REMINISCING.

Thursday, 5 July 2012

The MANY CHALLENGES OF THE NIGERIAN NATION
By Ogiri John Ogiri

From the North to the South as well as from the East to the West of Nigeria, general insecurities, corruption and deprivations possess the land. It is no longer news that a larger proportion of the over 167 million Nigerians go to bed hungry every day and night. It is also glaring that bombings targeted at government security formations as well as Christian churches have become the order of the day in the country. Only recently, suicide bomb attacks targeted at two separate churches in Kaduna metropolis and Zaria by the Boko Haram Islamic insurgents sparked a devastating wave of reprisal attacks in the metropolis and its environs. In the ensuing pogrom, hundreds of lives were lost, properties worth millions of naira were destroyed and thousands of people were rendered homeless. This is not to mention the colossal loss in terms of lives and properties in similar incidences in Kano, Maiduguri, Yobe, Bauchi and Plateau states in recent times.
In the Niger-Delta region, militancy in agitation for oil resource control have led to kidnappings of many people- young and old, male and female (with some rescued dead, and others alive)-as well as oil theft and illegal oil trade at high seas all in a bid to press home their demands. (Thanks to the amnesty programme currently being implemented in the area and which has helped to curtailed militancy to a tolerable extent). Armed robbery has continued to be the stock-in-trade in the southeast with many lives and properties lost to this menace.
Today, corruption, in all its ramifications adorns the Nigerian political, economic and social systems. So many ignoble acts of corruption are being perpetrated with impunity. Government money is being stolen and siphoned to foreign accounts with no proper monitoring and legally strengthened mechanisms of effective control. Cases of James Ibori, Cecilia Ibru, Chief Bode George, Alex Akingbola, Dimeji Bankole, Etteh et cetera are still fresh in our memories. A more recent case of corruption is the one involving Honourable Farouk Lawan of the House of Representatives who defied all voices of wisdom and conscience, threw all ethical cautions to the wind and decided to dine with the devil of bribery and corruption by purportedly collecting the sum of $620,000 from those who are bent on truncating the down-to-earth implementation of the report of fuel subsidy probe. What still baffles the imagination of many ordinary Nigerians, who, before now, had been basking in the euphoria of the fact that, after all, with people like Honourable Farouk Lawan, all hope of a corruption-free society was not lost, is how and why Honourable Lawan could trade his integrity and reputations for which he has toiled so hard over the years for “thirty pieces of silver”. Honourable Lawan’s case generated much ado and media hype not because he was the first person to be associated with corrupt practices in Nigeria but because he had been able to establish himself in the minds of so many Nigerians as an anti-corruption figure, only to allow himself to be swept by the same wind of bribery and corruption which he had been fighting. If people like honourable Lawan can not be trusted to do an honest job, then who else can we trust? His case only seems to reaffirm the Ghanaian writer, Ayi Kwei Armah’s adage that “The beautiful ones are not yet born” .No, not in Nigeria.
The case of the Power sector is even more baffling. At fifty two, Nigeria, still, can not generate enough power for its large scale industrial development. Over the years, successive administrations have made effort to revive the sector but all seems to be getting worse. The power supply has continued to remain epileptic despite efforts to revive the sector. The question is this, is it that the “disease” plaguing the sector is incurable? Is it not obvious that the same anonymous and faceless cabals are direct beneficiaries of the fact that the power sector is not working? After all, many of them hold the largest stakes in the business of Power Generator Importation and, fixing the power sector is definitely going to put them out of business and so they are prepared to invest billions of naira in lobbying the majority of our executive members and the law-makers who are their willing collaborators, in order to stop them from comprehensively turning this sector around. This has had dangerous effects on the socio-economic development of the country. It has led to discouragement of investments, increased cost of doing business in Nigeria, and a high level of unemployment, among other consequences.
