A nation that can't maintain refineries or even dredge hydro power plants has no biz messing with nukes. A country so blessed with cheaper solar potential in the far North and that continues to flare gas in the Niger Delta doesn't need nuclear. A country that needs power NOW shouldn't be embarking on a decades long nuclear development program when it can deliver needed power in a few years from its abundant energy sources which include gas, oil, bitumen, coal, hydro, solar and bio mass. The only explanation for this counter intuitive leap to nuclear is the usual corruption. There must be gold in those nuclear hills. $20b to generate 4,800MW maybe never? That same amount would add a floating LNG terminal to Egbin and increase its capacity to 10,000MW not 10 or 20 years from now but within 24 months if we have the will. And it will leave enough surplus to strengthen the transmission grid.

FG to Build 2,400MW Nuclear Plants in Kogi, A' Ibom States

23 Jun 2015

Peace Desouza in Abuja

Nigeria’s first ever nuclear power plants with capacity to generate 2,400 megawatts (MW) will be sited at Geregu, Kogi and Itu, Akwa Ibom States by the Federal Government, the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) has said.

NAEC stated recently in Abuja that both sites had been selected for the construction of the two nuclear power plants after due considerations, adding that the areas were accepted fit to host the nuclear power facilities.

Chairman of NAEC, Mr. Erepamo Osaisai disclosed in a presentation during a plenary session to appraise the second phase of Nigeria’s Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) in Abuja that part of the progress made so far with the nuclear power plant programme was the conclusion of the preliminary site selection activities.

Osaisai also said that detailed evaluation and characterisation would be conducted on preferred sites on the approval of government in Geregu, Ajaokuta local government area of Kogi State and Itu in Itu local government area of Akwa Ibom State.

NAEC had entered talks with Russia’s Rosatom Corporation to build four nuclear power plants in Nigeria, costing about $20 billion (about N3.9 trillion) and which is expected to generate as much as 4,800MW.

Erepamo, however said the plants would be co-financed by Rosatom, which will then build, own, operate and transfer (BOT) them to the government.

He explained that the preliminary licensing of the approved sites is expected by the end of 2016 from the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) which has started the process of developing the licenses.

NAEC, however, noted that training and capacity building for the construction and operation of the plants are ongoing and that it has developed a framework to establish a national nuclear insurance policy and schem will adequately address the civil liability component of the nuclear power industry in conformity with the 1963 Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage.

Erepamo explained that the nuclear power programme will involve a large number of obligations and commitments, adding that while it will add to Nigeria’s energy generation profile, the first nuclear power plants will take up to eight years to come to stream considering the construction period of five years.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power, Dr. Godknows Igali in his remarks said that government’s intervention in the power sector includes the diversification of the electricity sources from the present 80 per cent gas and 20 per cent hydro to integrate nuclear power to meet its target of generating 20,000MW by 2020.

Igali said: “With NAEC’s plan to inject 1,200MW from first nuclear power plant in 2025 and increase to 4,800MW in 2035, the energy mix is expected to have increased to about 20 per cent power generation from clean sources.”

With regards to the safety of the power plants, the Deputy Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Dr. Mikhail Chudakov who led the agency’s delegation on a two-week trip to Nigeria said Nigeria should be prepared to take adequate responsibility for the safety culture and safe operation of a nuclear power in the country.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/fg-to-build-2-400mw-nuclear-plants-in-kogi-a-ibom-states/212858/

That is why some suggested the mosquito should be put on all West African flags as it did more to send the oyinbos packing than all the 'freedom fighters'.

All five SE states are just 29,000 square kilometres (less than Kogi state) so why shouldn't you be able to drive round four of them in one day? The whole of Naija is only a little bigger than Texas, for crying out loud, with the SE constituting only 3% of Naija. I know you have 'vast' land so don't expect you to welcome my reconnecting you with reality.

caprini1:
o boy no be lie,a friend called me from Awka to come buy a land,I was still doing shakara,when I was ready ,the price has trippled and I couldn't buy again......in easter when I travelled,the road network within and connecting neigbouring states was awesome,I drove around Anambra ,imo,Abia and Enugu in a day and still got home before 4pm...it was fun!

That fulfills less than half what is asked for here: https://www.nairaland.com/2379639/memo-ambode-build-three-flyovers

Chai! There is God u o! Akpabio no go Otuoke but na Otta he dey do pilgrimage to.

Sharia?

ECOTERRORS:
If only there is tit for tat then some heinous crimes will be reduced

One of the solutions I proposed in my memo below on Lekki traffic:

https://www.nairaland.com/2379639/memo-ambode-build-three-flyovers

Yet irresponsible newspapers reported that a Yoruba man, willfully they implied, brought the killer drink into Rivers. They ignored the fact that dozens had died in Ondo just weeks earlier from similar causes and couldn't care less about the still fragile ethno-political situation in Rivers. Such newspapers and their editors were no less reckless than the young man showcased in the story.

NAFDAC: Methanol Responsible for ‘Ogogoro’ Deaths in Rivers

17 Jun 2015


Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has stated that methanol, and not ethanol, was responsible for the death of more than 70 people from the consumption of local gin, also known as ogogoro or kai-kai in Rivers State.

