₦airaland Forum

What about ACN dat contributed billions of naira to celebrate the birthday of their leader Tinubu

All political godfathers in Nigeria, DIE BY FIRE! IN THE NAME OF JESUS!!! AMEN!   

This your prayer includes the death of Tinubu if answered.Believe me,you don't want to incur the wrath of some people who see Tinubu as their god......

GEJ has every right,legally and constitutional to seek second term in office but the guy has not declared so please let's give him benefit of the doubt.

What do you expect from a Lie Mohammed Anobi Boko Haram ?

ACN is consistently leaving the real issues and chasing shadow ! Imagine what Lie Mohammed would say if GEJ wasted over 1 billion on birthday party like Tinubu did .

I nominate Gbawe

I'll spend quality time praying for change of situation in my life and in Nigeria .....

Johnny,politics is not mathematics that can be calculated accurately,anything is possible !

Do you guys know that if Buhari can endorse Tinubu for president come 2015, Jonathan should just begin countdown to leaving Aso Rock .........
Tinubu and Ribadu or Tinubu and Elrufai ticket will definitely give PDP sleepless night !

Tinubu has a president will not be a bad idea after all ..... .........
Make I quickly comot before people nail me to the cross for making such outrageous suggestion ...

All I can think of now is when is boko haram gonna strike at National Assembly complex ?

This is a brilliant idea which can be experiented ,but will the cabal holding on to powers allow it ?

Guest Columnist By Azuka Onwuka

16 Feb 2012

Nigeria should disintegrate peacefully. No, a united Nigeria is the answer. A sovereign national conference is the only way. No, sovereign national conference is a euphemism for disintegration. We can't have a sovereign national conference when we already have a national assembly. True federalism is the solution. We want resource control. We are marginalized. We want sharia. Our share of the national cake is too small. We want more states. The cabal is the problem.

Welcome to Nigeria, a land of complexities and inexplicable ironies: a land so rich yet so poor, a land so big yet so small, a land so blessed yet seemingly cursed, a land so loved yet so pillaged. Nigeria is a land where a cacophony of strident voices from the various and varied ethno-religious groups has been getting louder by the day, with the political leaders believing that somehow and someday the voices will die down. But rather than die down, these voices are transforming into angry agitations and physical violence, making Nigeria stagnant (or in actual fact, retrogressive), at a time its contemporaries have dropped the "third-world" tag and donned the "first-world" tag. Only a chronic liar (especially someone who is part of the problem of Nigeria as well as a beneficiary of the unenviable morass into which Nigeria is mired) will deny that Nigeria is under-achieving and moving in the wrong direction, to the despair and frustration of many Nigerians and those who love Nigeria.

The perception that bad leadership, denoted by high-level corruption, is the problem with Nigeria has persisted. Renowned author Chinua Achebe said so in his book The Trouble with Nigeria. But what many people have not bothered to find out is what causes that bad leadership that has persisted from our Independence in 1960 till today. Are Nigerians naturally bad leaders when in charge of private, religious, communal or foreign organizations? The answer is no. Are Nigerians usually corrupt when in charge of private, religious, communal or foreign organizations? Again, the answer is no. The pitiable state of Nigeria, where the percentage of Nigerians living below the poverty line moved from 27.2 per cent in 1980 to 69 per cent in 2010, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (even though Nigeria is among the top oil producing countries of the world), may be caused by bad leadership or corruption. But there is something that is fueling the persistence of bad leadership.

The fundamental problem with Nigeria, which has been the cause of the worsening leadership in the nation, is a lack of belief in the nation. Nigeria literally belongs to no-one. Nigerians are not Nigerians first. Nigerians love Nigeria but they place their ethnic groups above their nationality. Issues concerning the nation are first viewed from ethnic standpoint before the national perspective. Nigerians are ready to fight and die for their ethnic group, but they sneer at anyone who wants to die for Nigeria or someone who wants to show integrity on issues regarding Nigeria.

However, the good news is that despite the various seemingly intractable and irreconcilable differences of the several ethno-religious groups in Nigeria, the proclivity of Nigerians to cling to their ethnic groups can be exploited to the advantage of the entire nation. Nigeria can therefore reap the benefits of having one country as well as the benefits of giving the various parts of the nation the opportunity to fully explore their peculiarities and diversities: a classical case of eating our cake and having it. How is this achievable? By having the United Nations of Nigeria.

Even though so many parts of Nigeria are disgruntled and disenchanted with what Nigeria has increasingly become, it is not in doubt that most Nigerians have a special attachment to the country Nigeria. It is also clear that most parts of Nigeria are frustrated that Nigeria is suffocating them by preventing them to fully explore their technological and industrial potential, or by dragging them backwards, or by bringing shame and disrepute to them through citizens' acts of criminality and violence like kidnapping, internet fraud, drug-trafficking and terrorism, or by preventing them from practising their religion the way they want to because of the demands of multiplicity of religion or secularism.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has four countries inside it: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. They participate in the Olympics as the United Kingdom, but participate at the World Cup and UEFA Cup as four countries. The United States of America participates in all competitions as one country but each state lives almost like a mini-country within the US, moving at its own pace and focusing on those things that interest it. For example, even though gay marriage is legal in Massachusetts and New York, it is outlawed in California and Alaska; death penalty is practised in Nevada, while it is outlawed in New Jersey. That way, people who hate gay marriage, for instance, are not made to subdue their personal and religious preferences by tolerating the sight of a man kissing another man whom he calls his "wife", neither will those who believe in the sanctity of life have to bear the news of living in a state where the life of an offender could be terminated.