In the education sector, which is the most critical of all the sectors, the situation is appalling. The story is the same whether it is about dilapidating infrastructures and lack of qualitative teaching materials, personnel and environment or the dwindling standard of education. The result is that our Universities, Polytechnics, Monotechnics and Colleges of Education are churning out graduates who can not compete equally with their counterparts from other parts of the world. Globally, technology is the in-thing now. One of the tools for advancing the growth and development of technology today is the knowledge of information and communication technology, through computers. Today, in Nigeria, how many computer laboratories are available in our educational institutions? Even, where they are available, how many of them have functional computers with modern configurations? If these too are available, is there adequate electricity to power them? It is only in Nigeria that computer lecturers/ teachers teach computer education to students without computers. Check some of our science laboratories and you can hardly distinguish between a traditional farm house and the so-called science laboratories. What a shame that the same crop of leaders who studied under government sponsored scholarship abroad, who received the best quality of education can not make the same available for the younger generation. In fact, some of our Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education are glorified secondary schools. Today, increasing emphasis on certificates or paper qualifications by the Nigerian system at the expense of merits and academic excellence have made many students to forfeit the rigorous but interesting pursuit of knowledge, for a quicker or easy, usually manipulative ways, of obtaining these certificates .No wonder, many of our graduates are unemployable.
The standard of teaching too has nose-dived tragically to a disturbing level. This is a testimony to the fact that the teachers or Lecturers themselves need to be taught or lectured. Research, which is a veritable tool for national development in many advanced societies, is being abandoned by many teachers/Lecturers in most of these institutions. The seemingly unquenchable penchant of the current generation towards materialism has continued to be a threat to any serious dedication to excellence in this sector. Lecture notes are being recycled from one year to another without any effort to add anything new so as to be able to meet the needs of the current age. Students are no longer free to think for themselves. They are expected to return verbatim, during examinations or tests, (word for word) of what is taught to them in the class room.  “Garbage in, garbage out” is the order of the day. No wonder, the Nigerian society is today replete with more followers and passive leaders than responsible followers and pragmatic leaders. Employment of teaching personnel in our educational institutions, is done, not based on merit and competent ability of the applicant to deliver in the classroom but on tribalism, religious affinity and favouritism. All these are dangerous combination of factors responsible for the present rot in the Nigerian education system. The earlier they are addressed, the better for the future of education in the contemporary Nigerian society.
In the religious arena, there is a high level of corruption of the minds of younger ones by some of the so-called pastors in the church and Imams or Sheiks in the mosque. Today, religion, which is supposed to be an instrument of unity and national cohesion, is being used as a tool of division or segregation, propagation of distorted and confused religious dogmas particularly in the country. One of the most obvious effects of this is what is currently at play in Maiduguri, Kano, Bauchi, Kaduna and some other northwestern and northeastern states in terms of wanton destruction of properties and the senseless killings and maiming of innocent Nigerians, being orchestrated by some confused elements in the region all in the name of religion. Looking at this state of affairs, one is forced to ask-where are the Nigerians who fought in unity to stop the then Eastern and southern Nigeria from seceding between 1967 and 1970? Why are the same Nigerians re-enacting the same drama that led to that war? Before the advent of Islam in Nigeria through the desert in the North, did we not live together in peace and harmony? Or in the periods preceding the coming of Christianity through the Atlantic Ocean in the south, did Nigerians not cohabit in absolute peace and unity? Why, then, should the coming of Islam and Christianity divide us? How often do we hear of religious crises occurring in Saudi Arabia or Italy and Israel as often as it occurs in Nigeria today? Do you not think that the “receivers” of these religions are trying to practice it more than the “givers” of these religions? Do Nigerian adherents of these religions really, and I mean “really” understand its dogmatic focus and orientation? It is my honest believe that there is nothing wrong with Islam, but something is fundamentally wrong with the Muslim; there is nothing wrong with Christianity, but something is definitely wrong with the Christian. To address this confusion, we must not attempt to change Islam and Christianity; they are good in themselves. They all preach and emphasize peace. To tackle this challenge, we must tackle and change the Muslim and the Christian.
It is concluded, thus, that there is the need for these challenges to be addressed holistically, sincerely and with the needed political will duly deployed in tackling them by those who have been mandated with the responsibility leadership in this country. The government alone can not do this; there is therefore the need for public-private collaboration in this regards so as to achieve the dream of a virile, united Nigeria.   
        