Chairman on the ad hoc committee of the Rivers State House of Assembly, on the cause of deaths arising from intake of local gin, Hon Okechukwu Chinda, made this known while presenting the committee report on the floor of the assembly on Tuesday.

Chinda said his committee’s investigations revealed that some greedy dealers decided to use methanol to produce the local gin due to shortage in supply of ethanol.

According to him, the state has 80 reported cases, with 70 deaths in five government areas, including, Ahoada West, Obio/Akpor, Port Harcourt, Gokana and Bonny.

He also said: “The actors of the state Ministry of Health acted promptly by taking those affected to Bori General Hospital, Woji Health Centre and Bonny General Hospital and a private hospital in Abuloma. Unfortunately, all the victims in Ahoada West died before they could get help.

“Officers of the Ministry of Health took samples of the killer gin from the affected locations and sent to NAFDAC. The laboratory result of the investigation revealed excess presence of methanol in varying quantities.

“Due to shortage of supply of ethanol used for the production of local gins, unscrupulous elements resorted to the use of methanol to bridge the supply gap.”

Meanwhile, sources at the ministry of health have said the increase in the number of casualties from 66 to 71 was from new deaths in Gokana and Ahoada West local government areas of the state.

The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Somiari Harry, said in one particular case in Ahoada west, a young man had boasted that the killer gin would have no effect on him.

Harry said the young man took the drink after his boasts and retired to his home, only to be found dead the following morning.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/nafdac-methanol-responsible-for-ogogoro-deaths-in-rivers/212269/

Appreciated bro but I would rather pay for a full page advertorial than appear to pander to the over bloated ego of naija politicians. Again, thanks.

stevecantrell:


You're right. But I'm only trying to get you published.

You be BSc ba? This your grammar really show say the jobs were given on merit.

fayose4real:
The information i got earlier today about the newly recruited officers of NIS specifically the compass 08 (BSc) is somehow baffling. let me start by saying this, when the final list is out, successful applicants were sent email msg directing them to go to designated states for the collection of their appointment letters, conpass 03 were asked to go to port-harcourt, conpass 06 to olru, imo state & conpass 08 to kano, when they got there, conpass 03 & conpass 06 were all given there appointment letter including their posting letter except for some cases in conpass 06 where some were refered to the service headquarter in abuja because of issues they are having with there results.

Going to the main reason for this write up, unlike conpass 03 & conpass 06, conpass 08 which are BSc were not given their appointment letter in kano, they were only given posting letter that their appointment letter will latter be sent to them through their state command being senior officers.

The reason given for this is that their own affair can not be decided by the service because the service only have say on the junior officers which are conpass 03 & 06, & that is only board that can decide on it because senior officers affiar is being cater for by the board.presently the conpass 08 are doing their induction training in their various state command.

Infomation reaching us today now is that the board incharge of it is trying some foul play as they are willing to tamper with the appointment letters with them by replacing some names with their personal own since the govt. that spareheaded the whole thing has gone.

Another problem again is that their is panic that since they have not being given, that the new govt. may decide to withdraw it all by giving the excuse that there is no money presently to continue with the process, so for compass 08 to have their appointment letters is now seriously in doubt.

This is why they are adviced to be praying because they seriously need God intervention. my fellow nairalanders please help this people in prayers for is not at all considering what they have all being through, they seriousely need your prayers. thanks

E.g. did El Rufai slash / eliminate allowances in Kaduna? I add eliminate as an option because I don't see why taxpayers need to buy agbadas for office holders to start with. Dem no get clothe before? Even out of office our politicians are the most sartorially blessed Nigerians so why do they need bikini etc allowance when they get in?

DaGC:
I keep telling people that any government official slashing his/her official salary is just trying to look sympathetic to Nigerians and in turn get popularity.

The salaries have never been the problem. Allowances, that's the sh*t right there.

Doing the maths: the agbada allowance for one SINator will pay the minimum wage of roughly 1,200 minimum wage Nigerians. That is more than the entire population of YOUR village / autonomous community. Yes, YOU! And what are YOU going to DO about it? Just dey look and pray for salvation?

Anthony to Ajah yesterday was three solid hours despite using side streets twice and leaving Anthony relatively early. Left home at 5.06 this morning and was at work on Lagos Island by 5.50am. Got out of bed at 4.15am today and every working day. I thank God for a relatively solid constitution and the grace to afford a driver. We keep praying for those with weaker constitution and / or who lack the means to pass some of the stress to a driver. God will also save us from the leeches in agbada who fill our government houses.

BTW the papers are reporting that NASS member are getting N8b next week as agbada allowance. No wonder most states can't pay wages. Too much waste at the federal level and too much wasted on governance generally.

People are dying on this road daily and we need to be less confrontational? No one is begging LASG to do its job and spend our taxes on us. No one begged Ambode or any other politician to vie for office. 'Rescue' us from the mess they willfully and malevolently created? Pls count me out of such beggarly civic action.

stevecantrell:


You could try changing the title to a less confrontational one like "LASG come to our rescue on LEE".

