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Last week faraway
in America I was sitting at the dining table staring at my computer,
trying so hard not to logon to Facebook when the headline, Hostage
Situation in Silver Spring, caught my eye.

I was ten minutes
away from the epicentre of the action. A further quick read of the news
made me realise it was live and ongoing.

The reason I was
particularly interested in this news was that, two months ago we had a
hostage situation in Nigeria that involved fellow journalists from the
Nigerian Union of Journalists.

The Nigerian media
followed the news as closely as possible. The fate of the journalists
was unknown. The kidnappers’ actual location, despite their telephone
communications with the police, could not be tracked. News of the
kidnapping filled the airwaves, newspapers and blogosphere on a daily
basis – not because kidnapping was a rare occurrence – but because
those in this hostage situation were journalists.

I quickly tuned to
NBC 4, the local TV channel to watch the event unfold. A lone gunman
had stormed the headquarters of the Discovery Channel in downtown
Silver Spring and held three hostages. Commercials and other regular
programmes were put on hold as information spewed off my television to
help the public understand the full picture of the situation.

Back home we would
be inundated with unverifiable speculations and uncontrollable panic
would take over, but here, though there was panic, the situation was
firmly under control.

The security
apparatus was not ill equipped or ill trained to handle hostage
situations or any emergency situation for that matter.

In few seconds, the
gunman was named – James Lee, a 43-year-old Asian male with a long
history of discontentment with Discovery Channel for not caring enough
about the environment and the planet. To many, he was an environmental
militant; something close to what we have in the Niger Delta, but with
a twist.

A picture of him
soon surfaced. Authorities sealed off the downtown Silver Spring and
all manner of security forces were deployed to rescue innocent people.
County police,

ATF, fire
department, FBI agents- with bomb sniffing dogs, bomb detonating
robots, fire trucks, handguns, rifles, binoculars, bullet proof vests
and masked snipers swarmed the place like bees to a hive.

My hopes for the
lives of those taken hostage was high as soon as I realised the gunman
was talking to a negotiator because I knew there were rescue plans
going on off camera. This was a different security force I was seeing
in operation, tactically ever ready for a day like this. They weren’t
scrambling for a game plan on the day of emergency; they have had
drills and simulations that prepared them for James Lee.

The county police
chief, Thomas Manger, did not go about begging an untrained public to
help him rescue the hostages or engaging in job-saving PR mission like
the Nigerian ex-police chief did.

During the
kidnapping of the journalists in Nigeria it became obvious that our
police force only knew how to threaten, extract bribes from ordinary
citizens and carry out extra judicial killings.

The Police Force
was scrambling around, constantly lying to the public that they were
handling the hostage situation well, whereas they did not know what to
do. Nigeria has lost hundreds of lives to hostage takers yet there
still is no concrete security plan in place to militate against the
least sophisticated kidnap.

I could only
imagine the dollar amounts used in purchasing all the rescue equipment
I was seeing on TV as well as the training most of the officers
handling the situation had received, and I bet no matter how outrageous
that dollar amount was, it did not amount to what a Nigerian police
chief has in his personal account or what his boys and girls extort
from us.

Watching on TV, the
discipline of the officers in this rescue operation was obvious. By 5pm
we were told the drama was over, authorities had taken care of
business. At about 4.48pm. Chief of police, Manger, announced that his
men, were watching James Lee via camera, and they were close enough to
hear what he was saying and see what he was doing. “At one point, the
suspect . . . pulled out the handgun that he came in with and pointed
it at one of the hostages at that point, our tactical units moved in
and shot the suspect.”

The kidnapped
journalists were released not because of any special rescue efforts by
the police force but by the “special grace of God” as we always say in
Nigeria. The kidnappers released their victims of their own volition,
yet the police lied to the general public that they were rescued. Till
now, no clear explanation has been given about what took place; we
don’t know who the kidnappers were or what has happened to them.

Hopefully the new police IG will help sanitise a Force that is in need of a fundamental overhaul. So welcome, chief.

Bayelsa, Benue, Ebonyi, Edo, Imo, Kaduna, Kwara, Lagos and Ogun: what do these states all have in common?

They have gone to the capital market to raise bonds ostensibly for various projects.

Before we go on,
let us define what a bond is. In finance, a bond is a debt security in
which the authorised issuer owes the holders a debt, and, depending on
the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay the interest, and to repay the
principal in the future, when the bond is said to mature. In English, a
bond is when you owe someone and repay with interest at an agreed date.

The idea behind the
government issuing bonds to finance large scale infrastructure projects
really took off in the United States at the end of World War II. Unlike
the pre-war years when there were many people who were willing to
accept next to nothing just to get some work, America had emerged from
the war as the only rich country in the world, and there were debts to
be bought. However, by the late 1950s and early 1960s, large, high
profile defaults on bonds particularly in the road construction sector
contributed to a perception that bonds were risky business.

