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Vivien Njemanze, a
committee clerk, had just finished conducting her boss, the chairperson
of the Senate Committee on Environment,

Grace Benet, round
quarry sites in Mpape, at the outskirt of Abuja when she noticed that a
bulldozer had deliberately crossed the only road, and all cars, bikes
and pedestrians have stopped moving.

People rushed out of buildings; everybody stood still, gazing expectantly at a mountain down the road.

Boom! A loud
explosion rattled off the mountain; the earth trembled, and a thick
cloud of dust covered the town, but nobody was hurt. Crush Rock
industries Ltd had just blasted a segment of the mount down the road.

Incidentally, the
Senate Committee on Environment and the National Environmental Standard
and Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA) had gone there to enforce
environmental regulation laws on the five stone quarry companies
operating in the suburb. The enforcement team was led by Ms Benet (PDP
Adamawa state), and comprised senators and the director general of the
environmental regulatory agency, Ngeri Benebo.

The previous week,
a similar blast produced disturbing waves which shock was felt by
buildings in the high profile Maitama district, less than 10 km away.

Apparently, the one
million people living in the community are familiar with such blasts
and with dust going down their lungs, but the enforcement team seemed
worried that the miners were not complying with the regulations guiding
their business and that their unlimited blasting was beginning to
affect the immediate environment and the adjourning Maitama district
negatively.

The enforcement
team were also checking if the various mining companies had any plan to
remedy the environment after their blasts and excavations.

Non-compliant miners

The five stone
mining companies operating in the suburb have mostly been blasting and
crushing rocks in Mpape for over 30 years but none of them have an
environmental impact assessment certificate or a plan on how to repair
the environment after mining. Neither did any of the mining companies
have a corporate social responsibility project in the community.

The worst offender
was Julius Berger Plc. They are the longest stone blasting company in
the area but had neither an Environmental Impact Assessment certificate
nor an Environmental Management Plan. Their site also had a lake
developing from their previous mining pit, “untreated and breeding
mosquitoes.” “Can Julius Berger do this in Germany?” Mrs Bent asked the
site manager. “This is totally unacceptable in Nigeria.”

The senate
committee chairman therefore gave them an ultimatum to develop an
environmental management plan and conduct an environmental impact
assessment on the site’s adjourning community.

“We are giving you
two weeks to do this or we will come back here and shut this place
down. We cannot tolerate this; it is totally unacceptable to us.” She
added.

Like Julius Berger,
Arab Contractors and the rest of the Chinese companies mining stones at
the suburb were blasting the rock, causing earth tremors, polluting the
air with dust, and producing unsafe lakes from old mining pits but have
never conducted any environmental impact assessment on the site.

Their workers were also not protected with safety kits, neither were they insured.

Kamel Eljilbaly who
represented the management of Arab Contractors ltd argued that the
company had the necessary certifications but Ihebinike Kevin, an
official from the Federal Ministry of Environment, countered saying the
ministry had no record of such certifications neither did they have any
post mining plans from the company.

Other mining companies the team visited similarly argued that they had certificates and permits but could not present them.

Soon after the
midday blast by Crushed Rock Industries Ltd, the bulldozer left the
road, and Mrs njemanze and her team had a thorough fare and life in the
community went back to normal – on the face of it.

In the meantime, residents of the suburb as well as Maitama, the
adjourning high profile city, anxiously await the full implementation
of the environmental laws by the stone blasting companies.

The political
crisis rocking the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) is not
limited to the national level of the party. There is crisis in
virtually all the state chapters and Osun, a state hitherto known for
peace, is not left out.

The house of the
PDP in the state seems to be strongly divided against itself and the
centre can hardly hold. This development is not unconnected with the
interest of some stakeholders of the party over who emerges as the
gubernatorial candidate of the party in the 2011 general election.

The party
leadership had tried to manage the crisis, but recent event has shown
that they are far from reaching a meaningful compromise.

The state
secretariat of the party has suspended the leaders of the party and
some members in Iwo Local Government Area of the state for alleged
anti-party activities, an allegation which the suspended members
strongly refuted. Aside this, a serious crisis looms in the six local
government areas in Ijesha area over who will represent the Ijesha zone
of Osun East Senatorial district of the state.

Similar crisis had
also broken out in Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state, where
party leaders and the chairman of the local council, Sarafadeen
Awotunde have disagreed. This has led to the polarization of the party
in the area.

There are parallel executives of the party in virtually all the 30 Local council branches of the party, as a result of crisis.

Political observers
say this might affect the unity of the party and its future in the
state, especially as it pertains to the 2011 governorship election. As
a result of the crisis, the party had last month suspended the chairman
of Ila Local Government, Bello over allegations of anti-party
activities. The party had also suspended the executive members of the
party in the council area, a development which the members of the party
in the area are protesting.

Basically, the
crisis, which has almost split the party into two, is seen as a result
of the interest of the leadership of the party in a particular
governorship aspirant who hails from Ile-Ife, in the East senatorial
district, out of the 15 aspirants that had shown interest in the
governorship race and obtained the N3 million intention of interest
form sold by the party secretariat.

Supporting one candidate

Some party leaders
alleged that the state chairman of the party, Ademola Rasaq was
supporting the candidature of one of the aspirants and had mobilized
heavily for him, and had even ordered all the local government chairmen
of the party to rally round the candidate in their various council
areas. However, this situation did not go down well with some of the
chairmen who prefer other aspirants, hence the crisis.

The PDP members in
Iwo, who recently staged a peaceful protest against the dissolution of
the executives of the party in the council area, alleged that they were
victimized by the leadership of the party due to their support for
Fatai Akinbade, the former Secretary to the Osun State government who
is also vying for the governorship position.