I have tried that with the last three pieces I did (memos to GMB) but got nowhere. Might try again but happier to invest my time on Nairaland or NVS where I have assured audience versus chasing print. Thanks for the suggestion though and I might just rouse myself to follow your lead.

stevecantrell:


Ive sent some articles via the editor's email (not Nation) and I got published twice without paying a dime. OK I understand why you might try another paper, like the Sun or Punch. You can get the editor's email from the editorial page.

Thanks for pursuing this further. In Africa whenever delivered projects depart so much from design or the dictates of common sense I recall an incident that happened almost a decade ago while I was on assignment in Ghana. The Tetteh Quarshie interchange in Accra had just been completed and it looked spanking to my naija eyes but the newspapers soon carried a front page news item concerning it. The chairman of NPP, the ruling party then, was quoted to have said he asked the contractor for the interchange to deliver the 10% kickback to him as party chairman so he could share it 'equitably' to all concerned parties but he was rebuffed by the contractor who said he had been instructed by the president, Kuffour, to pay it to him directly. At the end of the day what was supposed to be an interchange and a road was reduced to just an interchange. It took more foreign donations, from the US after Bush' visit to Ghana if I recall, for the road initially designed alongside the interchange to be delivered.

I never see African rulers as less than smart and don't see their policy and project missteps as innocent or due to incompetence. Each time we follow the money it becomes clear why things don't get done at all, don't get done the right way or fall apart mere months after they are done. I am just a regular road user who happens to find the egregious affront of LEE just too much to swallow hence my writing.

Beyond writing I wouldn't mind being part of civic action against tolling and the road that has been delivered but I fear that our compatriots don't have much stomach for anything that can inconvenience them in any way. Maybe there are smart civil counter strikes that can be carried out and will make an impact though. An example could be the monitoring of the worst roundabouts or the entire road for accidents which can be directly linked to faulty road design. Recording such avoidable deaths, injuries and property damage over a period of months will provide enough material for adverts in papers, online and on television which should shame the government into doing the needful. Imagine photos and videos of real accident scenes on the road and at the roundabouts being showcased regularly in the papers, online and on tv alongside analyses of the road flaws that led to them. Volunteers and interns could be used to stake out the road to collect data and victim testimonies.

Where this fails to work things can be escalated to an actual class action lawsuit where the same facts on the accidents should prove useful. Such a suit should be pursued to the Supreme Court or the ECOWAS court if necessary. The government would soon realise it has a relentless adversary and is likely to consider it cheaper to make amends instead of suffering irreversible electoral damage.

OneDemola:
Again OP, this is an excellent piece, and you have put together very credible points, and this write up is worthy to put into an editorial.

I happened to work on this project, and the end result is quite disappointing; more disappointing is even living within that axis. Everyday I feel like I'm getting fleeced just to leave my house (which is how I feel almost everyday in Nigeria, i.e. every Nigerian being a their own government).

The road design is extremely poor, what baffles me the most sheer number and size of the roundabouts, I still don't understand why this is the case. Additionally, the only time the road truly expands is at the toll gates, which is another hell-hole and a complete disorganized mess.

The honest truth is LEE is a failed PPP project, and with the recovery and loan restructuring expenses LASG has incurred (in the billions of Naira), I have to be honest to say that it is less than likely that LASG (as the now owners of LEE) would expend any additional money for capital expenditure (the road expansion/flyover bridge proposal OP has suggested), because frankly, that money is not there anymore.

The LEE project is truly the definition of bad planning. Compare this to the Gauteng E-Toll Roads (which had it's own major issues on its own, mind you), and you would see that LEE is a complete show-of-shame.

Please mods move this page to the front page, this topic needs more views.

A woman who says Yerima, our very own Yerima, is a protector of child rights should be a woman whose words you take with more than a pinch of salt.

Mogidi:


Why should I believe an article in Punch newspaper made up of rhetoric rather than the woman who sponsored the bill?
Here is what she said:

Don't know what it takes to get published in the print press nowadays and am not about to pay a bribe to be published. If you can navigate that particular labyrinth am happy for your help. As for publishing in The Nation....did you miss the hints at underhand dealings in the article?

stevecantrell:
OP plz try to get this published in a newspaper e.g THE NATION.
I hope the new govt would take note of these critical points you made.

Mods: it's undignified to have to say this but do you mind putting this on FP so we can have a full and rich discussion pls? Thanks.

Abraham Idowu
biodunid04@yahoo.com
bb pin: 2B574264

OneDemola:
OP this is an excellent write up, can you share your details so we can speak more?

How does asking that Lekki get a 10 lane road, like the mainland, or flyovers, like the mainland, deprive the mainland of those assets it already has and will continue to get? Or can you count the flyovers and 10 lane roads that make mainland livable?

adaweezy:
Other areas of lagos like Ifako Ijaiye/Alimosho are complaining of neglect and you are mentioning Lekki-EPE expressway should be expanded.......
Ambode come and do our inner streets at least we pay taxes too

Memo to Ambode: Build the Three Flyovers Lekki ‘Expressway’ Needs

Mr Governor, welcome to Nigeria’s second hottest executive desk. I would like to start what I hope will be an eight year series of engagements by sharing my thoughts on possibly the most contentious issue in the Lagos political space in the last five years. I want to propose to you and the residents of Lagos, who you are sworn to faithfully serve, a low hanging solution that will resolve the contention over provision of equitable and efficient transport infrastructure to the Lekki Peninsula.

