₦airaland Forum

Appointment well deserved. Maurice Iwu is a world class pharmacist and researcher as shown in this google scholar search result http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=Maurice+Iwu&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C5&as_sdtp=
His most recent outing is in the advancement of HIV/AIDS research
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/01/nigerias-maurice-iwu-others-record-breakthrough-in-hivaids-treatment/

Across the world it is considered one of the final taboos – but a Sydney judge has suggested that incest is on a par with homosexuality.

District Court Judge Garry Neilson has been criticised for espousing the view that sexual contact between siblings or between adults and children should perhaps no longer be viewed as “unnatural” or “taboo”, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Neilson drew parallels with widely changing attitudes towards gay sex. In the same way, he said, “a jury might find nothing untoward in the advance of a brother towards his sister once she had sexually matured, had sexual relationships with other men and was now ‘available’, not having [a] sexual partner”.

The judge went on to say that incest is only criminalised because of the high chance that any resulting offspring will be born with serious birth defects, but added that “even that [risk] falls away to an extent [because] there is such ease of contraception and readily access to abortion”.

Neilson made the astonishing comments during the trial of a brother charged with raping his younger sister. The man had earlier pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting his sister when he was 17 and she was 10 or 11 in 1973 or 1974 – but pleaded not guilty to the charge of sexual intercourse without consent, with an alternative charge of incest, for the alleged 1981 offence.

However, Neilson refused to admit the evidence from the earlier case. He claimed that the sexual abuse that happened in the 1970s was of a different nature to that which occurred in the 1980s when the girl was 18 and the man 26.

Neilson said: “By that stage they are both mature adults. The complainant has been sexually awoken, shall we say, by having two relationships with men and she had become ‘free’ when the second relationship broke down.

“The only thing that might change that is the fact that they were a brother and sister but we’ve come a long way from the 1950s … when the position of the English Common Law was that sex outside marriage was not lawful.”


Read more here
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/incest-is-no-longer-a-taboo-says-australian-judge-garry-neilson-9599552.html

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbour

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk

FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk

NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then
throws the milk away

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy
grows.
You sell them and retire on the income

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND (VENTURE) CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by
your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption
for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.
The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States , leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public then buys your bull.

SURREALISM
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to
produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why
the cow has dropped dead.

A GREEK CORPORATION
You have two cows. You borrow lots of euros to build barns, milking sheds, hay stores, feed sheds,
dairies, cold stores, abattoir, cheese unit and packing sheds.
You still only have two cows.

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want three
cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce
twenty times the milk.
You then create a clever cow cartoon image called a Cowkimona and
market it worldwide.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows,
but you don't know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb the ** out of you and invade your country.
You still have no cows, but at least you are now a Democracy.

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive...

Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=490838537637923&set=a.192628137458966.59154.180676981987415&type=1&theater

A NIGERIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows
You give both to pastor as seeds
You pray to God to give you milk

Several government agencies and establishments in Nigeria are performing well below expectations. Low managerial quality, low customer satisfaction, poor maintenance culture, low personnel productivity etc. are the hallmarks of many Nigerian institutions. On the contrary, institutions that provide similar services but run by private sector are far more productive and efficient. These makes me asking, shouldn't we start thinking of private sector involvement in some of the public sector institutions? I am NOT talking about privatization here, but some other form of public-private partnership, e.g. management lease. Some institutions that come to mind are:
(1) Railway corporation
(2) Stadia and other sport facilities
(3) Seaport facilities
You are free to add yours if you share this line of thought

The two biggest teachers' unions are threatening a national one-day strike in England before Christmas in a row over pay, pensions and workloads.

But the NUT and NASUWT have held back from announcing a date and are calling for talks rather than "megaphone diplomacy" with the government.

The teachers' unions have given dates in October for their continuing campaign of rolling regional strikes.

The Department for Education described the strikes as "disappointing".

