Nigeria Content Online

In my father’s stories of his posting to Karazau, a remote
location in Northern Nigeria, during his job as a station master with the
Nigerian Railways in the 1950s, was an account of how Fulani herdsmen would
emerge from the bush and the villages asking for ‘sweet water’.

“Esh Em, a bamu ruwa mai dadi” (S.M., please give us some of
that your sweet water). They were referring to clear, boiled water, free of
harmful bacteria, guinea worm and other parasites that my mother drew from the
well, treated and stored in their quarters situated between the train station
and the village. My parents’ home was the only source of clean water for miles
around.

Ironically, 60 years on, the search for ‘sweet water’ continues.
At home, the Water Corporation bills us monthly for mains water supply, yet we
have been buying our supply from private water tankers for over six months.

Most of my neighbours have boreholes. Yet, the cost of sinking
and maintaining one is so high. Securing water for our uses costs a LOT of
money.

At the recent Commonwealth Regional Law Conference in Abuja, one
of the speakers asked whether water is the new oil; not just for us, but for
the world. We are contending with a natural resource that is being consumed at
a greater rate than it can renew itself; communities migrating across
international boundaries to follow shrinking lakes; declining rainfall that
most rural population rely on, urban spread and struggling water utilities.

Do we realise how much drinking water costs? Think about it. One
litre of bottled water costs more than a litre of petrol! How many of us, like
me, pay the Water Corporation monthly not to supply water? How many, like me,
have bought new water pumps and paid for new lines to be laid, with no results?
We should prioritise water security above the elusive 6,000 kilowatts that the
Ministry of Power has been promising us. We are buying both water and diesel,
and while our industry and businesses will become moribund without reliable and
cheaper power supply, our health and bodies will become impaired without
reliable and cleaner water supply.

More importantly in comparing oil and water, people have died in
fights over access to water. Access to water continues to be a matter of life
and death between farmers and herders.

Aah! Sweet water! In the developed world, drinkable water is
truly sweet. It is available everywhere for free – at water fountains on the
streets and from taps in restaurants, offices and homes. For more discerning
palates, there is a selection of waters. What strikes your fancy? Still water
from the French Alps? Sparkling water from Scottish highlands? Water that
tastes sterile, or slightly salty. Don’t like the taste of plain water?

You can opt for a variety of flavoured waters – lemon or
strawberry perhaps? Feeling weak? Go for vitamin-infused water, or water with
an energy boost. Need a bottle that is pleasing to the eye and decorative for
your table? Go for the designer bottles in cones and cylinders, or water
presented like wine.

A natural refreshment

And where do we find ourselves on this continuum between no
potable water, abundance, and designer water? Day after day, the poor still
trek for miles to fetch water. Each day, the mass of our urban citizens get
their drinking water from ‘pure water sachet’ sellers by the roadside. The bulk
of office workers get their drinking water from water dispenser suppliers. The
majority of homes have supplementary water storage facilities that they pay
private contractors to fill up. Cart pushers plying our roads with six to
twelve 25kg kegs of water are common sights.

Bottling companies that used to make their money from bottling
imported spirits and wines for the local market, are now largely bottling
water! Our own Nigerian Bottling Company, the makers of Coca Cola went so far
as creating their own brand of water – leveraging their existing distribution
networks for sales.

The developed world has moved on from water purely as a
necessity to water as also a desirable and fashionable consumable and
accessory. Water resources for basic needs are managed, conserved, and
rationed. More sophisticated technology to desalinate water is being developed.

Our technology is ramshackle water tankers creaking, rattling,
and leaking their way between their depots and private deliveries to the water
storage tanks of homes and offices. The streak of darkened wet tarmac marks the
trail of their passage on our roads.

The criminals have also gotten in on the act. While the
government and civil society are fighting to ensure the availability of basic
potable water, the established bottled water brands and distributors are
combating ‘pirates’ who refill used bottles with untreated water, recreate the
seal, and resell them as genuine.

More than one glass of red wine a day is injurious to the health. Other
alcohol clouds our minds. Packaged fruit juices, minerals and sodas are
fattening. The caffeine in tea and coffee over-stimulates our hearts. It is
best to go the natural route. Drink clean, odourless, sweet water!

