear, and anxiety,
which ultimately result in health problems and increased medical
expenses.What aspect of your finances stresses you the most?

Try and identify what it is about your
financial life that stresses you the most, and then take deliberate
steps to do something about it. Is it your debt that is out of control;
are you having trouble paying your bills, or the rising cost of
education, or rent causing much concern? Are there more frequent
arguments with your spouse over finances?

By taking definite steps towards your
goal, you will reduce your stress. If it is debt related, then your
priority should be on repaying the most expensive debt first. As
always, your plan should not be vague but should be as precise as
possible; measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.

Bills, bills and more bills

Bills always seem to arrive at the
wrong time. To eliminate this stress, make efforts to settle them as
they come in. Are you still paying bills the old-fashioned way?
Nowadays, there is no excuse for dealing with your most routine bills
manually. Several banks offer an online payment system where you can
settle your bills without issuing cheques or carry cash.

All you have to do is to activate your
internet banking facility, log on to the bank website, and set up
automatic payments online so that your bills are settled
electronically. Be sure to maintain a cushion in your account so that
you always have enough to fund the bill payments as they come in.

Do you have a financial cushion?

One of the causes of financial stress
is where there is an emergency that catches you completely unprepared.
If you don’t have any cash at all to take care of such emergency, you
could be forced to liquidate assets such as your stocks at a loss. Do
you have an emergency fund for up to six months of expenses in place?
Build up some cash savings to give you a cushion and some peace of mind.

Money and relationships

A leading cause of stress in
relationships is money; indeed, research shows that a major cause of
divorce is money. Many couples snipe about bills, frivolous spending,
and bad investments. Often, money matters are not discussed and are
left to fester on the back burner until there is a problem.

Try to talk about money on a regular
basis without blame and in a non-threatening and constructive way. If
you are in a relationship, there is so much to talk about that will
create common ground for building a financial plan together. This
ranges from spending patterns, bills, debt, income, children’s
education, a comfortable retirement, care of elderly parents, a travel
budget, and so on.

Taking out even one hour each month to
assess where you are as a family and discuss looming expenses will make
a huge difference. Even if you haven’t been doing this before now, it
is a good time to start to put it into practice. If the family reviews
financial goals as a team, there is a much better chance of these goals
actually being achieved.

Stay on top of your finances

Develop a habit of keeping track of
your expenses. By jotting down your daily expenses in a journal for a
period, you will have a better idea about where your money is going and
you can then identify areas to cut back. It is that loss of control
over your finances that causes stress.

To regain a sense of control, you need
to be more involved. Take some time monthly to review your finances; go
through bank statements, investment reports. You owe it to yourself to
keep abreast of this most important aspect of your life.

No one is immune from financial stress,
even those who have a lot of money. Those who are struggling for money
wonder how they’re going to make ends meet, while those that do have
it, whilst they may not have to worry about the next rent, often have
substantial sums invested and watch fortunes rise and fall with the
vagaries of the markets.

It is not possible to transform your finances overnight, but by
committing to make the necessary changes and with discipline, you will
be surprised how much progress you can achieve in a relatively short
period of time.

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‘Electricity is a human rights issue’

07/11/2010 No comments

‘Electricity is a human rights issue’

“The issue of
access to stable, reliable and affordable electricity in Nigeria is one
which generates a feeling of helplessness, sometimes anger or outright
disgust.” That was how Bola Fajemirokun, executive director,
Development Initiatives Network, a non-governmental organisation (NGO)
promoting social justice and development in Nigeria captured the
seemingly bleak situation of electricity supply in the country.

Ms. Fajemirokun
added that the despondency is so prevalent among Nigerians that many
have given up hope of ever enjoying stable electricity supply in their
lifetime. “There is need for a paradigm shift in framing the problem of
power in Nigeria so that people begin to see it as a violation of our
right to decent living,” she adds.

This perspective
was the general consensus at a one day roundtable discussion on ‘The
Human Right to Access Stable Electricity’ organised by the Social and
Economic Rights Action Centre (SERAC) held in Lagos. Participants drew
reference from the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (ICESCR) of which Nigeria is a signatory. Article 11
(1) of the document recognises “the right of everyone to an adequate
standard of living, including adequate food, clothing, housing and to
the continuous improvement of living condition.” Articles 12 also
recognise the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest
attainable standard of physical and mental health.

