₦airaland Forum

hisexcellency34:
This may be his last assignment as VP before being removed

Hope you will replace him

Fellow Nigerians, please allow me to quickly apologise for not concluding the series I started last week on the importance of celebrity journalism, the basis of my Fellowship at The African Studies Centre, University of Oxford. The reason for this change of plan must be pretty obvious, and predictable. A subject of pressing, and urgent, importance, and necessity, has presented itself. And it has to do with the systematic and instalmental, harassment, intimidation, degradation and denudation of our dear beloved Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. He is being shorn of most of his statutory and constitutional powers with veiled and unsubstantiated insinuations that he has not been following due process when he clearly has been doing a stickler for such due process. Such inferences are at best rich when one considers that we are talking about a Presidency in which the President is famed for delegating powers and trying not to engage as demonstrated by the much publicised stripping of his constitutional powers in favour of a Chief of Staff who has no constitutional or statutory governmental authority. The contradiction and irony are stark and makes a mockery of what is being done. The situation is aptly captured by the Yorubas when they say, “ejo l’owo ninu” (the snake has hands in its stomach)! There is certainly more to the recent events than meets the eye!
Let the dramatis personae deny there is nothing of such and claim this is only a figment of our fertile imagination, or even call it a false alarm, or whatever nomenclature catches their fancy. However, no matter the denials, what is unfolding, before our very eyes is more than a storm in a teacup. It is a stuff of a multi-billion-dollar box office thriller and the suspenseful drama and twists would make Alfred Hitchcock green with envy. Not even Samuel Beckett could have scripted this sort of absurdist drama.
We can now start from the beginning, if you like, call it genesis. A cerebral technocrat, thoroughbred professional, a teacher who is an accomplished Professor of Law for that matter, and a preacher of values and morals as a Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God to boot, Yemi Osinbajo, was selected by retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari as Vice Presidential candidate sometime in 2014. The selection was applauded by many onlookers as a counterbalance to a Presidential candidate who was accused, and being pummelled, for not possessing the minimum educational requirement for the job applied, and also as a reassurance to those who regarded the APC candidate as a Muslim fundamentalist. Beyond religion, Osinbajo also represented a much younger segment of our society who saw Buhari as being too old, too conservative, too out of tune with modern trends and much more. Osinbajo was thus a seemingly perfect choice, and those of us who were Buharists, once upon a time, rejoiced and dreamt of a new Nigeria, clothed in tranquillity and unity. How wrong we were. Little did we realise that this was not a one-part story but one of which we were only seeing the prequel, without the benefit that there would be a sequel and possibly even a serialisation! We foolishly thought that this was a story that could not have a Part 2.
Please, let’s move forward, slowly and steadily. Osinbajo soon threw himself into his assignment and campaigned much more than any deputy would be expected to do. It was a forerunner of what we wished for and hoped would occur when eventually their team won the election. He crisscrossed Nigeria and navigated his ways across the seas, to far flung places, preaching the gospel of Saint Buhari and the good news of his imminent kingdom. Osinbajo is not just a lawyer and preacher, he is an orator, and he sold his boss to the world at a premium. They won the 2015 Presidential election and we were mostly thankful to God that we had succeeded in getting rid of the profligate and pernicious PDP behemoth, after 16 years.
The duo was elected and President Buhari made it clear that he had put his trust and faith in his able lieutenant and Vice President, Professor Osinbajo. He quickly made him the head of his economic team, and Osinbajo did the rest. He quietly and unassumingly took charge without seeking to upstage his boss, the President. He was a deputy who knew his place and although a little-known cabal at the time was hurling brickbats at him behind the scene, he handled all with his unusual equanimity and charm. I am sure that his famed tolerance and rectitude comes from the fantastic combination of lawyer, teacher and priest.
Man proposes but God disposes. Like all mortals, especially at that advance age, President Buhari took Ill. The sickness was so massive and scary that we nearly had another Umaru Yar’Adua situation on our hands. It will be recalled that Yar’Adua was the penultimate President before Buhari, and he had died in office, in 2010, before the expiration of his first term. His Vice President, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, had to complete that term before seeking and winning his own full term. Had anything happened to Buhari then, God forbid, Pastor Professor Osinbajo, constitutionally, would have stepped in, gingerly, to claim power as President and Commander-in-Chief. But, God so loved Buhari, and as he acknowledged himself, the prayers of Nigerians, and their intercession, intervened on his behalf, and healed him greatly.
It was during that interlude in governance that mutual mistrust and distrust which had been germinating for some time began to spring to the surface. Some members of the President’s inner caucus who were not used to taking orders from anyone suddenly found themselves reporting to one man with what they called “avuncular attitude”. They were angry and livid, but according to James Hadley Chase in his book titled, “The Vulture is a Patient Bird” they waited quietly. Osinbajo took decisions that they considered inimical to their interests, but they kept their arms akimbo knowing that their time would come, and they would bare their fangs. Their ire and fury were greatly stoked by the success and popularity that Osinbajo was attracting, without realising that the ultimate beneficiary was a government which had previously been seen as slow, inept and incapable.