The displaced people of Bakassi have to wait on God for help as
they ponder the whereabouts of the ₦600m
released early this year by the presidency to kick-start development at
the Day-Spring and Qua Islands for their permanent relocation.

This is the second time that funds made available by the federal
government for the development of a permanent resettlement site for the
displaced people will be missing. The ₦1billion released by the federal
government to the former Cross Rivers State government headed by Donald Duke
had similarly disappeared without trace.

When the new governor, Liyel Imoke took office in 2007, there
was no fund to develop the site meant for the displaced people. Mr Imoke had to
lobby President Umaru Yar’Adua for another money to enable him commence the
development of the site, given that the handover date of the oil-rich Bakassi
peninsula to the Republic of Cameroon was drawing near.

In late 2007, the federal government released another ₦1 billion
to the state for the provision of houses, schools, roads, hospitals at the
Ekpri Ikang site in New Bakassi Local Government Area. Experts said the amount
was grossly inadequate, and the state government had to augment it with
additional ₦1 billion.

By the time the island was finally handed over on August 14,
2008 in a colourful ceremony at Government House, Calabar. Mr Imoke was out of
office following the annulment of his election by the Court of Appeal on July
14, 2008.

Our investigations revealed that a presidential team which early
January went to inspect the Day-Spring and Qua Island site near Calabar to
ascertain their suitability for the displaced people of Bakassi approved the
release of ₦600 million for immediate development of the area in lieu of a
comprehensive funding to be provided for in the 2010 budget.

More than two months after the fund was said to have been
released by the Boundary Development Agency (BDA), work has not commenced at
the designated site as expected.

Analysts say the money is either in the coffers of the state
government or with the Boundary Development Agency [BDA] of the federal
government. But the latter claimed it has not received any of the cash. The
state government which has a separate account for the provision of
infrastructure for the people of Bakassi also said the account has not yet been
credited.

The director-general of the state boundary commission, Leo
Aggrey whose agency is charged with attracting development to the border
communities of the state, including Bakassi, expressed shock that such a fund
could be missing. He explained that,

“Because of the financial situation of the state government,
we’ve been keyed into his excellency’s intension to seek alternative or
collaborative funding of projects in the state. So, we have taken our cry to
the National Boundary Commission (NBC) and the Border Development Agency (BDA)
which has just been created out of NBC.

“Our meeting with the two agencies revealed that there was a
little fund left over in the 2009 budget, about ₦600 million precisely; it has
been transferred to the BDA and we made a presentation to them about Bakassi
because of its precarious situation, the refugee situation and the people’s
agitation to be relocated to the Day-Spring and Qua Island.”

Worried officials

Mr Aggrey confirms that federal officials visited the two sites
which the state committee had recommended for the relocation of the displaced.

” We had chosen that location because the fishing community
preferred there and not Ekpri-Ikang where development has already started,” he
said. “So,with the fund, we were trying to key into it so that the Border
Development Agency could come and invest in Bakassi, precisely, the Day-Spring
and Qua Island.

“The BDA Executive Secretary, Mr. Wills, an engineer, assured us
that he was going to take our presentation to the Board and management for
consideration, so that part of the fund could be used to start developing the
Day-Spring and Qua Island while concerted efforts would be made in the 2010
budget to openly develop the Day-Spring and Qua Island. That position is what I
know o.”

However, he said he was sure that if the fund is diverted, the
state government “will unearth that, so that whatever needs to be done must be
done for the Bakassi people. I will go on top of that, we will make inquiries”,
he said.

Following the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroun on October 10, 2002,
majority of the Bakassi people demanded that they be relocated to a virgin
area, preferably, the Day-Spring Island where their fishing needs would be met
and where they would not impose on people, so as to avoid any crisis from
claims and counter-claims of land ownership.

But the Cross River State government preferred Ekpri-Ikang ,
carved out of Akpabuyo local government Area, which is already inhabited, and
build over 200 housing units there. This, however, could not meet the needs of
thousands of the displaced people.

