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The president of
the Senate, David Mark, has criticised the poor educational standard in
the country, which has led to a very low global rating for the nation’s
universities.

The Senate
president expressed his concerns over the standard of the nation’s
universities over the weekend while addressing the audience at the 16th
and 17th convocation ceremony of the University of Agriculture,
Makurdi, in Benue State, where he was conferred with an honorary Doctor
of Science (D.SC).

Mr. Mark said
that education remains the bedrock of development in any nation. He
added that every responsible organisation and government must put
education first, if development must begin to take place in the nation.

He, therefore,
challenged the authorities of the universities to step up and bridge
this gap so that Nigerian graduates could be accorded the same respect
and status anywhere in the world.

“I am glad that
the executive secretary of the National University Commission (NUC),
Professor Julius Okogie, is here,” he said.

“We must do
something urgent to upgrade our universities, otherwise, we cannot
compete in this global environment of today,” he added.

On their part,
the Senate president said that the National Assembly will continue to
“lay a solid framework through effective legislation that would
facilitate and improve our education at all levels.”

He added that the
National Assembly will do its best to ensure that Nigerian universities
and other institutions of higher learning get their fair share of
funding needed to meet their needs.

President
Goodluck Jonathan, who was represented by the Agriculture Minister,
Sheik Ahmed Abdullahi, also promised to give education its pride of
place in his administration.

However, neither
the president, nor the Senate president made any obligating statement
with regards to what percentage of the 2011 budget will be allocated to
education sector or whether the government will increase funding to the
sector.

Increase food research

The Senate
president also expressed worries that little or no attention is being
paid by authorities and research institutions on food security in the
country.

He states that
food security – or insecurity – poses a major challenge like other
crimes that are being aggressively tackled by the federal government.
He challenged the institution to dwell more on research and
development, especially on food security.

“With enough
arable land, abundant human and natural resources, as well as
specialised institutions like this, there is no justifiable reason why
we cannot guarantee food security across the length and breadth of
Nigeria,” Mr. Mark stressed.

Nasamu Dakingari, governor of Kebbi State, and Pascal Dozie,
chairman, MTN Nigeria, were also awarded Doctor of Science (D.SC)
honoris causa by the university at the ceremony.

It’s easy to go to war but difficult to build on the ashes of its ruin.

The import of this statement is not lost on the people of Boje,
who, two weeks ago, invaded the neighbouring community of Nsadop to kill, maim
and destroy.

Now the two communities are paying the price of that communal
war.

Tucked in the bowels of Boki forest, Boje has only one access
road into and out of it. That road happens to run through Nsadop. So, for fear
of reprisal attacks, Boje natives have since October 23, 2010 stopped using the
road. The consequence is that the agricultural produce of this agrarian people
can no more be conveyed to the urban centres.

Boje, like other rural Boki communities, produces cocoa, banana,
yams and other cash crops. Before now, these were transported in lorries and
buses to Ogoja, Ikom and beyond for sale. But there is no outlet for them any
longer.

No vehicle passes through Nsadop to Boje again. And there is no
alternative access road to Boje, which is the last community in the hinterland
of western Boki.

The fear of revenge by Nsadop villagers means farm produce are
wasting away afterits harvest. There are, of course bush tracks through the
forest to other communities, but these tracks have been rendered inaccessible
by streams swollen by rain, mountains and gigantic trees.

To get to Burom, the nearest community to Boje on foot, is four
hours of endurance trek. Certainly noone can traverse this path with heavy load
on his or her head.

Interviews with the Boki people revealed that they did not
reflect well on the case before going to war with Nsadop village . Its elders
are now blaming the youth for resorting to war instead of dialogue, which they
had earlier proposed as the better avenue for resolving the land rights
dispute. Both the young and old [males] of Boje now sleep in the forest for
fear of retaliatory invasion by Nsadop. Uneasy calm now pervades the entire
community.