The aggrieved
members blame the leadership of the party for destabilizing the party
structure in the area and threatened that if not curbed, the present
crisis may destroy the party before the next general election.

Some of the
placards carried by the angry PDP members, who were mostly youth, read:
“Don’t impose minority on the majority in Iwo PDP”; “Minority cannot
rule over majority in Iwo Local Government”; and “Iwo PDP exco remain
intact” among some other unprintable words directed at the state
leadership of the party.

“ The state
executive of the party had no just reason to suspend the executive of
the party in the local government, since there was no crisis in the
party,” a leader of the protesting youth, Rauf Salawu said. “The
victimization of the majority of members of the PDP in Iwo zone was
targeted at Fatai Akinbade, who is a son of the soil and whom we are
supporting in his bid to emerge as the party’s flag bearer. This does
not go down well with some executives in the state chapter of the
party, because they wanted to penetrate into us but could not have
their ways.” He also warned the leadership of the party against
imposition of executives to administer the party in Iwo, saying it will
not augur well for the party in the general elections. He also advised
all members of the party in the zone not to allow themselves to be used
by any individual for selfish reason, even as he called for more unity
and understanding amongst members of the party.

Ijesha is also divided

The crisis in
Ijesha zone was caused by the decision of the elders’ caucus of the PDP
in the area to endorse one of the six aspirants. The caucus, under the
leadership of former minister of transport, Ebenezer Babatope, recently
announced the endorsement of a member of the House of Representatives,
Gbenga Onigbogi as the sole gubernatorial aspirant of the party from
Ijesha land.

Nine aspirants have
signified intention to contest the gubernatorial election from Ijesha
zone and three have done so from the Ife axis. Those from Ijesha zone
are Gbenga Onigbogi (Ilesa West); Toye Wahab (Obokun); Diran Odeyemi
(Obokun); Lateef Bakare (Ilesa East); Tunde Odanye (Ilesa West); Remi
Olowu (Ilesa West); Dosu Fatokun (Obokun); Femi Alafe-Aluko (Ilesa
East) and Saka Sarumi (Ilesa West). The aspirants from Ife zone are
Iyiola Omisore (Ife Central), Femi Fani-Kayode Ife Central) and Baju
Bamigbetan (Ife Central).

The decision to
endorse a single aspirant as Ijesha candidate did not go down well with
other aspirants and their followers, a development which made them
query the rationale behind the endorsement of Onigbogi and the
disqualification of other aspirants.

A pressure group in
the area, Ijesha Redemption Group asked the Elders to explain the
factors considered before concluding on Mr Onigbogi. It also cautioned
the leadership of the party against acts that might affect the
successful performance of the party in the 2011 election.

The Leader of the
group, Gbenga Fowowe said the endorsement of Mr Onigbogi was against
the PDP constitution and an affront on the members of the party in the
area, alleging that the process was not transparent and was marred by
bribery and high level corruption.

“This action is a total negation of the PDP constitution and operational guidelines,” he said.

Fresh evidence in the Daimler
bribery scandal links key actors in the Nigerian presidency, heads of
law enforcement agencies, and the top echelon of the Nigerian
diplomatic community to a $15 million bribery spree in the half decade
between 2002 and 2007. Ongoing investigations in the United States,
where the German company has been indicted, has again slurred the image
of Nigeria, highlighting the systemic structure of corruption that has
permeated the Nigerian bureaucracy.

The U.S. investigation report
obtained by NEXT names Sokari Egbuson, former Nigerian Ambassador to
Brazil as one of the Nigerian officials who benefited from the slush
funds dished out by Daimler AG, the German motor manufacturing company,
in order to obtain government contracts in Nigeria.

According to US investigators,
between 2002 and 2005, Daimler AG through its Brazilian subsidiary, DC
do Brasil, paid Mr. Egbuson $60,000, which by current value amounts to
N9 million, as ‘commissions’ for a contract to supply 10 buses to the
Bayelsa State government. Mr. Egbuson allegedly carried out this
business by using his privately incorporated company, Cascadas Nigeria
Enterprises Ltd., which he co-owns with his wife, Titilope Egbuson.

The State House deal

Mr. Egbuson was not alone. Between
1998 and 1999, Daimler AG, through its Nigerian subsidiary, Anambra
Motor Manufacturing Company (Anammco), paid about N270 million in
bribes to the Nigerian presidency, then headed by former Military
president, Abdulsalami Abubakar.

In return, the federal government
granted Daimler AG a contract to supply 23 new Mercedes Benz passenger
vehicles, and an armoured Mercedes Benz Pullman limousine. For this
deal, Daimler inflated the wholesale price of the vehicles.

“Daimler charged the State House
approximately 21 per cent over the wholesale price for the vehicles,
parts, and services,” the US investigators said, and from the profits,
made handsome payments to the relevant authorities.

“In connection with these sales to
the State House, DAIMLER made 1,427,242.65 dollars in improper
commission payments…with the understanding that these funds would be
passed on, in whole or in part, to Nigerian officials to secure the
State House Contract,” the investigators said.

In 1999, a total of about 1
million Deutschmarks were paid in two instalments to the London bank
account of a high level ‘Executive Branch official,’ in Nigeria.

Furthermore, 50,000 Deutschmarks
was paid to the administrative staff of the State House who signed the
contract while another 50,000 was disbursed to “a delegation of State
House Officials who were visiting a DAIMLER factory in Sindelfingen,
Germany.”

The FIFA deal

In 1999, Nigeria hosted the World
Youth Championship for the Federation Internationale de Football
Association (FIFA). The FIFA Championship offered another opportunity
for profits, both for Daimler AG and for corrupt Nigerian government
officials.