There will be regional strikes on 1 October in the east of England, the Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside and on 17 October in London, North East, South East and South West.

Teachers have accused the government of "reckless and irresponsible behaviour" and say that Mr Gove has refused to engage in meaningful negotiations.

But the government has said the walkouts are disruptive to pupils' education.

'No choice'
Mr Gove wrote to both unions in March to say he was willing to meet them but the "direction of travel" on their key issues was "fixed".

Under his reforms, set to come into effect from this autumn, pay will be linked to performance in the classroom and schools will set salaries, rather than follow a national framework.

Changes have also been made to public sector pensions.

The regional strikes began to take place in June.

Christine Blower, general secretary of the NUT, said: "At the start of the new academic year, the last thing teachers wish to be doing is preparing for further industrial action.

"With pay, pensions and working conditions being systematically attacked and an education secretary who refuses to listen or negotiate teachers now have no other choice."

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, said: "Teachers will be angered by the recklessness of the secretary of state's continuing failure to take seriously their concerns and engage in genuine discussions to address them."

The education secretary is due to deliver a speech on the teaching profession later in the day.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "It is disappointing that the NUT and Nasuwt are striking over the government's measures to allow heads to pay good teachers more.

"In a recent poll, 61% of respondents supported linking teachers' pay to performance and 70% either opposed the strikes or believed that teachers should not be allowed to strike at all."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-23970281

his only 'sin' is that he is African. He's certainly one of the most (if not the most) decorated player in modern football history.

Fellow Nigerians, It is evident that some unscrupulous foreign elements are bent on destabilizing our nation. Any further attempt, or attempted attempt shall be met with great resistance. I trust our gallant soldiers and officers who are capable of handling the situation. Just wondering, why are the propaganda international media houses (Aljazeera, CNN, BBC etc) not carrying such news? Well, there is more to many things happening in Nigeria than what meets the eye.

OP, the issue is that what matters isn't your knowledge, but how to apply your knowledge to real life situations. Having a Mathematics background gives you good analytical capabilities so you'll need to see which area of life you'll be able to apply these skills: Engineering, Economics, Energy, Environment, finance, geology etc. What our university does not do is teaching us how these skills can be applied in real life. I'm afraid, you'll need to learn this yourself. You may need to take some time out, may be some months, to explore a field where you can apply your theoretical knowledge. Diverting to applied statistics/econometrics may help since they are more applicable to real life. The world of today needs people with multidisciplinary background and expertise, so expand your horizon. Otherwise, the classroom may likely be your destination. Cheers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wF4wU6HuUk

Phillip Effiong- The unsung hero of the Nigeria.

Gen Efiong, full name: Philip Asuquo Efiong Udo Ukpong Akpan Ekandem Essien Nkam Obionte, was a self-made man who rose through the ranks to become a Lt-Colonel in the Nigerian Army before the coup of 15 January 1966. Following the coup, he was posted to the Supreme Headquarters as Principal Staff Officer to Major-Gen J. T. U. Aguiyi-Ironsi. He was Acting Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters in May 1966. And in July 1966 he was posted to Kaduna as Deputy Brigade Commander. Following the counter coup of July 1966, Efiong who was a target of the counter coupists, managed to escape to Lagos. And in compliance with orders for all officers to return to their region of origin, he returned to the East before the civil war broke out in 1967. In Biafra, Gen Efiong held various commands as Chief of Logistics, Chief of Staff, Commandant of the Militia and the Chief of General Staff. But what has put Efiong in a position of historical significance is that he was the last Head of State of Biafra and the man who eventually brought the fratricidal war to an end. It is therefore clear that Efiong was in vantage positions during those crucial years in the history of this country.