Your government’s land use master plan for the peninsula anticipates 3.4 million residents and 1.9 million transients on 26,000 built up acres. Achievement of this projection, which no one doubts considering the ever accelerating pace of development in that axis, will make this part of Lagos one of the largest cities in the world beaten in the US by only New York City and Los Angeles and in Europe by Moscow, London and St Petersburg. Obviously the Lekki master plan envisages the creation of a very substantial planned metropolis which will be part of Lagos but will pose unique developmental challenges and opportunities. The actions of the Lagos State Government (LASG) to date however belie any intention to systematically overcome these challenges and exploit the opportunities. Nothing showcases this governmental failure as much as the often discussed and lamented Lekki – Epe ‘Expressway’ (LEE).

Faced with an unconstrained road corridor LASG blanched and failed to think big in any way comparable to its own population projection for the Peninsula or its grand plans for it which include an international airport, Nigeria’s first deep sea port, the most promising free trade zone in the country and possibly the largest refinery in the world. Instead of building the first of several modern multi-lane highways to move five million people and service its grand ambitions for the axis, all LASG could deliver was the expansion of the existing dual carriageway from four to six lanes for part of its length. Beyond Sangotedo the much vaunted LEE would offer no more lanes than have existed for decades serving but a fraction of current and projected population and activities. To compound its lack of vision LASG decided to prove it also lacked compassion or any sense of equity by insisting that its ‘expansion’ of the sole artery serving this vital part of the state must be tolled. For a state that proclaims land is its oil and that recognizes the Peninsula as its main urban land bank that contributes significantly to the state’s internally generated revenue via land use charges and consent fees, it was highly insensitive that its only major road would be the test bed for extreme capitalism which is what the whole idea of tolling roads is. Citizens and residents pay taxes precisely to enable governments provide infrastructure and services which include roads for the efficient evacuation and accessing of all parts of the realm. Governments go further and charge car license fees, which are grossly inadequate in Nigeria’s case but that is a different discussion, to provide more revenue targeted at road infrastructure. Peninsula denizens arguably have a higher than average per capita income within Lagos state and pay higher than average taxes too. How then, in God’s name, can it ever be considered equitable that the only arterial road for more than three million people must be tolled? Berlin, Paris, Houston and Chicago each have fewer than Lekki’s master plan population, which is in danger of being overtaken by facts on the ground, and is any of them served solely by a part six lane and part four lane road which is then tolled?

While it is totally unconscionable for a government to add one lane per side for 25 kilometres to an existing road when a suburb becomes a significant economic contributor to the commonwealth, it totally beggars belief to witness the hash that has been made of this attempt to extort the people. In the 14 kilometres between the first toll gate and the infamous Ajah roundabout, LASG’s engineers approved the creation of 10 roundabouts in an apparent effort to minimize the cost of the road and presumably make surplus funds available for other, hopefully licit, purposes. I walk 14 kilometres in 140 minutes but I am rarely able to drive that distance on this nightmare ‘expressway’ in anything less than 180 minutes, at least not without venturing onto the coastal ‘road’ or discovering the inner streets of Lekki phases 1 and 2. On the coastal road I pay another two tolls of N100 each to area boys, over and above the toll paid on the LEE, even while the waves lap the tyres of my car whenever the ocean feels a bit energetic. Despite my willingness to expose myself to danger from both criminal and natural elements, even this option has been snatched from me presumably by agents of LASG who blocked the coastal road over a week ago. The government wasn’t embarrassed by the fact that tax and toll payers were driven to risk lives and limbs with criminals and the Atlantic. LASG didn’t think of how to make the coastal road a truly viable alternative for tax payers not willing to spend up to six hours each day on LEE. It simply shut the option down.

In designing LEE the government was apparently driven to keep it cheap and deny users access to any viable options despite its avowals to provide alternatives when the initial idea of both privatizing and tolling the road were announced. To keep the road cheap it was limited to only three lanes per side up to Sangotedo after which it reverts to the existing two lanes. For the great boon of adding one lane for 25 kilometres our benevolent government planned to erect only three toll gates. A ten lane road like Ikorodu Road (IR) is didn’t strike LASG as apt for what will be Lekki’s spine but that isn’t the only lesson that wasn’t learnt from IR. Ikorodu Road offers the commuter five options for a u-turn and they are all flyovers and an underpass which we have at Jibowu, Anthony, Maryland, Ketu and Mile 12 and these are the most vital design features that keep that indispensable road flowing at all hours no matter how heavy the traffic is. We can imagine how totally unmanageable IR traffic would have been had anyone dared to afflict it with ten roundabout the way LEE has been. The need for flyovers over LEE is rather obvious and no rocket science so one can only wonder why the engineers who designed this road and the politicians who approved its construction as is failed to see the obvious but we shall not delay ourselves here with conspiracy theories for there is a road to fix and lives to be saved.