Whereas some elders and elites of Boje have proposed reconciliatory
talks to solve the problem of inaccessibility to their community, the youth are
said to be opposed to the suggestion as they are not ready to show remorse.
They are said to have preferred the Cross River State government to midwife a
truce to the problem of vehicular blockade to Boje than sending emissaries to
Nsadop for peace.

Nsadop boys have blocked the access road to Boje. All vehicles
now stop at Nsadop. Boje elites working in the cities no more go home. They are
afraid of their safety since some of them were accussed of providing the cash
and logistics used in prosecuting the war. They are now lobbying the state
governor, Liyel Imoke to make lasting peace between the two communities.

M Imoke had ordered the arrest of community leaders from Boje and
promised to ensure that they were all prosecuted. He also dethroned 12
traditional rulers of the community. There are also indications that indigenes
of the community nursing political ambition may have to shelve it. Mr Imoke is
understood to have vowed to work against any candidate from Boki who, directly
or indirectly, supported the Nsadop carnage.

Counting losses

The octogenerian traditional ruler of Nsadop, Otu Bernard Ntun
of Kaku, said his 80-year-sojourn on earth has been blissful until the October
23 incident when his entire village was invaded by people from Boje and destroy
it beyond recognition.

Pathetic is an understatement in describing the carnage visited
on Nsadop and the emotional pains of Mr Ntun. A walk through the length of this
village of 7,000 inhabitants, with about 2,000 houses, reveal that all the
homes were either razed down or demolished with the help of dynamites.

More than 30 people were alleged to have been killed in the
attack, while livestock, food crops and even economic trees were cut down by
the invaders. The village is now a shadow of itself.

The land in dispute is where the oil palm plantation established
by the defunct Eastern Nigerian administration of Michael Okpara is. Its
ownership has been a subject of dispute since the 1960’s. Mr Ntun, agonizing in
sadness as he lost his first son in the attack, said it was unbelievable that
two communities that have co-existed for centuries, speak the same language and
have a common ancestry could fight a war with the intention of annihilation.

“Our assailants, who might have conceived the idea several
years, considering the amount of ammunition and sophisticated weapons used,
took the village by surprise at noon when everyone was either in the farm or
out of the village for one reason or the other,” Mr Ntun said, his narration,
which was often punctuated by sighs and shaking of his head.

He said that the attack lasted for about eight hours without any
challenge, until the military and the police were drafted to quell the attack.

The Chairman of Boki Local Government Area, Bessie Bankong-Obi
who had conducted officials of the Cross River State Emergency Management
Agency [SEMA] and those of NEMA, around the scene for rapid assessment,
described the devastation as beyond comprehension. She,

however, warned against any act of reprisal, saying such would
be counterproductive.

“Security agencies are working round the clock to get to the root of the
crisis and bring the perpetrators to book,” she said. “We appeal to the people
of Nsadop to exercise patience as government would punish the culprits and
provide succor to the victims.”

Government appointees who are to pass through senate screening
might do well to henceforth consider cross check their facts thoroughly before
dishing it out to the lawmakers, because the folders we see most senators
clutching onto nowadays may just be an iPad.

Last Tuesday, an iPad would have ruined a potential minister’s
career – if the lawmakers had taken a lie seriously. Rasheed Adedoja, a former
Oyo State education commissioner who is now a minister, would have been the
victim of the iPad revolution in the senate but for the magnanimity of the
senators.

Mr Adedoja, a professor of education, was in the red senate
chamber to perform a ritual his peers did a few months back. He stood at the
podium, with his CV, piece of papers to jot questions, and a cup of water the
senate offered.

He was intelligent, but he was somehow unfortunate compared
with his colleagues because he was the only one to be screened in one day. So
the senators had the luxury of thorough questioning. The questions kept
pouring.

He responded to them smartly, but unknown to him, some tech
savvy senators were double checking his statements on their iPads.