A similar political scenario was obtainable in Nigeria before the first military coup on January 29, 1966. The four regions (East, Mid-West, North and West) had a high degree of autonomy. Each region focused on areas that interested it and retained as much as 50 per cent of the revenue from its natural resources. There was healthy rivalry among the regions, with each region trying to beat the other in all spheres of development. But the proposed United Nations of Nigeria would be different from what obtained in Nigeria's First Republic or what obtains in the UK or the US. I propose that the current six regions of Nigeria (North-Central, North-East, North-West, South-East, South-South and South-West) be transformed into six semi-nations or semi-countries. The details of their structure can be agreed upon but I will suggest a few of the details (which are not sacrosanct in any way).

The six semi-nations will each be run by a Vice President or Prime Minister. A rotational presidential arrangement among the six zones will ensure that each zone will present the President for a single term of 5 years. To prevent the loss of presidency by any zone because of death, impeachment or resignation (reminiscent of what happened during the President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua presidency), the Vice President or Prime Minister of the zone of the President will take over the presidency in the event of the President not completing his term.

Each zone will be run virtually as a separate nation with its own police, legislature, ministers, civil service, etc. The central government will be in charge of the military, a national intelligence/investigative unit, immigration, currency, Supreme Court, etc. The central government will have a legislature (perhaps on a part-time basis) that is made up of about six people from each zone and they will be concerned with only issues that concern the central government. The bottom line is to make political offices within the zones more attractive and prestigious than those in the centre to avoid the mad rush to the centre.

Each zone will be entitled to create zones/administrative divisions, but will not be funded even by a kobo from the central government. The resources derived from each zone will be owned hundred per cent by the particular zone, with an agreed percentage of tax paid to the centre. Despite the discovery of oil in the 1960s and its massive exploration from the early 1970s till date, it is crystal clear that even though Nigeria of the oil era is richer than the Nigeria of the agricultural era, Nigerians of the oil era are much more poorer than Nigerians of the agricultural era, because of the massive looting that has been going on in the nation by public office holders. The sharing of proceeds from oil has made the states lazy and politicians' appetite for graft even sharper. The money that comes from oil seems too easy that there is no need among the states to make any serious efforts to generate revenue through any other source. There is a title of a book that is Come Easy, Go Easy. In addition, the zones will pay handsome taxes to the centre for the maintenance of the military and other central institutions.

In sports, we could copy the UK example by allowing each zone to participate in the African Nations Cup and the World Cup, but participate at the Olympics as one body. But whether this aspect is upheld or not, there must be various sports championships among the six semi-nations. Each zone will run its own football league. To determine the team that will represent Nigeria at the African Champions League, the top team from each semi-nation will compete in a mini tournament. Each semi-nation will also maintain a national football team. Every two years, a Nigerian Nations Cup will be played among them to determine the champion. There will be other competitions in education, technology, sports, entertainment etc, among the semi-nations.

The reason for these competitions is to engender a spirit of healthy rivalry among the various semi-nations, so as to make each of them vibrant and strong. Such vibrancy will uplift each zone and also Nigeria at large.

If it is also acceptable, each zone should be known by a peculiar name like Yorubaland (O'odualand), Igboland, Kanuriland, Deltaland, Hausaland, Richland, etc. Even though some may fear that this will bring about a rise in ethnic nationalism, yet such ethnic nationalism will be to the advantage of Nigeria, because it will increase the patriotism of the citizens to their fatherland.

There are many advantages that a United Nations of Nigeria will bring. First of all, the reason why the embezzlement of public funds is on the increase is because there is a strong conviction among Nigerians that the money of the nation belongs to nobody: "public funds." But could you imagine a man embezzling the hard-earned money of the Yorubaland or Hausaland? Such a person will either run away from the nation or commit suicide, because he will be made to feel so much shame that he will be better dead than alive, unlike now when such a person is celebrated with chieftaincy titles for going to Abuja to get "our share of the national cake." If Richland (Middlebelt) uses its hard-earned money to put street light in Gboko or Lokoja, I pity the thief that will ever contemplate stealing those street lights. Everything within each semi-nation will no longer be "their own" but "our own" and it is the absence of that spirit of "our own" that has been our greatest undoing as a nation.

Another advantage is that it will make skilled Nigerians who were frustrated out of Nigeria by misrule and retrogression to return in droves to help build their respective semi-nations and by extension the country. Rather than only a handful of cities developing as is obtainable now, all the parts of Nigeria will experience massive and simultaneous development. The country's economy will grow and expatriate skilled people and investors will be attracted to the different sections of the country.