More Information
http://www.kwenu.com/bookreview/philip_efiong.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Effiong

This is why I get so angry with my Igbo friends who, in their sheer blindness, only believe Ojukwu was Biafra and Biafra was Ojukwu. Indeed, Phillip Effiong was, though arguable, the greatest Biafran. It is worthy to mention that he was senior to Ojukwu and others (he was a Brig Gen), but was humble enough to be second in command to Ojukwu, and was Head of State when Ojukwu fled. Nnaemeka L. Aneke wrote, "General Efiong’s handling of Biafra’s surrender is one of the most tactical and devoted maneuvers ever seen on the Nigerian scene. Those who do not appreciate the depth of it may not have appreciated what was at stake as Biafra capitulated." Many observers had expected wholesale retribution at war's end (see the wikipedia link).

grafikdon: In No Special Order;

Sam Ogbemudia
Odumegwu Ojukwu
Wole Soyinka
Chinua Achebe
Phillip Effiong

Phillip Effiong- The unsung hero of Nigeria.

Gen Efiong, full name: Philip Asuquo Efiong Udo Ukpong Akpan Ekandem Essien Nkam Obionte, was a self-made man who rose through the ranks to become a Lt-Colonel in the Nigerian Army before the coup of 15 January 1966. Following the coup, he was posted to the Supreme Headquarters as Principal Staff Officer to Major-Gen J. T. U. Aguiyi-Ironsi. He was Acting Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters in May 1966. And in July 1966 he was posted to Kaduna as Deputy Brigade Commander. Following the counter coup of July 1966, Efiong who was a target of the counter coupists, managed to escape to Lagos. And in compliance with orders for all officers to return to their region of origin, he returned to the East before the civil war broke out in 1967. In Biafra, Gen Efiong held various commands as Chief of Logistics, Chief of Staff, Commandant of the Militia and the Chief of General Staff. But what has put Efiong in a position of historical significance is that he was the last Head of State of Biafra and the man who eventually brought the fratricidal war to an end. It is therefore clear that Efiong was in vantage positions during those crucial years in the history of this country.

More Information
http://www.kwenu.com/bookreview/philip_efiong.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Effiong

This is why I get so angry with my Igbo friends who, in their sheer blindness, only believe Ojukwu was Biafra and Biafra was Ojukwu. Indeed, Phillip Effiong was, though arguable, the greatest Biafran. It is worthy to mention that he was senior to Ojukwu and others (he was a Brig Gen), but was humble enough to be second in command to Ojukwu, and was Head of State when Ojukwu fled. Nnaemeka L. Aneke wrote, "General Efiong’s handling of Biafra’s surrender is one of the most tactical and devoted maneuvers ever seen on the Nigerian scene. Those who do not appreciate the depth of it may not have appreciated what was at stake as Biafra capitulated." Many observers had expected wholesale retribution at war's end (see the wikipedia link).

Akwa Ibom has never been educationally disadvantaged. May be is Cross River you meant

ogb5: Once a scientist always a scientist.
Gej should remember that his home state of beyelsa is still listed a an educationally disadvantaged state.

Only beyelsa and akwa ibom is on that list in the South and akwa ibom is fast leaving bayelsa behind.

He should do all to promote Education in his home state.

It is true that most of those projects were instituted by Attah's administration. Attah's administration had acute shortage of funds especially in the first six years due to onshore/offshore oil dichotomy and could not implement most of them. In this context, kudos must go to Akpabio's administration which, given the huge allocation, has decided to implement most of the projects (apart from the Ibom science park) in addition to his own projects especially in the area of roads.

whizkidd: Why Nigerians always choose to be silly will forever elude me. Shouldn't we all be happy at any sign of progress anywhere? You might hate Akpabio and his politics, but you can't deny what he has DONE! He has been one of the better performing governors in Nigeria. I think the real question is, if Akpabio can deliver this much then what is happening in Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa, which all get similar allocation to Akwa Ibom?

I'm happy for Akwa Ibom, I'm excited for Cross Rivers, I hope the Aba power plant works because they will force other to perform or get left behind. Lets call a spade a spade, Akpabio has performed. Saying anything else is hypocritical, not with the level of graft in Lagos and elsewhere.