In February of that year, Daimler
landed another juicy deal to supply 54 buses to the Ministry of
Industry, then headed by Onikepe Akande. For this deal, valued at
almost N1 billion, Daimler paid a total of N13.4 million to government
officials who helped the German company clinch the deal “without
engaging in a public tender or bidding process”.

“The contract was dated February
12, 1999, and was signed by a senior Nigerian government official with
the Ministry of Industry, and witnessed by another Ministry of Industry
employee,” the investigators said, adding that these two officials were
subsequently paid money in bribes in May, 1999 and September, 1999.

First comes the Police

In this N2.3 billion scandal, the
Nigerian police was not left out. To be precise, the Nigerian Police
was the first government entity which received money in bribes from
Daimler AG, according to the US investigative report.

In 1997, Daimler AG entered into a
contract with the Nigerian Police Force to supply a Master Lift
Heavy-Duty Recovery vehicle. The Nigeria Police at this point was
headed by Ibrahim Coomassie who was the Inspector General but, as NEXT
investigations reveal, Mr. Coomassie was sidelined in the procurement
and the contracting process was wholly handled by a bureaucrat of the
executive branch who the American investigators listed as the
‘Permanent Secretary, Police Affairs Office, and the President’s
office’.

Mr. Coomasie headed the office
between 1993 and May 1999, and Mr. Musiliu smith succeeded him from May
1999 to March 2002. Though the contract was signed during the Coomasie
administration, payment was made in 2000 during Smith administration.

The Permanent Secretary at the
time was Abu Ogbe who later became head of service under the Obasanjo
Administration but neither he nor Mr. Smith could be reached to comment
on the claim of investigators for the story.

For this contract, however,
Daimler paid, according to indictment documents of American
investigators now available, a total of about N19 million (using
current conversion rates) to a “member of the Nigerian Police Force” in
two instalments. First, into the officer’s account in Germany and then
by cash, according to the indictment papers.

Emmanuel Ojukwu, the Police
spokesperson however told NEXT in Abuja that he was unaware of the US
investigation report, adding that the Nigerian police is not carrying
out any investigations into the Daimler bribery scandal.

“I am not sure that the police is
working on the case. I don’t have any information on the matter. I
cannot respond because I have not seen the US report. I need to see the
report myself,” Mr. Ojukwu said.

Meanwhile, the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has launched investigations
into the matter and is looking to work with the US government to
uncover the bribe takers.

“We opened investigations into the
Daimler/ Anammco scam recently following a judgment in the U.S.” said
Femi Babafemi, spokesperson for the agency last week, adding that “So
far, we have interviewed about four officials and representatives of
Daimler and Anammco in Nigeria.”

From Nigeria’s pre-independence
electoral commission, headed by Eyo Esua, to the 21st century INEC
under former chairman, Maurice Iwu, the office, under several labels,
has hosted many teachers, professors and trade unionists.

Of the total eight former
chairpersons of the commission, at least three were professors — two,
of Political Science — like Mr. Jega, who is a former chairman of the
Academic Staff Union of Universities.

Mr Esua, who superintended
Nigeria’s first indigenous electoral commission in the early 1960s,
like Mr Jega, was an outstanding labour union member and a teacher.
Many of the office holders too, like Mr Jega, were appointed amid huge
public acclaim and optimism.

But the similarities he shares
have somehow conjured up concerns, more about his destination than a
robust background of academic activism, which he possesses.

In the wake of his naming last
week, the Nigerian Bar Association and the All Nigerian Peoples Party
Chairman, Edwin Umezeoke, and other commentators cautioned Nigerians
against expectations of rapid change merely by virtue of the
appointment, reminding Nigerians of an issue that has somewhat
alienated Mr Jega’s coming from the rest: “His moving into a polluted
ambience,” as the NBA put it.

Perhaps no other of the past
federal electoral commission chairmen assumed office under as much
controversy left behind by a predecessor as Mr Jega would, commentators
have said. And that poses the greatest challenge he will face when he
eventually takes office after the Senate’s two-week break.

“People will expect him to perform
miracles with the next elections coming and based on where we are
coming from, he needs to do that for Nigerians to have faith in him,”
said Joshua Ishiaka, a member of the House of Representatives from
Bornu State.

With a prolonged history of flawed
elections fresh on the nation’s psyche, and the extent of scandalous
elections handling by the immediate chairman of the INEC, Maurice Iwu,
Mr Jega’s takeover bears hope as much as it bears risk.

“Where we are now, if he just
slips, he will lose the goodwill he enjoys and Nigerians will condemn
him. That is something he needs to be careful with,” said Mr Ishiaka.

Lawmakers, like opposition parties
and other political groups, say the key to sustaining goodwill and
being able to succeed will rest on Mr Jega’s management of the new
election time-table raised by the recent constitution amendments and
the contentious question of providing a plausible voters’ register.

“We believe if there is will and
determination, a credible voters’ register can be completed within one
month,” said Musa Adar, who heads the House of Representatives
committee on Electoral Matters. “When he settles down, he should study
the situation, come up with a blueprint and assure Nigerians. Even if
the elections are to be conducted in less than one month, it will not
cause any constraint against free and fair elections. It can be done.
And even if you give two years, if there is no will, nothing can be
done.

“I expect him to do a proper
restructuring, remove those who cannot work with him and bring forward
a sense of honesty and impartiality,” said Aloysius Etok, Chairman
Senate committee on Rules and Business. “He must try and create a new
orientation that will give Nigerians a free and fair election.”

