Archive for nigeriang

Multiple taxation must stop, says minister

27/04/2010 No comments

Multiple taxation must stop, says minister

The
federal government yesterday directed the Joint Tax Board (JTB) and the
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to eliminate all forms of
multiple taxations from the country’s tax jurisdiction.

Minister
of State for Finance, Remi Babalola, who gave the directive at the
122nd meeting of the JTB in Abuja, emphasised the need for government
to continue pursuing good tax policy and administration in the country
as a vital part of strong economic management.

Mr.
Babalola listed advantages the country offers investors as a leading
financial centre to include a politically stable environment, a robust
regulatory system with good corporate governance standards, and a
dedicated workforce yet relatively cheap, pointing out that there is
need for the country to justify that recognition in Africa.

“The
country cannot afford to take these advantages for granted. All forms
of double taxation must be eliminated in our various jurisdictions,” he
said. “For the country to secure a position as a financial services
centre, we must strive to have an internationally competitive tax
system.

“Achieving
international competitiveness is not about reducing our tax rates to
the lowest in the world. Rather, we should focus on identifying and
removing barriers to the effective tax administration as well as strive
towards a system that is not only open and transparent, but providing
clarity and certainty, while maintaining integrity.”

All tax payers

Urging
the two institutions to ensure that they capture all predominantly
untaxed, yet potential and eligible taxpaying groups in the country,
the minister observed that the nation’s tax administrators still exist
largely in the era of ‘arm-chair revenue collection’, adding that a
situation where Federal Government employees are under-taxed as a
result of this cannot be justified by any explanation.

“The
expenses of government to the citizens of a great nation like ours, are
like the expenses of management to the joint tenants of a great estate
who are all obliged to contribute in proportion to their respective
interests in the estate. The Board should spare no efforts at
galvanising support for the various tax authorities to reach out and
capture our predominantly untaxed, yet potential and eligible taxpaying
group,” he said.

Effective
administration of the various extant tax policies, according to Mr.
Babalola, will help shape Nigeria’s economic future, improve
productivity and enhance competitiveness, adding that “It will lift our
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) so that Nigerians are better off. It has a
way of fighting the corruption virus in our system and it can deal with
intergenerational issues in a way that ensures a sustainable future.”

Decrying
the persistence of revenue leakages in the system, Mr. Babalola charged
the tax board to put in place measures to block the leakages of revenue
nationwide as well as ensure improvements in the willingness, accurate
declaration of tax liabilities and collection of tax from the populace.

The
board is composed of representatives of the Federal Inland Revenue
Service (FIRS), states internal revenue services/state boards of
internal revenue, as well as revenue agencies like the Nigerian Customs
Service (NCS), Federal Roads Service Commission (FRSC) and the Revenue
Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).

Its
chairman, who is also the executive chairman of the FIRS, Ifueko
Omoigui, said the JTB has not only discharged its role in ensuring
uniformity in the administration of personal income tax (PIT) in the
country, providing a forum for speedy resolution of conflicts between
members as well as providing advisory services to government on tax
matters in the last decade, but also facilitating the implementation of
tax reforms, including amendment of tax laws to address current
realities in the system.

Personal income tax

On
alleged introduction of new personal income tax by government, Mrs.
Omoigui denied any such decision, saying any increment in tax is
payable strictly in compliance with the ongoing reforms, adding that
the current ratio of about 6 percent of internally generated revenue
(IGR) to total revenue bears out the reality that 90 percent of the
taxes come from the pay as you earn (PAYE) mechanism.

She
called for the passage of the outstanding tax Bills before the National
Assembly, adding that government should grant increased administrative
and financial autonomy to state internal revenue services, establish
effective statistical database to facilitate future identification and
determination of tax administration-related issues as well as take
steps to curb the menace of multiple taxation at the federal, state and
local government levels in the country.

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Money

The new Porsche Cayenne

27/04/2010 No comments

The new Porsche Cayenne

Porsche Sports Car Company has unveiled
the latest models of the Porsche Cayenne Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV)
for years 2010 and 2011. The SUVs showcase a great body style with
unique interior qualities. The new cayenne is 48mm longer than its
predecessor, with a wheelbase also 40mm longer.