   

 
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Oh! Nigeria,my country
OH NIGERIA MY COUNTRY.

BY OGIRI JOHN OGIRI.

Oh! Nigeria my beautiful country; how I love you! You are everything to me. You are the air I breathe; you availed me the first platform of land on which I breathed my first air in this life. You offered me plenty and abundance, when the painful pangs of hunger and thirst threatened to engulf me. In your beautiful forests, the materials used in erecting the building that housed me from the sun and the rain were sought. The fleece of sheep you gave me provided blankets which protected me from the piercing sword of cold during winters, while the cattle provided meat and milk. In those days used to go anywhere I liked because I was sure of returning home safely, but, I cannot go out freely anymore. I am m scared even in my own country. I dreamed to be a free man. Yes, free from neo-colonialism and insecurity; yes, free from wants and penury.

Oh! Nigeria, my country, what has happened to you? Since, you fell into the hands of your own grand-children; life has never remained the same again. I am afraid to stay with you anymore. But, do I have anywhere to go? You are my only country; you are my land. I will stay with you forever. I love you my country, Nigeria

My country, Nigeria lays desolate. The land lays worn-out from overgrazing by political opportunists who have no business being in government. Women wail, Widows lament. Children and orphans cry. There seems to be nothing left for them. No food, no water, no schools, no jobs, no hospitals. Our leaders, yes, the unfortunate inheritors, have grazed the land into baldness. And I ask rhetorically 'who will salvage my country'? Who can we trust to deliver us from this dungeon? God blessed us with abundant resources but why have we found ourselves where we are today?
This might not be the best of times for my country, but we shall conquer and wax stronger than we have ever been. I look forward to the future when an egg shall break the palm kernel and the stone shall be put to shame.
.May God protect you for me

Thursday, 12 January 2012
Fuel subsidy Removal
ORGANIZED LABOUR/ FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FACE-OFF:  THE WAY FORWARD.
By Ogiri John Ogiri.

Nigeria is currently experiencing a tortuous moment, which, if not well managed, can be dangerous to her corporate existence as a nation. Over the last few days, the entire country has been engulfed in an industrial action, street protests and mass rallies embarked upon by organized labour and the civil society groups. The bone of contention is the controversial policy of fuel subsidy removal by the Dr Goodluck Jonathan-led federal government on the eve of the 2012 New Year celebration.

In the months leading to the end of 2011, the president and his economic team led by the Finance minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the central bank’s governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as well as the Petroleum Minister, Diezani-Alison Madueke among other members of the federal executive council, had announced the administration’s determination and decision to restructure and transform the country’s economy in order to save it from an imminent collapse. The whole idea had been integrated into a plan code-named “Transformation Agenda”. A part of the  plan is aimed at  deregulating the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, believed by the government to be highly corrupt, perhaps, due to the existence of subsidy, which, in turn, has been gulping the lion’s share of the national budget with recurrent expenditure overshooting to the highest heaven to the detriment of the capital spending, which is greatly needed for any meaningful transformation of the productive sector of the economy and financing of capital projects to be achieved. Government therefore decided to commence the deregulation with outright removal of fuel subsidy. However, the issue bordering on the removal of subsidy, which, as argued by the government, had only been enriching a faceless cabal, did not go down well with the Nigeria Labour Congress,(NLC),Trade Union congress and the civil society groups. They had threatened to embark on an indefinite nation-wide strike, street protests and rallies should the government made good its decision. Organized labour and the civil society groups believed that such action would only help to further impoverish the already poor and economically-wearied Nigerians as subsidy removal increases inflation by double digits. To resolve these divergent opinions and fears expressed by both sides and arrive at an acceptable degree of compromise or agreement, the federal government entered into negotiations with labour. However, this negotiation was yet to reach a conclusive end, when the federal government announced the outright removal of fuel subsidy, a change effected through the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) on the 31st of December, 2012.Angered by this development, organized labour and the civil society groups on Monday, 9th of January, 2012, embarked on an indefinite nation-wide strike, street protests and mass rallies across the federation.

Events of the initial day of the protests was quite encouraging, with protesters conducting themselves  in a well-organized and magnanimous manner .However, subsequent developments in the later days in some states left much to be desired as retrogressive elements infiltrated the ranks of the peaceful protesters hijacking the situation so as to vent their pent-up angers and settle political scores with their perceived enemies as evident in places like Kano, Kaduna ,Adamawa, Lagos, Ilorin to mention but a few. In fact, this has made government to believe that those fuelling the rather violent protests could be the racketeers and profiteers in the oil and gas business and their cronies who have been hurt by the removal of the subsidy. This resulted in either suspension of protests and rallies or imposition of curfews or both in the affected states.
From the arguments advanced by both the government and organized labour on fuel subsidy removal, a common generalization that, perhaps, can be drawn is that fuel subsidy removal is an absolute sine qua non. The seemingly evidential sore point is the time, manner, processes and procedures of its implementation, which brought about the current concomitant effects of hardships and pains on the masses and how the pains can be assuaged. This seems to be the rationale behind calls and vehement demands for its reversal and suspension. Government has however appealed to organized labour to call of its strike and protests to give way for further negotiations. But it appears that the organized labour and civil society groups are as adamant to heed this call as government is unyielding to rescind its decision.