Each semi-nation will be free to make laws that will take care of its religious, cultural, educational and social needs. The indigenous languages will become official languages within the semi-nations. For example, even though Igbo or Yoruba each has up to 20 million speakers, none of them is as globally popular as Afrikaans (with about the same number of global speakers), or Swedish with 10 million speakers, because our indigenous languages are currently subdued under English as a result of a need to make compatriots who can't speak the same indigenous feel at home. But in a semi-nation like Yorubaland or Igboland, the indigenous language will be used as the official language in the legislature, law courts, universities, offices, etc. Each semi-nation will be free to promote its indigenous languages as it deems fit. Locals will stop feeling disadvantaged because of lack of knowledge of the English language. Non-locals who want to live and do business in such areas will be encouraged to learn the regional language. But that does not mean that English will die in Nigeria, as it will still be the means of communication on the national level or within the semi-nations whenever necessary.

But perhaps the best advantage of having the United Nations of Nigeria is that the feeling of marginalization, domination, and subjugation that has led to constant strife, suspicion, uneasiness, violence and deaths of millions of Nigeria in the last 50 years will be eliminated. Each semi-nation will feel happy that it has control over its lands and resources and that it is living the type of life it desires without constantly trying to live the way other compatriots want just for the sake of peace. Any Nigerian who desires to live in any part of Nigeria will be aware that even though he is a Nigerian, he must subject himself to the laws that govern his area of residence.

In the final analysis, the semi-nations will attract tourists, investors, skilled professionals and foreign investment based on their ability to make their areas habitable and hospitable.

I believe that if this proposal is accepted and adopted by Nigeria, the United Nations of Nigeria will be the biggest economy in Africa and one of the top 10 economies of the world in ten years, the most attractive place to visit or do business in Africa and the pride of the black race and Africa. It is possible. We can do it if we choose to.

•Onwuka is a Lagos-based branding consultant

I refused to believ this bullshit until Gbawe,Eko-Ile and Ekt-bear confirm it !

How Lawmakers Underdevelop Nigeria

25 Mar 2012


Simon Kolawole Live!: Email: simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com


In any given democracy, the legislature performs three functions: lawmaking, appropriation and oversight of the executive. I bear the Nigerian legislature witness that they actually make laws, especially the ones that would not upset the applecart. They do a lot of appropriation—and carefully jack up the budget to accommodate their own interests. Oversight function? Of course, they do perform it excellently, as long as the agency or ministry or parastatal they are overseeing would “support” public hearings and give committee members tickets and bundles of dollars to fly to some unknown republic to attend “capacity-building” conferences. And so it goes.

The legislature, I want to declare today, has contributed immensely to the underdevelopment of Nigeria. We often look at the clueless executive branch of government as the source of our woes. I suppose we are correct to a large extent. After all, the executive is responsible for policies and the implementation of law and order in the society. The executive runs the machinery of government day to day. But there is the principle of separation of powers and checks and balances. The judiciary serves as a check. While it has not been perfect in any way, the judiciary has certainly helped stabilise this democracy with timely interventions that have checkmated anarchy and diluted dictatorship.

But to effectively put the executive in check, however, we need a very active and proactive legislature. We need a legislature that puts the executive on its toes through oversight functions. I am going to use the current House/Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) scandal to illustrate my point on the diabolical legislature today. The House Committee on Capital Market recently decided to probe the fatal crash of our stock market, once regarded as yielding the most profitable returns globally. I am usually sceptical when our lawmakers suddenly want to investigate something for public good. I am very, very sceptical.

I am sorry to be so cynical, but since when did the lawmakers love Nigeria so much that they want to do something for our progress? Since 1999, they have been investigating and probing all kinds of things and we never got any result. There was so much noise over the probe of power projects in 2008—excuse me, what was the outcome again? I seem to have forgotten. Recently, there has been a lot of noise and public posturing over the probe of petroleum subsidy management. Discerning Nigerians know very well that nothing would ever come out of it, if our past experiences could serve as a guide. I can list a thousand probes and a thousand no-outcomes. So, pardon my scepticism.

And so the House Committee on Capital Market decided to probe the stock market crisis. The crash has led to the erosion of the wealth of millions of Nigerians. It has led to the death of banks and stockbroking firms. Many investors have developed incurable health problems as a result. Some have died from high blood pressure and stroke. Thousands of jobs have been wiped out. Probing the immediate and remote causes would ordinarily be to the benefit of Nigeria and Nigerians and perhaps help us come up with policies to be better prepared for future volatilities. From every indication, this should be an excellent exercise.

The Hon. Herman Hembe-led committee then wrote to the market regulators, SEC, inviting them to the public hearing. But what happened next? The committee attached to the same letter a list of its expenditure, totalling N39,844,490. The list includes snacks and drinks, as well as “official reporters” and “computer consumables”. Even without uttering a word, the motive of the committee was clear: bring some coins to the table to “support” the public hearing. I won’t be surprised if the same letter containing the “requirements” was also sent to other invitees to the public hearing. You can have N39 million from as many willing sponsors as possible. And don’t forget that the House has a monumental budget for public hearings. If you doubt me, please go through the budget of the National Assembly. So we are faced with a situation where the lawmakers eat the same cake two, three times. Who says you can’t eat your cake and have it? That’s an outdated proverb.