The latest Porsche Cayenne, which
unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show on March 2, comes with a lighter and
more agile body with full sporty characters.

To support its sporty features is an 18-inch alloy wheel, and a 19“ alloy wheels for its turbo model.

The interior is blessed with a very
satisfactory ambience that creates an exciting experience for its
driver and passengers. It comes with a leather interior, inclusive with
the seats. It has a dual-zone automatic climate control and an eight
way powered front seat adjustment. It comes with electric windows,
cruise control and built with a 100 litre fuel tank.

The most striking feature of the
interior is the creatively designed rising centre console that extends
to integrate with the gearshift selector, giving it the typical Porsche
‘cockpit’ character. The centre console also has an audio system with a
seven-inch intuitive touch- screen.

The Cayenne Turbo model comes with few exceptions like Bi-Xenon headlights, a customised BOSE audio system and 19 inch wheels.

Engine power

The engine of the new Porsche Cayenne comes in different types.

The Cayenne model
is powered via a 3.6 litre V6 petrol-engine, with an output of 300hp.
It integrates with an eight-speed Tiptronic S automatic transmission.

The Cayenne S Model
is powered with a 4.8 litre V8 petrol engine, with a maximum output of
400hp.It also integrates with an eight-speed Tiptronic S automatic
transmission.

The Cayenne Diesel model comes with a three- litre V6 engine with a 240 bhp (176kW).

The Cayenne S Hybrid features a 333 hp drive train and a tiptronic S eight-speed automatic transmission.

The Cayenne Turbo is powered via a twin turbo charged 4.8 litre V8 engine, with 500 bhp (368kW).

Price

The latest Porsche
Cayenne comes in varying prices pertaining to its models. They are
£41,404 for the Cayenne, £44,178 for the Cayenne Diesel, £53,693 for
the Cayenne S and £57,610 and £81,589 for the Cayenne S Hybrid and
Cayenne Turbo respectively.

The Porsche Cayenne S, S Hybrid and Turbo come fitted with Porsche Vehicle Tracking system for security.

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Money

Poorer nations get larger role in World Bank

27/04/2010 No comments

Poorer nations get larger role in World Bank

Members of the
World Bank agreed at the weekend to support a $5.1 billion increase in
its operating capital, the largest increase in general financing since
1988, and to give developing economies a greater say in running the
anti-poverty institution.

Under the changes,
China will become the bank’s third largest shareholder, ahead of
Germany, after the United States and Japan. Countries like Brazil,
India, Indonesia and Vietnam will also have greater representation.

“We are grateful to
our shareholding countries for this strong vote of confidence,” the
bank’s president, Robert B. Zoellick, said at the conclusion of the
spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The bank’s 186
members also agreed to support a reform package that calls for greater
openness and disclosure of information and improvements in managing
risks and measuring results.

The World Bank has
made $105 billion in financial commitments since July 2008 in response
to the global economic turmoil. The new capital in essence, allows the
World Bank to maintain its programs at their level before the crisis.

“We could start to
see this last year, at the time of our annual meeting, that unless we
could get additional capital infusion, we wouldn’t be able to continue
this high lending volume,” Mr. Zoellick said in an interview on Friday.
“And indeed, even coming out of the crisis, we would be in a position
where we’d have to come back below precrisis levels.”

In a Global
Monitoring Report, released Friday, the bank reported that the economic
crisis had slowed the pace of poverty reduction in developing
countries. As a result of the crisis, 53 million more people will
remain in extreme poverty by 2015 than otherwise would have, the report
found. Even so, the report projected that the number of people in
extreme poverty – defined as living on less than $1.25 a day – would be
920 million in 2015, a significant decline from the 1.8 billion in 1990.

Some developing
countries sought a bigger capital increase, as other development banks
have received. But the wealthier nations, which are squeezed, resisted
such a move.

Timothy F.
Geithner, the United States Treasury secretary, said Mr. Zoellick had
“made a strong and compelling case” for the money that was approved. He
pledged to seek Congressional support for the United States’ share of
the capital increase, $586 million or about $117 million a year for
five years.

“For every dollar
the United States contributes to paid-in capital for the World Bank,
$26 worth of assistance is delivered,” Mr. Geithner said Sunday.