Right to decent living

Felix Morka,
executive director of SERAC, said electricity is a human rights issue
which is hinged on the universal right to decent living. Mr. Morka said
Nigerians must begin to hold government accountable for the absence of
steady power supply, as this can be linked to the poverty level and
poor living standard of the people.

“Government in
Nigeria has, historically and up till the present, failed miserably to
meet expectations on electricity supply. More than this is the failure
of Nigerians to protest the failure of electricity. Is it enough to
grumble when it goes off and celebrate when it comes on, as if we are
done a favour?” Mr. Morka asked.

Kayode Omotosho,
executive secretary of Mortgage Banking Association of Nigeria said
decent housing includes all the facilities that would enable the
inhabitants live in comfort. “These include availability of services,
materials, facilities and infrastructure,” Mr. Omotosho said. “Housing
is just a block. For you to say it is a home, automatically presupp
oses that you have all the other rights embedded. You cannot say you
have a home where there is no stable electricity, where you don’t have
furniture, where you don’t have water and a healthy environment.”

Health implication of epileptic power supply

Infact, achieving
high standard of healthcare delivery would be almost impossible in a
climate of epileptic power supply as currently obtains in Nigeria, says
Lilian Ibe, SERAC’s programme officer, Right-to-Health. She believes
Nigerians should not expect access to high standard of health care in
the current scenario, on the basis that stable electricity is a
determinant of health as it enhances the quality and standard of living
and mental wellbeing of people. “You get home from a very exhaustive
day at work; you are already thinking there is not going to be light.
There is going to be issues of insomnia, fatigue and issues of
depression which invariably sets in.”

According to her,
electricity affects healthcare delivery especially in regards to
sterilising equipment that are used in health facilities. “For vaccines
to be potent it needs to be put in a cold chain system and electricity
is important in ensuring that a cold chain system is maintained. Fine,
we are doing a good job at ensuring that more children are being
vaccinated but the potency of these vaccines cannot be accounted for
when electricity is not stable. We may just be giving vaccines which
are not any good and we may not understand why children die of vaccine
preventable diseases.”

This is also
applies in medical laboratories where reagents and patients samples
need to be stored at certain temperature in order to get accurate
result for the doctors to work with. “It is the responsibility of
government to ensure that every citizen has access to electricity to
ensure that individuals are well taken care of.”

Adewale Jones, vice
president of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria
(ATCON) however said while Nigeria is a signatory to the ICESCR
document, the challenge is that the National Assembly is yet to ratify
the convention. “We need to bring these rights within the framework of
the Nigerian law and within the framework of Chapter 4 of the Nigerian
constitution to make those rights justiceable.” He said it is only on
that platform that Nigerians can go to court to demand enforcement. “We
need to push our legislature to do this.”

President Goodluck Jonathan launched the power sector roadmap in
August with a promise that Nigerians would begin to see improvement in
power supply from next year. Part of the initiative is to privatise
power generation and distribution in the country while leaving
government to handle transmission aspect of the power supply chain.
Imamuddeen Talba, the administrator of the Nigerian Electricity
Regulatory Commission, said government has already issued 34 licences
to independent power generation companies to generate 8,997 megawatts
of electricity and two distribution companies.

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Bayelsa oil derivation concession raises posers

07/11/2010 No comments

Bayelsa oil derivation concession raises posers

President Goodluck
Jonathan’s recent decision to grant the Bayelsa State government’s
request for exclusive concession of oil derivation on nine offshore
deepwater oil fields, located in water depths beyond 200 metres
isobaths, appears an attempt to exhume the carcass buried more than
eight years ago.

The
Offshore/Onshore Oil Dichotomy Abolition Act (2004) abrogated this as
payment of 13 percent derivation to oil bearing states was applicable
only to crude oil produced in onshore locations (land) as well as
offshore locations within water depths of less than 200 metres isobaths.