This is definitely a party banger. Watch here on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKEUZvHrpw0

I think he was, and still doing his job. Just that his job description is now different.

Spare the rod and spoil the child!!! Though other corrective measures should also be employed.

During Obj's tenure, two governors -Attah and Tinubu had running battles with OBJ and succeeded in the long run, even though at a short term cost. Why? They disagreed on principles -offshore/onshore oil dichotomy and LGA creation/funding, thus they had support from right thinking political heavy weights. If you ever have cause to disagree with the centre, let it be on principles never on politics because the centre will crush you. Amaechi should know better.

I still have virtually all old notes, including the 50 kobo and 1 naira notes of babangida era.

Nice write up. Just to point out that N500,000 in 1977 was almost equivalent to £500,000 at that time. That certainly was very big money

Well, the conspiracy theorists said that WAR IS BIG BUSINESS. Some dudes are making billions of dollars from these wars

OP: the most versatile people are the ambidextrous. The right side of the brain controls the left part of the body and vice versa. Using a part of the body helps develop the brain function that controls that part. The ambidextrous have the brain function on the two halves developed while most of us who are one-handed have only part of that brain function developed. So, as people have said earlier, help him become ambidextrous.

The topic may be rephrased as ''Nigerians make $6billion annually from crude oil theft''. Ask the senior military and police officers (especially naval), politicians (ministers, senators, governors), community leaders in the Niger Delta etc. The oil doesn't have wings to fly, they are transported through river tributaries and creeks and offloaded to vessels in the open sea dutifully guarded by our esteemed navy. Can remember that someone said the business should be legalized if government wants to make any income from it.

While i'm not a catholic fanatic, i think a little knowledge on history will help those who like denigrating the Catholic church. There is no christendom without Catholic church. From compiling and canonizing the bible, to selection of christian feast days e.g. Christmas and Easter, preserving all ancient documents and sitles relating to christendom e.g. codex vaticanus, protecting christedom from the Islamic crusades etc. While the church has had it's downsides which to me is in line with all human led institutions. So, you may not like Catholics and Catholism, but do well to respect it because we call ourselves christians because of what the Catholic church has done.

None accreditation of coursesand the problems following forthwith is not a new thing in Nigeria. From Ibadan to Ife, to Benin, Port Harcourt, Calabar, these had happened at one time or the other. I think this is in the news because it's Abuja. When it comes to educational issues in Nigeria, we need to understand the rules and procedures to enable us make informed decisions. In universities, departments may be accredited as: no accreditation (or denied accreditation), interim accreditation, or full accreditation. Each status is usually reviewed after some years and has its implications e.g denied accreditation implies that the affected department/programme stops admission into the programme until the status is reviewed - may be after three years. Some universities, with full knowledge of this rule, will still admit students into the department/programme which invariably means that the students are not recognized by NUC, and so cannot take university exams. Even if they do, they cannot graduate. It's only unfortunate that the universities do not infom their prospective students on time. If the rules are to be obeyed, even if those students in the affected departments take their exams they may still have problems in future.

Sometimes I wonder how shallow most Nigerians are especially in their shallow understanding of how things work. We are in a democratic system where there is separation of powers, so should anyone or system be blamed it should be the judiciary. However, one may not really blame the judiciary in cases like this. For example, if i loot 25 billion naira, i can hire 10 SANs and many other lawyers to defend me. With that money, i can influence other civil servants to make possible proofs to disappear. At the end, the prosecutor argues with a few supporting documents available and i get a fair sentence. The poor man that steals 1000 naira may not be able to hire a good lawyer to defend him so he's sentenced to 21 years. That is how the system works.