What happened next? SEC chose to play ball. The decision makers at SEC decided that the probe would be good for the market and opted to support the committee with “not more than N30 million only”. Look at it again. SEC could be culpable in the crash of the market. In fact, a thorough probe could reveal that the body shirked its responsibilities and was mainly responsible for the crash that nearly ruined the economy. So by the time SEC decides to “support” the probe with N30 million—in addition to an early favour done to Hembe to fly to Dominican Republic—what would be the outcome of the probe? Let me guess: a clean bill of health for SEC! And so, we keep destroying Nigeria in the name of probes and public hearings.

Of course, the “sponsorship” deal went awry along the line. SEC insiders claim that the money was to be paid directly, electronically, into the committee’s account but Hembe requested, through an intermediary, that N5 million should be paid to him personally (Hembe has denied this allegation). SEC pulled the plug on the deal. The hearing started the following day. Hembe let all hell loose, questioning the SEC DG, Ms Arunma Oteh, in the most condescending way possible. The woman, in failing to respond to the questions satisfactorily, quickly adopted the well-tested strategy of hunting the hunter: she alleged that it was because she failed to pay bribes totalling N44 million that Hembe was harassing her (can I add that she only agreed to part with N30 million?).

Fellow Nigerians, we would never have heard of these shady dealings if the monies had been released and collected. All we would hear is that the House Committee on Capital Market had probed the stock market crash and absolved SEC of all blame and declared that the collapse was caused by the global economic crisis which—in this age of globalisation—no economy is insulated. That would be the end of the matter until the committee members are broke again and decide to probe the sale of one listed company or the other. And then a letter would be written to SEC summoning them to the public hearing. And the list of “requirements” would be attached. And so it goes.

The latest scandal is perhaps one of the smallest. It is common knowledge that committees of the National Assembly engage in this unholy act on a regular basis. It starts with appropriation. A ministry would say it wants to spend N100 billion in 2013; the committee would call the minister aside and promise to help him jack up the budget in exchange for a few billions. A deal is struck. Professor Fabian Osuji would forever regret agreeing to serve this country. In 2004, some members of the National Assembly allegedly told him to bring N50 million so that his ministry’s budget could be passed. The deal went bad and the man was publicly humiliated. Also, I was told that when the House committee started probing power projects, a member called one of the contractors and asked that if they would raise some amount of money to be distributed to committee members, the panel would turn out a favourable report.

These evils are perpetrated not only at the federal level but also in the states. It is an open secret that in many states, members of the House of Assembly are put on special monthly allowances by the governors. Some monies are not to be accounted for at all. We would not have the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) running after governors today if the state lawmakers were alive to their oversight responsibilities. The laws of the land empower only the House of Assembly to probe a governor and remove him or her from office if found guilty. But this is just on paper. They’ve gladly surrendered their independence to the executive.

In more ways than one, the legislature is contributing its own quota to the underdevelopment of Nigeria. How can the lawmakers be accepting flight tickets and bales of dollars from the same people they are expected to put in check? How can they be colluding to jack up the budget in exchange for contracts and kick-backs? How can they be sending a list of “requirements” to the same body they want to probe? What are we turning this country into? Is there a way out of this conspiracy to keep Nigeria perpetually down through abject greed, crass incompetence and crude selfishness?

And Four Other Things...

Has FAAN Gone Mad?
The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) on Friday night, commando-style, entered the data centre of the airport operations concessionaire, Maevis, and destroyed the doors and assets as well as detained and molested the staff. There has been an attempt to terminate an existing agreement—which I can testify has led to the better logistics at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos—because somebody wants to bring in another concessionaire, Nigerian-style, to man the airport. This ugly development is worrisome because there are court injunctions which FAAN has decided to ignore and violate, even though we are supposed to have parted with military regimes 13 years ago. There are decent and civilised ways of handling disagreements if any existed. This must not go unchallenged.

…Jonathan Beware!
President Goodluck Jonathan has said it a million times that the government cannot provide all the resources needed to transform Nigeria. He wants private sector investment. In fact, a major plank of the administration’s policy is public private partnership. If FAAN gets away with the molestation and murder of MMIA concessionaire, Maevis, I don’t think Jonathan should be disappointed if private investors continue to shun us. We are already viewed as a country where agreements are not worth the papers on which they are written. We are being ridiculed home and abroad, and now the security of our premier airport is being compromised because of some selfish individuals. If the contract with Maevis is going to be terminated, it should be done properly and legally. Over to you, Mr. President…