Cautious optimism

The All Nigeria Peoples Party
National Director of Publicity, Sabo Muhammed, said the enabling
environment for the conduct of a free and fair election is not
guaranteed in the present formation of INEC. “Notwithstanding Jega’s
credibility and pedigree, government must create an enabling
environment for him to conduct free, fair and credible elections in
2011,” he said. “Government must assure the new INEC helmsman of all
necessary support. First, by ensuring the neutrality of security
agencies during and after the conduct of the 2011 elections.” The
president of the Trade Union Congress, Peter Esele, also said that
whatever might have been the tradition of the commission that has not
allowed it to reputably discharge its duties must be changed.

“It is left for Jega to do a
surgical operation on INEC and remove what will not make the 2011
elections to work. We urge him to ensure credible elections next year,”
Mr Esele said.

Olisa Agbakoba, former chairman of
the Nigeria Bar Association, who was one of those mentioned in relation
to the job, however, charged the federal government and all those
involved to speed up things, as he said there is a limited time to
achieve the task of a credible election. He also asked Mr Jega to work
through the process with an open mind and reaching out to all necessary
people to ensure success.

“I have known him for a long time
and he is a very credible and principled person,” he said. “I do expect
a lot from him and I do know that he has the antecedent to tackle the
issues. But the challenge is whether we have not overplayed the issue
of who is INEC chairman and overlooked the other institutional
structures that would have to be in place to support the work of an
INEC chairman.

“So I think that more needs to be
done, even for the fact that the new INEC would have to be allowed to
run with new recommendations because we need an INEC that will be
totally independent in terms of service delivery. That is the most
crucial aspect, because INEC needs to be independent of the executive.
Not doing so will make INEC very weak and if that is the point, it will
not lead to the kind of election we so desire. We need to act very
quickly.”

According to him, having success
in an election is not a question about the INEC chairman. “We need the
new INEC chair and his commissioner to, without delay, draw a new
national election plan and also to revalidate the voters register,
whether it is manual or electronic is not the issue.”

Yinka Odumakin of the Save Nigeria
Group said, considering the position of the present acting chairman of
the commission, that the 2011 election might no more be feasible owing
to lack of preparatory time, and Mr Jega and his team need to work
extra hard.

“The Acting INEC Chairman says
election may no longer be feasible in April 2011 due to limited time.
We sincerely hope that Jega will go ahead to issue a fresh timetable
and conduct the election, notwithstanding the comments,” he said. “The
SNG is also hoping to see an INEC that will immediately begin the
process of mobilising Nigerian voters so as to discard the apathy
associated with elections in the past in Nigeria.”

Voting process

Biodun Adegboye, an economist with
the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, however, cautioned against
what he said might be over-expectation.

“Tell me where he is going to
start,” he said. “Even Iwu himself was confused when he brought out two
time tables for Nigerians. Don’t be surprised to know that none of
those timetables will be useful for anything. Why? They were made by
people that were not wanted and to satisfy the wills of some
individuals.

“The issue now is which electoral
system are we following? How are the elections going to be conducted?
Are the rules still the same? So many questions and yet the answers are
still tied to the lackadaisical style of the legislative business in
the country. So, tell me if they expect magic from whomever they are
appointing,” he said.

A former governor of Ogun State,
Olusegun Osoba said in Lagos on Friday that considering the structural
inefficiencies within the INEC, “Nigerians should know that we cannot
celebrate yet. I will only celebrate when 2011 comes and I see the
right people winning the election and not some people arranging victory
for them. No, we will not take that,” he said.

Meanwhile, Abdulwahed Omar, the
NLC President said, “It is highly imperative that Mr Jega gets a team
that is competent, upright and non-partisan, so as not to sabotage any
effort at rebuilding an INEC that is genuinely independent.”

Belief in INEC

Meanwhile, with so many hurdles
ahead, Mr Jega has been described as an optimist that maintains his
belief in the possibilities of making it right. Speaking four years ago
in New Jersey on the challenges facing the 2007 elections, he
controversially reassured participants that Mr Iwu would not disappoint
in delivering the best that Nigerians needed. He also described the
situation in Nigeria as a murky political one, which he said was
dominated by “militicians” and not politicians.

“Trying to democratize a highly
militarized society like Nigeria is a tough job,” he said, adding that
leadership is critical for everything.

The Speaker of the
House of Representatives may be advised to step down next week,
following increased calls for his resignation. A highly placed security
source has revealed that Goodluck Jonathan will have crucial talks with
Dimeji Bankole ahead of the House reconvening on June 22.

“Bankole has a lot
of problems on his hands,” the source said. “I can tell you that Mr
President is unhappy with the situation and will demand a meeting with
him to account for the alleged charges brought by his own fellow
representatives.”

On Thursday, a
group of aggrieved House members gave Mr Bankole a seven-day ultimatum
to resign or they will make public some revelations about his
questionable financial practices over the last three years. Dino
Melaye, spokesperson of the group, said Mr Bankole would face
impeachment if he did not voluntarily step down.

“We are calling on Bankole to resign honourably within seven days or we will make the House ungovernable for him,” he said.

The security source
added that many of the allegations of corruption have already been
documented but that he was aware that there were new charges about to
resurface.

“Some of these charges are already in the public domain. Mind you, none has been taken up,” the source said.

“There are others
which have been made quiet but I can tell you that one includes a bogus
land deal right here in Abuja.” The Governor’s Forum may again be used
by Mr Jonathan to put pressure on Mr Bankole if he remains resolute.

“We saw with
Ogbulafor that Mr President does not court scandal in this
administration. A lot depends on whether Bankole is prepared to do the
right thing. If not, the Governors Forum would come into play again and
with Bankole’s gubernatorial ambitions, that is key.”

The rise

The son of an
Abeokuta chief, Dimeji Bankole attended elite schools in England and
the United States before returning to Nigeria to head a number of
businesses. In 2003, he was elected to the House of Representatives on
the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to represent the Abeokuta South
constituency of Ogun State.