The average Nigerian has a strong impulse to be corrupt. In our universities where most people had been in one association or or other, how did they manage the departmental, faculty, SUG etc dues. The civil servant who easily accuses government of not working probably go to work by nine. Most secondary school students prefer microchips to reading. The average person wants to join politics because he'll make money. In virtually all facets of the Nigerian polity corruption reigns. I sincerely believe that the way forward is to start from the grassroot. It will be easier to jail all the local government chairmen in a state who do virtually nothing than to jail the governor and the effect will reveberate. Afterall, if local governments are sanitized, the state will follow suit. A hundred Nuhu Ribadus may not do the work, the work is for all well meaning Nigerians

Congratulation to the graduants. Don't know if anyone has ever wondered why Federal Universities in South East and South South (UNIBEN, UNIPORT, FUTO, UNN, UNIUYO, UNICAL etc )hardly have large number of first class graduants (in some cases they have none) in a convocation despite the states hostingthese institutions being educationally advanced. Is it that the students can't study to make first class or the lecturers are sadists.

[b][/b]BEFORE the advent of the 1999 constitution, the principle of derivation was subjected to severe and whimsical gerrymandering by the various Presidents and Heads of State that had ruled Nigeria. This was due to the fact that, though the principle had been acknowledged and accepted there was no governing formula. Up till 1970, derivation stood at fifty percent. Decree No.113 of 1970, put forward by the late sage Chief Obafemi Awolowo and promulgated by General Yakubu Gowon (Rtd) reduced it to 45 per cent and at the same time appropriated the entire offshore oil revenue to the federal government.

That was the sad beginning of the onshore-offshore dichotomy. But it was an emergency war time effort to secure enough money with which to prosecute the war by the Federal Government and to reconstruct Nigeria. The minority people of the oil producing states were persuaded to make this sacrifice in the interest of the unity and development of this country. It was expected that this arrangement would end with Gowon’s Reconstruction Programme.

Instead, in 1977, General Olusegun Obasanjo (rtd) as the Head of State took another 20 per cent to the centre, thus reducing the allocation to derivation to 25 per cent. At the same time he held on to the entire offshore production revenue thus maintaining the onshoreoffshore dichotomy. In 1981, even in an elected political regime which was expected to be democratic, Alhaji Shehu Shagari removed yet another 20 per cent, thus reducing derivation on onshore oil to five per cent. In 1984, General Mohammed Buhari (rtd) further removed 3.5 per cent thus reducing it to 1.5 per cent while still holding on to the offshore revenue.

It was only General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd), who was not called Maradonna for nothing that did something unique and interesting. While he reduced derivation to one per cent, he introduced an ameliorating fund called OMPADEC at three per cent for the development of the oil region. This effectively raised the total due to derivation to four per cent. President Babangida’s four per cent applied to the entire revenue from oil – both off and onshore. This de facto abolished the onshore-offshore dichotomy and marked the beginning of the restoration of justice and fair play to the suffering people of the Niger Delta region.

Onshore-offshore dichotomy

On realizing that the 1979 constitution and the subsequent Allocation of Revenue Act (Cap16) had failed to specifically address the vexed issue of onshore-offshore dichotomy, President Babangida proceeded! by Decree 106 of 1992 to amend the Act. The amendment states: “an amount equivalent to one per cent of the Federation Account derived from mineral revenue shall be shared among the mineral producing states based on the amount of mineral produced from each state and in the application of this provision, the Dichotomy of Onshore-Offshore oil producing and mineral oil and non-mineral oil revenue is hereby abolished.”

The two dichotomies: onshore and offshore production; oil and non oil resources were abrogated by this decree.

There were, or possibly still are, those who wanted to claim that this decree was never signed or gazetted and, therefore, should not apply. That is the extent of our mischief making and divisiveness. There is no denying the fact that all these shenanigans gave rise to the militancy in the Niger Delta. It cannot also be easily forgotten that the issue of a derivation formula was one of the sticky points to be resolved at the constitutional conference called by the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, in 1994-95. At that conference, the Committee on Revenue Allocation put forward a resolution which was keenly debated, amended, and subsequently unanimously affirmed by the entire assembly.