Slowly, but surely, the fake news started spreading, clandestinely, that he wanted Buhari dead. The conspiracy theory was rife, but subdued. Osinbajo’s cardinal sin was committed and his fate probably sealed the day he summarily sacked the Director General of the Department of State Security, Lawan Daura, after the invasion of the National Assembly by hooded and gun-toting secret agents. Osinbajo had denied approving such dare-devilry by the executive against the legislature and till this day no one has owned up to what nearly became a coup against the legislative tier of government. Daura was seen as a sacred cow with friends in the ruling cabal, but Osinbajo by a masterstroke had him smitten and the head of one of the gargoyles had been severed by one deft blow! He would not be forgiven and plot after plot were conceived but could not be carried out before the election as Osinbajo was the Joker in the pack, the face of the Buhari Presidency!
Permit me to interject that Osinbajo actually brought stability to the nation by reaching out to every nook and cranny, cementing bonds of friendship across party lines. He visited the Niger-Delta and was able to put a stop to the militancy that was once again threatening to engulf that region of our country. In doing so he improved our economic fortunes by ensuring an increase in production of our main income earner, crude oil. In addition, he brought greater positive image to the Buhari government. Many silently prayed Buhari would give him more responsibilities, and a freer hand to handle the complexities of Nigeria. Again, we were wrong. Any respite for Osinbajo was actually simply for the purpose of navigating the electoral quagmire that the Buhari Presidency had found itself in.
Going back to our narrative, mercifully, Buhari returned after a miraculous rejuvenation. If his mind had been poisoned against his deputy, his straight poker face betrayed nothing. They continued to work harmoniously, at least, in public. As noted, Osinbajo became even more visible, and voluble, as their second term election drew nearer. Osinbajo became their star actor and harbinger of Tradermoni, a popular moniker for feverish distribution of cash in strategic locations, such as markets and similar trading places, for the emancipation of impoverished majority, which traducers suggested was nothing more than an act preparatory to buying votes. Osinbajo took all the savage attacks for Buhari in his stride. He calmly and eloquently defused and debunked all the sordid allegations of incompetence, inability and incapability levelled at his principal. His energy was extraordinary. He did house to house, and door to door campaigns. He made town hall meetings popular and the people trooped out to see and discuss the nation with him. The use of the hustings as the primary focus of the politician to rabble rouse and appeal to voters became a less favourable option as Osinbajo demonstrated that it was important to feel the pulse of the people by personal engagement. He even cheated death on two occasions the second being in Kogi State, after his chopper spectacularly crashed in a haze of dust, but thankfully, not in a burst of flames and everyone onboard survived without as much as a scratch. It was obvious that this was an anointed man of God and that God was with him and his house.
Elections came and APC candidate Buhari was declared victorious. I congratulated them, as normal Democrats would. When there were compelling reasons to do so shortly afterwards, I admonished the APC by adding the proviso that the Party should not over-rejoice but offer an olive branch to the supposed losers.
In a succinct letter I penned to Professor Osinbajo, I took time to explain how to restore sanity to the polity. My letter was misconstrued and instantly rebuffed as an attempt to divide the “one indivisible Presidency…” I was brutally attacked by some people in the office of the Vice President, but I understood their predicament. They were jittery about how the hawks would view my innocuous intervention and genuine intentions. I read panic in their response to me. But I knew today will come, eventually, like it has.
I’m a good student of Nigeria’s political history and trajectory. I’m familiar with the African mythology that witches don’t forgive. What is worse, witches don’t spare anyone, they eat and devour their own children, when in need of flesh. Osinbajo is the latest victim in the vicious cycle of power games in our country. He is being stripped of the last vestiges of relevance and importance, as typified by how the appurtenances of his relatively powerful office have been whittled down and almost totally degraded. His enemies are working overtime and overdrive by spreading spiteful rumours about one of the finest gentlemen in government. He may not be perfect, but Prof is a good man who loves his job and respects his boss, without doubt.
There are already speculations that all the theatre and spectacle that we are witnessing is a prelude to a more devastating attack. The aim is to try and make his position so tenuous untenable that he is forced to resign. If he does not bite the bullet or fall on his sword, my understanding is that he will be pushed. My candid advice and word of caution to the President is that he should resist such temptation. He should not listen to those who do not have any patriotic bone in their body. They are selfish, fearful and also weak. In Osinbajo they see their nemesis. He is everything that they are not. He has achieved outstanding and amazing success in every sphere that he has touched. He is a teacher of international renown and repute, a foremost legal mind, a pastor of great intellect, compassion and suasion. Worse still for them, he has come to their turf and shone as bright as the stars of the constellation to become a consummate politician.
If this game that we are all witnessing is all about who becomes what in 2023, it is complete balderdash. The reason I say so is very simple. Only God gives fortune and power. And only God can take it. No matter how hard man may try, he can never be God, he can only play God. With time such actor will see that he is nothing more than that thespian who must quit the stage at some time or the other. On the other hand, the consecrated vicegerent of God can never be too much honoured and adored. At my age, I have known and met enough men and women of power. Many of them are alive and must be wondering what the fuss was all about in those years gone by. APC has butchered some of its finest people. Do they need more to prove their virility? They should spare Nigeria this endless charade.
Let it be on record that I pleaded.
May God’s will be done.