The implication was
that revenues earned from oil produced from concessions located in
water depths beyond 200 metres isobaths were not to be subject to the
derivation principle.

Federal versus state governments

The 2001 dispute
between the federal government and the eight littoral states on
derivation formula in sharing offshore revenues cannot be forgotten in
a hurry.

To the federal
government then, the seaward boundary of each of the littoral states
was the low-water mark of the land surface of such state. As such, the
natural resources located within Nigeria’s continental shelf are not
derivable from any of the littoral states, making revenues from such
resources not subject to the derivation formula.

On the other hand,
the littoral states believed that their territory extends beyond the
low-water mark onto the territorial waters, as well as the continental
shelf and the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and as such all natural
resources derived from both onshore and offshore locations within their
respective territory should be subject to the payment of “not less than
13 percent derivation”, as provided in the proviso to Section 162(2) of
the Constitution.

Dissatisfied, the
federal government went to the Supreme Court asking for “a
determination of the seaward boundary of a littoral state within the
Federal Republic of Nigeria for the purpose of calculating the amount
of revenue accruing to the Federation Account directly from any natural
resources derived from that State pursuant to section 162(2) of the
constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.”

Supreme Court judgment

The Supreme Court,
in its April 2002 judgment, declared that “the seaward boundary of a
littoral state within the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the purpose
of calculating the amount of revenue accruing to the Federation Account
directly from any natural resources derived from that state pursuant to
Section 162(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
1999, is the low-water mark of the land surface thereof, or (if the
case so requires as in the Cross River State with an Archipelago of
Islands) the seaward limits of inland waters within the State.”

Besides, the
Olusegun Obasanjo administration had, in 2003, agreed with all the
littoral states governors that the “200 metres water depth isobaths” be
substituted for “continental shelf and exclusive economic zone.”

This followed
Obasanjo’s proposal that “contiguous zone” be equal to 24 nautical
miles from the coast, against the governors and the National Assembly’s
position that “continental shelf” should equal to 200 nautical miles
from the coast.

The implication of
the agreement was that all the country’s existing producing oil fields
are located within 200 metres water depth isobaths.

In other words,
except for Abo Field, operated by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC),
virtually all commercial deep offshore oil concessions are located in
at least 1,000 metres of water depths.

However, the
concession to Bayelsa State government for attribution of nine oil
fields, ostensibly to assuage the “negative impact of the delimitation
of maritime boundaries of littoral states by the National Boundary
Commission (NBC) in the wake of the promulgation of the
Offshore/Onshore Dichotomy Abrogation Act”, appears to be in the breach.

The oil fields
include some of Nigeria’s biggest deep offshore oil concessions, like
the over 770 million barrels reserve Agbami (OPL 216), operated by
Chevron Nigeria Limited, located at about 1,345 metres of water depth;
the over 1.5 billion barrels reserve Bonga (OPL 212), operated by Shell
Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), at more than 1,000
metres water depths, and the over 630million barrels reserve Akpo (OML
130), operated by Total, at over 1,325 metres water depths.

Others include the
60 million barrels reserve Chota oil field (OPL 220) by ConocoPhillips;
100 million barrels reserve N’Golo (OPL 219) by Elf Petroleum Nigeria;
Nnwa Doro oil field (OPL 218) by Statoil, and Aparo (OPL 213) by
Chevron, all located beyond water depths of 200 metres isobaths.

Allocation politics

What makes the
issues contentious is the significant alteration of the existing
Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) indices
for the payment of oil derivation.

Prior to the
concession and subsequent revision of the volume of oil production
figures attributable to each littoral state, Akwa Ibom topped, with
13,905,432 barrels, followed by Rivers (12,636,795 barrels), Delta
(11,163,493 barrels), with Bayelsa (10,313,368 barrels).

But, the reverse is
the case under the revised indices released since last July, with
Bayelsa State at the first position at 15,995,773 barrels, ahead of
Rivers (13,317,840 barrels), Akwa Ibom (12,796,954 barrels), and Delta
(11,163,493 barrels).