He slipped up when he told the senators that Ladoke Akintola
University of Technology, which is jointly owned by Oyo and Osun state, is the
7th best university in Africa by global rating and the best state university in
Nigeria by a National University Commission rating. He referred the senators to
the Internet to confirm his claims.

That university is currently a subject of dispute between Oyo
and Osun state and has been shut down for a long time while the disagreement
simmers. The senators found Mr Adedoja’s fact hard to believe.

George Thomson Sekibo (PDP River state) decided to log onto a
search engine and the global university rating page was soon staring at him
from his iPad. He called James Manager (PDP Delta state) who was just sitting
beside him to have a look. In next to no time, four heads were over the little
computer.

Facts on fingertips

Mr Sekibo walked up to the senate president and passed the iPad
to him. For a moment, the senate president scrolled up and down while Mr Sekibo
and Manager stood by his side grinning. Meanwhile, the professor was responding
to other questions on the podium.

“Prof, that is not what the net is saying,” the senate
president cut in.

He read out the African universities’ rating and the first
Nigerian university on the list was University of Benin (Uniben), which ranked
67th in Africa. It was followed by University of Ilorin, 77th and University of
Ibadan, 81st in Africa.

The senate president passed the iPad to the professor. He was
startled when he took it; but he reviewed it and passed it back to the senate
president without saying a word. Some senators were startled too, while others
just laughed it off.

The screening continued and he was confirmed a minister.

In other climes, that might have been enough to turn him away. However, the
new minister will definitely not give out unconfirmed facts next time he is
called by the senate. Others would be advised not to either because, these
days, the lawmakers have gone tech savvy and iPads is the new social trend
amongst senators.

United Parcel
Service of America Inc., prides itself as being a multi-billion-dollar
corporation managing the flow of goods, funds, and information in more
than 200 countries worldwide. But for Theresa Peters, a mother of four,
and a widow for 20 years, UPS has some questions to answer.

On August 10, 2010,
Mrs Peters went to UPS office on Oworonshoki Expressway, Gbagada, in
Lagos State, to enquire the duration and the cost of sending goods to
the United States of America. She said she was told by two ladies she
identified as Adaku and Chichi, both customer service staff, that the
delivery of her goods would take three working days.

The next day, being
a Wednesday, she went back to UPS with her personal effects, which she
said included several native attires; praying kits, including rosaries,
anointing oil, a bible and prayer book; native medicinal herbs; and
food items for her daughter and two grandchildren, and her daughter’s
benefactor in the USA.

She was told her
items would be delivered to her daughter’s friend, Bisi Orija, by
Monday, August 16, which fell on the third working day. Her goods were
weighed at 10 kilogrammes, for which she paid N49,500 as freight cost.

She sent the tracking number to Mrs Orija that same day of August 11.

“We are supposed to
get it in three days so we kept tracking it. UPS didn’t even call us.
We are the ones who kept calling them for almost two weeks. It got
missing in the US but they don’t know who took it. They now said Mrs
Peters, being the sender, will have to go to where she sent the items
for reimbursement,” said Mrs Orija, who spoke to NEXT from the US.

Customer service in doubt

Mrs Peters went
back to UPS Nigeria on August 26, where she said a manager there she
identified as Chris, asked her how much she declared as the total value
of her goods when she registered them with the company. Mrs Peters said
neither Adaku nor Chichi asked her to declare the value of her goods.
The only documents that were given to her were a shipper’s copy and the
receipt of payment which only Adaku signed.

“It was when he
explained that I should write that I want them to reimburse me that I
found out the girls were supposed to have asked me the worth of my
goods so that I would have paid for insurance. But they never asked me.
It was then something told me my lawyer should write the letter,” said
Mrs Peters, a tailor.

She got her
lawyers, W. A. Gbadebo and Company, to write and submit on the same
August 26, 2010 a letter to UPS, listing all the items she sent to the
USA, which amounted to N162,000. With the freight cost, it totalled
N211,500.