Mr. Zoellick carefully devised the capital increase and voting changes to be adopted together.

The $5.1 billion in
so-called paid-in capital, which the bank can use for day-to-day
operations, will bring the bank’s cash on hand to about $40 billion. Of
the $5.1 billion, developing countries will contribute $1.6 billion in
connection with a shift in representation that will give them 47.19
percent of voting power, up from 44.06 percent. The actions fulfill a
pledge the bank’s members made in Istanbul in October.

In 2008, the bank’s
members approved a smaller shift of 1.46 percent of voting power to the
developing countries from the wealthy ones and added a 25th seat on the
bank’s governing board, raising to three the number of seats for
sub-Saharan Africa.

All told, the
cumulative shift of 4.59 percent of voting power amounts to the
greatest realignment in representation at the World Bank since 1988.

“As the developing
countries gain more shares, they have to pay for them,” Mr. Zoellick
said in the interview. “Part of the good story here is a burden-sharing
story.” The bank’s members approved on Sunday an $86.2 billion general
capital increase, bringing the bank’s total subscribed capital, not
counting about $26 billion in reserves, to $276.1 billion. But except
for the $5.1 billion, that new money is “callable capital,” which
resides with the member countries but can be drawn upon in an
emergency. (The bank has never had to do so.) The callable capital lets
the bank enjoy a top-notch credit rating and borrow at favorable rates.
All but roughly $40 billion of the $276.1 billion is callable.

The bank’s members
said it should redouble its focus on helping the poor, especially in
sub-Saharan Africa; invest in agriculture and infrastructure; promote
global “collective action” on climate change, trade and other
priorities; combat corruption; and prepare for crises.

Mr. Zoellick, who
served as the United States trade representative and then as deputy
secretary of state under President George W. Bush, said in the
interview, that the less wealthy countries were leading the global
economic recovery, while the United States, Europe, and Japan had
rebounded more slowly.

“A lot of growth is
coming from the developing world, and so the financing we do in the
developing world is now beyond charity and social solidarity – it’s a
question of self-interest,” he said. “They have become sources of
demand.”

The New York Times

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Money

Maritime industry to benefit from petroleum bill

27/04/2010 No comments

Maritime industry to benefit from petroleum bill

Operators in the
maritime industry have been promised a good time, as the proposed
Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is said to be designed to promote
economic activities among Nigerian ship owners who participate in the
freighting of crude oil in and out of the country.

The Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), in a statement on Monday, signed
by Levi Ajuonuma, its group general manager in charge of Public
Affairs, said Shehu Ladan, group managing director of the NNPC, gave
the assurance at a reception organised by the Indigenous Shipowners
Association of Nigeria (ISAN), in Lagos.

Mr. Ladan said that
the PIB, if passed into law, would provide a conducive business
environment for ship owners involved in the oil business; assuring them
of his readiness to ensure that their investment is boosted through a
synergy between them and the Corporation.

“I want to assure
you that NNPC under my tenure would do whatever it takes to support
Shipowners of Nigeria origin to get returns on their investment. While
in the saddle, shipowners will not fail. I believe this would give the
Nigerian flagship its pride of place in the maritime industry,” the
NNPC boss said at the event, which was held in his honour and two other
members of the executive council of the federation.

The other two honourees are the Minister of Interior, Emmanuel Ihenacho, and the Minister of Transport, Yusuf Sulaiman.

Mr. Ladan applauded
ISAN for the honour done them and solicited for their collaboration
with the Corporation to sustain the effective export and import of
petroleum products.

Dividends of democracy

Presenting his
remarks, the Chairman of ISAN, Isaac Jolapamo, felicitated with the
honourees for their appointments and described them as “round pegs in
round hole.” He assured them of the association’s partnership and urged
them to use the little time left for them to deliver the dividends of
democracy to the shipping industry.

Mr. Ihenacho, the
Minister of Interior and one of the honourees, while addressing the
gathering, pledged his commitment to the growth of the maritime sector
in the country, adding that “indigenous shipowners would be encouraged
to participate more in the freighting of crude products.”

The president of
Lagos Business School, Pat Utomi, a professor of Political Science,
congratulated the honourees and described ISAN as one professional
association that has provided expertise, and capable of making the
Nigeria economy one of the greatest economies by year 2020.