The current imbroglio has cost the country the loss of huge amount of revenue in oil and tourism. In fact, it was reported in one of the national dailies that Nigeria has lost over 800 billion naira since the beginning of the industrial action. What is worse ,as I write, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria,(PENGASSAN) has placed all production units of the oil and gas industry on red alert for a total shut down. This could be dangerous for our economy. Besides, this strikes and mass protests have added more security challenges to the ones we already have. Do we solve a problem by creating a more dangerous one? Is this the type of transformation we seek? Sometimes, it tempts me to ask “what type of a leader do we really need?” Is it one who just comes, does business as usual and, as someone puts it, does what he can, leaves what he cannot do and go and wait for the can to explode? Or the one who abhors business as usual and chooses to follow a radical departure from the status quo? I think we need to ask ourselves what type of leaders we really want for this country.

What, then, is the way forward? It is my considered opinion that both parties, (NLC/FG) not only return to the negotiation table, but also, to begin a productive dialogue towards an amicable resolution of the current impasse. “Two cannot walk together, unless they agree” (Cf Amos 3:3).Unless the two parties agree on a common position, there will be no way out of the current imbroglio. Besides, one of the parties must be mature and humble enough to accept certain degree of compromise in the interest of peace and stability of the country. In this regards, organized labour should reconsider its position to continue the strike and mass protests as two wrongs do not make a right. From the current situation, it could be argued that the current pains of hunger and death being experienced by Nigerians might not be said to be a direct consequence of the initial government’s action of subsidy removal. Rather, it is the continued strikes and protests, which has taken a lot of people (particularly, the self employed) away from their businesses, that have aggravated the situation.

Furthermore, if the current debates or arguments both for and against fuel subsidy removal is situated within the context of the current socio-economic conditions and realities of the masses, then the removal of fuel subsidy believed to have been enriching a faceless cabal or cartel in the oil and gas sector, is not a bad idea after all. However, one thing I seem not fathom on the part of Mr. President and his government is why he cannot muster a pragmatic capacity to name, fish out and prosecute these cabals. It is my belief that doing so will go a long way in rebuilding or reviving the dwindling trust linking the government with the masses. In addition, the about 1100 buses recently launched by the government as well as other measures announced to cushion the negative effects of the subsidy removal on Nigerians is inadequate. There is the need for the government to do more than these palliatives. For, if the pains of the subsidy removal are contained, people will stop protesting.Nigeria must not be allowed to degenerate into anarchy.  
Posted by OGIRI JOHN OGIRI at 12:15 No comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Monday, 9 January 2012

