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The
new government in the United Kingdom will directly champion prosperity
for millions of people across the world that are battling against
poverty, disease and injustice, the new UK secretary for international
development, Andrew Mitchell has said.

Decrying the poor
structure of the Nigerian health and child-care sectors, while
presenting grim figures on mortality due to child-birth, Mr Mitchell in
a statement on his assumption of office as the head of UK’s aid agency,
Department for Foreign Direct Investment (DFID), noted that, of half a
million women that die due to complications in pregnancy or childbirth
across the world, around ten percent of them are Nigerians, and nearly
25,000 children die from easily-preventable diseases in the country.
This figure, he claims, has barely fallen in the past two decades in
many regions.

“Clearly, we must
act, and act now, to right these wrongs and end this terrible waste of
human potential” he said. “The people and government of Britain are on
your side, and we will use every tool in our policy armoury to champion
justice, freedom, fairness and prosperity for you.”

Mr Mitchell, who
recently spoke at the launch of Oxfam’s report on 21st Century Aid at
The Royal Society, in London, declared that UK development assistance
to Nigeria will rise to £140 million per annum in 2010/11 with the
development priorities intended at promoting non-oil growth in the
nation’s economy, and more effective spending by the government of
Nigeria on poverty reduction. He, however noted that his country can
only play limited role due to the current economic downturn.

“We can’t escape
the fact that in Britain, today’s economic situation is radically
different from what has gone before,” he said. “The UK has a massive
deficit, which it is our number one priority to tackle,” he said. “We
won’t balance the books on the backs of the world’s poorest. We have
resolved, in our coalition programme for government, to honour our
commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI on overseas aid from 2013, and to
enshrine this commitment in law. We will keep aid untied from
commercial interests, and maintain the Department for International
Development (DFID) as an independent Department, focused on reducing
poverty.”

A million aid watchdogs

The minister also
explained that of empowerment will be central in their approach, with
the aim of making “people in developing countries to be masters and
owners of the international development system, not passive recipients
of it.”

Mr Mitchell adds
that other opportunities for empowerment in the programme will provide
power to citizens to hold their governments accountable. This, he
stated, will be achieved with a plan to set aside up to five per cent
of the total amount given to governments to help parliaments, civil
society and audit bodies to hold responsible those who spend their
money.

He also announced a new UK Aid Transparency Guarantee that will help
to create a million independent aid watchdogs to enable people “see
where aid money is supposed to be going and shout if it doesn’t get
there.”

The Federation Account Allocation
Committee (FAAC) appears increasingly helpless over the N450 billion
indebtedness by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), as
Minister of State for Finance, Remi Babalola, turns defensive over the
corporation’s ability to meet its obligations.

More than six months after last
December’s ultimatum by FAAC for NNPC to pay up the debt, Mr. Babalola,
who is the FAAC Chairman, told NEXT last Tuesday at the end of the
Committee’s meeting for May in Abuja, that the issue has lingered
because the corporation is still bleeding.

“We should not forget that in the last
few months there have been a lot of challenges and issues with the
NNPC. The Group Managing Director that took FAAC through all the
corporation’s challenges and promised to come up with a repayment plan
was changed barely after a month. Another one came, that was also
changed for a new one.

“We also know that NNPC has some
challenges, including subsidies on petroleum products supplies that are
not being replenished, making it to be bleeding, and very difficult for
it to meet certain obligations. The issue is not about decision to pay
or not.

“The truth, as we know in the Federal
Ministry of Finance as at today, is that NNPC’s cash flow warrants that
we work with them till it is able to stand on its own as a business
entity. We need to be holistic about these issues,” he said.

Lingering debt debacle

After several months of ignoring
appeals for reconciliation of outstanding payments to the Federation
Account, FAAC had issued the ultimatum to the then Group Managing
Director of the corporation, Mohammed Barkindo, to appear without fail
before its meeting of last January with the repayment plan.

Rather than respond, the NNPC
management reciprocated with an invitation to FAAC members, made up of
officials of the Federal and 36 state governments as well as the
Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, for a “special two-day
workshop” on ‘Understanding the operations of the Oil and Gas Industry
in Nigeria.’

At the opening of the workshop held
late last January, Mr. Babalola told participants that the NNPC may not
be able to pay up its debts, as a result of its cash flow problems.