At 37 years old, he
was the youngest person to assume the role of Speaker of the House,
following the ousting of Patricia Etteh in 2007. He was immediately
besieged by opponents who claimed he did not perform his mandatory
service in the National Youth Service Corps, though that was quickly
quashed when he produced his discharge certificate.

Travel scandal

In 2008, he was
accused of spending over N52 billion on inflated travel and vehicle
expenses. The House’s Ethics and Privileges Committee cleared the
leadership of any wrongdoing. Many of the House members called the act
‘selfish and fraudulent’. Although the case is still under
investigation with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, no
court proceedings have been initiated to date.

Last year, when
late president Umaru Yar’Adua’s illness precipitated a constitutional
crisis, Mr Bankole was perceived to be among the politicians opposed to
the transfer of power to Mr Jonathan.

This only
heightened the rift between him and his opponents, many of whom are
rumoured to be loyal to former president, Olusegun Obasanjo.

In April, the
Speaker narrowly escaped impeachment by aggrieved members of the
Nigeria First Forum (NFF), a pressure group in the House, while he was
stranded in London. The NFF had been formed in February to support Mr
Jonathan as acting president, following the resolution of the National
Assembly.

A month later, Mr
Bankole ran afoul of Representatives when he subtly opposed their
demands for a massive raise in their quarterly allowances. Members
wanted the N27.2 million they receive every four months reviewed
upwards to N42 million.

Bitter battle

Now, as supporters
of the president gear up for a possible run in 2011, the Speaker’s
troubles have only increased. Last Thursday, Mr Bankole and a member of
the House, long-time opponent Independence Ogunewe, nearly came to
blows. The brawl stemmed from the issue of the lucrative chairmanships
of various in-house committees.

In October 2008, Mr
Ogunewe was removed from his position as the chairman of the Committee
on Cooperation and assigned a less influential post. Then in 2009, as
punishment for his role in campaigning for a probe of the Speaker over
a N3.2 billion car fraud, he was stripped of all his chairmanship
positions and suspended for two weeks.

Last Wednesday, the
Speaker announced a minor reshuffle to the current House Committee
chairmen and Mr Ogunewe was unhappy that he was once again denied a
seat, despite Mr Bankole’s promises to restore him. The Speaker had
ousted some committee leaders, replacing opponents with his loyalists –
a move the Speaker alleged earned him death threats.

On Thursday, the
deposed members came together and gave the Speaker the ultimatum. The
members, including Mr Ogunewe, claimed they had incriminating evidence
of Mr Bankole’s corruption, which they were prepared to leak to the
public.

Still, the Speaker is standing his ground – at least for now. His
loyalists have promised to deal decisively with the errant members,
promising to expose their own evidence of misconduct against the group.
The showdown is set for June 22, when the House reconvenes.

This story had
receded to the innermost part of my hard drive; but, recently, when I
heard that our newly appointed foreign coach Lars Lagerback, was being
paid a whopping amount for only five months and the same source
revealed that it was exactly what the coach was paid for one year in
Sweden before his move to Nigeria; the seed that has been sown by my
muse, immediately ignited my quill to use.

It would not be the
first time and I doubt if this will be the last time things like this
will be happening in our nation. In fact, it has become the norm; but I
can only speak of what I know, what I have seen and what I have heard.
This space cannot contain the things that I imagine.

I really do not
want you to wonder for too long how stand-up comedy connects football.
If for nothing, they are both the most entertaining events in Nigeria
and even the entire globe right now. They both attract a kind of crowd
that ordinarily you would not find anywhere except where politicians
are gathered to share the meat.

In stand-up comedy,
the comedian performs and the audience responds; in football, the
footballers play and score, then the crowd responds. If they play well,
they get cheered but are booed when the opposite happens. The same
happens with comedy. When the comedian is not funny enough, he is booed
off the stage. All football clubs have managers, most comedians have
managers or they manage themselves. All football clubs have coaches,
the comedians at one time or the other have a role model or a teacher,
or at least somebody they could refer to as a mentor who okays their
performance or their rise to stardom.

An individual who
wakes up a talented footballer or comedian must hone this skill,
otherwise he will become rusty and ineffective. Then every footballer
believes he is a superstar and most comedians believe they have grown
beyond stars; they are super-moons. We could go on and on but let me
quickly narrow the comparison to why they both do what they do: for the
money. Incidentally, from a distance they both look like the easiest of
tasks to perform, until all eyes are on you.

In Abuja, most of
the government bodies have learnt to invite foreign (Lagos) based
stand-up comedians to anchor or perform in their events. It is not
because these Lagos based comedians are better than the Abuja based
comedians. These officials go out of the FCT because it is a known fact
that a prophet does not have honour in his hometown and, secondly, they
make more money from dealing with foreign (Lagos) based comedians and
they can justify the amount paid to these comedians by saying they are
superstars.

Exactly the same
scenario goes with the Lagerback issue. How much will the NFF officials
make from re-hiring Shuabu Amodu? Everybody wants to make it in his own
time.

By now, the
accusation by Glen Hoddles, one of the foreign coaches that failed the
NFF interview, that our officials in the football house asked for a
certain amount to be added as their cut to his fee if he wants the job,
has been buried unceremoniously. It is very common knowledge that
superstar stand-up comedians based in Lagos earn about N2 million per
performance while their Abuja based counterparts, that can deliver the
same goods with the same flavour, have never been paid beyond N80,000.