Chairman, House of
Representatives Committee on Rules and Business, Ita Enang, who was
involved in deliberations that gave birth to the Onshore/Offshore
Dichotomy Abolition Act, said in an interview on Friday that the
concession granted Bayelsa State is a clear infringement on the
provisions of that law, as no littoral state is entitled to derivation
on resources located in water depths beyond 200 meters isobaths.

“If the decision is
to be just and equitable, the law must be amended forthwith to extend
the prescribed limits of littoral states approved in the Act,” Mr.
Enang said.

“My conviction has always been that the issue of 200 metres water
depths isobaths was supposed to be the starting point, so that the
onshore/offshore dichotomy would ultimately be abolished completely.
Under such an arrangement, other states, including Akwa Ibom, Delta,
and Lagos, will also benefit,” he said.

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Warning: no lying before senate, iPads on guard

07/11/2010 No comments

Warning: no lying before senate, iPads on guard

Government appointees who are to pass through senate screening
might do well to henceforth consider cross check their facts thoroughly before
dishing it out to the lawmakers, because the folders we see most senators
clutching onto nowadays may just be an iPad.

Last Tuesday, an iPad would have ruined a potential minister’s
career – if the lawmakers had taken a lie seriously. Rasheed Adedoja, a former
Oyo State education commissioner who is now a minister, would have been the
victim of the iPad revolution in the senate but for the magnanimity of the
senators.

Mr Adedoja, a professor of education, was in the red senate
chamber to perform a ritual his peers did a few months back. He stood at the
podium, with his CV, piece of papers to jot questions, and a cup of water the
senate offered.

He was intelligent, but he was somehow unfortunate compared
with his colleagues because he was the only one to be screened in one day. So
the senators had the luxury of thorough questioning. The questions kept
pouring.

He responded to them smartly, but unknown to him, some tech
savvy senators were double checking his statements on their iPads.

He slipped up when he told the senators that Ladoke Akintola
University of Technology, which is jointly owned by Oyo and Osun state, is the
7th best university in Africa by global rating and the best state university in
Nigeria by a National University Commission rating. He referred the senators to
the Internet to confirm his claims.

That university is currently a subject of dispute between Oyo
and Osun state and has been shut down for a long time while the disagreement
simmers. The senators found Mr Adedoja’s fact hard to believe.

George Thomson Sekibo (PDP River state) decided to log onto a
search engine and the global university rating page was soon staring at him
from his iPad. He called James Manager (PDP Delta state) who was just sitting
beside him to have a look. In next to no time, four heads were over the little
computer.

Facts on fingertips

Mr Sekibo walked up to the senate president and passed the iPad
to him. For a moment, the senate president scrolled up and down while Mr Sekibo
and Manager stood by his side grinning. Meanwhile, the professor was responding
to other questions on the podium.

“Prof, that is not what the net is saying,” the senate
president cut in.

He read out the African universities’ rating and the first
Nigerian university on the list was University of Benin (Uniben), which ranked
67th in Africa. It was followed by University of Ilorin, 77th and University of
Ibadan, 81st in Africa.

The senate president passed the iPad to the professor. He was
startled when he took it; but he reviewed it and passed it back to the senate
president without saying a word. Some senators were startled too, while others
just laughed it off.

The screening continued and he was confirmed a minister.

In other climes, that might have been enough to turn him away. However, the
new minister will definitely not give out unconfirmed facts next time he is
called by the senate. Others would be advised not to either because, these
days, the lawmakers have gone tech savvy and iPads is the new social trend
amongst senators.

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Cross River community pays price of war

07/11/2010 No comments

Cross River community pays price of war

It’s easy to go to war but difficult to build on the ashes of its ruin.

The import of this statement is not lost on the people of Boje,
who, two weeks ago, invaded the neighbouring community of Nsadop to kill, maim
and destroy.

Now the two communities are paying the price of that communal
war.

Tucked in the bowels of Boki forest, Boje has only one access
road into and out of it. That road happens to run through Nsadop. So, for fear
of reprisal attacks, Boje natives have since October 23, 2010 stopped using the
road. The consequence is that the agricultural produce of this agrarian people
can no more be conveyed to the urban centres.