The pioneer chairman of the displaced people, Bassey Edet, said
his people are worried over reports of the missing funds.

“We query the intension of those behind the alleged diversion of the Bakassi
development fund and implored both the state and federal governments to step
into the matter,” he said.

A lack of competition law is leaving Nigerian consumers
vulnerable to unhealthy competition, the Consumer Empowerment Organisation of
Nigeria (CEON) has said.

Babatunde Adedeji, Coordinator General of CEON, said yesterday
in Abuja at a National Training Workshop on Competition Policy and Law that
without a policy to checkmate the activities of business owners who impose high
prices for goods and services, the predator-prey relationship between consumers
and suppliers will continue.

“It is natural for firms to compete,” said Mr. Adedeji, “but in
some situation, the rivalry is undermined, so there is need to protect
consumers. There have been series of initiatives and efforts towards putting in
place an effective competition regime in Nigeria. Some of these initiatives and
efforts are the various bills on competition and anti-trust at National
Assembly and the Draft Federal Competition Bill/National Competition and
Consumer Protection Bill of the Federal Executive Council.”

Benefits of the law

Mr. Adedeji said that when the competition law is in place it
will promote efficient allocation and utilisation of resources, which are
usually scarce in developing countries. This also means more output, lower prices
and consumer welfare. Though competition will most likely lead to some job
losses in some sectors in the short run, but this can be taken care of by
having an appropriate social safety net in place.

“A good competition policy and law lowers entry barriers in the
market and makes the environment conducive to promoting entrepreneurship and
growth of small and medium scale enterprises.”

He called for an end to the arbitrary abuse of the Nigerian
market by some operators which has continued to exist because of absence of
political will by government to enact competition policy and laws.

According to the CEON coordinator general, efforts by
government to adopt such legislation in the past have culminated in the
development of six different draft competition bills that are yet to be
translated into relevant competition laws.

The bills, if passed, will provide the necessary conditions for
market competition, stimulate creative business activities, protect consumers
and promote the balanced development of the economy, said Mr. Adedeji.

Failed bills

One bill which has never been accorded serious consideration by
the parliament is the 2002 federal competition bill for an act to set up a
federal competition commission.

“The bill was also to prohibit restrictive contract and
business practices that substantially lessen competition and regulate the abuse
of dominant position of market power and anticompetitive business combines.”

Another bill which was sponsored by the federal government
through the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) was presented as an executive
bill to the Nigerian Senate in 2002. However, there have been no further
actions on the bill since its presentation stage.

In 2008, a bill sponsored by Joel Ikenya, a senator at the
time, was presented for an act to provide for the establishment of the Nigerian
trade and competition commission.

The bill passed through its first reading in April 23, 2008, a
second reading on November 6, 2008, and was then referred to joint committees
on establishment and public service matters, judiciary, human rights and legal
matters and commerce.

According to Mr. Adedeji, the bill was able to move so far
because Mr. Ikenya was the Senate Committee Chairman on Commerce at the time.
However, the bill has since stalled at the joint committee stage.

Another bill was the National Antitrust Bill drafted in 2000 as
an act to regulate and prohibit unfair competition and unreasonable
combinations in restraint of commerce, industry and trade.

Mr. Adedeji said the bill would have prohibited monopolies, regulated
mergers and acquisitions, and policed all forms of business practices which
constitute the abuse of a dominant player in the market. It would also have
promoted the welfare and interest of consumers and provide them with
competitive prices and choices.

In my father’s stories of his posting to Karazau, a remote
location in Northern Nigeria, during his job as a station master with the
Nigerian Railways in the 1950s, was an account of how Fulani herdsmen would
emerge from the bush and the villages asking for ‘sweet water’.

“Esh Em, a bamu ruwa mai dadi” (S.M., please give us some of
that your sweet water). They were referring to clear, boiled water, free of
harmful bacteria, guinea worm and other parasites that my mother drew from the
well, treated and stored in their quarters situated between the train station
and the village. My parents’ home was the only source of clean water for miles
around.

Ironically, 60 years on, the search for ‘sweet water’ continues.
At home, the Water Corporation bills us monthly for mains water supply, yet we
have been buying our supply from private water tankers for over six months.