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2019/09/21/who-is-afraid-of-vice-president-yemi-osinbajo/

Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN is set to embark on a State visit to Akwa Ibom to represent President Muhammadu Buhari at the 32nd Anniversary of the state’s creation.

According to the programme released by the 32nd Anniversary Planning Committee, “Prof. Osinbajo will participate in some of the activities lined up for the event, including the commissioning of some projects today and a 32nd Anniversary Church Service at the Uyo Stadium, on Sunday.

Earlier in the month at a thanksgiving, Gov. Emmanuel disclosed that the President (who would now be represented by the Vice president), would be commissioning certain projects by the administration.

Some of the projects to be commissioned include: the kings flour mill and the plywood industries: Other activities scheduled for the event include the Anniversary Banquet to be held at the Government House in Uyo.

Akwa Ibom State was created on September 23, 1987 by the Gen. Ibrahim Babangida regime.

THERE IS HOPE FOR NIGERIA, WE ARE BOUND TO SUCCEED---OSINBAJO

*Adds: Nigeria's development key to Africa

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has again stated the conviction that Nigeria has great hopes towards development and its development is key for Africa.

Prof Osinbajo said this while delivering the 8th Convocation Lecture of the Osun State University this morning in Oshogbo.

According to the Vice President "my message to you today is that there is hope. This country is bound to succeed. We will get there.

"Our founding fathers were all right even though they had not even then seen Nigeria’s true potential Nigeria. And  indeed as Nigeria goes so  does Africa."

The VP is speaking on topic: "Six Decades of Chequered Nationhood: Nigeria Still Holds Key to Africa's Development."

Up until yesterday, I respected Punch newspaper as a reliable source for good news but now, I know better. That Punch newspaper still has readers on and offline because most of them don’t know them. It’s understandable that one man’s food is another man’s poison but I want to believe that Punch newspaper would be poison to everyone soon.

The way the churn out FAKE NEWS baffles me. I believe strongly that they are in a silent competition with SaharaReporters and even DailyPost for who will turn out the most fakes news on a weekly basis. If I see any news or any headline in Punch or via their social media channels because I never click their links anymore, I will have to do my own finding because chances are that it is completely fake.

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Punch newspaper at all, in fact they used to be the leading source for genuine news in the past but not anymore in my books.

Why am I writing this? On Friday, in Ekiti, I was in attendance at the funeral service of Mrs. Moroluke Fakoyede, the mother of the Secretary to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede.

The VP who spoke largely in Yoruba barely talked about politics because it was a funeral and not a government engagement but when Punch was going to report the story, I almost fainted. Their headline read, “It is not true that Buhari doesn’t know how to govern – Osinbajo”.

Not only was the headline false, the content of the report was completely different from the headline. If I was not at that funeral, I would have believed this report. I posted the link in a WhatsApp group and called out my journalist friends in the group, that was when other fake news particularly about the VP surfaced.