Boje, like other rural Boki communities, produces cocoa, banana,
yams and other cash crops. Before now, these were transported in lorries and
buses to Ogoja, Ikom and beyond for sale. But there is no outlet for them any
longer.

No vehicle passes through Nsadop to Boje again. And there is no
alternative access road to Boje, which is the last community in the hinterland
of western Boki.

The fear of revenge by Nsadop villagers means farm produce are
wasting away afterits harvest. There are, of course bush tracks through the
forest to other communities, but these tracks have been rendered inaccessible
by streams swollen by rain, mountains and gigantic trees.

To get to Burom, the nearest community to Boje on foot, is four
hours of endurance trek. Certainly noone can traverse this path with heavy load
on his or her head.

Interviews with the Boki people revealed that they did not
reflect well on the case before going to war with Nsadop village . Its elders
are now blaming the youth for resorting to war instead of dialogue, which they
had earlier proposed as the better avenue for resolving the land rights
dispute. Both the young and old [males] of Boje now sleep in the forest for
fear of retaliatory invasion by Nsadop. Uneasy calm now pervades the entire
community.

Whereas some elders and elites of Boje have proposed reconciliatory
talks to solve the problem of inaccessibility to their community, the youth are
said to be opposed to the suggestion as they are not ready to show remorse.
They are said to have preferred the Cross River State government to midwife a
truce to the problem of vehicular blockade to Boje than sending emissaries to
Nsadop for peace.

Nsadop boys have blocked the access road to Boje. All vehicles
now stop at Nsadop. Boje elites working in the cities no more go home. They are
afraid of their safety since some of them were accussed of providing the cash
and logistics used in prosecuting the war. They are now lobbying the state
governor, Liyel Imoke to make lasting peace between the two communities.

M Imoke had ordered the arrest of community leaders from Boje and
promised to ensure that they were all prosecuted. He also dethroned 12
traditional rulers of the community. There are also indications that indigenes
of the community nursing political ambition may have to shelve it. Mr Imoke is
understood to have vowed to work against any candidate from Boki who, directly
or indirectly, supported the Nsadop carnage.

Counting losses

The octogenerian traditional ruler of Nsadop, Otu Bernard Ntun
of Kaku, said his 80-year-sojourn on earth has been blissful until the October
23 incident when his entire village was invaded by people from Boje and destroy
it beyond recognition.

Pathetic is an understatement in describing the carnage visited
on Nsadop and the emotional pains of Mr Ntun. A walk through the length of this
village of 7,000 inhabitants, with about 2,000 houses, reveal that all the
homes were either razed down or demolished with the help of dynamites.

More than 30 people were alleged to have been killed in the
attack, while livestock, food crops and even economic trees were cut down by
the invaders. The village is now a shadow of itself.

The land in dispute is where the oil palm plantation established
by the defunct Eastern Nigerian administration of Michael Okpara is. Its
ownership has been a subject of dispute since the 1960’s. Mr Ntun, agonizing in
sadness as he lost his first son in the attack, said it was unbelievable that
two communities that have co-existed for centuries, speak the same language and
have a common ancestry could fight a war with the intention of annihilation.

“Our assailants, who might have conceived the idea several
years, considering the amount of ammunition and sophisticated weapons used,
took the village by surprise at noon when everyone was either in the farm or
out of the village for one reason or the other,” Mr Ntun said, his narration,
which was often punctuated by sighs and shaking of his head.

He said that the attack lasted for about eight hours without any
challenge, until the military and the police were drafted to quell the attack.

The Chairman of Boki Local Government Area, Bessie Bankong-Obi
who had conducted officials of the Cross River State Emergency Management
Agency [SEMA] and those of NEMA, around the scene for rapid assessment,
described the devastation as beyond comprehension. She,

however, warned against any act of reprisal, saying such would
be counterproductive.

“Security agencies are working round the clock to get to the root of the
crisis and bring the perpetrators to book,” she said. “We appeal to the people
of Nsadop to exercise patience as government would punish the culprits and
provide succor to the victims.”