The event was
graced by the former chief of general staff, Mike Aikhigbe; the
governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, who was represented by his
Commissioner of Environment.

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Money

Engage the masses in budget process, say experts

27/04/2010 No comments

Engage the masses in budget process, say experts

Against the
background of failing states, increasing lack of transparency in
governance and depleting trust in its budget implementation, experts
have urged governments at various levels to actively involve the masses
in their budgeting and implementation processes if they indeed desire
to facilitate the empowerment of the people.

This, they say, can
be achieved through the actual promotion and implementation of economic
literacy programmes at the grass root levels, the “politicising of
economic knowledge”, building existing knowledge of the communities,
the promoting of the understanding of economic process, and empowering
communities to take action to access decision making machinery.

Break it down

At the 5th edition
of the International Economic Literacy and Budget Accountability for
Governance (ELBAG) training organised by Action Aid, Finance Analysts
and guest lecturers urged the government to actively and effectively
involve the participation of the masses for better government.

The event had a total of about 44 participants from 13 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia in attendance.

“Unless the people
understand the details of budgeting, they cannot effectively hold the
government accountable,” the country manager of Action Aid, Husseni
Abdu, said during the training in Lagos yesterday.

“The economy is an
important space for the poor. It is important to begin to break down
economies to allow people understand before they can actually engage
and challenge governance.”

According to him,
the announcement of increase in the nation’s Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) and fall in inflation among other economic indices, without the
expected corresponding improvement in the welfare of the people, shows
that there is a disconnect somewhere.

Training objectives

Mr. Abdu said the
programme, titled International Economic Literacy and Budget
Accountability for Governance (ELBAG), is seeking to address the
disconnection between local, national and international level,
facilitate the empowerment of the people, ensure participation of the
poor and excluded, reduce corruption, and increase accountability in
the process of governance and policy making, particularly with regards
to budget formulation, economic planning and government decision making
among others.

Otive Igbuzor, an
international activist who was also present at the event, said there is
a relationship between budgets and poverty in an economy, and therefore
it is necessary that the challenges to budget formulation and its
implementation be identified if poverty eradication must be achieved.

“Budget is the most
important instrument of governance, apart from the constitution,” Mr.
Igbuzor said. “The general focus on budget has increased in recent
years. As democracy increases, the legitimacy of government decreases.
A budget is the statement of government estimated revenue and proposed
expenditure, a key instrument for macroeconomic management and is
supposed to perform fiscal functions of allocation, stabilisation, to
influence level of employment, prices, economic growth and distribution
of income and wealth.”

A huge number of
African countries score low in human development index, gender index
and environmental perfection indexes but are high on consumption, he
said. “We hope to be able to train a set of action aid staff who have a
very good understanding on budget and budgetary projects on how to use
budget to transform governance so that when they get back to their
respective communities,” he said. “They can also in turn, enable the
people there to be able to engage the government of their community. It
is a regular thing we have every year and the shifts run between
Nigeria, India and other countries.”

According to him,
the impact of the trainings (usually held yearly) is measured by the
level of people’s engagement with the government in our various
countries, to ensure improvement in government transparency in
governance. The next training is expected this time next year.

The process

Action Aid is an
international organisation present in many countries in the world.
ELBAG is one of the programmes run by the organisation, directed at
increasing people’s understanding of the economy and governance.

It is a process and
a methodology framework that combines organising people, developing
grassroots monitoring mechanisms, democratising knowledge, using
participatory tools and methods for building public accountability and
transparency to initiate people-centred advocacy process.

It creates a space where people can discuss economics and use it as an entry point to build democracy and governance.

Ultimately, the intention of t he programme is to propel accountability and promote transparency..

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Money

Cadbury Nigeria 2009 net loss narrows sharply

27/04/2010 No comments

Cadbury
Nigeria 2009 net loss narrows sharply

Cadbury Nigeria (CADBURY.LG)
said on Monday its net loss more than halved to 1.2 billion naira ($8 million)
last year from a 2.75 billion naira loss in 2008 while turnover rose around 5
percent.

The firm also said it had paid off bank debts, which helped drive it to
a loss in 2008, following the successful conclusion of a rights issue. It said
senior Nigerian banker Atedo Peterside had been appointed as its new chairman.