Most of my neighbours have boreholes. Yet, the cost of sinking
and maintaining one is so high. Securing water for our uses costs a LOT of
money.

At the recent Commonwealth Regional Law Conference in Abuja, one
of the speakers asked whether water is the new oil; not just for us, but for
the world. We are contending with a natural resource that is being consumed at
a greater rate than it can renew itself; communities migrating across
international boundaries to follow shrinking lakes; declining rainfall that
most rural population rely on, urban spread and struggling water utilities.

Do we realise how much drinking water costs? Think about it. One
litre of bottled water costs more than a litre of petrol! How many of us, like
me, pay the Water Corporation monthly not to supply water? How many, like me,
have bought new water pumps and paid for new lines to be laid, with no results?
We should prioritise water security above the elusive 6,000 kilowatts that the
Ministry of Power has been promising us. We are buying both water and diesel,
and while our industry and businesses will become moribund without reliable and
cheaper power supply, our health and bodies will become impaired without
reliable and cleaner water supply.

More importantly in comparing oil and water, people have died in
fights over access to water. Access to water continues to be a matter of life
and death between farmers and herders.

Aah! Sweet water! In the developed world, drinkable water is
truly sweet. It is available everywhere for free – at water fountains on the
streets and from taps in restaurants, offices and homes. For more discerning
palates, there is a selection of waters. What strikes your fancy? Still water
from the French Alps? Sparkling water from Scottish highlands? Water that
tastes sterile, or slightly salty. Don’t like the taste of plain water?

You can opt for a variety of flavoured waters – lemon or
strawberry perhaps? Feeling weak? Go for vitamin-infused water, or water with
an energy boost. Need a bottle that is pleasing to the eye and decorative for
your table? Go for the designer bottles in cones and cylinders, or water
presented like wine.

A natural refreshment

And where do we find ourselves on this continuum between no
potable water, abundance, and designer water? Day after day, the poor still
trek for miles to fetch water. Each day, the mass of our urban citizens get
their drinking water from ‘pure water sachet’ sellers by the roadside. The bulk
of office workers get their drinking water from water dispenser suppliers. The
majority of homes have supplementary water storage facilities that they pay
private contractors to fill up. Cart pushers plying our roads with six to
twelve 25kg kegs of water are common sights.

Bottling companies that used to make their money from bottling
imported spirits and wines for the local market, are now largely bottling
water! Our own Nigerian Bottling Company, the makers of Coca Cola went so far
as creating their own brand of water – leveraging their existing distribution
networks for sales.

The developed world has moved on from water purely as a
necessity to water as also a desirable and fashionable consumable and
accessory. Water resources for basic needs are managed, conserved, and
rationed. More sophisticated technology to desalinate water is being developed.

Our technology is ramshackle water tankers creaking, rattling,
and leaking their way between their depots and private deliveries to the water
storage tanks of homes and offices. The streak of darkened wet tarmac marks the
trail of their passage on our roads.

The criminals have also gotten in on the act. While the
government and civil society are fighting to ensure the availability of basic
potable water, the established bottled water brands and distributors are
combating ‘pirates’ who refill used bottles with untreated water, recreate the
seal, and resell them as genuine.

More than one glass of red wine a day is injurious to the health. Other
alcohol clouds our minds. Packaged fruit juices, minerals and sodas are
fattening. The caffeine in tea and coffee over-stimulates our hearts. It is
best to go the natural route. Drink clean, odourless, sweet water!

Nigerians should not expect credible elections as long as
Maurice Iwu remains chairperson of the Independent Electoral commission (INEC),
the National Chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Rufai Sani
Hanga has said.

Mr. Hanga, who spoke during the flag off of the party’s
membership registration in Garko local government in Kano State, said as long
as Mr Iwu remains the chairman of INEC, Nigerians should forget about
conducting free and fair election.