This resolution provided a formula for the administration of the derivation principle and contained three very significant embodiments. The first is that allocation to derivation shall stand at a minimum of 13 per cent. The second is that the dichotomy between onshore and offshore exploration shall not be taken into account for the purpose of revenue allocation. The third is that the boundaries of littoral states were clearly defined as extending to Nigeria’s exclusive economic zone which at the time stood at two hundred nautical miles.

The 1999 constitution which we operate today has its roots in the findings of that conference. On the issue of public revenue, the constitution has this to say: “The President upon the receipt of advice from the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission, shall table before the National Assembly proposals for revenue allocation from the Federation Account and in determining the formula, the National Assembly shall take into account the allocation principles especially those of population, equality of states, internal revenue generation, land mass, terrain as well as population density; provided that the principles of derivation shall be constantly reflected in any approved formula as being not less than thirteen percent of the revenue accruing to the Federation Account directly from any natural resources.”

We all know that the revenue from oil was the issue as the derived revenues from our palm oil and coal from the east, cocoa from the west and groundnut pyramids from the north had long since paled into insignificance. Tin from the plateau had since been exhausted and we had never been serious about our other solid minerals that abound in the north or the tar sands in the west. I cannot, therefore, agree with those who now feel that, in considering this formula, a distinction should be drawn between natural occurring resources such as oil and those produced through human labour such as groundnuts or cocoa. perhaps we need to be reminded that when derivation stood at 50 per cent in the sixties, it included revenue from oil. So what has changed other than the price of crude oil? Is this recent outcry, therefore, just another exhibition of our limitless capacity for capriciousness?

Today Obasanjo is being condemned for adopting a political solution rather that abiding by the constitution where the payment of derivation is concerned. Those people who are doing so forget that when Obasanjo took office in 1999, in total and flagrant disregard for the constitution, he was allocating only one percent of our public revenue for derivation. His one per cent payment, we should note, included the entire revenue from oil – both off and onshore.

This went on for more than a year. When finally he was pressured into allocating the 13 percent that the constitution stipulates, he in a manner considered quite malicious reintroduced the diabolical dichotomy of off and on shore that had long since been laid to rest and which is not in our constitution.

The time to have blamed Obasanjo was when he was indulging in all these unconstitutional manipulations and not when he finally agreed to adapt a political solution. In fact his resort to the so called political solution was no more than a feeble attempt to go back to the dictates of the constitution of this country. Those who now want it otherwise should look carefully again at our constitution.

In defining the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the constitution clearly states that there shall be thirty six states which are clearly named and a Federal Capital Territory. No more, no less. What this means is that any territory, be it land or body of water which does not belong to one or the other of these states or the FCT cannot be considered as part of Nigeria.
Cardinal points of agreement

It is for the simple reason that the bodies of water adjoining the littoral states, including Lake Chad, belong in the first instance to those adjoining states, that they can be considered as Nigerian territory. This was one of the cardinal points of agreement at the constitutional conference of 1994-95. ‘

It should also be remembered that dichotomy was not always there. It was introduced as an emergency war time measure that was supposed to have a short terminal date. Unfortunately it dragged on till Babangida’s Decree 106 of 1992. Its total and final abrogation came at the constitutional conference of 1994-95. It is most fallacious, therefore, to try to “blame” the National Assembly as some people want to do, for doing away with this ignominy. What the National Assembly did, quite commendably, was to stand against the decision of a president whose unilateral action in going against the constitution by his reintroduction of the onshore-offshore dichotomy was considered unacceptable in a democracy.

Those who today are bringing up the issue of dichotomy should not forget that we can be as divisive as we wish in this country but the international community does not have to go along with us. The international community will not recognize two boundaries for Nigeria – the one given by the littoral states at the low water mark and the other by our Exclusive Economic Zone. This is because, as has been stated “there can be no boundary dispute between federating units and the federation because it is the aggregate boundaries of the federating units that define the boundary of the federation.”