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Money

UBA says Q1 pre-tax profit down 56 percent

27/04/2010 No comments

UBA says Q1 pre-tax profit down 56 percent

Nigeria’s United Bank for Africa (UBA) (UBA.LG)
said on Monday pre-tax profit fell 56 percent to 5.3 billion naira ($35
million) in the first quarter, according to an announcement to the stock
exchange cited by brokers.

Gross earnings for the 3-month period fell to 48.2 billion naira from
57.3 billion a year earlier.

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Money

Letter to my unborn child

27/04/2010 No comments

Letter to my unborn child

Author’s note: If there was a competition on my personal blog for which of the articles out there is my magnus opus, this particular one
would in my not so humble opinion would be very high on the list. It was
written at a point in my life when I was going through what I now know to have
been the only heart break I have ever suffered. All the previous ‘heart breaks’
were nothing more than puppy love issues as compared to that one. Whereas when
I suffered heart break back in UNIBEN, the only effect really was to go a
little mental, but recover as soon as the next pretty face strolled along, and
they were not in short supply, in this case, I lost almost 10 kilos in weight,
lost a whole lot of sleep, was made redundant at work (was it because of the
recession or because of her?), and was for a brief period of time engulfed in a
level of hatred that I frankly did not know I was capable of. Thankfully as
things pan out, I have managed to move on from all of that.

What reminded me of
all that was a conversation I had with a friend this morning. He is in exactly
the same situation, and seeing it eating him up was pathetic to say the least.
Uwa my guy, there are only two reactions in such a situation, either you bend
or you break. It would be most unfair for you to let this break you, so bend a
little, then shape up, wax lyrical, and life has to go on. We dey your back…

My son, you do not know me yet. But there is time for that to
change after you are born. My name is Chxta, I am your father. I am writing
this down as my testament to you, a few words of advice to dispense, just in
case I forget to do it whenever the time comes. That I may forget to do it
serves as my first lesson to you. Yes son, I am fallible. Just like any other
human out there. I will make mistakes over time, you will be disappointed in me
once in a while. But like you are going to be, I am only human, and making
mistakes is the most fundamental human right there is out there. What really
matters is the person’s acceptance of his mistake, and more importantly, his
determination not to repeat that mistake. So, whenever I make those mistakes or
do things that are not in line with what I have to say now, bear in mind that I
want you to do as I say, not as I do.

Over the
years I have quietly observed a lot about people, and the world we live in. And
I have come to the conclusion that life is indeed worth living. The only
problem with it however is that you only have one, one that will be full of
mistakes and thus regrets, but one that will also be full of achievement and
thus joy. Try to live so you have more of the latter.

Make every
effort to enjoy your youth, so that you won’t grow up with regrets. The best
time in your father’s life so far were his undergraduate years. Those should be
yours as well, so you have some time to wait yet. However be careful to avoid
excesses, and above all take your studies seriously. A good education is the
only safety net you will ever have. Be mindful to have a complete education
though, a complete education encompasses everything you learn, not just the
school curriculum. Always remember that whatever certificate you might receive
in life would read that you were found worthy in ‘character and learning’. Note
that the character always comes before the learning…

Always plan
ahead. But whenever you plan keep two things in mind, firstly always try and
make alternative plans. As religious people say, ‘man proposes and God
disposes’. Again always keep in mind lessons learned from previous successes
and failures. There are bound to be failures in life as there are bound to be
successes. But remember that you can never know where you are headed if you
don’t know where you are coming from. And then again, there is no point living
life if you don’t have a solid idea of where you are headed. In making plans
never underestimate the value of intelligence. There aren’t many truer sayings than
‘to be forewarned is to be forearmed’. The real value of knowing all there is
to know about a potential foe or situation is that when things go wrong as some
surely will, you will not so much as not be shocked, but you would be in a
better position to absorb the shock.