Emboldened by kid gloves handling of
the matter, NNPC’s Group General Manager (GGM), Finance, Ahmadu Sambo,
at the workshop, gave fresh conditions for the repayment of the debt,
saying NNPC’s capacity to repay was hinged on how soon it would get the
reimbursement of over N1.1trillion from the Federal Government for
subsidy expenses incurred for petroleum products supplies and
distribution since 2003.

Not soft on NNPC

Describing FAAC’s approach on the
issue as a display of “unusual maturity and understanding,” considering
NNPC’s peculiar operational environment, the Minister said FAAC decided
to issue another ultimatum to the NNPC management demanding the
repayment plan, though there was no guarantee that a positive response
would come.

On allegations that FAAC was soft on NNPC over the issue as a result of reported deal with its management, Mr. Babalola noted:

“I was the same person that forced the NNPC to agree that they are owing the Federation Account N450 billion.

“I was the same person that took top NNPC management to the
Presidency over the same indebtedness. So, how on earth would anyone
allege that the debt has not been paid because FAAC was soft on NNPC,
or that there appears to be some arrangement for the money not to be
paid? Certainly, this is not correct. One needs to understand the
operations of the NNPC. One cannot be producing a product that costs
N60 and selling at N40, and would not be bleeding. It does not make
sense.

It
may seem a double tragedy for Nafiu Baale, one of the suspended members
of the Oyo State House of Assembly, who was again, on Tuesday,
suspended indefinitely by the leadership of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) in his ward.

Mr. Baale, who
represents the Ibadan north east constituency at the state legislative
chambers, was suspended last week alongside other six lawmakers for
three months, for moving to remove the speaker, Olawale Atilola.

Wahabi Raji, PDP
chairman in his ward, addressed the press at the party secretariat in
Ibadan, on Monday. He informed that the party constituents decided to
suspend Baale indefinitely for getting himself involved in the attempt
to impeach the Speaker, who was alleged to be frustrating the move by
members to investigate the alleged misappropriation of N8.2 billion
levied against the state governor, Adebayo Alao Akala, by some
petitioners.

Sixteen of the 32
members of the House who attempted to sit at Chamber of the state House
of Assembly, with the intention to impeach Mr. Atilola, were prevented
by thugs who beat some of them mercilessly last week, leading to
serious injuries on two of them.

The pro-Speaker
members later sat to suspend seven of the pro-impeachment lawmakers.
But despite an effort to secure a court order to set aside the
purported suspension from the House, Baale got another blow from his
ward exactly a week after that of his colleagues.

Unhappy Baale

In his reaction to the latest suspension, Mr. Baale said the pronouncement was “illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.”

“The so-called
leaders that suspended me without informing me or levying any
allegation against me in writing, as prescribed by the PDP
constitution, and allowing me to defend myself before suspension, have
got it wrong. I don’t know if they know that a party constitution
exists at all. They just believe in doing things illegally. This is
sad,” he said.

He explained that
before a punitive action is taken, the law permits that an accused
person be invited to come and state his own side of the story.

“A decision taken against a member who has not been informed of the
charges against him or her, or been given any opportunity of defending
himself or herself, shall be null and void,” Baale said, quoting the
constitution.

“We
are a developed country with undeveloped people.” How provocative! My
instinct was to reject the statement, but on deeper thought I feel that
there is an element of truth in that statement. If that is the case,
what does it mean in practical terms?

All of a sudden,
many incomprehensible and frustrating things make sense. Nothing seems
to last! Our big national projects that are well started end up
half-done. Our well trained staff start off well but like batteries,
they quickly exhaust their energy and thinking cells, and grind to a
halt until the employer starts the process all over again.

Why are we labelled
a developing country? 30 years ago we had trains, planes, schools,
universities, farms, plantations, factories, roads, reliable power,
postal services, telecoms services (albeit limited), and formal cordial
relations with most countries in the world. We built industries around
our mineral resources and took pride in our contribution to worldwide
commodities trading. Growing up, the industries I heard most frequently
referred to were textiles, fisheries, cocoa, and rubber.

We had low
unemployment, high enrolment in apprenticeships, vocational training
schools and well-run polytechnics and universities. Our graduates,
academics, and citizens were valued and respected world-wide for their
energy, enterprise, and the contributions they could make. Enterprise
and occupations were passed from parent to child and we had generations
of farmers, blacksmiths, artists, traders, market women, transporters,
lawyers, taxi drivers, doctors etc..

Engagements with
government were straightforward and took minimal time. The civil
servants were friendly, helpful, informative and happy to be of service.

To all intents and
purposes, I would assess Nigeria then, even in the rural areas, as 60%
on the road to developed nation status. What went wrong?