SaharaReporters led the way and they were closely followed by Punch, both of whom joined others in publishing “Buhari will take 10m Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years – Osinbajo” even though the man said 100million Nigerians.

I really wonder what they stand to gain in disseminating fake news. My own is to warn Nigerians to be wary of these platforms.

For instance, Afenifere, a group of hungry old men who claim that they speak for Yorubas find in Punch a partner in crime. Punch newspaper are always willing to publish such stories. Ironically, both Punch and Afenifere work against the Yoruba interest. (That’s my take).

Well, I wish them and their ardent readers, the very best. I don’t intend to dissuade people from reading Punch, I only want them to have an open mind and also verify the story.

Nigeria will be a better place if all tiers and level of government do their jobs excellently.
The reason we are where we are today is because we focus on just the federal government and leave out other levels like the states and local government.
Nigeria will be great but we must start holding our leaders accountable.

FarahAideed:
I hope he took permission from Abba Kyari because we dont want Abba Kyari wahalla ooo.. Osinbanjo must make sure he submits minutes of this meeting to Abba Kyari for vetting and approval oooo

CRY louder, as e dey pain you, na so so sweet e dey us o.
Atiku is not coming

Coming from a very bitter and jealous man. Calm down, Farabale. Don't cry more than the bereaved.

When there is no news, every trash sells.
Calm down Farabale

That's why they were hell bent on coming back to power.

jcmaiah:
Mere commissioner. This is the most useless VP in the history of Nigeria. Very useless

What have you contributed to better your own life.

REPORT INSINUATING VICE PRESIDENT DIDN'T FOLLOW DUE PROCESS IN SUPERVISION OF AGENCIES UNDER HIM IS FALSE

(Re: Buhari directs Osinbajo to seek approvals for agencies under him)

Our attention has been drawn to a sensational report by The Cable which claims that His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, has directed Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, to seek approvals for agencies under him.

The report suggests, falsely, that agencies under the supervision of the Vice President do not normally comply with established rules where presidential approvals are required.

This is obviously misleading and aims only to plant seeds of discord in the Presidency while attempting to create unnecessary national hysteria.

The agencies in question are established by law and the Vice President has always insisted on due compliance with the enabling statutes and other established regulations.

Depending on the particular scope of activity in question, agencies may require management approval only, at the level of the Director General or Chief Executive Officer. In this category falls the great majority of their day-to-day activities.

However, other activities, or procurements, with value exceeding a certain threshold, require Board approval. These may get to the agency Board chaired by the Vice President. In a few cases where Presidential approval is required, the Director-General must seek such approval from the President, through the Vice President. These rules have always guided the activities of statutory agencies and the ones under the Vice President’s supervision have always been so guided.

To claim that in the first term of the Buhari administration, agencies of government have not been complying with the provisions (of getting final approvals from the President) is false, and the attempt to suggest the Vice President’s complicity in such irregularities is simply mischievous and reprehensible.

The effective and mutually respecting relationship between the President and the Vice President is well known to Nigerians and it is futile to insinuate otherwise.

Even though the Vice President has a statutory role as Board Chairman of some government agencies under his office, with appropriate approval limits, which often do not include contract approvals; it is ludicrous to even insinuate that a Board Chairman approves contracts.

Evidently, the Federal Executive Council, which oversees Federal Ministries and agencies of government, is chaired by the President, and it is in its purview to approve or ratify award of contracts within the prescribed threshold.

The Vice President remains committed to the service of his fatherland and will continue to do so despite the purveyors of fake news. We urge
media organizations, as gatekeepers to uphold truth, balance, fairness and objectivity in their reports.

LAOLU AKANDE
Senior Special Assistant to the President
Office of the Vice President
Sept 17, 2019

Trash from the pit of hell.
Ezekhome is yet to be fine after the tribunal trauma.

jasmine1600:
A VP that happily shares 10k to market women is that one a VP?
He has been a mere commissioner from ab initio.

Nigerians can never be satisfied.

1. The President and Vice President have enjoyed a great working relationship and that is not about to change.

2. The Economic Advisory Council (EAC) is a think-tank and will act only in ADVISORY capacity to the President.

3. The Economic Management also (EMT) reported to the President. Everything the EMT does ends up with the President.
4. The new Council reports to the President and won't be a surprise if and when Council also interfaces with VP on behalf of the President
5. This Council is only a change of strategy by the Presidency, bringing in the Private Sector in sharp focus

FarahAideed:
If it's your money how come you don't even have

say something intelligent next time

FarahAideed:
Did he take permission from the Presidency before doing this ? Abba Kyari says he must take permission

no! He took permission from you.