How did I know?
Well, I spoke to Oma Oma, the Co-ordinator of the Abuja Body of
Comedians (ABC) and he narrated an experience after he was nominated to
handle the MC job for one ministry. The officials in the committee said
they will not make more than two or three hundred thousand from him;
whereas, if they call someone from Lagos, they will definitely realize
at least six to seven hundred thousand naira from the deal. And some
people still think Glen Hoddle was just shouting because he was not
given the job, and that he wanted to rub the good name of the NFF in
the mud.

A plumber who came to repair some damaged items in my toilet said to
me, when I caught him in his lies because he doubled the price of some
of the items he bought, “Oga, e nor get any body wey nor dey talk lie,
I never see….” I do not have anything against Lars Lagerback; but for
the connotation of his names LAST LAGER BACK and I really am no fan of
Shuabu Amodu, because he never really impressed me any day while he was
at the helm of affairs of the Super Eagles. My problem is the way
corruption has eaten deep into every fabric of society and when I say
‘every’, I mean no one or no agency or organization, whether government
or private is left out. “Let him who is without sin cast the first
stone” at this story. We need change.

A recent study by
the World Bank Group, in conjunction with the United Kingdom Department
for International Development (DFID), has unravelled the issues
conspiring to sustain the prevailing difficult operating business
environment in most states of Nigeria. The 176-page report, titled,
‘Doing Business 2010: Reforming through Difficult Times’ launched on
Thursday in Abuja, as part of the Nigeria Sub-national Investment
Climate Programme, focused on key areas of regulations affecting four
stages of business life cycle in the country, covering starting a
business, dealing with construction permits, registering property, and
enforcing contracts.

The initial study
in 2008 dwelled on quantitative indicators on business regulations in
10 states, including Kano, Anambra, Ogun, Enugu, Kaduna, Sokoto, Abia,
Bauchi, Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

The 2010 edition
not only documented the progress in the previous study, but also
expanded the scope to all the 36 states and Abuja, comparing their
performances with 183 economies worldwide. The thrust of the report was
to investigate the conditions that enhance business activity, as well
as the constraining factors to the growth of small and medium scale
liability companies. The overriding objective was to provide the basis
for understanding and improving the regulatory environment for business.

Study findings

Findings from the
study, according to the World Bank Group Vice President, Financial and
Private Sector Development, Janamitra Devan, showed that though there
exist wide variations in business regulations nationwide, eight of the
11 states measured in 2008 recorded improvements in at least one of the
four areas above, as a result of various reforms initiated to change
the business environment.

The variations were
attributed to different performance levels of state branches of federal
agencies involved in the different stages in the business registration
process, such as Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), stamp duty
offices, federal and state inland revenue services, as well as state
licensing authorities for business premises.

While it takes only
five procedures, 22 days and about 58.5 per cent of per capita income
to complete the cycle of starting a business, it takes almost an extra
month to complete a similar incorporation process in Bayelsa State,
owing to the high number of processes required to be met. Across the 36
states, starting a limited liability company, the study shows, requires
an average of nine different procedures, 36 days and about 77.7 per
cent of Nigeria’s per capita income of $1,161 (about N174,150).

On dealing with
construction permits, the report says it is easier to obtain all
construction-related permits and utility connections in Jigawa, Sokoto,
Kano and Adamawa States than in Abuja, Lagos, and Ogun. In 32 of the
states, requirements for construction permits include: environmental
impact assessment (EIA), land use clearance, site analysis report and
fire safety report, while Jigawa, Kwara, Kano, Benue, and Sokoto States
do not require such permits for the construction of structures with low
environmental impact.

Completion of the
all procedures for the permits could be as fast as within 47 days in
Jigawa, 52 in Kwara or as long as 148 days in Rivers State or 350 in
Lagos, as a result of the bottlenecks of obtaining building permit and
getting permanent electricity connection, the report shows.

Registering
property, according to the study, has continued to be a slow, expensive
and burdensome process, with entrepreneurs having to go through an
average of 12 procedures over 82 days and having to pay over 16 per
cent of the value of the property to have it registered in the Land
Registry. The involvement of lawyers to register property is a big
impediment to the property transfer process, though not as much as the
requirement to secure the state governor’s consent.

Rating by states

On enforcing
contracts, the study shows that it takes an average of 511 days and
about 36.3 per cent of the claim value in all the states to enforce a
contract, as a result of clumsy court processes. Overall, Jigawa, Gombe
and Borno were adjudged the easiest states in the country to do
business, while Imo and Ogun states were considered the most difficult.

Jigawa State

Only seven
procedures are expected to be completed in 35 days at a cost of 81.2
per cent of income per capita to start a business; 10 procedures in 47
days at over 396.7 per cent of income per capita cost to deal with
construction permits; 11 procedures in 28 days at 11.1 per cent income
per capita cost to register property, and 40 procedures in 261 days at
28.6 per cent of income per capita cost to enforce contracts.

Gombe State

Eight procedures in
24 days at 66.2 per cent cost (starting business); 11 procedures in 97
days at 522.6 per cent cost (dealing with construction permits); 8
procedures in 16 days at 6.6 percent cost (registering property), and
40 procedures in 470 days at 27.9 per cent cost (enforcing contract).

Borno State

Requires 8
procedures in 34 days at 71.4 per cent cost; 13 procedures in 65 days
at 697.6 per cent cost; 8 procedures in 14 days at 14.1 per cent cost,
and 40 procedures in 371 days at 26.2 per cent cost, respectively.

Imo State

At least 10
procedures in 39 days at 85.9 per cent cost is required for starting a
business, nine procedures in 147 days at 21.3 per cent cost for
registering property, and 40 procedures in 510 days at 52.9 per cent
cost for enforcing contracts.