But responding in a
letter dated September 22, 2010, UPS customer care manager, Confidence
Akandu, said: “Management has looked into the instance and agreed to
refund the freight cost N49,500 only and the declared value of N5,000
for the items. We shall make the cheque available as soon as it is
ready.”

The next day, Mrs
Peters, through her lawyers, replied informing UPS that their offer of
N54,500 was “grossly unacceptable” and “hereby rejected”, instead
maintaining N211,500 as amount being owed her. Since then UPS has not
responded, she says.

Wrong calculation

“The native herbs
alone cost me N90,000. They were the most important because my
daughter’s friend has fibroid and had already done four major
operations and was to undergo another operation. I wanted her to take
the herbs before then because I know it will work for her as it did for
my own daughter. Add this to the kaftans I bought for my two
grandchildren, the wrappers and many other things I bought. How did
they arrive at N5,000?” Queries Mrs. Peters.

When NEXT sought
comments from UPS, the company’s general manager sales, Emeka Nwangwu,
refused comment on how Mrs Peters’ goods were valued at N5,000, while
subtly suggesting the company will consider suing NEXT for reporting
this case.

“It is an issue
which we dealt with. Certain things are not to be exposed to the press
which is a third party because it bothers on customer’s
confidentiality. But if you feel you must go ahead with your report,
then no problem. But then we might be legally bound to advise our
lawyers to work on it and take it up,” said Mr Nwangwu.

Mrs Peters is,
however, determined to prove a point that ‘Nigerians can’t keep keeping
quiet to customer injustice’. She has taken her case to the Yaba
Magistrate Court 2 and hearing is slated for November 25, 2010.

“I didn’t ask for damages. All I want is for them to pay my
N211,500. Every time I remember this case it pains me so much that even
if I a widow of 20 years don’t have anybody, I know I have God. I have
suffered a lot, but it is well,” said Mrs Peters.

Despite the huge number of unemployed youth in the nation’s labour market, few are willing to go into the teaching profession.

At an interactive
meeting with youth last week, the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde
Fashola, decried the development, and encouraged young graduates to
embrace teaching, adding that lots of opportunities abound in the
profession and they would make better teachers. “How many of you
graduates want to teach? Nothing would please me more than to have a
degree holder in Mathematics do a training program in teaching methods
and teaching our secondary school students Mathematics,” he said.
Similarly, Chris Ogbechie, the Director of Etisalat CSR Centre, Lagos
Business School, while decrying the poor standard of education in the
country, at an event some weeks ago, noted that the teaching profession
has become unpleasant to many, especially the well qualified ones.
“Many of our brilliant youngsters don’t want to go into teaching,” he
said. “In the 60s and 70s, the best brains in each faculty ended up
staying on as teachers. But that is not the same today.”

Their reasons

For Dennis Ciroma,
he is completely appalled by the idea of becoming a teacher because he
believes the profession is not well respected despite the intellectual
abilities of teachers. “I don’t want to be a teacher,” he said. “I can
never be a teacher even if it’s the last job. There is no respect in
the profession and they are not well paid. Despite the fact that
teachers are learned and brilliant people, it is not translated to the
monetary wealth and respect they earn, especially in this country.”

Another youth,
Helen Akamnonu, echoes Mr Ciroma’s views about poor remuneration.
Having worked briefly as a teacher, during her national youth service,
she says that despite the governor’s encouragement, she wouldn’t like
to be a teacher because young people are attracted to professions that
give them lots of money which doesn’t include teaching. “Even though I
did my youth service as a teacher, I don’t think I would like to
continue being a teacher,” she said. “I enjoyed it while it lasted but
even the students I taught did not have much regard for we that taught
them. Most of the students I taught want to be politicians so they can
earn much money, and I am talking about students in Junior Secondary
School. They have looked around and observed that politicians are
richer than teachers and therefore won’t like to be teachers.”