That's great news.
All the fake billionaires MUST return our money.
#NextLevel will be tough for wailers.

*VP adds: Ministers to render first performance report in December

“Let me speak quickly to what will be done differently on implementation of government plans in this dispensation. After the Presidential policy dialogue preceding the inauguration of Ministers, the President developed a list of specific mandates for each ministry. Each of those mandates has clearly spelt out action points.


“Every minister has a mandate with action point, some of the mandates have 7 or 8 points. The ministers are to render their first reports on performance in December. So, in some sense we are moving to a more measurable way of determining where ministers are going and what they ought to do. Of course there would be challenges of funding, clarity of plans etc.”



SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, VICE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AT THE OPENING SESSION OF THE 2019 ANNUAL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE OF THE NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, HELD AT THE ICC, ABUJA, ON MONDAY, 16th SEPTEMBER, 2019

PROTOCOLS


I am extremely pleased to be here and to have received the invitation to participate at this annual management conference of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) for 2019.

Coming at a time when we are in the early months of the current administration it seemed to me to be a good time to come to the management gurus for some lessons on fresh ideas on management, especially the management of a complex democracy. With the quality of attendees today, I think I should award myself an initial pass mark for properly identifying the solution by picking the right conference to attend personally.

I also checked very diligently and found to my relief that there is no charge, open or hidden, for my category of attendee, which means that I can derive the immense benefits from this gathering of the brightest and best in management free of charge.

What remains is for me to consult with the President of the Institute as a true Nigerian to ask whether attendance at this one meeting qualifies me to start parading myself as a management expert henceforth.
The theme of the conference, “Managing the Challenges of Democracy”, really could not have been better framed. I think it was one of the illustrious past Presidents of the NIM, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, who at the 2006 Conference, declared quite perceptively that all sectors of the Nigerian economy were suffering from endemic management failure.

To carry his prognosis a little further, I would say that the central question especially in the public sector today is not the lack of talent or well researched policies, but the weakness in getting things done, or implementation - doing things as opposed to talking about doing them.

Implementation is possibly the central management challenge today and it is, in my respectful view, at the heart of the challenges of managing our democracy. So, in every real sense, our problem is a management one.

If the NIM achieved nothing else but a prescription on how to resolve the problem, you would certainly deserve to be described as national heroes. But to take the prize you will need to ensure implementation beginning with all of us who are seated here today.

Let me set out some of the issues or, as researchers will say, the problematic, for your consideration.

First is the central question of governance, ethics in the management of public resources; second is the issue of merit over quotas and politics in the selection of talents and projects; third are the challenges in human capital development; fourth is the problem of scale, scale in social services; for example, education - providing 21st century education to millions of children as the country heads for third place in world population in a few decades. Lastly, but by no means the least, is the problem of poverty, and the creation of wealth and opportunities for millions.

Regarding the first, our approach as a government has been first to tackle grand corruption, which, in other words, is the direct looting of the treasury by senior members of government, and the second is changing systems that promote graft.

This we have done by the introduction and implementation of the TSA, PICA, continuous Audit of government-owned entities, the insistence on full implementation of IPPIS, especially for the armed and uniformed services who had for long avoided being on this transparent electronic platform; the whistleblower initiative and other measures aimed at bringing greater transparency and scrutiny to public finance and the conduct of public affairs.

The Next Level is to deepen the fight against corruption especially in government procurement processes and government delivered services. We believe that technology and automation will help, moving things away from the discretion of the desk officer, to the agnostic electronic platform.

We aim to ensure that every Nigerian is able to obtain passports and drivers licenses, etc without having to pay bribes or suffer needless delays. But how to do these efficiently is the implementation challenge, and of course, we are open to advice from the gurus.

Next is the question of moving more towards consistency in applying merit as a first consideration as opposed to quotas as a first consideration in public appointments. Every part of Nigeria has great talents. Even If we are picking talents from every State, that choice should be merit driven. The civil service has in the past three years insisted on examinations for promotion and even for permanent secretaries, that process must be maintained and final choices per state should follow the order of merit. There are many open questions on implementation. Again, over to you.

The issues of capacity in Human Capital Development, affordable health care for all, education, especially getting out-of-school children into the school system, education of girls, and relevant educational curricula, are front burner issues today.