Mr. Hanga spoke in reaction to recent views expressed by acting
president Goodluck Jonathan at Washington DC, the United States of America
(USA) that INEC can conduct a free and fair election. Apparently piqued by this
development, Mr. Hanga said:

“I don’t have confidence in the INEC chairman and by extension I
don’t even have confidence in the Acting President himself by suggesting that
Iwu’s INEC can conduct free and fair election. Everyone knows the disaster Iwu
has caused this country in the name of election. How can somebody have
confidence in the same person? Who would you convince in this country that Iwu
can conduct a credible election? Nobody, so how long can we continue to deceive
ourselves as a people?”

Mr. Hanga said the party, which has former military head of
state, Muhammadu Buhari as its major draw, was formed mainly to give Nigerians
an alternative to the PDP. He said the party’s ideology is to have credible
elections at all levels. He said the CPC, whose ideology is built around the
ideals of presidential hopeful, Mr. Buhari, seeks to ensure good governance for
the downtrodden.

“This is a party formed based on ideology,” he said. “Nobody was
given a kobo to participate in the registration exercise, but you can see that
people are rushing to get the membership card. This is significant in our party
we are just beginning but you can see the massive turn out and this is just a
ward level.”

Riding on credibility

He said his colleagues have perfected all strategies to counter
plans by the ruling people Democratic Party (PDP) to rig the 2011 elections.

Mr. Hanga said he is sure that a desire for the manipulation of
the polls was the reason why the acting president is contemplating leaving Mr.
Iwu to continue in office beyond June.

The national chairman of the party, who joined other chieftains
of the party to address a mammoth crowed at the Garko motor park, said his
newly registered party is poised to wrestle power from the incumbent people
Democratic Party (PDP).

“The PDP has money, but we have the credibility,” he said. “We are going to
wrestle power from them through the massive appeal we have in the country.
People believe in us and have tremendous respect for Buhari who is our leader.
PDP are riggers, this time we will not allow them to have their way.”

100 Nigerians were on Tuesday sent back to the country from South Africa.

The deportees, who
arrived the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos at
about 5.15pm comprises of 99 males and a single female.

“They were all deported as a result of immigration related offences,” said a senior immigration officer who prefers anonymity.

According to the
source, the Nigerians got into the country through a chartered aircraft
with registration number civ007 from Johannesburg, South Africa.

It could be
recalled that 58 Nigerians consisting of eight males, 41 females and
nine minors were deported from Sudan last month over immigration
related offences through a chartered Libyan aircraft with flight name –
AIRLIBYA, and registration number TLR 129.

On March 12 this
year, 85 Nigerians were deported from the United Kingdom, while 28
citizens were deported from Trinidad and Tobago on March 19. The
Nigerian Immigration Service office at the international airport also
disclosed that 58 Nigerians were deported from Dublin, Republic of
Ireland on February 15.

Last year, over
1000 deportees arrived the country from Libya over immigration related
offences as announced by the Nigerian Immigration Service.

Spain also deported 53 Nigerians over immigrations related offences through an air Europa chartered aircraft last year.

Commenting on the
frequent deportation of Nigerians by other nations, the source at the
airport disclosed travellers should avoid the embarrassment by ensuring
that they have complete immigration documents before leaving the
country.

“If anyone wants to travel, let him try and get his complete papers
so as to avoid the shame and humiliation of being deported after
spending much time, energy and money,” he said. “I hope people learn
from all this repeated deportation exercise.”

As the nation prepares for the 2011 general elections, the Ondo
State governor, Olusegun Mimiko, has called for fervent prayers for the
sustainability of the nation’s unity.

Mr. Mimiko, who made the call while playing host to the
executive members of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) in the South
West, led by its Vice President, Francis Wale Oke, said religious leaders have
crucial roles to play towards ensuring a free and fair election.

The governor said electoral reform that would guarantee true
democracy is crucial to sustaining the unity and future development of the
country. He stressed that the religious class should support the politicians in
achieving this.

“The people of this state prayed corporately. There was no time
in the history of the state that children of God will rise to pray like they
did during the struggle for the restoration of our mandate. It is marvelous in
our eyes.

“Bringing dividends of democracy to the doorstep of our people
is what God will rejoice at. The investment that will have direct bearing in
the lives of our people is the basic philosophy of our administration,” he
said.