Providing encouragement

However, teaching
can be a comfortable profession when one finds himself in the right
place, says Sola Lewis, an English teacher at Topmost Private Schools.
“I never wanted to be a teacher initially,” he said. “I tried to get
into the university several times to no avail. I found myself in a
college of education studying English Education and even then, I
continued trying to get into the university. But when I finished, I got
a job in a private school and the pay was alright. Then I got promoted
before coming to Topmost School and I am very comfortable where I am.”

Stanley Ukwah, a former teacher with over 10 years teaching
experience, gives a perspective to people’s dislike for the teaching
profession. “The reason why young people don’t want to be teachers
again is very obvious,” she said. “There is no prestige attached to the
profession and it is the fault of our leaders. When they don’t pay
proper attention to the people who are responsible for moulding the
future of people, their respect would obviously be down played. They
rather pay more attention to banking and engineering jobs rather than
the people who taught these bankers and engineers.”

Laws are made to help society grow as well as maintain order. To
the best of my knowledge, the ‘due process’ laws were hatched to reduce or stop
the corrupt tendencies of mostly contractors who are mainly civil servants and
their fronts.

These same set of contractors have devised brilliant techniques
of circumventing the process and business has gone on as usual. It is only when
the interest of the Permanent Secretary, Director General or the Director in a
ministry or agency is not being served that the process becomes
hyper-effective. The ‘due’ in the ‘process’ becomes obvious or the ‘process’ in
the ‘due’ becomes frustrating and, at such times, the profit margin of such
jobs will definitely discourage the ‘connectionless’ contractor.

In other words, no contractor does any profitable job without
sharing almost all his profits with the owners of the yam and the knife.

I really do not want to digress, but I needed to lay a proper
foundation for this week’s discourse. There are some specialized fields that I
think should not be taken through the tortuous path of due process. For
instance, an artist works into a gigantic structure that is of international
relevance in Abuja and he thinks to himself, ‘these walls will look more
arresting, if I line it with some of my just completed works or I could add
some more in line with the aesthetic goals of this office’.

Now he has an idea and he believes a particular painting or
sculpture will appropriately represent the dreams and aspirations of the owners
of the building. He is bringing his priceless concept that will best showcase
or bring our otherwise ‘big for nothing edifice’ to life. He decides to write
to the office explaining his ideas in black and white and then putting a price
that he thinks would pay for his idea and also his work of art.

He gives the said office his proposal and they are amazed by the
beauty in the whole unique concept.

Now, instead of commissioning this young Nigerian artist and
encouraging him to continue with his creativity, one supposedly wise Director
decides to price, like a market woman pricing tomatoes, the whole idea not just
the art work. The creator of the masterpieces disagrees with him because he
feels his work is being undervalued and the next thing you hear, “we will get
another artist or let us compare the price of similar artworks from other
artist”. In fact, they tell him, they will have to get ‘quotations’ from other
competing companies so that they can now make their final choice.

That building has been there for donkey years and nobody thought
of decorating it with meaningful paintings, pictures and sculptures. No wise
director thought of inviting different artist to ‘tender’ or ‘quote’ for the
job. Someone gifted now works in and sells them his own unique ideas and,
because they do not understand that if you want Sunny Ade, for an event, you do
not go and get quotations from 9ice and Dbanj to make King Sunny Ade reduce his
artiste fee.

When one needs the service of a stand up comedian in an event ,
one must be ready to pay whatever Alibaba or Oma Oma , e.t.c request; you can
no longer dictate the price when you need the unique steps of a particular
performer. These are unique artistes with their own individual talents and you
usually cannot quote for their creativity or distinct kind of creative
artistry.