Health care for all cannot come from budget allocations alone. As of last week, we had taken major steps in the provision of our universal coverage policy. In 2018, we implemented the allocation of 1% of the CRF to healthcare.

Consequently, we launched the first phase of the BASIC HEALTH CARE PROVISION FUND with the disbursement of N6.5 billion to the first 15 qualifying States and the FCT. The money goes to Social Health Insurance Agencies in the States to reduce the hardship of patients making out-of-pocket payments for healthcare. The Next Level is the implementation of compulsory health insurance for all Nigerians on a co-payment basis with government.

We are working at the level of the National Economic Council to achieve Mr. President’s June 20th charge to State governors to ensure full implementation of free and compulsory education in the first nine years of the school life of every Nigerian child.

The extensive use of technology, focusing on getting girls into schools, introducing mainstream subjects into the Quranic School system, and implementation of the STEAM curricula are some of the main components of the educational plans that we have going forward.

Some of you are familiar with the Homegrown School Feeding Programme. That programme has been particularly helpful in ensuring an upward trajectory in education enrolment in primary schools all over the country. Today we are in 32 States and feeding over 9.8 million children. There are many implementation challenges in how to ensure high quality education on scale. At the moment several programs including technology solutions are in use or being considered in various States. We need to efficiently identify the best options and apply them on scale.

The implementation of policies and programmes to address the challenges of poverty and wealth creation, jobs for millions of young active people now and in the future require collective thinking and action. While we have created appreciable value in agriculture, with the Anchor Borrowers programme by adding new jobs and acreage in paddy rice, sorghum, millet, cassava and yams, we recognize that it is in the agro-allied value chain that the greatest value lies for jobs and improved productivity.

So, for a crucial component of our mechanization of agriculture, we have a programme with the Brazilian government, they are making available a $1 billion facility to provide equipment, where we intend to build service centres in every local government to render extension services, leasing of farm equipment and provision of improved inputs.

In addition to that, there will be six assembly plants for tractors and other equipment. The enhancing of commerce in agriculture by the building of rural roads for access to markets and commodity exchanges are also priority items. The truth is that in every development plan to create the number of quality of jobs that we want, we will have to do a lot with what our agricultural outcomes are. What our plans are and how they are implemented, especially in the agro-allied value chain are important. The expansion of opportunities in manufacturing with the completion of the first phase of the special economic zones in Enyimba City in Abia, Lekki Free Trade in Lagos and the Funtua Cotton in Katsina are priorities and good progress has been made thus far. We already have investor-indication in the Afro-Exim Bank and the AfDB. The IFC is also supporting the initiative.

In addition, we are in collaboration with the Bank of Industry, investing in infrastructure, in small business and commercial clusters all over Nigeria. Examples are, Leather works clusters, shoe making, food processing clusters, printer clusters etc. These are to benefit from the provision of power, equipment, and other infrastructure.

Under what is described as our Energizing Economies scheme, we licensed and ensured the provision of power on a willing-buyer-willing seller basis to large and medium scale markets, such as Sabon Gari in Kano, Ariaria in Abia, and Sura market in Lagos. We intend to continue with the Energizing Economies scheme. We also have the Energizing Education scheme where we are licensing private power producers, providing power to 37 universities and 7 Teaching Hospitals. We believe that we can resolve some of the power problems by decentralizing power generation and distribution such that not just the DISCOS and GENCOS will be involved, but that anyone willing to produce power are able to do so, and we are able to license more people who can produce power, especially on a willing-buyer-willing-seller basis.

It was in providing a better scope for jobs, especially for young people in technology and innovation, that we have been facing some of the critical challenges, especially with access to credit. Today, there are many startups and innovation, but in a country our size, the question is providing credit on scale and on an accessible basis. So, the Bank of Industry has about N10 billion that it has put aside for innovation in technology. But N10 billion is not enough for a country our size.

So, we are talking to the AfDB, they are putting together a $500 million facility for innovation and for startups in technology, and we think that can give a lot of impetus to a lot of the talents that we see today in technology and innovation. We have also started a technology and entertainment advisory group, where we have a lot of the young people who are in technology and entertainment, advising government directly on the policies that are required for ensuring that technology and innovation is not stupefied by regulations. For example, a lot of the Fin-Tech companies are basically doing banking type transactions, but they can’t be regulated or licensed like banks. So, there is a need for a policy review in that area. What we have tried to do is to provide those kinds of policies working closely with the Central Bank.