We must however,
consider the two scenarios here, America pre-war (that is immediately
after The Great Depression), and America post-war (when there were a
lot of rich people). Then consider what is happening in Nigeria.

The first scenario
is what applies largely to Nigeria. Nigeria has a lot of able-bodied
young men who in reality constitute a vast pool of cheap labour.

Borrowing large
sums under the pretext of paying for projects that can be undertaken by
these people is in reality a non-starter.

I admit though,
there is indeed a need to tap into the cheap funds, which the bond
market supposedly represents, but that is if, and only if, the money
would be used for the purposes advertised. But the question has to be
asked about securities. What exactly would guarantee those bonds? How
do the various state governments intend to pay back the people who buy
the bonds?

Most importantly, WHY is it NOW that the state governments are one by one beginning to rush to the bond market?

A few years ago,
the Federal Ministry of Finance under Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala instituted a
process for handling bonds. A facility known as the Irrevocable
Standing Payment Order was instituted for all states, in the event that
a state could not make its bonds self paying. This means that states
that cannot pay back their bonds would have the money (plus interest)
deducted from their monthly federal allocations in the case of a
default.

You see, Nigeria is
a rent economy where the states do nothing but wait until the end of
the month (or is it beginning?) to receive their monthly allocations,
then go and share amongst each other. What becomes of such money is
anyone’s guess. The only state that has managed to extricate itself
from this vicious cycle is Lagos State. Lagos State has gone the route,
which the rest of the country really needs to go; one, which Edo State
has begun to slowly go down- taxes. If there were a proper and
efficient tax system in place, the issue of bonds and their payment
from the federal allocations would be a non-starter.

In recent times, strong signals have emerged to indicate that Nigeria is broke.

The excess crude
account created by the Obasanjo administration has been all but wiped
away, oil prices have not exactly been in favour of what is laid down
in the budget, and our legislators have been taking a lot more than
should be their fair share of our national income. This means that
there is a distinct possibility that the allocations from the federal
government to the states are beginning to dry up.

Now, given that our
state honchos are people who know how to do nothing other than
appropriate funds, staying in government would for them be paramount.
For those who have reached the end of their constitutionally allotted
tenures, anointing a ‘boy’ who would perform two functions is
important. The two functions are protecting their tenures from scrutiny
(remember Celestine Omehia in Rivers State), and to ensure that they
would still have a straw nestling deep in the government coffers
(remember Bola Tinubu in Lagos State). Ensuring all of this costs
money. And as we said, it is quite possible, that the only source of
money that they know is drying up.

Solution? Go into
the bond market, and take bonds that will over time be paid for with
future allocations from the Federal Government. How else can one
explain the mad rush by someone like Gbenga Daniels in Ogun State to
raise N100billion in bonds at all costs just a few months to the end of
his tenure?

How sustainable this is, is anyone’s guess, but the reality is this:
Nigeria can ill afford to go into more debt for any trivial reason, let
alone the avarice of serving government officials who are looking to
raise money in order to ensure that they remain in a position to steal
even more money.

A major problem
with the Nigerian oil industry can be traced to its regulatory
mechanisms. While we should assume that such mechanisms could actually
help secure efficient operations of the sector, they have led the
sector into more murky waters.

For a number of
years, the Nigerian president doubled as the minister of petroleum.
Busy on many fronts, a number of issues must have gone without strict
oversight. Because the president was also the minister, the office had
more powers assigned to it. Some experts believe that because of this
setting, the minister of petroleum was allowed wide scope for
discretion and decision-making powers, without commensurate systems of
review and accountability.

The sector is
disparately regulated, mainly from the Ministry of Environment and that
of Petroleum. How coherent these two perform and how their powers
overlap or synergise are issues for another day. But there are many
areas we ought to worry about. One area of concern is that the oil
sector has created some of the most critical environmental and health
problems for the Niger Delta and the entire nation.

Who is the
governmental watchdog for the Nigerian environment? The answer to that
question may seem obvious. Do you say it is the ministry of
environment? You would be right. But that would be only to a point.

When we had a
Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) as a subset of the
Federal Ministry of Environment, the answer would have been right to a
larger extent than it is now. After the demise of FEPA, another agency
with a suspiciously long name emerged in 2007. We are talking of the
National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency
(NESREA).

Let me confess that
I had to visit their website to be sure I got that name right! The
duties of NESREA, as stated in the Act by which it was set up, are
lofty and should build confidence in the agency. However, there are two
key areas that raise serious concern. And they are related.

First area of
concern is the composition of the governing council of the agency.
Article 3 (viii) of the NESREA Act of 2007 specifies a membership slot
in the council for a representative of the oil exploratory and
production companies in Nigeria.

Why, we ask, is
this space created for the oil companies to regulate our Nigerian
environment? We note that apart from a slot allowed for the
Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), there is a provision for
the Minister of Environment to appoint “three other persons to
represent public interest.” There is no clue in the Act as to who these
three would be and on what basis the minister would select them. Would
there be representatives of fishers, farmers, or pastoralists? Would
there be youth whose future we are already squandering?