The Lekki – Epe ‘Expressway’ urgently needs the provision of three flyovers if the last part of its name is to stop being a morbid joke. A bridge at the Admiralty roundabout, another at Jakande and the last at Ajah would suffice for now. All the roundabouts would of course then be closed and the options to reverse direction on this 14 kilometer stretch would be limited to going under these bridges. This would transform a Law School to Ajah trip from a four hour crawl to a 10 - 20 minute dash as the trip would be an unbroken drive soaring over what today are spots notorious for two kilometer tail backs that take an hour each to navigate. Aba Expressway in Port Harcourt is plagued with similar gridlock for the same reason of multiple superfluous intersections. Oil Mill Junction used to be the most notorious traffic black spots on that road until an overpass was built on it. Today only long time Port Harcourt residents remember those nightmarish traffic snarls. Similarly closing off the intersection beside Shell’s Residential Area on the Aba Road permanently eliminated the traffic challenges at that spot. While the government in Rivers might lack the vision and / or courage to apply this solution along the entire stretch of Aba Road, I can only hope that you will instantly grasp the obvious and will not lack the courage to do that which is necessary.

In addition to garnishing it with abundant roundabouts, LEE is barricaded for most of its length by fences and deep storm water drains designed to break linkages to the minor roads that could have provided ways around traffic chokepoints. These barriers to free ingress and egress to LEE must be eliminated to enable the entire road network of the Peninsula work as an organic whole. On the Mainland it is possible to get off Eko Bridge at Ijora and go all the way to Fatai Atere Way without once returning to the main road. Similar time saving detours are possible on Ikorodu Road and all major highways in Nigeria. Why has LEE been chosen for this weird experiment in regimented road usage?

If your new government can build these bridges, eliminate the roundabouts and restore links to side streets which have been broken, lives currently lost to traffic stress induced heart attacks and stroke would be saved but the benefits go well beyond that. Fender benders and worse that constantly occur at the roundabouts and in the jostling for advantage while stuck in immobile traffic will save even more lives, limbs and property. The worst pollution from motor vehicles and the least efficient engine time is when vehicles are standing still in traffic. A close second cause, when it comes to pollution and engine inefficiency, is the need to slow down to navigate a roundabout even when traffic is light. Handled right, LASG might just be able to claim carbon credits for building these bridges which could offset the cost of the bridges. But there is more. The real estate market in the peninsula has been grossly distorted by the great cost in time and stress for each additional kilometer you move away from Victoria Island. Generally a property in Lekki phase 1 will cost up to six times what the equivalent property will cost just 10 kilometres away, five minutes away if LEE were an Expressway in reality. A concrete example is Lekki Gardens which currently sells its four bedroom semi detached duplex at Ajah for less than half the price it sells the same unit off Chevron road which is just six kilometres away. Such distortions, apart from destroying value for citizens, do not promote the efficient use of what LASG has rightly identified as its oil reserve.

Ultimately LASG must do more than just put up flyovers and eradicate roundabouts. To truly turn LEE into an Expressway and future proof it certain other steps, not all as urgent as the need for flyovers and roundabout closures, should be taken. The first such additional step is the creation of proper bus stops with sufficient room for buses and passengers to safely interact and without trammeling the free flow of traffic on the road. The current idea of expanding the road by a mere smidgen and sticking a ‘bus stop’ sign into the ground is the second most important reason for heinous traffic jams on the road at all hours of the day and night. Often buses both big and small take over two of the three lanes in order to drop and pick up passengers while all other traffic is relegated to just one lane. As early as 5.30am this causes up to 30 minutes of delay and tailbacks between Ajah and VGC on the Victoria Island bound side stretching beyond one kilometer. The Peninsula is still wide open and there can be no excuse for not providing LEE with generously proportioned ‘furniture’. Seriously one cannot help but wonder just what the agenda was when this road was designed: punishing the people or undeclared financial rewards?

Another step that needs to be taken to secure the future prosperity of the Peninsula is to expand the road to ten lanes all the way to Epe. This is the only way we can ensure that land use will be efficient with a more gradual and rational price gradient for properties in the axis. Additionally this will delay significantly the need for another expensive arterial road. It is important that this be embarked on now while the necessary space is still available.

Lastly the Green rail line that is projected to go from the Marina to the Export Processing Zone needs to be prioritized. Considering the economic profile of the Peninsula it would be one of the more attractive lines for the private investors expected to build all the remaining rail lines. You should pull out all the stops to make this a reality even before 2019 when you will need the ever increasing votes of the Peninsula’s residents. These steps in addition to the obvious need to get rid of the nuisance toll gates will secure your place in the people’s hearts.

You cannot stop any Lekki resident who pays his taxes but provides his own power, water, estate roads, security, sends his kids to private schools and uses private hospitals only to be asked to pay a toll to get into and out of his home from wondering just what your government has ever done for him. Surely LASG is to serve a purpose and that purpose cannot be impoverishment of our lives and pockets. This is the time you must decide how you want to fight the next election: you can start from today by doing what is right and equitable to all residents of this great state or you can count on regents, godfathers and your party to somehow get you another four years in power in spite of whatever the voters feel about you and your service. May God guide you in leaving 20 million lives better than you met them.