With respect to small businesses, we have seen quite a bit of work being done, especially with the MSMEs; and already we have done MSMEs Clinics in 24 States, and we have also established one stop shops for regulatory approvals in some zones. The clinics which are attended by all regulatory authorities has been an eye opener for them, as they hear and see the problems of small businesses first hand. This is quite important because so many small businesses have been complaining about getting approvals from NAFDAC, SON, CAC etc. So, the clinics are important in ensuring that the regulatory agencies themselves understand what the issues are and that has led to some of the changes we see today.

It was in the process of thinking through the problems of access to credit for informal traders and businesses, and especially petty traders, the so-called-bottom-of-the-pyramid in the commerce chain that we developed with the Bank of Industry, the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, or what is better known as the MarketMoni and TraderMoni schemes. Thinking through the budget in a democracy with the large numbers that we have, obviously, what our focus should be on how to ensure that the bottom of the pyramid, which is the largest number, get some help and are empowered to do their own business as well.

One of the very important things is how countries as large as ours, and with the levels of poverty that we have, are able to structure their budgets in such a way as to cater for that bottom of the pyramid. That is something that has always escaped us and we cannot seriously talk about the welfare of the majority without budgets that think through the questions that address the welfare of the majority. What we have seen so far is that both schemes have greatly enhanced access to credit, improved the inventories of petty traders. It is evident that if we don’t find solutions to some of those issues, it will more or less become difficult to take people out of poverty. And we have seen some of these schemes work in other parts of the world. We have seen these schemes work in India, taking large numbers of people out of poverty. We think that these schemes will work here if they are faithfully and diligently implemented. What we have been able to do so far is 2 million people; we are merely scratching the surface.

There is some cheering news, the programme recently won the AfDB prize for financial inclusion. And we think that there is room for improvement. How do we scale up? We found that there is diligence in repayment, people found that they will get more when they repay their loans.

Let me speak quickly to what will be done differently on implementation of government plans in this dispensation. After the Presidential Policy Dialogue preceding the inauguration of Ministers, the President developed a list of specific mandates for each ministry. Each of those mandates has clearly spelt out action points. Every minister has a mandate with action points, some of the mandates have 7 or 8 points. The ministers are to render their first reports on performance in December. So, in some sense we are moving to a more measurable way of determining where ministers are going and what they ought to do. Of course, there would be challenges of funding, clarity of plans etc.

The full and effective performance of these mandates is, of course, an implementation challenge. We look forward to your contributions on the journey.

Let me again commend the NIM for these many years of provoking thought and action on making our nation work for the benefit of all.

Just a thought as I take my seat, reading the Code of Conduct of the NIM, it is so elegant that if just those of us in this room, including myself, could comply with that code, this country will be completely different. So, I throw the challenge to the NIM to walk the talk.

So, it is now my special pleasure to declare open this annual conference of the Nigerian Institute of Management 2019 for the benefit of all Nigerians. Thank you very much.


Released by:

Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity
Office of the Vice President

anonimi:
What option does a slave to the cabal of the caliphate have than to do any assignment given to him?
The man haff tired of running around doing the bidding of the incompetent dullar'd who bosses him due to quota shystem.


www.nairaland.com/attachments/2578649_osiosi_jpg71aedfd93cf882908381aff91ded278a

This is the same position Peter Obi is trying to kill himself on. Get a life

EmekaBlue:
I just clicked to check his d errand boy is wearing that same attire. Yes he is ofcourse.

It's funny that people like you who are not even qualified to buckle his shoes are talking about "errand boy". I can only pray for you to get well soon.

This man is a great man. He is always ready to serve Nigeria in any capacity.
Last week has been a very busy week for him. We can only pray to God to guide and protect our Star Boy always.

Osinbajo took wailers to the cleaners.
That is how a real leader should behave.
He is a rare gem that uses humour to send a message to the world.
God bless star boy

nicason:
Don't blame him he is a tired pastor

What are you? Get well soon

SLAP44:
You mean Nigeria's chief mourner?

Be reasonable for a second

His Excellency Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) will be in Kebbi State today for the MSME Clinic.

The MSME Clinics assemble Government agencies under one roof to provide on spot solutions to the challenges faced by MSMEs.

These include
Access to Finance, Business registration, Product registration and certification.