Every artist has his own unique price for every piece of
distinction. Every piece of art is unique and every performance (drama, dance
or stand-up comedy) is different; that is, it cannot be achieved the same way
twice, even in well written plays, you cannot have the same performance even
from the same cast and crew. Or have you not heard that you cannot drink from
the same river twice because it flows, not even if you stand on the same point.

The initiators of due process in our system did not and cannot
use due process for artists. Every established creative artiste is an inventor
and their works are priceless. Every artist has his own unique price and you
cannot ask another artist to submit his tender for the unique ideas of another
artist. Where due process stops is where creativity begins. Civil servants
should stop pricing works of art, especially in the Federal Capital Territory
where architectural masterpieces are daily springing up. If you need the
intricate designs of Victor Ehikhamenor, pay his price; if you need the works
of seasoned old masters like Bruce Onobrakpeya, Ben Enwonwu, Twins Sevene
Seven, Yusuf Grillo by all means give them their dues.

Due process has little or no business with creativity. The
creative process should not be encumbered by a fraudulent system.

The federal government’s recent decision to grant the Bayelsa
State government’s request for exclusive concession of oil derivation on nine
offshore deepwater oil fields appears to have exhumed the carcass of what the
Offshore/Onshore Oil Dichotomy Abolition Act (2004) buried more than eight
years ago.

Under the Act, payment of 13 percent derivation to oil bearing
states was to be applicable only to crude oil produced in onshore locations
(land) as well as offshore locations within water depths of less than 200
metres isobaths.

The implication was that revenues earned from oil produced from
concessions located in water depths beyond 200 metres isobaths were not to be
subject to the derivation principle.

The 2001 dispute between the Federal Government and the eight
littoral states was predicated on the Federal Government decision that the
seaward boundary of each of the littoral states was the low-water mark of the
land surface of such state. As such, the natural resources located within
Nigeria’s continental shelf are not derivable from any of the littoral states, making
revenues from such resources not subject to the derivation formula.

But the littoral states said their territory extends into the
continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and, as such all
natural resources derived from both onshore and offshore locations within their
respective territory should be subject to the payment of “not less than 13
percent derivation” as provided in the proviso to Section 162(2) of the
Constitution.

The federal government took the case before the Supreme Court asking
for “a determination of the seaward boundary of a littoral state within the
Federal Republic of Nigeria for the purpose of calculating the amount of
revenue accruing to the Federation Account directly from any natural resources
derived from that State pursuant to section 162(2) of the constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999”.

Supreme Court judgment

The Supreme Court, in its April 2002 judgment, declared that
“the seaward boundary of a littoral state within the Federal Republic of Nigeria
for the purpose of calculating the amount of revenue accruing to the Federation
Account directly from any natural resources derived from that state pursuant to
Section 162(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, is
the low-water mark of the land surface thereof, or (if the case so requires as
in the Cross River State with an Archipelago of Islands) the seaward limits of
inland waters within the State”.

The federal government had, also in 2003, agreed with governors
of all the littoral states that the ‘200 metres water depth isobaths’ be
substituted for ‘continental shelf and exclusive economic zone.’ The
implication of the agreement was that all the country’s existing producing oil
fields are located within 200 meters water depth isobaths.

In other words, except for Abo Field operated by the Nigerian
Agip Oil Company (NAOC), virtually all commercial deep offshore oil concessions
are located in at least 1,000 meters of water depths.

Searching for increased
revenue

However, some observers say the concession to Bayelsa for
attribution of nine oil fields, ostensibly to assuage the “negative impact of
the delimitation of maritime boundaries of littoral states by the National
Boundary Commission (NBC) in the wake of the promulgation of the
Offshore/Onshore Dichotomy Abrogation Act” appears to be in the breach.

The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Rules and
Business, Ita Enang, who was involved in deliberations that gave birth to the
Onshore/Offshore Dichotomy Abolition Act, told NEXT on Friday that the
concession granted Bayelsa is a clear infringement on the provisions of that
law, as no littoral state is entitled to derivation on resources located in
water depths beyond 200 meters isobaths.