Ogun State

10 procedures in 40
days at 90.9 per cent cost is required for starting a business; 18
procedures in 102 days at 713.9 per cent cost for dealing in
construction permits; 15 procedures in 101 days at 16.2 per cent cost
for registering property, and 40 procedures in 455 days at 37.1 per
cent cost for enforcing contracts.

According to World bank Country Director, Onno Ruhl, “Reforms can
make it easier to get property titles by streamlining regulatory
compliance, while efficient, accessible and simple regulations could
unleash the natural entrepreneurship of small and mid-size firms in
Nigeria even better.”

It will soon become legal for
mobile telephone service providers in Nigeria to record and keep calls
or messages sent over their network, if deliberations at the Senate are
anything to go by.

Recording customers’ call will
follow after the passage of a law, currently before the National
Assembly, to compulsorily register all mobile phone users in Nigeria.
The bill seeking to enact the law has progressed in the Senate, and it
is sponsored by George Thompson Sekibo (PDP Rivers State).

The bill, which passed second
reading last week, demands that service providers acquire and maintain
technologies that will enable them record, store and retrieve
transactions done over their network.

“Any recording of mobile phone
service carried on by a service provider …shall be stored by the
service provider for a period not less than 90 days,” the bill read.

Although it is envisaged that the
recorded calls and transactions will be used for national security, the
bill, however, did not state how the records will be accessed and who
is empowered to access them.

Beyond call recording, the bill,
when passed, will require the service providers to also acquire
technologies that will enable them inform their customers where a call
or text message originated from, on their mobile phone’s screen, as
they receive the call or message.

“It shall be the responsibility
and duty of every mobile phone service provider in the federation to
procure, maintain, and operate such devices, equipment, technology and
processes that shall ensure the appropriate location of the sources of
every voice call, text message, voice mail, etc, coming into or from
its network is displayable on the screen of the mobile phone appliances
of the subscribers, automatically,” the bill adds.

The main aim of the bill is to
curb the growing usage of mobile phones for scams and crime, by
registering all subscribers to mobile telephone services, both new and
existing.

Registration of customers

The cost of registering the
subscribers and acquiring the recommended technologies should,
according to the proposed law, borne by the service providers.

It “seeks to provide for the
formal registration of mobile phone subscribers by their service
providers for the purpose of ensuring responsible use of mobile phone
numbers by their respective owners and to prevent the increasing
incidences of abuse by some subscribers,” Mr Sekibo, the promoter of
the bill, said.

“Such abuses that are now
prevalent in every part of this country have caused and are still
causing a great deal of apprehension to several users of the mobile
phones, as indicated by the numerous nasty experiences revealed by
traumatised subscribers daily.” Although the bill is yet to become a
binding law, the mobile phones service providers have commenced the
registration of their subscribers. All the network service providers
operational in Nigeria have set up units in designated centres to
collect biometric data from their subscribers.

Ruben Mouka, the spokesperson of
the National Communication Commission (NCC), the body that regulates
the mobile phone service providers, said the companies embarked on the
registration following a “quasi-law” the commission issued them.

Although the proposed bill places
the cost of the process on the service providers while the NCC
supervises, Mr Mouka added that the commission will soon begin their
own comprehensive registration of mobile phone users in Nigeria at the
expense of the commission.

“The commission will do that
through consultants that will reach everybody in Nigeria, whether in
the hinterland or in the cities, something like the national identity
card registrations,” Mr Mouka told NEXT.

A battle broke out
at the National Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC’s
conference room on Friday, between two companies marketing different
technologies for the same purpose of permanently eradicating the
distribution of counterfeit drugs in Nigeria.

Sproxil’s Mobile
Authentication Service (MAS), which utilises the SMS platform and
GlobalPCCA’s Pentesta, which employs Radio-frequency identification
(RFID) are similar in that they empower the consumer to quickly
determine the genuineness or otherwise of the drug they are buying.

Each product’s
presentation won a fair share of supporters among the participants
drawn from pharmaceutical companies and associations; and NAFDAC now
has the task of endorsing one.

However, Paul Orhii, NAFDAC’s Director General, prefers that “each pharmaceutical company makes its choice.”

“We won’t force
anything down your throat. Go and meet with the two companies and come
back to tell us your decision,” Mr Orhii said when participants started
expressing fears that NAFDAC may ‘anoint’ one of the products.

But the national
president of the association of pharmaceutical importers on Nigeria,
Nnamdi Obi, delivered the bottom line. “I am confused by the two
presentations,” he said, “I want NAFDAC to choose the best technology
that is most affordable to Nigerians.” Mr Obi’s confusion takes root
from a potential weakness in the MAS revealed by GlobalPCCA’s Fola
Daniel.

MAS requires that
consumers send a security code attached to each drug through SMS to
Sproxil’s server for authentication, but Mr Daniel said there is a
technology called “Net Hawk mobile phone tool” which can usurp the MAS
technology by cloning GSM cells, and the equipment, according to him,
costs less than N100,000.

Though, Sproxil’s
Chike Asiodu attempted to play down the potential threat, saying the
cost of cloning about 900,000 GSM cells in Nigeria will be practically
impossible, Mr Daniels, citing the example of his friend’s father,
insisted it is already being used by some kidnappers in the country.

X-ray of the MAS

The fact that MAS
technology was introduced to NAFDAC by mPedigree, which has
successfully implemented it in Ghana, but NAFDAC chose Sproxil, a
company that was not part of the national committee that drafted the
implementation guideline for the technology, is breeding distrust among
pharmaceutical stakeholders that spoke to NEXT.

“We have been at
this thing since around 2008. NAFDAC has dragged its foot till now that
Sproxil all of a sudden appeared,” said a representative of a major
pharmaceutical company at the conference. “I just hope they can
implement it properly.” In fact, Charles Akinsete, the public secretary
of Nigerian Representatives of Overseas Pharmaceutical Manufacturers
(NIROPHARM) referred to the technology as mPedigree, in an interview
with NEXT.