I raised this issue once before. I was ignored and we lost Bakassi. Recently, though quite belatedly, we wanted to claim it back. Bakassi as an island sits beyond the low water mark of Cross River State. Since we now want to say that there is something called Nigeria’s territorial waters that belong commonly to all of Nigeria, we must ask what would have happened if we got back Bakassi – would it have belonged to Cross River State or commonly to all of Nigeria? How would Bakassi belong to Cross River State and yet the intervening oil wells between the state’s low water mark and the island would belong commonly to all of Nigeria? How sad that in this country virtue cannot live out of the teeth of emulation!

Any governor who wants to say that he cannot develop his state because of non dichotomized payment of 13 percent derivation to the oil producing states is merely confessing that he is unfit to be a governor. In those evil days of Obasanjo’s dichotomy, I was given a mere N600m (six hundred million naira) every month with which to run and develop Akwa Ibom State which was classified as non oil producing. This was considered the most wicked and tyrannical manipulation of the constitution and it went on for more than a year until the National Assembly passed the law that corrected it. Twenty governors – the nineteen northern governors and one other from the west challenged that law at the Supreme Court and lost. What more; why not let sleeping dogs lie!

Despite that, I was able to build an airport with a maintenance hangar and the best runway in the country; I built an Independent Power Plant (IPP) of 191 megawatt capacity; I built the Le-Meridien Hotel with a marina and a golf course that today is the tourists’ delight and the place of choice for conferences, retreats and business meetings; I built housing estates, hospitals, schools; I built roads; I gave the people pipe borne water and rural electrification.

I started a University of Technology and an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Park with a major incubation centre; I initiated the design for a deep sea port at Ibaka apart from establishing new, and rehabilitating a number of moribund industries. In the process I took Akwa Ibom State into Nigeria, and projected it positively to the world. I set enviable standards of development and above all I made Akwa Ibom State into a peace haven in the turbulent Niger Delta.

I can think of a number of things that are responsible for today’s poverty and lack of development but the payment of 13 percent derivation without onshore- offshore dichotomy is not one of them. One obvious reason is the extravagance and squandermenia in government.

At independence the entire north, for instance, was governed by only one parliamentary type government. Today it is governed by 19 presidential style governments any one of which is phenomenally more expensive than the one that used to govern the entire region. A governor can have as many as one thousand aides in addition to a motley crowd of commissioners and special, advisers. The story is no different at the federal level where a multiplicity of commissions, parastatals, committees and more committees are competing with one another for the work of the ministries. If we spend so much on administration how can we expect anything to be left for development particularly, as on top of this, every aspect of government is today being run on television and the pages of newspapers. At an enormous cost, government now at every level, is run by advertising and not by performance.

If there is a need to look at derivation at all at this stage, it would be to see how the percentage can be increased for a very good reason. We have been told that the oil will last for only thirty more years. It has also been established that if we can stop further pollution, we will need thirty years from now to clean up the pollution that has already occurred in the Niger Delta.

I am not advocating an increase in derivation to be handed over to the governors some of whom, quite sadly, have not demonstrated the capability and integrity to properly utilize these funds. What I am advocating is an immediate need to garner funds for the cleanup of the Niger Delta otherwise, thirty years from now, we will have no land to farm on and no water for fishing and no oil. The cry now should be for an increase in the derivation percentage rather than the awakening of the foreboding ghost of onshore-offshore dichotomy at a time when there are so many more worrisome issues to engage our attention.

*Obong Victor Attah, former Governor of Akwa Ibom State.


source:http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/12/insights-into-onshore-offshore-dichotomy-by-obong-victor-attah/

First, thank you OP for starting this thread. Apart from the econometrics models, I have special interest in national planning models especially input-output models. Studying input-output models exposed me to the endemic nature of 'national planning with facts' in most developing countries.