Abraham Abiodun Idowu
June 14th 2015

Can 1000s be so killed without endorsement by the political leadership? GEJ and his spokesmen (am looking at you Cramjones) who would always hurl insults at all critics of the military's needless brutality in the NE and who demonised the victims should stand with the generals in the dock at the ICC.

There was at least an even chance the PDP would carry Rivers and near dead certainty it would have carried Akwa Ibom in a free and fair election but PDP isn't good at leave well enough alone. They had to tamper with the elections in such blatant ways that it would take a miracle for the two gubers not to be rerun in mid to late 2016. Unfortunately for PDP by then PMB would have had at least 12 months to prove he is not the Muslim demon he was painted and to showcase the change he promised. That would move the two states from the category of sure PDP bets to 'you need a miracle' to win. Yet these were the best states for PDP opposition to re-surge from even as Lagos was the genesis of the change we celebrate today. I hope PDP hasn't inadvertently handed APC a 60 year Reich.

Even in the US ordinary cops dey shoot at sight and get away with am not to talk of when FBI or DEA wan cook case for you. As for a presidential directive to get rid of you....pls note that even US citizens are no longer immune from drone strikes. Better stop hoping that demon crazy will save your hide if they are determined to get you. Ask Kashamu.

Obynolee:


I pity some Nigerians (APC supporters) who thinks that Buhari as president of Nigeria has the power to send anybody to jail,this is democracy not Military era and prosecution of an accused is soly for Judiciary not Executive.In criminal case you prove beyound reasonable doubt,i.e 100% guilt,that is why at times we see some persons we believed to be corrupt walking the street free because if prosecutor proves 99.9% guilt and the court is doubtful of 0.1% the accused will be off the hook because it is better in the eyes of the law for 10 offenders to escape judgement than punishing 1 innocent person.Do you think that all these politicians will not destroy evidence knowing full well that they will be prosecuted afterwards?,this is democracy,Buhari doesn't have such power to send anyone to jail please.

This is how you separate confident old money from the militants and omo alatas who stumble on a few coins which soon evaporate

True or false I see a second governorship run when Dickson's first term is up. He has been too busy staking out his territory to be content idling away in the Senate.

Okute / okuta
awgu / ogun
oka / oka

Our linguists should do us all a favour and produce dictionaries that highlight these commonalities between all Nigerian and even West African languages. Ewe in Ghana is Yoruba descended and the cadence will convince you that Yoruba is being spoken until you try to make sense of the words. They still retain euphemisms like saying the king has gone into the attic when a king dies though.

ControlX:
Unique cultures like the Olukumis develop through a mixture of several similar cultures and show to us that we have the capacity to unite with each other and make progress with one another. But the Tribal bigots just wont get this. Igbo's, Edo's, Yoruba's and many southern tribes share a lot of similarities which indicate that we have been interacting with one another before the tragedy of colonialism. Take a look at these linguistic examples;
Bag: Igbo-Akpati, Yoruba-Apoti,
Mouth: Igbo-Onu, Yoruba-Enu,
Ear: Igbo-Nti, Yoruba-Eti.
These are just a few of our many similarities which no one can really explain how they came about. So why don't we forget our differences and celebrate our similarities. Zik once told Sarduana ; Let us forget our differences. "No!" Sarduana retorted, "Let us understand our differences". 55 years has passed on and we are yet to understand those differences of ours. Zik was right! Let us forget our differences and build on our similarities. That is the way forward for Nigeria!

Memos to GMB: No 3 – Education

After the subjects of the first two memos, Corruption and Revenue respectively, I would like to share some thoughts with you on another vital pillar of the new Nigeria we all are looking forward to – Education. For three decades now we have all lamented loudly that our schools, the certificates and scholars they produce are no longer anything to write home about or fit to propel an ambitious country to the desired status of industrialization or membership of the 21st century. This dim view of the Educational sector has been universally held for some time with parents, including a super patriot like you, sending their children to schools abroad while employers openly prefer foreign trained applicants to the products of local schools. Other employers set up very expensive training centers to retrain local graduates, engineers particularly, for as much as 12 months before allowing them anywhere near their plants. I know of a blue chip that awards post graduate diplomas from a foreign university to its recruits after retraining them for nine months. From parents who sold treasured homes to pay foreign tuition to employers who diverted funds meant for expansion and trading to setting up elaborate training institutions, the cost has been crushing and unsustainable.