“If the decision is to be just and equitable, the law must be
amended forthwith to extend the prescribed limits of littoral states approved
in the Act,” he said.

“My conviction has always been that the issue of 200 metres
water depths isobaths was supposed to be the starting point, so that the
onshore/offshore dichotomy would ultimately be abolished completely. Under such
an arrangement, other states, including Akwa Ibom, Delta and Lagos, will also
benefit.”

Mr. Enang appears to be echoing the sentiments of most other
littoral states, which gave indications during last month’s Federation Accounts
Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting that they may be heading back to the
Supreme Court for intervention, since all of them are facing similar security
and environmental challenges in the region.

What makes the issues contentious is the significant alteration
of the existing Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC)
indices for the payment of oil derivation.

Prior to the concession and subsequent revision of the volume of
oil production figures attributable to each littoral state, Akwa Ibom topped,
with 13,905,432 barrels; followed by Rivers (12,636,795 barrels), Delta
(11,163,493 barrels), and Bayelsa (10,313,368 barrels).

But the reverse is the case under the revised indices released
since last July, with Bayelsa at first position at 15,995,773 barrels; ahead of
Rivers (13,317,840 barrels), Akwa Ibom (12,796,954 barrels) and Delta
(11,163,493 barrels).

The Deputy Speaker
of the House of Representatives, Usman Nafada, yesterday, overcame
opposition by members to the decision of the senate to permit
adjudication for governorship election cases, as the lower chamber
finally approved the harmonized amendments to the 1999 constitution.

In separate
amendments last week, the House altered six sections of the
constitution while the senate approved 10, to pave way for the
extension of dates for next year’s election.

The extra four
sections which the senate introduced, to allow gubernatorial election
cases terminate at the Supreme Court, was harshly questioned on
Thursday by the Representatives who appeared poised for an
unprecedented defeat of a passed bill at the harmonization level.

“I am wondering if
we as a parliament can accept that the issue of governorship election
cases move from election tribunal to the Supreme Court. Where will
justice end for the governors to have time for the issue of
governance,” three-term Delta state member, Halims Agoda, said.

But presiding
officer, Mr. Nafada, turned down overwhelming voice votes against the
bill and convinced the lawmakers to back the amendment after more than
half-an hour of secret consultations.

“We cannot go back
to the senate and say we cannot carry this,” he declared before the
commencement of the closed session. “It will mean the whole exercise
will not make sense. We will adopt it.”

Lawmakers
acknowledged such a defeat would set back the desired extension of
election dates, which is near finalization, but they argued that the
terms of the senate-sponsored clauses will create more challenges for a
polity already burdened by lengthy election process.

By implication, the
provisions will allow gubernatorial election cases move from election
tribunals to the Supreme Court, against the current practice where it
terminates at the Courts of Appeal. For now, only the presidential
election cases are heard at the Supreme Court.

An earlier
unsuccessful attempt by the federal lawmakers to alter the sections,
during the exercise concluded in July, seeks to make the case reach the
highest court only if it begins at the Appeal courts and not the
tribunals.

But members in
support of the extension said it will help lessen the workload of the
Court of Appeal, which has complained of shortage of judges.

With the
experiences of Ekiti, Edo and Ondo states, where true winners of the
2007 governorship elections took office after an average of three years
in court, majority of the members said the intent of the bill is to
grant an unnecessary extension of time for fraudulent polls’
beneficiaries who may be only called to account after they have left
office.

A House committee
named to harmonize last week’s passages from both arms of the National
Assembly accepted the senate’s position at a meeting on Monday.
However, the House disowned the representation yesterday and asked that
the clauses be stepped down.

The bill finally
passed soon after the members emerged from the executive session,
during which those familiar with the proceedings said Mr. Nafada
explained to his colleagues the need to support the governors who in
turn will support the lawmakers.