I join a long list of more eminent people who have pondered and explored the causes. This is my own take on it.

Fola Arthur-Worrey,
in his book, the Diary of Mr Michael, writes about the observations,
thoughts and experiences of a visitor to Nigeria starting from his seat
on the plane as it approached Murtala Muhammed International Airport in
Lagos.

What does the
visitor see? And this is very important. The largest manifestation of a
nation’s culture is in the external sensory components of it – what you
can see, smell, hear, and touch. The landscape, the buildings and
structures, the dress and appearance of inhabitants, the available
facilities, the language, the facial expressions, posture and gestures
of people.

Form follows functions:

So what did Mr
Michael see as he moved around our country? The same things that we see
on a daily basis. On the surface, we see all things that have always
been there (except trains) plus new technological advancements such as
mobile phones and computers. It all seems logical. It all seems to be
working.

Yet, once you look
beyond the surface and delve a little deeper, you may find a vast
difference between what is on the surface, and the reality. That was
the role played by Mr Michael’s Nigerian driver.

He was the voice of
the people, deconstructing, demystifying and explaining the
inexplicable. What we have in place is Form without Substance, a
developed country with undeveloped people.

Just as architects
and designers generally follow the principle of ‘Form follows
Function’; in other words, that the design of the object/building must
enable and not detract from the ultimate purpose of the object: i.e. a
beautifully designed bottle opener is no use if it cannot remove the
caps and corks from bottles. Just so, educationists and citizens forget
that the various forms we have, of government, of transport, of
education and so on, are no use if they do not deliver the function for
which they were set up. There is no point having a democracy with three
‘independent’ arms of government, federal, state and local legislatures
if they do not deliver democracy.

Initiatives for progress, improvement and positive change should be
fundamentally about achieving better substance and function. We are
tired of changing and improving ‘forms’ – better job titles for work
that is still undesirable. That is where we seem to be stuck in our
development track. Repeatedly changing the form, without improving the
substance of our existence.

Should the
political class not clean up its acts during the upcoming elections,
Nigerians should opt for open protest rather than wait for judicial
decisions which might waste time and not ensure justice, President of
the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has said.

Mr. Akeredolu, who
said he was expressing his personal opinion and not that of the bar,
was the guest lecturer at a lecture series organized by the League of
Veteran Journalists, Oyo State, in Ibadan, on Wednesday.

In a lecture
titled “Leadership As Albatross: The Nigerian Experience”, the guest
lecturer explored the history of Nigeria from the time of amalgamation
to explain the country’s many problems as well as proffer solutions.

While emphasizing
the need to reform the electoral process for the next elections, he
explained that if the country could institute a mechanism that would
ensure credible elections, there would be no need for election
tribunals.

According to him,
politicians take Nigerians for granted by rigging elections and
manipulating election tribunals since the people have not been taking
serious actions against them.

“No amount of
tribunal can challenge election riggers. People should go to the street
and fight their cause, otherwise, the mess will continue. If elections
are rigged in 2011, people should go to the street to protest. There is
no other due process than that”, he said.

“Our recent
experience clearly shows that we are still far from achieving
greatness. What is of utmost importance and urgency now is the process
which will throw up the desired representatives of the people. Unless
the much anticipated electoral reforms become reality, we continue to
grope in the dark,” he said.

Support Jega’s appointment

The NBA boss
absolved President Goodluck Jonathan of any wrong doing in his manner
of appointing the new Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
chairman, Attahiru Jega, saying the appointment is in line with the
existing law.

Against the
argument from some quarters that the recommendation on the appointment
of INEC chairman in the Justice Mohammed Uwais-led Electoral Reform was
breached, Mr. Akeredolu said the recommendation was yet to be ratified,
adding that the president made the appointment in consonance with the
law of the land.

Despite the much
celebrated pedigree of the new INEC boss, Mr. Akeredolu said Nigerians
should be cautious of jumping to the conclusion that Mr. Jega’s
leadership of the electoral body would give the country credible
elections.

He also said
advised the country to stop recycling leaders when the youth who are in
tune with the modern day realities abound for the jobs.

“To enable a
leader realize his set goals, ambition and objectives, he needs the
services of a crop of dedicated young men and women with vision and
high sense of imagination, not discounting the invaluable experience of
the veterans in all relevant fields of human endeavour. He must lead a
team that is articulate and full of initiative,” Mr. Akeredolu noted.