Ngozi vs Kim
There is going to be a major vacancy at the World Bank in June when the incumbent president, Mr. Robert Zoellick, completes his five-year tenure. Developing countries are rooting for a change, so they want the position to go out of the Western world for the first time in history. Nigeria’s finance minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, whose aides initially said was not interested, has now agreed to give it a shot. US President Barack Obama has nominated a Korean-American, Dr Jim Yong Kim. Now this is the politics: US holds the World Bank presidency, while Europe produces the MD of International Monetary Fund (IMF). For US to lose World Bank presidency in an election, that would be a disaster for Obama. Meanwhile, votes in the World Bank and the IMF are weighted by financial contribution. The US alone has nearly 16 per cent of the vote. EU countries, which usually ally with the US, have 29 per cent. Plus other US allies all over the world! Okonjo-Iweala has a big mountain to climb…

Play for Muamba
I used to be a fan of Arsenal FC and used to follow the career of Fabrice Muamba in the youth team. Big and tall, he was touted as the next Patrick Vieira, more so with his box-to-box ability. He eventually left as first team opportunities eluded him. At 23, his potential has not been fulfilled but he has become a regular at Bolton and seemed to have a great future ahead of him. Who knows, his collapse from cardiac arrest last weekend may have effectively ended his career, but I have never seen so much mention of prayers in the UK! Everybody was saying: “Pray for Muamba”. He was effectively “dead” for 78 minutes, the doctors said, but they didn’t give up until he came back to life. That’s a miracle. Now to the other footballers, I ask them not to be discouraged by this traumatic set-back. They must keep playing the beautiful game—for Muamba’s sake.

Spot on Simon Kolawole..........
How long are we gonna keep sharin oil money to the detriment of other natural resources ?
This structure,this system cannot work,and will not last in the long run .
The responsibility lies on GEJ to restructure our revenue sharing formula in order to promote creative initiatives on the part of other regions than runnin to Abuja every month to collect allocations .

his Revenue-Sharing Thing Again

26 Feb 2012




Simon Kolawole Live!: Email: simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com



The faulty nature of our federalism was highlighted once again last week. This time, by the chairman of the Nigerian Northern Governors Forum, Dr. Babangida Mu'azu Aliyu, who lamented that Northern states are marginalised in the sharing of federally collected revenue. The way forward, he offered, was to review the formula in a way that the North would derive more benefit. He was speaking at the inauguration of the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation Advisory Council to advise the Northern governors on development.

Allow me to quote Aliyu generously: “The North today is in a very grave situation where illiteracy, poverty and general backwardness are on the rise in the face of unfavourable federation allocation structure in which the Northern states are at a great disadvantage. In Niger State, for instance, we receive N4.2 billion to N4.5 billion annually and spend over N2.1 billion on wages and salaries, leaving behind the balance of N2 billion to be spent on a population of 4.1 million people, including other exigencies of state, like social services, hospital and road construction.

“This is unlike the situation where some states collect twenty times more than what we collect with their small population. According to the constitution, the federation allocation formula is expected to be reviewed every five or ten years and we are expecting that the there would be a review this year. Revenue from oil wells within the 200 kilometres of the continental shelf ought to be for the whole country, but the revenue goes to some states. What is happening will not serve equity and therefore we will continue the discussion until there is equilibrium.”

I will discuss three points from his statement which I consider very important as we continue to debate our peculiar form of federalism in Nigeria. One, Aliyu spoke of "the North" in the sense that we are still operating a regional system of government. It would appear from his statement, therefore, that the parameters of revenue allocation were deliberately skewed against the region as a unit. The last time I checked, there were 19 states in the North. The North as a region was disbanded by the state creation of 1967. But there still remains this unbreakable sentiment about "the North" as a political and economic unit. Hence the conspiracy theory that the North is being cheated in revenue sharing.

However, Southerners would argue—and I've heard this argument again and again—that the revenue sharing formula was deliberately designed to favour the North. Principles such as "land mass", "population" and "need" are believed to have been built into the formula so that the North would get a good chunk of the national cake, so-called. That is why population census in Nigeria is always controversial; there's no census conducted that Southerners have not complained that cattle and goats were counted in order to beef up the population of the North. This is clearly uncharitable but it is a very strong sentiment down South. So when Aliyu complains that the North is marginalised, Southerners would be furious.

My opinion on this is that insofar as revenue sharing principles are applied on a state-by-state basis and not region-by-region, the North cannot complain as a unit. The revenue does not go to the North; it goes into individual states and it is individual states that should complain. After all, the Northern states do not spend the money on the region. What goes to Niger is not spent on Kaduna. Every state takes care of itself. Canvassing more revenue for the North is, therefore, an exercise in futility. Just as many Northern states can complain that the federal allocation is not enough for them, so can many Southern states. No governor should shy away from addressing the needs of his state under the guise of "the North". The problem of Benue is different from the problem of Plateau. Even if the problems are the same, no state would spend its own funds to solve the problem of another state, no matter the regional solidarity. Emphasising region above state won’t cut it.

Two, Aliyu said his state collects between N4.2 billion and N4.5 billion annually and spends over N2.1 billion on wages and salaries, leaving behind the balance of N2 billion "to be spent on a population of 4.1 million people". I couldn't believe my eyes when I read those words. The impression he is creating is that the federation created Niger State and appointed him as general manager without giving him enough funds to run it. This logic is at the very foundation of our faulty federal system. I have been trying to study federal structures around the world and even though I have not gone very far, Nigeria still remains the only one where component units rely on the central pot for their livelihood. Component units are supposed to contribute to keep the centre alive; in Nigeria, the centre is expected to sustain the units.