We have picked on
the objectionable inclusion of the oil corporations in the regulation
of our environment because these entities, while baking the petrodollar
pie, are also guilty of causing severe damage to the environment and to
the psyche of our peoples.

The submission of
this writer is that the oil companies should be in the dock and not on
the bench in hallowed chambers of environmental and sundry justice.
What they have done in the oil communities is nothing short of criminal.

The second issue,
which, as already mentioned, relates to the first objection above, is
the stipulation of Article 7 (d) of the NESREA Act. This section states
that the agency shall “enforce compliance with regulations on the
importation, exportation, production, distribution, storage, sale, use,
handling and disposal of hazardous chemicals and waste other than in
the oil and gas sector.”

It is clear from
the above that a factor has been inserted here to confer a certain
status on the oil companies that keeps them away from being regulated
by an agency that sets environmental standards in Nigeria and which is
supposed to enforce regulations in the land.

With the biggest
environmental abuser excluded from the purview of NESREA, the agency
must be truly and fully handicapped to play the role it ought to play
in regulating the environment. Consider what it would mean if the
United States FEPA had no say about how oil companies handle and
dispose of chemicals and wastes in the oil and gas sector.

This exclusion from
regulation of the oil companies is shocking and scandalous. However,
what makes it more objectionable is the fact that these companies,
which continue to commit heinous environmental and human rights abuses
in the oil fields and communities, are also elevated to the seat of
judgement over other lesser polluters of the Nigerian environment.

This is a sad
commentary on environmental regulation in Nigeria. It is unacceptable
and needs urgent re-examination and correction. A very basic tenet of
justice holds that an offender cannot be a judge in his own case. The
unholy wedlock between regulatory agencies and the oil and gas
companies is ripe for a divorce.

Perhaps, you will
tell us that there are other agencies that regulate the oil and gas
companies. You could list the Directorate of Petroleum Resources as
one. That would make a good joke if you were on a comedy train. The DPR
that is unable to tell us how much oil is extracted from the wells and
keeps a blind eye or raises hands controlled by political levers cannot
take the place of a central environmental regulatory agency.

NESREA needs urgent attention to help close the dangerous gaps created by her blind spots.

The recently
released election timetable by the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) shows that nationwide elections will kick off on
January 15 with that of the National Assembly, while the contest for
president is to hold on January 22. The election of State Assembly
members and governors is slated for January 29.

So far we think
the Commission has been able to win the confidence of the majority of
Nigerians most especially because many see the chairman Attahiru Jega,
a former university teacher and activist, as a credible person who can
conduct a process the nation can be proud of. The step to achieving
this started last week with the release of the election schedule.

Now the critical
stage is what we are entering into. It is one that is going to be
trying and will test the patience of many – political parties,
politicians, the electorate and even the international community which
is watching with keen interest. It is important that the dates have
taken into cognisance the need to have time after the elections and
between the swearing in date so as to give time to deal decisively with
matters that may arise from election disputes.

We think it is
wise and important to put a stop to the practise where a candidate is
declared elected and sworn in, but after spending more than a year in
office he/she is declared unelected and another candidate is sworn in,
thus creating a situation where a usurper is allowed to preside over
political affairs in the country. We hope in the time between when
elections are conducted from January 15 and 29 and when winners are
expected to be sworn in on May 29, 2011, a clear period of about four
months that all petitions would have been cleared in the courts for the
rightful winner to be sworn in. This would save the country the long
rigmarole of incumbents using government resources and time to defend
their election, thus denying the electorate the benefit of enjoying the
dividends of democracy.

The electoral
commission’s timetable also gave all registered political parties from
September 11 to October 30 to hold their primaries and choose their
candidates for the various offices. Of course the conducting of these
would involve the Commission, which has to certify them free and fair.
This is where it has to draw the line so as not to find itself immersed
in the murky partisan squabbles that political parties are wont to
engage in. INEC has to ensure that its officials who go a monitoring
will, like Caesar’s wife, be above board.

This process is
like a minefield which if not well managed by those with integrity will
mar the reputation of the Commission, and this would not be good. The
nation has invested too much time and faith in this election to allow
it to go the way of that of 2007.

However, the one
issue that gives us much concern is the period given for the
registration of voters. The timetable says this should hold between
November1-14. This means the Commission, by its own admission is hoping
to register 70 million voters across the country in 14 days! This will
surely constitute the eighth wonder of the world were it to be
accomplished and a feat that we fear may be the first great hitch in
this journey. We are at a loss as to how the Commission which at the
time of writing this has not got delivery of a single set of the
computers it hopes to use in the exercise, thinks it will be able to
meet this deadline.

This optimism is amazing in a country with an infrastructure that
leaves much to be desired. How the Commission hopes to compile a
comprehensive and credible voter list in 14 days is a question we would
welcome more enlightenment on so that we too can fully share in the
happy sentiment.