Sometimes I
will not follow you, your siblings and your mother to church. This is not
because I don’t believe in God, I believe He is there alright. Rather it is
because my Bible starts and stops at Matthew 7:12. The ethic of reciprocity.
You must always bear in mind that you are what you are because of all the other
people around you and nothing else. If they were any less, you would be less,
and if their circumstances improve, so would yours. Keep that in mind and
always be good to the people around you. Your father is no masochist, so he
would never go out of his way to cause pain to anyone around him lest the
person turn around and hurt your father as well. Those are lessons that I
learned quite a while ago. Be nice to people, always offer to help in any way
you can. Don’t offer to help when you can’t do what is needed, don’t offer to
help when it would spite you. Whenever you help, do not forget that you helped
such a person. If the person turns around someday and spurns you, know then that
you are a better person, but never entertain thoughts of vengeance. Nothing
wears down a man more. Always be grateful, and never hesitate to express your
gratitude. Remember, as simple as it sounds, the words ‘thank you’, go a very
long way in making someone repeat a feat of assistance to you. More importantly
though, your actions in expressing that gratitude go even longer. Never demand
assistance. If it comes, don’t spurn it. If it doesn’t shrug your shoulders and
life goes on.

Make new
friends, but keep the old ones. One is silver, and the other is gold. Never
forget that. Be loyal to your friends. True friendship is more important than
all the gold in Fort Knox, and let the friendship flow from you. You don’t have
to wait for the next person to always make the first move. Ensure that your
friends’ problems are your problems. That way when you have problems they would
be their problems. Try not to keep enemies, but sometimes that can’t be
avoided. Make sure that your enemies are also the enemies of your friends.
Always be truthful to your friends. However, try and have the wisdom to know
when to be economical with the truth. It may be better on some occasions to be
economical with the truth as that would help the situation a lot more than the
blatant truth. Never tell a barefaced lie. That only complicates matters more.
Hang on desperately to the friends who improve you as a person. Those who don’t
improve you, keep at arm’s length. Even though I asked you to strive as much as
you can to keep your friends, some would prove themselves not worth having as
your friends. Give such people as long a rope as you possibly can, and when the
rope has grown too long, cut it, but never look back in anger.

Make sure
you learn a language other than that which we will speak at home. Make sure you
learn as much as you can in that language. Also make sure that you learn the
basics of as many languages as you possibly can. There is no telling if the day
would come when a simple knowledge of the question, ‘quo vadis?’ would
be all that stands between you and a lynching. Learn Igbo. It is the language
of your father, his father before him, his father before him, his own father
before him, und so weiter…

Love
completely and like a fool. You will meet girls as you grow up, you will be
infatuated with some, but you will fall out of it. This thing called love is a
placebo, and when you are on the other side of it, it hurts terribly. Never
forget that. Always keep in mind however that the really tangible things in a
relationship are respect and care. Any other physical yearning will diminish
given time and lack of proper care. As a man however, when you are in love,
give your all completely. Don’t hold back, don’t expect anything in return. If
you fall victim of unrequited love, hang on for as long as you can, then like
in all other relationships, walk away without looking back. Nothing destroys a
person’s confidence more than unrequited love. If you are lucky to find someone
who loves you back, walk in the air and return her love completely. There is no
greater feeling than when you are with a girl and you know that she belongs to
you completely. I know that because your mother loves me completely. Do not
under any circumstances think that ‘complete’ love cannot die. Like a plant
that is denied of nourishment, it would die. If fed, it would flourish. This is
a topic I won’t dwell on however because it is full of contradictions. Two
things you must take away from it however are these, first true love between a
man and a woman comes only when you have learned about the baggage which she
carries, and are able to accept that she has that baggage, and put up with it.
The second thing you must understand is that there with one exception, there is
no such thing as unconditional love. The one exception is the love a mother
feels for her child at the moment of birth, the one she will feel for you on
that day in the not too distant future when you are born. Even the love of God
which the religious people will tell you about has strings attached; if you
mess it up, He will burn you in hell for eternity.

NEVER keep
secrets. There aren’t too many more correct statements than that of Tigran
Petrosian, ‘there is more deception in chess than in poker, but while in poker
you hide your hand, in chess everything is out in the open’. Live in such a way
that no one can use some dark secret against you in future. However even with
all that openness, learn what is most valuable, and keep that close to your
chest. Always speak your mind. That way you will have a clear conscience and
you will sleep better at night. People will ridicule you for it, some will make
statements such as ‘you talk carelessly’, but as your father can tell from his
own experiences in life, when the chips are down they will seek your counsel.
There is something in the human being that appreciates brutal honesty.