Good leadership is central to Nigeria’s development
and its aspiration to greatness in the comity of nations, Vice
President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, said yesterday in Abuja.

Speaking when a delegation of Nigeria Youths for
Goodluck Jonathan visited him at the State House, Abuja, Mr Sambo, who
was represented by his Special Adviser on Political Matters, Hussaini
Mohammed Jallo, said the country needs honest and transparent leaders
who are dedicated to the Nigerian project to move the country forward.
He said Mr Jonathan’s administration has started well by addressing
some of the most pressing needs in the country such as power,
infrastructure and the fight against corruption.

He also said that President Jonathan has re-ignite
confidence in the country as a nation by the international community
and this has to be sustained by giving all the support and cooperation
needed to move Nigeria forward in terms of development.

“The administration has begun the revitalization of
ailing industries in the country; this will bring employment to the
youths,” he said. “Improvement in power generation will also increase
and sustain the volume of business amongst our people.”

The national chairman of the group, Sambo Lawal, said
their coming together as a group “is derived from our passion to ensure
that Nigeria emerges as a virile, great and enduring nation where
justice and equity come as a natural birth right of every Nigerian.”

Poor political culture

He stated that development in the country has been
inhibited by poor political culture, nepotism, corruption, communal
rivalries, and religious suspicions, among others. Mr Lawal said his
delegation came to declare the support of Nigerian youths to Messrs
Jonathan and Sambo for successful implementation of government’s
policies and programmes, with particular reference to a transparent
electoral process, the revamping of the energy sector and elimination
of all forms of corruption in the conduct of government business.

He condemned the zoning formula as propounded by some politicians in
the PDP and urged Mr. Jonathan to declare his intention to run in the
2011 presidential poll as Nigerian youths are solidly behind him.

The federal executive council, yesterday, cancelled
the N58billion second Niger Bridge project which was awarded in 2007 by
the federal government.

It further approved that the ministry of works should
engage a reputable project consultant and commence a new procurement
process for an award of contract for the project, on a fast-track
basis, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act
(2007) and ICRC Act. While briefing pressmen after the 18th session of
FEC, which was chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan, and lasted for
about three hours with only two memos discussed, information minister,
Dora Aknyili, and her minister of state, Labaran Maku, said the
decision was reached following a memo submitted by the minister of
works, which showed that the three-year-old contract has still not been
executed.

“Following a memo by the minister of works, Council
was made to understand that the present Niger Bridge, located at
Onitsha/Asaba in Anambra/Delta States, was constructed about 45 years
ago as a major interconnecting link between eastern and the western
parts of the country,” she said. “Council had at its meeting of 6th
May, 2007 approved the award of a contract on PPP concession
arrangement for a period of 30 years for the second Niger Bridge to be
constructed within 36 months, in the sum of N58.6 billion. The equity
participation for the project was 60 per cent private, and 40 per cent
public, of which the federal government’s equity was 20 per cent, and
10 per cent each for Anambra and Delta State Governments. For several
reasons, the project could not be executed.”

Explaining the nature of the proposed bridge, Mrs.
Akunyili said the project is a six-lane dual carriage-way,
approximately 1.76 km wide, with 2.5m shoulders on each side and 4.0m
median width. “The project also includes a 14km long approach road with
3 river bridges and other ancillary works” she added. The sum of N7.5
billion has however been provided for the project in the 2010
Appropriation Act.

Security operations in the east

The council also received briefing from the minister
of police affairs, Ibrahim Lame, on security report on the South East
operation, code named operation “IHE.” The operation commenced
simultaneously as planned across the south eastern states of Anambra,
Abia, Imo and Enugu of 6th June 2010, the minister said.

He noted that all mobile units deployed for the
operation were confirmed to have arrived and deployed to specific
locations after receiving brief on the general conduct of the
operations. In all, 13 units of police mobile force were deployed to
Abia; six to Imo; four to Enugu and 13 to Anambra.

The minister reported that the attack on designated
targets, which began on 7th have been successful as “all areas and
indeed the entire states were comprehensively covered, entry and exit
points properly policed and local police formations duly fortified.”

Massive raids, the minister also reported, have continued with
attendant clamp down on criminal activities across the region. Arrests
are being made and it is hoped that information derived from the
suspects so far arrested will lead to further arrests. The present
status of most of the targets raided indicate that criminals may have
hurriedly abandoned their hideouts. The president, at the end of the
briefing, demanded that the operations against kidnappers be sustained.