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States renew agitation for oil derivation concession

07/11/2010 No comments

States renew agitation for oil derivation concession

The federal government’s recent decision to grant the Bayelsa
State government’s request for exclusive concession of oil derivation on nine
offshore deepwater oil fields appears to have exhumed the carcass of what the
Offshore/Onshore Oil Dichotomy Abolition Act (2004) buried more than eight
years ago.

Under the Act, payment of 13 percent derivation to oil bearing
states was to be applicable only to crude oil produced in onshore locations
(land) as well as offshore locations within water depths of less than 200
metres isobaths.

The implication was that revenues earned from oil produced from
concessions located in water depths beyond 200 metres isobaths were not to be
subject to the derivation principle.

The 2001 dispute between the Federal Government and the eight
littoral states was predicated on the Federal Government decision that the
seaward boundary of each of the littoral states was the low-water mark of the
land surface of such state. As such, the natural resources located within
Nigeria’s continental shelf are not derivable from any of the littoral states, making
revenues from such resources not subject to the derivation formula.

But the littoral states said their territory extends into the
continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and, as such all
natural resources derived from both onshore and offshore locations within their
respective territory should be subject to the payment of “not less than 13
percent derivation” as provided in the proviso to Section 162(2) of the
Constitution.

The federal government took the case before the Supreme Court asking
for “a determination of the seaward boundary of a littoral state within the
Federal Republic of Nigeria for the purpose of calculating the amount of
revenue accruing to the Federation Account directly from any natural resources
derived from that State pursuant to section 162(2) of the constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999”.

Supreme Court judgment

The Supreme Court, in its April 2002 judgment, declared that
“the seaward boundary of a littoral state within the Federal Republic of Nigeria
for the purpose of calculating the amount of revenue accruing to the Federation
Account directly from any natural resources derived from that state pursuant to
Section 162(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, is
the low-water mark of the land surface thereof, or (if the case so requires as
in the Cross River State with an Archipelago of Islands) the seaward limits of
inland waters within the State”.

The federal government had, also in 2003, agreed with governors
of all the littoral states that the ‘200 metres water depth isobaths’ be
substituted for ‘continental shelf and exclusive economic zone.’ The
implication of the agreement was that all the country’s existing producing oil
fields are located within 200 meters water depth isobaths.

In other words, except for Abo Field operated by the Nigerian
Agip Oil Company (NAOC), virtually all commercial deep offshore oil concessions
are located in at least 1,000 meters of water depths.

Searching for increased
revenue

However, some observers say the concession to Bayelsa for
attribution of nine oil fields, ostensibly to assuage the “negative impact of
the delimitation of maritime boundaries of littoral states by the National
Boundary Commission (NBC) in the wake of the promulgation of the
Offshore/Onshore Dichotomy Abrogation Act” appears to be in the breach.

The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Rules and
Business, Ita Enang, who was involved in deliberations that gave birth to the
Onshore/Offshore Dichotomy Abolition Act, told NEXT on Friday that the
concession granted Bayelsa is a clear infringement on the provisions of that
law, as no littoral state is entitled to derivation on resources located in
water depths beyond 200 meters isobaths.

“If the decision is to be just and equitable, the law must be
amended forthwith to extend the prescribed limits of littoral states approved
in the Act,” he said.

“My conviction has always been that the issue of 200 metres
water depths isobaths was supposed to be the starting point, so that the
onshore/offshore dichotomy would ultimately be abolished completely. Under such
an arrangement, other states, including Akwa Ibom, Delta and Lagos, will also
benefit.”

Mr. Enang appears to be echoing the sentiments of most other
littoral states, which gave indications during last month’s Federation Accounts
Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting that they may be heading back to the
Supreme Court for intervention, since all of them are facing similar security
and environmental challenges in the region.

What makes the issues contentious is the significant alteration
of the existing Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC)
indices for the payment of oil derivation.

Prior to the concession and subsequent revision of the volume of
oil production figures attributable to each littoral state, Akwa Ibom topped,
with 13,905,432 barrels; followed by Rivers (12,636,795 barrels), Delta
(11,163,493 barrels), and Bayelsa (10,313,368 barrels).