We all know how we got here: years of austerity in the early 1980s followed by IMF / World Bank mandated Structural Adjustment Programs that essentially defunded Education and other social services. Newly poor civil servants and teachers almost universally turned to corrupt practices to make ends meet and by the 1990s the destruction of Education and every other government dependent social sector was complete. Nature hates a vacuum so, as the public Education system became moribund, the private sector, which had in the 2nd Republic been almost entirely pushed out of the sector by populist government policies, grew by leaps and bounds. At first private primary and secondary schools became the only option for parents who couldn’t or wouldn’t send their kids abroad but, once the floodgate of private universities was opened, our public universities too were abandoned by parents who couldn’t countenance the upward mobility of their wards being stymied by multi semester altercations between college unions and government. Their faith in the private sector has been amply rewarded as a cursory survey of the new recruits coming into Nigerian blue chips shows a preponderance of private university graduates that belies the fact that they still account for a minority of the graduates produced annually. I believe guaranteed program lengths, ease of entry, typically within a year or two of completing high school, and somewhat inflated grades, in addition to those other qualities the schools are rightly proud of, account for this anomaly.

[b]Curiously two of the first dozen private universities established in Nigeria were set up by, at that time, a sitting President and his Vice. [/b]I understand that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting that granted approval for the Vice’s school was chaired by the President while the Vice returned the favour. That is our naija way of overcoming the blatant conflict of interest that exists in executive office holders, elected to superintend Education and all other sectors, setting themselves up in business to compete with their charges. Obviously their Educational investments can only prosper if their public charges falter so we have one more apparent reason why Nigerian public schools mainly produce unemployable graduates. Also we can better understand why in 2007, when the duo left office, the percentage of Nigeria’s national budget committed to education was less than half the 29.3% that Ghana achieved in that year despite decades of Education sector unions clamoring for implementation of UNESCO’s recommendation of a minimum of 26% being devoted to education. No surprises that Ghana, despite having a per capita GDP that is barely half of Nigeria’s, is host to one of the largest populations of Nigerians schooling abroad. In addition to much more generous government funding of Education going forward, I commend to you the steps below that should result in efficient use of those resources and a public Educational sector we all can be proud of.

Let us start from the beginning. There is universal alarm over the number of Nigerian children who are out of school and roaming the streets either as traders, Al Majiri or given in service as house helps and ‘apprentices’ in defiance of child rights laws. Nigeria’s population of children thus marginalized socioeconomically is second only to India’s and has been highlighted by you and others as one of the reasons Boko Haram and other social menaces like kidnapping, baby factories, bunkering and cultism are on the verge of asphyxiating our nation. We are all agreed that these social monstrosities must be denied the fuel they need to keep growing and the best way to do that is to ensure all Nigerian children compulsorily get sufficient education to make them productive and engaged members of the economy and society. It will take sacrifice from us all but all enlightened societies have learnt that when you marginalize significant portions of your population you manufacture dissent and ultimately the fagots for a destructive revolution.

[b]Nigeria should make the first nine years of Education, up to the JSS 3 level that is, compulsory for all Nigerian children. [/b]Beyond compulsion however, we must make the offer irresistible for parents and students. The first nine years of education should be free with uniforms and all other necessary materials provided by the state. Additionally each child must be guaranteed one good quality meal a day and learning must be turned into something better than a chore with playgrounds and sport arenas an integral part of each school. The school building program executed by Mr Rotimi Amaechi in the last seven years in Rivers state is a good example of what is required nationwide. Each child should long to go to school and each parent should be happy that his child is not only getting a worthwhile education from the state but that the state is contributing to the overall wellbeing of the child. Of such parents are happy Tax payers made.

As currently designed, the three years of JSS Education will be comprehensive in scope with quality workshops and instructors delivering the basics of artisanship and the more theoretical subjects. At the end of this stage students undergo a checkpoint examination intended to signpost those more academically inclined who will continue to the SSS level and others who might be better suited for more focused technical training in state / private sector run training centres that produce young adults ready for the assembly lines and workshops of modern industry. While no teenager should be denied the right to progress on the academic path even if the assessment indicates a different path, strict meritocracy should begin to be applied at this stage. The best 20% of JSS output should continue to be on a full state scholarship (tuition, uniforms, books, meals etc), the next 20% should enjoy only a tuition free scholarship while the bottom 60% should have their SSS education fully funded by their parents. This stratification will be reviewed annually with mobility in both directions expected. Some will argue that this is too early a stage to introduce fees but my argument is that during the JSS years students are still almost entirely clay in their parents hands to be molded as parents deem fit. We must secure the cooperation of the parents in bringing out the best from their children by welding the economic interest of the state and the parents together. Faced with the prospects of significant, market rate, fees from SSS 1, most parents will react rationally by putting in the vital parental supervision that ensures homework gets done and books get read. Beyond that, students, while still under their parents’ supervision, will acquire the work ethic that they will require as they gain more independence in SSS and college and, eventually, when they become part of the workforce.

It would be unrealistic to imagine that any amount of effort by the state can bridge in the short term the massive gap that has been opened up between state education quality and what the top private schools offer. I propose that an incentive be given private schools to accept say 10% of their population as state scholars who will enjoy every benefit these often world class schools offer. These state scholars in private schools would be chosen by the schools on merit within defined catchment areas. The private schools will get in turn a Tax exempt status as charities. Ultimately it is hope that the difference between state schools and even the best private schools will be so minimal that attending private schools would be mainly a matter of social snobbery.