Aliyu was talking as if Nigeria has a responsibility to feed Niger State—or any other state for that matter. And he seems to argue that since Niger has more population than some other states, it should get a larger chunk of the revenue. There are several problems with this argument. To start with, the idea of federalism is that every state should substantially fend for itself. Before we discovered oil, for instance, we never heard Sir Ahmadu Bello or Chief Obafemi Awolowo or Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe complain that they were not getting enough share of the federation account. If you have more population, how is that the problem of another region or state? Every region used to cater for itself.

Today, we depend 90 per cent on petrodollars and by military fiat, the income comes from the Niger Delta and goes straight into the federation account from where it is distributed among the 36 states of the federation. The revenues from cocoa, coffee and groundnuts etc in those days were never sent into the federation account. Every region made its own money and spent it as it liked. We have now reversed the logic. More so, if all we are seeking is that more money should come from federation account, where is the need to make internal revenue efforts? If you have a population of 4.1 million people, where is the creativity to turn this into an asset rather than a liability? Does the rest of Nigeria have the responsibility of taking care of your children for you?

Three, Aliyu’s position further exposes the fictitious nature of our federalism which can only continue to drag us back. In my opinion, states should begin to work assiduously towards gaining financial independence from the federation account. It is not going to be easy; it takes a lot of thinking which many governors are not ready to do. There is this wrong assumption that development can only come when you get more money from federation account. This is the logic that often drives the clamour for “more money, more money”. Every state must work towards developing its local economy with policies and programmes that will encourage the growth of industry and service. It will not happen overnight—it takes careful planning and attracting the needed investment. Every state must leverage on its area of strength. I have said it a million times—states such as Anambra and Abia can build electronics manufacturing cities without spending a kobo of their own money! It is all about using the brain.

Need we continue to hammer on the fact that our over-reliance on oil revenue is bound to hurt us one day? Every discussion about public finance in Nigeria starts and ends with federation account. It is sickening. State commissioners for finance run to Abuja every month to collect FAAC cheques, the same way workers wait for their salaries! If oil money were to dry up today, where would the finance commissioners run to? How would the states survive? What are the governors putting in place in their states to prepare for a future without oil, a future where the oil-fuelled federation account will become more like pocket money to them?

To be sure, I understand the politics of Aliyu’s pronouncements. It is part of the entire political economy game currently going on in the country as the stakes continue to rise. The Niger Delta says this; the South-west says that; so the North must also say something. But in all the politics, let’s still reserve some place for development-oriented thinking. That is what can liberate our federalism.

And Four Other Things...

The Joke Called PSC
The Police Service Commission (PSC) never ceases to make me laugh. Over three years ago, it demoted the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, from Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), claiming his promotion, which saw him skip the rank of Commissioner of Police, was improper.  Of course, PSC was being used to humiliate Ribadu by the President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua government. Today, the same PSC, headed by the same person, has promoted Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo from Commissioner of Police straight to Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), skipping the rank of AIG. I have no problems with Akpoyibo’s promotion—let me be clear about that. It’s the hypocrisy that stings me. I mean, the same PSC surreptitiously reinstated Zakari Biu into the force and promoted him two years ago. Now they’ve sacked him! Who are they trying to impress?

NYSC’s Posting Policy
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has been at the centre of controversy for quite a while now, especially with the killing of youth corps members. The cry of many Southerners is that the body should be scrapped because nobody wants the children to be killed in these ethnic, religious and political crises up North. But beyond the “national integration” objective of NYSC, there is the “national service” component which we have ignored for decades. In some countries, you actually serve in the military! The government has introduced a new policy—corps members will now be posted to only four sectors of the economy: education, health, agriculture and infrastructure. I consider this to be a smart move. National service should be focused at achieving certain goals and I think this is the sort of reform the scheme had been crying for in the decades gone by. I hope more reforms will follow…

Sanusi’s Donations
There is something I always fail to understand with government officials—their inability to match their words with action. If there is one person who has been campaigning against waste in government, it is the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. And I’ve always liked him for that. He drew our attention to the crazy overheads of the National Assembly. He canvassed small government during the logjam over the removal of petrol subsidy last month. But what did he do next? The CBN board, under his watch, approved donations to victims of Boko Haram in Kano and Madalla. It is corporate social responsibility, we were told.  I don’t buy that argument. It is politics. If we have to cut cost, donations must be included. That’s simple logic. It is ironic, isn’t it, that the same CBN spent nearly a billion naira to acquire a piece of land to expand the governor’s residence. Prudence indeed.

My Errors
In my last article three Sundays ago, there were two mistakes I cannot allow to go, no matter how late I discovered them. I messed up people’s names so badly. I referred to the former Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki, as Alhaji Ahmed Dasuki. To add insult to injury, I wrote Shehu Umaru Yar’Adua instead of Shehu Musa Yar’Adua! I was actually joining the late president with his late brother. God have mercy…

We should try and separate the message from the messenger . What Aregbesola said was wrong and we should collectively sondemn it . What of if Fashola leaves ACN tomorrow ? So he wouldn't be an omoluabi again abi ?

on a serious note, i don't know what amuses the yorubas about the civil war. I read all the post on this page and i almost cried. the thing there is they never attacked anybody, they only wanted to be on their own because of maltreatment and it ended in a civil war. A genocide.