But the reverse is the case under the revised indices released
since last July, with Bayelsa at first position at 15,995,773 barrels; ahead of
Rivers (13,317,840 barrels), Akwa Ibom (12,796,954 barrels) and Delta
(11,163,493 barrels).

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ABUJA HEARTBEAT: Due process and creativity

07/11/2010 No comments

ABUJA HEARTBEAT:
Due process and creativity

Laws are made to help society grow as well as maintain order. To
the best of my knowledge, the ‘due process’ laws were hatched to reduce or stop
the corrupt tendencies of mostly contractors who are mainly civil servants and
their fronts.

These same set of contractors have devised brilliant techniques
of circumventing the process and business has gone on as usual. It is only when
the interest of the Permanent Secretary, Director General or the Director in a
ministry or agency is not being served that the process becomes
hyper-effective. The ‘due’ in the ‘process’ becomes obvious or the ‘process’ in
the ‘due’ becomes frustrating and, at such times, the profit margin of such
jobs will definitely discourage the ‘connectionless’ contractor.

In other words, no contractor does any profitable job without
sharing almost all his profits with the owners of the yam and the knife.

I really do not want to digress, but I needed to lay a proper
foundation for this week’s discourse. There are some specialized fields that I
think should not be taken through the tortuous path of due process. For
instance, an artist works into a gigantic structure that is of international
relevance in Abuja and he thinks to himself, ‘these walls will look more
arresting, if I line it with some of my just completed works or I could add
some more in line with the aesthetic goals of this office’.

Now he has an idea and he believes a particular painting or
sculpture will appropriately represent the dreams and aspirations of the owners
of the building. He is bringing his priceless concept that will best showcase
or bring our otherwise ‘big for nothing edifice’ to life. He decides to write
to the office explaining his ideas in black and white and then putting a price
that he thinks would pay for his idea and also his work of art.

He gives the said office his proposal and they are amazed by the
beauty in the whole unique concept.

Now, instead of commissioning this young Nigerian artist and
encouraging him to continue with his creativity, one supposedly wise Director
decides to price, like a market woman pricing tomatoes, the whole idea not just
the art work. The creator of the masterpieces disagrees with him because he
feels his work is being undervalued and the next thing you hear, “we will get
another artist or let us compare the price of similar artworks from other
artist”. In fact, they tell him, they will have to get ‘quotations’ from other
competing companies so that they can now make their final choice.

That building has been there for donkey years and nobody thought
of decorating it with meaningful paintings, pictures and sculptures. No wise
director thought of inviting different artist to ‘tender’ or ‘quote’ for the
job. Someone gifted now works in and sells them his own unique ideas and,
because they do not understand that if you want Sunny Ade, for an event, you do
not go and get quotations from 9ice and Dbanj to make King Sunny Ade reduce his
artiste fee.

When one needs the service of a stand up comedian in an event ,
one must be ready to pay whatever Alibaba or Oma Oma , e.t.c request; you can
no longer dictate the price when you need the unique steps of a particular
performer. These are unique artistes with their own individual talents and you
usually cannot quote for their creativity or distinct kind of creative
artistry.

Every artist has his own unique price for every piece of
distinction. Every piece of art is unique and every performance (drama, dance
or stand-up comedy) is different; that is, it cannot be achieved the same way
twice, even in well written plays, you cannot have the same performance even
from the same cast and crew. Or have you not heard that you cannot drink from
the same river twice because it flows, not even if you stand on the same point.

The initiators of due process in our system did not and cannot
use due process for artists. Every established creative artiste is an inventor
and their works are priceless. Every artist has his own unique price and you
cannot ask another artist to submit his tender for the unique ideas of another
artist. Where due process stops is where creativity begins. Civil servants
should stop pricing works of art, especially in the Federal Capital Territory
where architectural masterpieces are daily springing up. If you need the
intricate designs of Victor Ehikhamenor, pay his price; if you need the works
of seasoned old masters like Bruce Onobrakpeya, Ben Enwonwu, Twins Sevene
Seven, Yusuf Grillo by all means give them their dues.

Due process has little or no business with creativity. The
creative process should not be encumbered by a fraudulent system.

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