Keep at the
back of your mind that he who must have peace must be ready for war. With that
in mind, never back down in the face of provocation. However, always be mindful
that YOU, not your adversary should be the one to select the time and place for
the fight.

Eat healthy.
My body has felt a lot better since I began to cut down on the junk, so would
yours.

The next one
is one that I’m only beginning to come to terms with, image is everything. Be
mindful of your appearance. The way you are dressed will be the way that you
are addressed. Always be neat and well manicured. It will open doors.

Never be
afraid to show off your knowledge. If people around you do not like the fact
that you are more knowledgeable than they are, direct them to the nearest
toilet with the appropriate instructions on how to insert their heads inside
the bowl.

The last I
can think of now my son, and extremely important: don’t watch football. That
game has an evil spirit, and your father is possessed. I don’t wish that on you
my son, my IfeChukwude. I love you son.

P.S: Another letter to the boy for reference.

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Opinion

Time to reform the PDP

27/04/2010 No comments

Time to reform the PDP

For most of the past eleven years, the Peoples Democratic Party has held sway over politics in Nigeria. The party, which has controlled the federal government since 1999, also produced a majority of the state executives – thus cementing its hold on the nation.

Buoyed by the attendant access to national resources that this engenders, young and wizened politicians thought it best to join the ruling party and hide under its sturdy umbrella to nurture their ambition. Its leaders, unmindful of the dangers of hubris, have also taken to boasting that the party – the largest party in Africa, according to its promoters – will continue to provide the leadership for the country in the next 60 years.

On current assessment, though, that might actually sound wildly optimistic. The party is currently locked into an internal struggle that might either remake it or mar its continued existence. Of course this is not the first crisis the party has undergone.

The party has always, over the past couple of years – especially when elections were around the corner – revealed a predilection for eruptions as its gaggle of big men and women struggle with the need to subsume their ego for party discipline.

Of late, some of those who left the party in a huff over their defeat in the run-up to the last election have started retracing their steps back. The most nationally significant of these being former vice president,

Atiku Abubakar who is leading his band of supporters back into the party.

So, the party appears to be gaining further strengths. But in this also lies its weakness. The fabled large tent of the party is now struggling with coping with the large crowd huddling under it. The party is in turmoil and unsure how to accommodate the mostly conflicting needs of its many factions.

The leadership appears to be smack in the middle of the road that these new interest groups need to pass – and it thus being stream-rolled. The national chairman of the PDP, Vincent Ogbulafor is fighting a personal battle to hold on to both his post and his liberty. On Monday, he lost a legal challenge to his arrest and trial by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over alleged misappropriation of millions of naira. A conviction could send him to jail for years.

One of the most coherent forces against the PDP national leadership is led by a disparate group of individuals united mostly by their disdain for the leadership of Mr. Ogbulafor and his team. These include people such as former Senate president, Ken Nnamani and a former Speaker of the House,

Bello Masari, former governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili and his former campaign director, Aleigho Dokpesi.

These politicians, who have recently been suspended by the party, say their goal is to reform the party and make it more responsive to the needs of Nigerians. There are, however, dark mutterings that this might mutate into the breakaway of the group to form another political party. This appears far-fetched; but the PDP could benefit from a well-structured reform pushed by its members if this is well intentioned.

Which is exactly where the worry lies. More hard headed analysis would show that all this commotion is little better than posturing and scheming for relevance ahead of next year’s national election. This would mean that rather than a belief in the high minded speeches they have been delivering, members of the reform group want nothing better than a smoother access to the feeding trough for themselves and their followers. Incidentally, this appears to be the assessment of the Ogbulafor-led executive of the party.

No matter. The fact that there is a very visible division in the perception of leaders of the PDP on which direction the party should follow presents immense opportunities for positive-minded members of the party (no sniggering here) to come together and inject a more civic orientation into the activities of an organisation that is tagged with the slightly demeaning title of People Deceiving People party.

Because of its size and reach, the goings-on within the PDP matter to Nigeria. The acting president, who is also the party’s number one member, should step into the party’s fray to forge a more responsive body out of this behemoth. It makes little sense to talk grandly of ensuring electoral reform at the national level when the nation’s biggest party is in thrall to the politics of gangsterism and opacity.