FUEL SUBSIDY REMOVAL: WHERE THE GOVERNMENT ERRED.
BY OGIRI JOHN OGIRI
The recent removal of subsidy on premium motor spirit (PMS) by the federal government of Nigeria on 1st January, 2012 has generated heated debates, with some hailing the government’s action as long overdue and sees it to be in the interest of the Nigerian economy. Others, however, approached it with virile criticisms from various quarters across the country. Proponents of fuel subsidy removal argue that doing so is the most proactive ways of curbing the petroleum industry and the country of the menace of corruption. In their position, Nigeria had been subsidizing the rich. In other words, the subsidy which according to the federal government amount to about one trillion naira had been enriching a cartel or a few individuals thereby hijacking its real benefits from the ordinary Nigerians. What is more disturbing, according to the federal government, is that, Nigeria has to borrow money in order to keep the subsidy going, a trend which is said to be responsible for the continuous increase in the country’s recurrent expenditure over capital spending. Therefore, fuel subsidy must go in order that the Nigerian economy will be saved from an imminent collapse. In fact, as emphasized by the President, Goodluck  Jonathan, fuel subsidy removal is a necessary change which Nigeria needs to effect, arguing that it is better to suffer the pain today and enjoy the gains later than the other way round and so, to cushion the negative effects of this reform, the he directed the reduction of salaries of public officials in the executive arm (and I hope this will be extended to members of the national assembly),immediate supply of mass transit buses to specific transport operators across the country (which have been commissioned for operation at the time of writing this piece) as well as reduction of unnecessary and unproductive oversea travels by government officials.
O
n the other side of the debate, however, is the school of thought(and this is where most Nigerians under the auspices of organized labour and Trade Union Congress fall) who argue that removal of petroleum subsidy be reversed and if possible abandoned. In their opinions, the removal of fuel subsidy, which seemed to be the only social security benefit available to the people, will impoverish the already poor masses the more as absence of fuel subsidy would create negative macro-economic effects such as the creation of  double-digit inflationary trends (and it is already manifesting with the transport sector being the worst-hit) which makes nonsense of the aggregate disposable income of average Nigerians thereby reducing their purchasing power to meet their basic necessities of life. The recent increase in prices of foodstuff as well as transportation fare seemed to have confirmed their apprehensions. Consequently, they have vowed to embark on strikes, rallies and mass protests beginning on Monday the 9th of January, 2012, if that is what it would take, to drive home their demand for the reversal of fuel subsidy removal by the federal government.
While this write up is not intended to condemn out rightly the removal of fuel subsidy, it seeks to point out where government erred while suggesting that the government be cautious in the pursuit of this reform agenda. It is my personal opinion that deregulation of the petroleum industry, parts of which is the removal of fuel subsidy, is the best thing that can ever happen to a country like Nigeria which corruption index keeps increasing at an unimaginable proportion. In fact, the long-term benefits are what make it to appear as an unpopular reform agenda. However, the government needs to understand that people are allergic to change particularly one which tends to deviate completely from the status quo.It is therefore imperative that adequate awareness be created and the people enlightened on the long-term benefits of this reform programme before its implementation.It is my opinion that lack of adequate awareness and enlightenment campaign on this reform by the government prior to its implementation is one of the reasons the Nigerian masses are uncomfortable with it. Besides, as it is, the people no longer trust government officials when it comes to issues relating to money. Thus, government needs to convince the people beyond reasonable doubt before it can be trusted by them (the people) to do a sincere job of deregulating the petroleum industry. The people need to be assured that the purported over one trillion naira to be saved from the subsidy removal will not end up in personal pockets of the politicians. Government needs to win their trust before and not after implementation of the reform agenda.
Furthermore, it is my believe that the people are not scared of subsidy removal per see; rather, timing is of utmost concern to them. The Christmas and New Year periods with their huge spending implications, coupled with Christmas day bombing which created tensions in the country, actually made fuel subsidy removal the last thing on their minds. It is normal for them to resist such move by the government. Thus, government needs to consider the time and also exercise caution.
Finally, while commending government’s effort aimed at ameliorating the sufferings and hardships of the people, caused by the removal of fuel subsidy, through the recent introduction of some palliative measures such as import waivers for certain essential goods and services, launching of mass transit buses for transportation within and across the country among others, It is my submission that these measures should have been on ground before now and not after subsidy removal. To win the support of the masses for its transformation agenda, therefore, there is the need for the government to go beyond introduction of palliative measures (which is temporary) and be more proactive in addressing what makes them to resent this type of transformative change. The need for massive infrastructural development cannot be overemphasized in this regard.   

Saturday, 7 January 2012
“NIGERIA, THE UNLUCKY GIANT”

“NIGERIA, THE UNLUCKY GIANT”
BY
OGIRI JOHN OGIRI

Like an ant caught in the spider’s web,
Like a rat ensnared by the hunter’s trap,
Like the shark caught in the fisherman’s net,
Nigeria lays helpless in corruption and instability.

Oh! Nigeria the unlucky giant
Giant in natural and human resources
Rich in oil yet wretched in Africa
She looks more helpless
As unfortunate inheritors
Graze the land to baldness
They wine and dine as they feast on their loots
While the people wail and die from Wants

And like the fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar
Like the roaring of the ferocious lion
Hunger of the mind rages on
While hunger of the stomach blazes fire

She is trapped in the web of hostilities and instabilities
As the politico-religious bigots
Promote ethno-religious vendetta
With the clandestine agenda  to tear her apart.

Oh Nigeria the acclaimed ‘Giant of Africa’
Who will redeem her?
Who will save her from sycophants and opportunists?
Who will rescue her from blood-thirsty politico-religious fundamentalists?
Who will shield her from imminent collapse?

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About Me

OGIRI JOHN OGIRI
    Ogiri John Ogiri hails from Okpokwu Local government of Benue state,north-central Nigeria.He studied Leisure and Tourism Management from Kaduna Polytechnic,Kaduna state,Nigeria. He holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE )
Ogiri John Ogiri is a registered teacher have been properly registered with the Teachers Registered Council of Nigeria (TRCN ).He is a motivational speaker/writer as well as a social commentator.He welcomes your comments and constructive criticisms that will help him to improve his writing skills.