The governor noted that his greatest joy was the ability of his
administration to fulfil the excitement and expectation of the people,
promising to sustain the tempo with a view to bringing more joy to their lives.

He enumerated some of the achievements of his administration in
the last one year to include the Mother and Child Hospital and provision of
infrastructure.

Religious leaders’ help

Mr. Mimiko also urged religious leaders in the state to be a
vanguard of orientation of the people on the need to adhere strictly to the
urban renewal programme of government, saying that trading along major roads in
Akure, the state capital, has been abolished.

Mr. Wale Oke said his team came to present the new state executive of PFN to
the governor, and advised him to continue in the fear of God and also continue
to cater for the need of the people in order to make the state a pride of
Nigeria and Africa. He also promised to continue to pray fervently for the
success of his administration.

Yesterday, several
hundreds of young Nigerians, including musicians, professionals, and
students, engaged in a peaceful rally in the shimmering sun for about
three hours to the Lagos State Governor’s Office in Alausa.

Amongst the many
protesters, led by president of the Campaign for Democracy, Joe
Okei-Odumakin, were popular singers like Banky W, Eldee, Sound Sultan,
Roof Top MCs, actor Rita Dominic and comedian Ali Baba. The rally was
organised by a group called Enoughisenough Coalition, who had organised
a similar rally in Abuja on March 16. According to a statement, the
group is a collection of smaller bodies “spread across the country that
have worked with communities and in the grassroots for the past 10
years.”

The group’s demand
include electoral reform, an end to corruption, an overhaul of the
nation’s security structure and electricity, to which the group said
“6, 000 megawatts will not solve the electricity problems of Nigeria
but it’s a good start.”

The march

Some of the
messages on the placards carried at the protest include “Jos on our
minds,” “Light up Nigeria”, “Protect your vote,” “Jonathan We are
Watching,”. There was loud music from a hired public address system,
with the song, “She na like this we go dey dey?”, by Wande Cole, as one
of the crowd’s favourites.

The match, which
began at the Arch Bishop Vining Memorial Church Open Field, went
through Obafemi Awolowo Road, and terminated at the gate of the
Governor’s Office.

The Lagos heat did
not deter the marchers, who turned to the many vendors selling fluids
to quench their thirst. The crowd, which had most wearing white
t-shirts with inscriptions, attracted many on-lookers, some of whom
supported their cause.

“I was not informed
of this particular rally but I like things like this,” said an
onlooker, Tuoyo Tsekiju, a marketer. “Change will always come and I
like the way the youth are going about seeking for change. The time has
come for a change in Nigeria.”

“We are all
clamouring for good governance and from the look of things these people
are all youth. It shows that Nigerian youth are now ready to pick up
the challenge of leadership,” an auditor, Idris Adelabu. “If I had
known (of the rally) in time, I would have participated.”

Different capitals, same outcome

A considerable
contingent of police officers was on hand to ease traffic issues and
quail any potential disturbance. This is a reversal of what transpired
a month ago when gun-carrying police officers barred a similar group of
youth at the main gate of the National Assembly in Abuja and prevented
them from seeing the leadership of the Assembly.

In yesterday’s
case, while the police officers were helpful, again the protesters had
to go away angry when all attempts to get the governor the executive
arm of the Lagos State government to receive their letter of protest
failed.

Sources said the
governor was in the Acting President’s entourage to high-powered
meetings in Washington DC, USA. However, the governor did not designate
a representative – even though the protesters showed a letter received
and signed by his Chief of Staff as proof of ample notice.

The Speaker of the
House of Assembly, Yomi Ikuforiji, after making contact with the
organisers, tried to come out to address the crowd, but by then they
had lost their patience and the organisers declared the rally closed.

One of the organisers of the rally, Chude Jideonwo, cleared the air about the group’s objective.

“This organisation is not affiliated to any party or any person,
(and) has no interest in endorsing any party or any person. We just
want young people to go and exercise (their right to) vote. Just make
sure that your votes are counted, the elections are free and fair;
don’t leave polling booths until the process is ended and we protect
our votes, with our lives if necessary,” he said.