But according to industry stakeholders, the concern is more on effective implementation rather than on the implementer.

“I believe in this
technology because it’s effective and does not require manufacturers to
purchase any equipment. Also, it can be used anywhere there is GSM but
I must confess I don’t like the politics surrounding it,” said a
pharmaceutical boss.

What is wrong with the MAS implementation?

There are three key
issues that may undermine the MAS technology as it is being implemented
now. In an email response to NEXT’s enquiry, Tomi Davies, a director in
Sproxil said, “Sproxil Technology uses: Direct access to all MNO SMSC
in Nigeria for SMS through our local partner TextNigeria, Cloud
Computing applications and servers hosted by Amazon in the USA, and
24×7 Local Call Centre for participating consumers by ConSol (same
centre used by LASG for emergency calls).” NEXT’s investigation,
however, showed that such a project requires a dedicated data centre
and not just a hosting agreement that is not legally binding on Amazon.

Sections 3, 4, and
5 of Amazon Web ServicesTM Customer Agreement imply that the company
can terminate or suspend the services rendered to a customer “for any
reason or for no reason, at our discretion at any time.” Should
anything go awry, Amazon cannot be invited for questioning.

Secondly, the
security codes are issued by Sproxil, using asymmetrical technology and
printed in Nigeria. Upon arrival of the drugs in Nigeria, Biofem will
attach the security cards and this model bothers industry stakeholders.

“Nobody else has
the mandate or competence to determine if a particular product is
original except the one who made it,” said the pharmaceutical boss, “so
Sproxil will have to get the drug manufacturers to imprint the security
codes from source, else it is difficult to convince me that some of the
cards will not go on fake drugs by the time all the drug manufacturers
and distributors adopt the technology.” This is where Sproxil may meet
a big challenge, as it will take more that a presentation to get the
drug manufacturers to do this. It will take legislation at the national
and organisation levels for it to work.

“Looking at it from
the perspective of the umbrella organization that my company belongs to
in Nigeria, once it becomes a matter of deliberate policy of the
umbrella organization, my company will most likely participate,” said
Oladiran Rotimi, the group product manager of CiplaEvans
pharmaceuticals limited, a member of NIROPHARM.

Usifo Augustine,
Biofem’s product manager said that the ultimate plan is to get the
drugs coded right from source but Merck Sante, the French company that
manufactures glucophage, in an email response to NEXT’s enquiry, sent
by Gangolf Schrimpf, the Corporate External Communications manager of
Merck, declined to answer whether it will be ready to code the drug
right from source; though it confirmed it’s awareness that glucophage
is being used by Spiroxil as a guinea pig experiment in Nigeria.

The third issue is the one raised by Sproxil’s rival. “The GSM
companies have to come out and assure us that they are legally involved
in this project and that the technology is secure,” said the
pharmaceutical boss. “This should not be taken as a get-rich-quick
means. It should be seen as a social project because human lives are at
stake here.” “I would have expected a more convincing report from the
GSM companies, like an activity chart showing how long the
authentication process takes.” Sproxil’s presentation simply said that
735,153 packs of glucophage were labelled with PIN numbers under the
trial period and 22,638 SMS messages were received from 6,761 unique
consumers.

The fight against kidnapping and other related crimes took a new
dimension in Benin, the Edo State capital on Thursday, as traditional priests,
herbalists and traditional worshippers gathered at the King’s Square to invoke
curses on kidnappers and other perpetrators of evil acts in the state.

This was at the instance of the Benin traditional ruler, Oba
Erediauwa, who directed that curses be placed on all those involved one way or
the other in any form of criminality in Edo State, as a way of cleansing the
society. The Oba had recently offered to tackle the menace of social vices in
the city through traditional means.

About 60 traditional worshippers gathered at the King’s Square
where they made sacrifices of animals and poured libation over the animals
before placing curses on the kidnappers and other criminals in the land.

The Chief Priest of Benin Kingdom, Nosakhare Isekhure, said the
purpose was to ensure that peace reigns in the land.

“The country has been unstable for some time now as a result of
kidnapping and violent robberies,” he said. “The Benin people are traditionally
not Christians. We are traditionalists. In order to put a stop to the state of
insecurity, we just have to place a curse on them to stop all these activities
that threaten lives and property in Edo State so that there will be peace.
Besides, those who want peace must prepare for war. The Oba has said that for
peace to reign, we must mobilize the most effective tool.”

The Iyase of Benin, Sam Igbe was optimistic that the action of
the traditional worshippers would deter criminals from their evil ways and put
an end to kidnapping that has almost become a daily affair in the land. “We
shall wait and see, but we hope it will put an end to it (kidnapping). But if
they don’t fear themselves, they probably would be sorry for themselves,” he
said.

Seeking legal support

He said efforts were been made to give the action of the
traditionalists a legal backing, as “we are trying to liaise with the state
House of Assembly and the Commissioner for Justice”.

Mr Igbe advised the people to give useful information about
kidnappers and other criminals to the law enforcement officers because “police
are not magicians; they cannot perform without adequate information”.

The chairman of Oredo Local Government Area, Omorogieva Gbajumo,
welcomed the development and described it as an added measure to the efforts of
the police in stamping out criminality from the land.

He told the press that the act was to ensure that peace and
tranquillity reign in the land and also called on both the Christian and Muslim
bodies to organize their own prayers against the evil acts.

Traditional denominations like the Asigidi, Ayelala, Osokpekan and others
participated in the exercise which took them round some major streets in Benin.