The International
Labour Organisation (ILO) on Wednesday agreed to vote tomorrow on a new
International Labour Standard on HIV and AIDS to protect people living
with HIV/AIDS in the workplaces.

The ILO Liaison
Officer in Abuja, Pius Udo, said that if the International Labour
Conference (ILC) adopted the standard, “it would be the first
international human rights instrument to focus specifically on HIV and
the world of work.” The committee of governments, workers and employers
convened in Geneva last Monday to discuss and agree on its content and
approve the draft standard, along with a new resolution on its
promotion and implementation.

The proposed
standard contains provisions on prevention programmes and
anti-discrimination measures at national and workplace levels aimed at
strengthening the contribution of HIV positive people to work;
universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. If
finally approved, this will shield the HIV positive people from
discrimination. The resolution had invited the ILO governing body to
allocate resources to give effect to the standard and requests to
regular reports from member states on its implementation for review,
saying the UNAIDS and WHO supports would also be encouraged as
discussed during the discussions.

Sophia Kisting,
director of the ILO Programme on HIV and AIDS and the World of Work,
said: “members of the HIV and AIDS Committee used their experience in
implementing the ILO Code of Practice on HIV and AIDS to craft this
landmark instrument that is real proof of the power of social dialogue.
If adopted on Thursday, this standard will take workplace interventions
to a higher level in the global response to HIV and AIDS.” Also, the
Chairperson of the HIV and AIDS Committee, Thembi Nene-Shezi said the
Committee “had made history” in the “crafting of this instrument which
should be a source of pride for the ILO and its constituents.”

No job loss

Mrs. Kisting also
clears the view that there might be clash between the already
implemented Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS, and the world of work and the
new standards if finally voted for adoption. “The ILO Code of Practice
adopted in 2001 is a set of principles that enjoys a great deal of
support amongst ILO member states, as well as UN agencies and many
organizations both within and outside the UN system. While there is no
intention to change the Code, we have experienced that there can be
selective implementation of its 10 principles and a new recommendation
would strengthen the Code and create much greater harmonization of our
work place programmes. If adopted it will be the first international
human rights instrument to focus explicitly on HIV/AIDS,” she said.

“One of the central
reasons that a new recommendation was proposed by the ILO Governing
Body was that our constituents wanted to find a way to help address
stigma and discrimination. To this day stigma and discrimination still
means job losses, it still means a lack of access to jobs, and it still
means that through fear and going too late for an HIV test that
potentially a life is lost. Through an international human rights
instrument such as this proposed recommendation we can more confidently
tackle stigma and discrimination, make sure that people could access
voluntary counselling and testing and be referred for treatment in time
and we can help save businesses and small enterprises and ultimately,
lives.”

Nigeria involved

Nigeria has 20
government delegates, seven employers’ delegates and 7 Labour group
contingents, including the Trade Union Congress president,Peter Esele
and Odah John of the Nigeria Labour Congress The Nigerian government
contingent, in its brief, said that it believed that the proposed
recommendation would help fill the gaps in efforts to stem the scourge
of HIV/AIDS.

To write anything about the Nigerian Police is almost like spewing out clichés. Except, none of
the clichés will be heartwarming. They are usually gory tales of
killers in uniform. Men and women that were supposed to protect the
Nigerian citizens have become their greatest enemies. Seeing a Nigerian
police officer when you are under any form of duress actually adds to
the fear and distress, because they will add their own unpleasantness
to your already nervous condition. Ask any Nigerian, and he or she has
a mouth full of stories about police trouble.

Even when they
seem to be doing their job, they don’t seem to have your interest at
heart. Till today, I am still wondering the reason behind roadblocks in
our streets other than to extort money from innocent commuters and
harass poor citizens, while the real thieves drive by in luxury cars.
Many have lost their lives due to these road blocks, either been
physically shot or been harassed into preventable accident.

The recent news
coming from Abuja in regards to what is now known as APO Six killing is
disheartening. The Investigative Police Officer, Denise Asawa, in the
killing of six innocent Nigerians five years ago is now confessing to
lying about his testimony in the case. Mr. Asawa, supposedly a trusted
member of the force, says he was compelled to write false statements to
save another accused. This statement makes one wonder, how many false
statements are being pumped out from the force? Not only are some
members of Nigerian Police killers, they have also openly confess to
lying and manipulation of evidence. How discomfortingly frightening.

I hope one day, the government will find it necessary to overhaul a
tattered force, retrain the hunters in uniform to see citizens as human
beings not animals. Until then, the police is not your friend but your
fiend.