At the tertiary level the 20:20:60 split should continue for full scholars, partial scholars and privately funded students. Tuition and other fees in state colleges should be fully market driven to ensure that at least the cost of providing world class education to non-scholars is recovered while the state and endowments should cover the cost of the scholars. Again private colleges willing to accept say 10% of their population as state scholars should be awarded Tax exemption.

At this top level we need to bring in the 3rd leg of the educational tripod to join the state and parents. The joint efforts of the first two legs are geared towards producing an attractive product for the employer of labour. I know it is fashionable to say that every student should aspire to be an employer of labour but the fact is that for every Bill Gates there are 128,000 Microsoft employees. Gates, Larry Ellison, Richard Branson and many of their ilk never finished college with the last gentleman never finishing high school. Colleges are not exactly entrepreneurial hotbeds even if they are innovation hubs. State energy should be focused on producing the 128,000 potential Microsofties while ensuring the external economic environment will allow business builders to germinate and flourish. If the gaze of the British Education ministry had been cast too long on Branson it is a fair bet he would never have made his first billion.

I propose that the federal government’s involvement in tertiary education should be replaced by private sector led trusts. As the prime customers of the products of our colleges, corporate organizations should be asked to form cross industry trusts that will take over federally owned colleges from the government. Such trusts should cut across industrial sectors to provide a balance of interests and be a mix of large and not so large corporations, listed and unlisted entities. Each trust should be encouraged to set up a trust fund and management team that would turn the school entrusted to it to a globally competitive college able to produce graduates fit for employment in Nigeria and anywhere else in the world. A pilot could be started with the five oldest universities in the land with the support of the World Bank, UNESCO and similar global bodies not forgetting our education sector unions and relevant professional and trade associations. If the pilot works as well as hoped the program should be extended to all federally owned colleges. Of course all participating corporations will receive appropriate Tax incentives to make this a cost neutral proposition for them. Gaining ready for market graduates and being saved the cost of training new hires in the basics or recruiting at high cost expatriates should encourage corporations to participate. At the end of the transition Nigerian colleges would be left in the hands of state governments, private owners and the trusts.

In addition to getting the federal government out of tertiary education we should also get it out of secondary education. It is doubtful if it is good use of the FEC’s time to be debating Unity Schools’ budgets and the like. Secondary education should be left entirely for state governments and the private sector. All Unity Schools should be handed over to host state governments. The federal government’s involvement in education should be limited to setting standards, regulating and possibly handling national examinations. It is expected that the retrenchment of the federal government in this and other areas will be reflected in the restructuring of the federal revenue allocation formula.

All these changes will however come to naught if we ignore the most vital ingredient in the classroom; the tutor. There was a time when it was commonly said that a teacher’s reward was in heaven even though teachers at that time were very much a part of an upwardly mobile middle class. Since SAP decimated civil service pay in the mid 1980s, teachers have learnt to do the unusual to make ends meet and even then it has been a miserable existence. Few teachers exist in Nigeria today who do not hold down one or more other jobs in addition to their primary jobs. The norm is for a teacher to resume duty as an evening classes teacher after leaving his day job and all too often he has reserved his energy for that second job hence shortchanging the students under his tutelage in the morning. A significant portion of teachers go well beyond the legitimate to engage in masterminding cheating during internal and external examinations. This has become so entrenched over the years that uncooperative teachers have sometimes been killed while bright students who refuse to cooperate in the teachers’ scams are victimized. By the way, the last sentence was the status of things more than 20 years ago when I was a teacher in a Lagos state school. We all can imagine how bad things must have gotten by now.

It would appear that the labourer is worthy of his wage except when he works as a civil servant in Nigeria. 23 years after leaving service as a teacher my peers are vice principals and principals of high schools but I earn in two weeks what they earn in a year even though I know I exert myself less than they do and work in a much more salubrious environment. Almost anyone will agree that a school principal shaping thousands of lives for society’s benefit contributes much more to the nation than a mid level accountant (or engineer, banker, whatever) no matter the industry he is in. How have our values become so distorted that we happily live in this anomalous situation yet have the gall to complain about the falling standard of Education and every other service provided by government? Public schools are so bad today that none but the most desperate parents deign to send their children there. Even the lowliest among us, drivers and artisans who could be imagined not to know the value of education, send their children to private schools. Often the physical structures of the private schools they can afford are not as grand as those of public schools but the sacrificing parents expect and get greater dedication from the teachers in such schools. This dysfunction cannot be allowed to continue and the key is to start paying our teachers (and doctors, police etc) a living wage once again. We must recognize the import of a 99.5%+ devaluation in the value of the naira since 1985 (btw currency devaluation can never exceed 100% and to achieve that the paper must cease to be legal tender) and adjust public wages accordingly over the next several years. Wages must rise to a level that public schools will again attract talent comparable to what a manufacturing or trading company would attract. We are all economic creatures and if we want staff as good as Aliko Dangote gets in his various enterprises then we must pay wages that are not too far from what he pays. If we keep paying peanuts, monkeys will keep churning dunces out of our schools. The new government must display the courage necessary to right this decades old wrong if we truly intend a national rebirth.

Abraham Abiodun Idowu
May 3rd 2015