MY IGBO BROTHERS I HAIL YOU.


When are we gonna move beyond the incident of the civil war ? Let's just imagine that the civil war never happened,could the relationship btw Yoruba and Igbo be better off ......

Hmmmmm,it seems there is no hope for this genaration then .I can only pray that our children will learn from our mistake ,constitute a united Southern Nigeria and put a definite end to Fulani dominance........

You really need to follow this guy on twitter and see how he daily accused PDP of corruption and CPC has the only party to liberate Nigeria

When Jonathan finishes his tenure in 2015 and decides not to go for second term, a vote for Okorocha for president and fashola for VP will not be a bad idea......
North needs to chill for a while,probably till 2023 or 2027

When Jonathan finishes his tenure and 2015 and decides not to go for second term, a vote for Okorocha for president and fashola for VP will not be a bad idea......
North needs to chill for a while,probably till 2023 or 2027

My guy,read the article very well oh .Okey did not in any way justify Sanusi's donation to Kano

A divided house the Bible says cannot stand . No wonder even we Yoruba among ourselves,we fail to stand as one . The zoning of Speaker of House of Representative easily comes to mind ,where Tinubu and Co sold the position to Aminu Tanbuwal whereas the North was able to come as one and they presented Atiku as a consensus candidate during PDP presidential primary .........
I weep for my people oh !

What a brilliant article from Okey !
There is no denying the fact that SLS likes to generate controversy .

@dede,
Are you saying there cannot be unity among Yoruba,Igbo and ND because of our misunderstanding and the opportunity we missed before the civil war ?

I shake my head in pity and sorrow if that will be the case

Guest Columnist By Okey Okechukwu

My cousin, Obioma, is a technocrat in politics and in government. He is not doing badly and he has a reputation for frankness. This is made all the more appealing because it came after the Clinton Presidency, with its ‘speaking in tongues’ and tales of the unexpected. Remember my cousin’s “race” speech, when he took on his own reverend at a time it would have been more politically correct to keep quite? He defied every advice, wrote his own speech and addressed the nation on the matter. The people have put up with his many groundbreaking new ideas because they have some salve applied to their heart by the perceived superior patriotism driving his regular acts of political rebellion. Are they justified in taking his baggage? I dare say ‘yes’. My only problem with the Americans is their unpardonable distortion of my cousin’s name, because the consistent bastardisation of his name to read ‘Barack Obama’ (instead of Obarakunime Obioma) is a matter of great concern to our family!

If Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, is emulating my cousin, then he is doing a dreadful job of it. But he can pat himself on the back if his aim in the last few months has been to stand rationality on its head. Perhaps he has the limited objectives of making ignorance a school of thought and recommending indolence and skewed governance across many states of the federation as qualifying misgoverned states to more funds from the national treasury? Sanusi has obfuscated several issues, where even a simple respect for our national history and a smattering knowledge of economics would have made all the difference. Has Sanusi not invited incongruity unto the national podium and made spasmodic and sporadic commentary (including incomprehensible gestures) the standard bearers for national thinking?

For good measure he is still up front and centre spread in all controversies that a person in government should handle with some consideration for objectivity and the heat he is generating for his principals. He doesn't give a damn, I hear. His behaviour is alleged to be an indication that “they” can take their job and go to hell. This is beautiful; especially in a nation where a desperate clinging to even demeaning positions characterises the life of a rent-dependent elite. But he can resign, can’t he? This elite that is often so summarily described as hopeless is actually misrepresented in some respects. The allegedly bright non-politicians who strut about and sniff contempt at everyone else should perhaps stop advertising their ignorance of the political economy. Technocrats? What technocrats and where will they technocratise anything if someone does not first hold back the storm and create space for them to operate?

A so-called technocrat has the collateral, and reciprocal, responsibility of not drawing negative mileage and endangering the platform so obviously; even while working to eliminate all that is wrong. It is when the ‘technocrats’ of controversial antecedents ignore the circumstances that birthed their relevance and pretend that they are living charmed lives that their immaturity and limited understanding of power becomes appallingly offensive. But we are digressing, or are we not?

The impression out there is that Sanusi is an indispensable whiz kid; and that it is better to put up with whatever he throws at the Nigerian state than risk having him out of government. But let’s not push that point. It is just like a man who treats his wife badly saying that he knows what is good for her and that she is lucky to be the object of his love. Wives, please clap for husbands who are so caught up with their presumed excellence that they publicly announce their pain at having to endure the misfortune of working on such miserable fellows; who are clearly beneath them.