No backdoor bill

Separately, the
House strongly denied media reports that the rejected clauses of the
Electoral bill, which has to do with the choice of delegates to
primaries, had found its way back to the chamber.

At two news conferences, house officials said presidency sponsored bill was still with the committees to which it was referred.

“We have never said
anywhere that we will accept the contentious areas of that bill, as of
today the committee has yet to submit its reports,” said Sarkin Adah,
chairman of the House committee on Electoral Matters.

Many other members re-echoed their preparedness to defeat the bill
when it is brought back to the house. Reports had said the bill was to
be re-presented to the house on Thursday, this time as a
member-sponsored bill.

The World Economic
Forum (WEF) yesterday said the troubles with Nigeria’s economy were
worsened by high corruption, poor socio-economic infrastructure and
other vices in the political system.

The Chief Economist
of WEF, Jennifer Blanke, who spoke yesterday at the opening of a
workshop on National Competitiveness in Abuja, said Nigeria should take
the issues of decay in its education system, poor infrastructure and
corruption very seriously if it is to move from its present 127th
position in the performance indicators of 139 countries recently
captured by the forum.

According to Mrs
Blanke, the country’s economic decline commenced since last year in the
areas of finance management and handling of corporate governance issues
in the financial system as well as the capital market, though she
admitted that the country has the opportunity to grow up in the
ranking, given the sophistication of businesses and the large market
that companies can benefit from.

She identified
specific areas Nigeria can focus on in order to further improve her
competitiveness, including improvement in governance issues,
development of strong currency institutions as well as improvement in
the quality of education and infrastructure.

“I don’t know if
there is any fast-track to achieving this goal. There are also issues
that one definitely needs to focus on that has to deal with government
corruption,” she said

Global watchdogs

The Minister of
State for Finance, Yabawa Lawan Wabi, said that countries all over the
world are increasingly becoming guided by the global competitiveness
ranking of other countries in their development processes, as compiled
and rendered by worldwide risk rating agencies, such as Fitch, Standard
and Poor as well as Goldman Sachs.

“As we all are
aware, several factors ranging from key economic indices, political
stability and democratic ideals, social infrastructure to security are
given significant weight in the determination of a country’s sovereign
risk rating and global competitiveness ranking by these agencies,” she
said.

The minister said the present administration is determined to put in
place, policies and programmes that would propel quick and positive
changes in Nigeria’s economic performance in the relevant areas, such
as domestic production, employment generation, power and energy,
education and health; deepening of our democracy, security and enabling
the right institutional and regulatory framework that will elevate
Nigeria’s National competitiveness.

The National
Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), at its
meeting on Wednesday, resolved to write the Enugu State Governor,
Sullivan Chime and members of the State House of Assembly to stop the
ongoing rancour over the dissolution of the executive committee of the
party in the state.

The committee also decided to revisit the conduct of congresses in Imo and Anambra states.

The executive
committee of the party in Enugu State was dissolved two weeks ago
following complaints that trailed the conduct of the congress in the
state and the refusal of the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) to recognize it.

Some party
officials in the state, who believed the chairman of the party,
Okwesilieze Nwodo, acted unilaterally, have challenged the dissolution
in court.

The situation
prompted President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene in the crisis by
meeting with three members of the NWC while Mr Nwodo was away on
vacation abroad.

A source in the
meeting presided over by Mr Nwodo on Wednesday said the decision to
dispatch the letter to Enugu followed the chairman’s protest that
members of the NWC took sides while he was away in the United States.

Following the
chairman’s protest, the members took turns to explain their roles in
the Enugu issue. The committee resolved to write Mr Chime and others.

The meeting also reportedly resolved to revisit the congresses held
in Imo and Anambra state with a view to taking care of the contending
forces. It was gathered that though the congresses had been held, the
NWC agreed that there was a need to revisit them and explore the option
of harmonisation among the aggrieved groups in the party.