Nigeria’s political system is no doubt in need of reform. One place to start is within the PDP.

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Opinion

Happy people happy nation

27/04/2010 No comments

Happy people happy nation

The
wife of the outgoing Greek ambassador, Mrs. Eva Dafaranos, was quoted
as having said the following about her experience in this country:
“When I came to Nigeria…I said to myself: the Nigerian people are so
happy. There is something different about Nigeria; no matter the
diversity, the people are happy. They are kind to each other and they
believe in God. I feel Africans and Nigerians are the best of the human
race.” This characterisation brings to mind a similar one made by the
former Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Boutros Boutros
Ghali,who is said to have called Nigerians the happiest people in the
world and would wish to be born a Nigerian, were he to have a second
life. The BBC also reported in October 2003 that a study of more than
65 countries suggested,“the happiest people live in Nigeria”.

When those
statements were made years ago I felt rather good about them, believing
that they paid tribute to our resilience as a people, able to keep
their spirits up even in rather trying circumstances.

We’re obviously a
fun-loving people, drumming and dancing, seeking every opportunity to
throw a party, and apparently quick to shrug off whatever problems
assail us as God’s will. Life must go on.

This time around,
however, reading Mrs. Dafaranos’ declaration, I felt very bad indeed,
almost insulted. Six good years have gone by since 2003, and I wonder
if that characterisation still holds – or indeed, whether it is proper
for it to still hold. Those of you reading these lines, are you happy –
truly happy – about our current situation as a country?

Actually, I hold no
grudge against Mrs. Dafaranos; I am sure she is paying us a sincere
compliment. The problem is, I wonder whether this might not actually be
an indictment on us? That is, with all the difficulties facing us now
as a nation, we still come across as a happy people! Is something wrong
somewhere?

To my mind, there
are at least two ways to explain this phenomenon. The first is that
such characterisations might be based more on observations made on the
minority, party-throwing Nigerian population. After all, which category
of Nigerians do ambassadors hobnob with? Certainly not the ordinary
people on the streets! I am not sure that happiness is so easily
discernible on the face of the labourer struggling hard to eke out a
living, going home to his family of five at the end of the day with
less than the equivalent of one dollar in his pocket.

When the minister
of education feels comfortable enough to throw a lavish party at a time
when all the public universities in the nation are closed, then he must
be an incorrigibly happy person. When leaders celebrate their
children’s weddings with sums of money that far exceed the budgets of
federal institutions (hospitals, universities, etc), then they must be
truly happy, for they obviously see themselves as having been so well
favoured by their circumstances (that is, the public positions they
occupy), and they just have to let it be known.

The second possible
explanation might be even more worrisome, for it suggests that we are a
bunch of unthinking people, unable to recognise or feel the gravity of
our situation and act accordingly – and this is not limited to the
leaders or the society’s crème de la crème, sadly. It’s like we’re
morons living in an unreal world, a world of make-believe. We close our
eyes to the reality and continue on our happy-go-lucky way.

Many of us fall
under this category. We readily overshoot our financial abilities when
there’s an occasion to celebrate, mortgaging children’s school fees and
other important considerations in favour of a talk-of-the-neighbourhood
party.

We decide on an aso
ebi that is beyond the reach even of some members of the immediate
family – but they just have to find a way to pay for it, and they do!
People travel five hundred kilometres in ramshackle buses on terrible
roads for the burial ceremony of their boss’ friend’s husband’s
grandfather, telling themselves that they absolute have to be there.
Some of us cannot survive a party-less weekend; we are addicted to
pleasure – and the country might fall apart if it pleases! I wonder,
how did Ghana manage to turn things around for itself – by pursuing the
happiness road? I remember that when I was an undergraduate in the
seventies some Ghanaian students once came for the West African Games
and their situation was so pitiful, we had to contribute money to buy
soap, toothpaste and other basic needs for them to take back home.

Now, thirty years on, Nigerian children are applying to study in
Ghanaian schools because we have chosen to leave our own educational
institutions to rot. And I’m being told we’re a happy people! A version
of this article was first published on July 23, 2009

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