Is the Minister of Agriculture not doing wonders, real wonders in every sense of the word? And does he not somehow manage to conduct himself with professional dignity and grace? Has the FCT Minister chased anyone out of town because he is doing so well and very noiselessly? Are these people, and many others, not competent technocrats? Are there not many effective, and exceptionally competent people in government and out of government who also maintain all due courtesies? Our supposedly damned civil service and the political class still have officers who know their jobs and who also know what not to say, or do, in certain circumstances.

Is it that the Central Bank Governor has bad handlers, or that he is a riot all by himself? Does Sanusi not see the incredibly quiet, but unrelenting, radicalism of Ifueko Omoiguyi-Okauru who has done so much that the least honour I would recommend for her is GCON; and that is if she turns down the invitation to be president? How many people hear anything about Remi Oyo who has revolutionised news gathering and management, and so effortlessly elevated the News Agency of Nigeria in global reckoning, that she should probably be restrained from doing so well and setting a bad example for incompetent institutional managers?

But before anyone prances forward to say that we support those lampooning Sanusi for donating money to bomb victims from Kano State, let us separate the man’s commendable act of sympathy from the propriety and timing of the action. He was one of the very few people with the presence of mind to make an intervention in the face of such a calamity. It was one of the worst since the Boko Haram bombing saga began. What did others from Kano and from all over the country do? Why the dearth of philanthropists? What did all the Kano big men, who live mostly outside Kano, do? Did Ojo Maduekwe not relocate all the medical personnel of the Nigerian Ports Authority, the then National Maritime Authority (now NIMASA) and other parastals of the Federal Ministry of Transport to Ejigbo when an explosion in the Ikeja Cantonment created a panic that led to hundreds of deaths in Ejigbo canal in Lagos? But was Ojo a Lagosian, or a Yoruba man? Was his intervention “idiotic”?

Maduekwe’s action was predicated on the understanding that the primary purpose of government is to secure the life, property and welfare of the citizenry. He moved to Lagos without consulting the president, or seeking clearance, because he argued that the resources of the Nigerian state should be deployed to help Nigerians when it is done without ulterior personal motives. Ojo was at the scene before the president; and the nation’s relief and emergency authorities came long after his anti-death team had taken far reaching remedial actions and put a containment template in place. Did he do anything criminal? No! Would Sanusi’s action have been so controversial if he had not acquired a reputation for allowing his mouth to travel in dangerous neighbourhoods unaccompanied by his better judgment?

Those accusing Sanusi of indiscretion are beginning to sound boring, because he leaves no one in doubt about his capacity for irreverent commentary on matters that call for caution. That is why he is now seen as typifying those who walk into government with more than their fair share of presumption and arrogance about being technocrats. Technocrats are said to know it all. They are said to bring daybreak, to rescue the rest of us. They are said to have the right policies - and heaven help whoever is stupid or senseless enough to expect them to explain anything; or seek understanding.

Sanusi has inflicted on himself the profile ascribed to some of our ‘fast food’ reformers whose lamentational analysis of the Nigerian condition has been so repetitive that a point originally worth making on its own has been rendered threadbare, tiresome and uninteresting. Meanwhile, these people do not miss any opportunity to indignantly declare that they are not politicians. If you look a little more closely you will discover that they conveniently mistake refusal to follow advisable rules of engagement for independence. And this is precisely because they ignore the basic rules of decency, their context and the type of mess they get their principals into.

It is painful to observe Sanusi repeatedly lampooned when a little discretion on his part would have made him less an object of controversy. All the noisy talk about technocrats in government has the major demerit of implying that being called a technocrat makes one a loose cannon. This may have its good points, but I dare say that the whole point of having and using a cannon is that you decide what the cannon should shoot down. As my cousin would say (and that was before he sped off to America and got his named ruined) when a talisman becomes so tough as to begin to define the space within which its owner should move, then it is time to show it the wood from which it was made.

•Dr. Ikechukwu is a member of THISDAY Editorial Board

For a southern Nigeria,who claims to be educated,sophiscated and progessive than the Northern Nigeria,it's either we are foolish,idiotic or completely mad !
I was readin a thread this morning 'Hausa,Yoruba clash in Lagos over murdered youth ,hausa go on rampage' and I can't help but weep for the comments on that thread,how yoruba and Igbo are at each other throats while the culprit,the hausa continues to kill,maim and destroy these idiotic people .
Our discord,mistrust and hatred for each other has been the major strenght of this Fulani people who have continued to lord over us.
The very day,Yoruba ,Igbo and our broda in ND unite,based on shared interests,that will be the the beginnin of the end of fulani supremacy and domination in Nigeria.
I fear this may not happen in our generation based on what I see around me everyday among our leaders and what I read on nairaland.
Until then,Fulani will continue to control more than half of ND oil wells,the military and the very entity called Nigeria !

See how Naijasexy don spoil market for Sagamite,
How do you want his other bedmates on NL feel nowwww

Trouble maker !
Fulani Supremacist !
Econonic terrorist !
Religious bigot !
Islamic propagandist !

Will someone pls remind me when the tenure of dis unfortunate,boko haram,jihadist,Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is comin to an end

@LFJ,Americans and many Europe countries have the same crisis which managed successfully without much ado ,

History will surely judge Sanusi for the havoc he has done to the banking sector !