What you need to know about NLTP

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON NATIONAL LIVESTOCK TRANSFORMATION PLAN (NLTP)

1. What is NLTP?
• A holistic plan developed from the recommendations of the extensive national policy dialogues conducted by the FMARD in 2016/17 on modernizing the livestock subsector and the findings of extensive stakeholder consultations by the National Economic Council (NEC) Farmer-Herder Crises Committee on the drivers of the conflicts in 2018.

2. What are the pillars of NLTP?
• The plan has 6 pillars in order to systematically address the concerns of livestock modernization as well as resolve farmer-herder conflicts sustainably. Pillars: Conflict Resolution, Justice and Peace, Humanitarian Relief and Early Recovery, Human Capital Development; Crosscutting Issues of (Research, Youth and Gender) and Economic Investment (cattle production along the value chains).

3. How is NLTP different from RUGA?
• NLTP was developed from recommendations based on extensive stakeholder consultations by the National Economic Council (NEC) Farmer-Herder Crises Committee on the drivers of the conflict in 2018 and the plan was approved by all 36 governors in January 2019. This is different from RUGA; the plan was to finalize on design and procurement process, before engagement with States and Local Governments for identification and provision of sites while the Ministry of Interior would be engaged to finalize the logistics and modalities of mobilizing the Agro- Rangers for the provision of security.
• While RUGA focuses only on livestock, NLTP caters to the concerns of both pastoralists and crop farmers for a mutual coexistence.
• RUGA will provide amenities such as basic water, shelter, health and security infrastructure as well as feed sources and pasture, while the NLTP addresses the concerns of livestock modernization through the following six pillars: Conflict Resolution, Justice and Peace, Humanitarian Relief and Early Recovery, Human Capital Development; Crosscutting Issues of (Research, Youth and Gender) and Economic Investment (cattle production along the value chains).

4. What is the fate of RUGA?
• RUGA has been suspended indefinitely by President Muhammadu Buhari

5. Who owns the land?
• The State governments own the lands. Federal Government will never impose themselves on State Government’s land.

6. Is this a land grab?
• No, it not.

7. Would there be any displacement of people who already occupy grazing reserve areas?
• People who already occupy the lands will not be displaced, rather there will be an agreement between them and the State Government on portions of land that can be used for ranching and crop farming. The ultimate goal is peaceful co-existence for all stakeholders.

8. Role of Federal Government?
• The co-ordination of the NLTP will be carried out at the Federal level by the NEC NLTP Steering Committee through the Project for Agriculture Coordination & Execution (PACE) Secretariat to be domiciled in the Office of the Vice President. In phase one, the PACE Secretariat will initially support the development of pilot ranches in each of the 7 pilot states (Adamawa, Benue, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Plateau, Taraba and Zamfara). States can also opt-in with private land provisions to help shape the success of the pilot phase.

9. What is the role of Governors/States?
• Each State Governor is responsible to put in place a suitable delivery mechanism for the NLTP. Project for Agriculture Coordination & Execution (PACE) office domiciled in the Office of the Vice President, will support them. Governors would have the State Steering Committees (state livestock office) sitting in their offices and approve and manage the budgets for the state livestock project management teams (SLPMO)

10. How is this plan being implemented?
• Over 95 pilot ranches are to be built in partnership with the State Governments, private investors and development partners within gazeted grazing reserves only. 6 state governors have identified 28 gazetted grazing reserves for the project.

11. Why is Federal Government concerned about herders/livestock farmers?
• Because of the need to sustainably resolve the farmer-herder conflicts through an integrated approach that addresses the concerns of pastoralists and crop farmers.
• The need to urgently address the negative impacts of climate change on the limited resources of land, water and pasture within the grazing reserves via landscape approach that integrates crop-livestock-forestry production system.
• The urgent need to address the security, human and economic crises created by these conflicts as well as develop the human capital necessary for driving modern crop and livestock agriculture.

12. Who are the stakeholders working on NLTP?
• Federal Government, State Government, Private Investors, Pastoralists, Crops Farmers, Traditional Rulers.

13. Is NLTP for Fulanis?
• The plan does not speak of Fulani settlements, but rather how to provide focused integrated support to pastoralists and crop farmers to modernize their farming activities in an atmosphere of peace and mutual coexistence.

Good move by the Vice President.
The launch of NTLP today will further educate and enlighten people on what the NLTP is all about.

Dpharisee:
Abba Kyari runs the government while the VP is made redundant by the dullard, they are now using him to flag off Ruga in other to hide the true motives, Osinbajo can open Ruga inside the church it will still not fool us.

Say something intelligent next time.

A whole former minister of justice basing all his writings on hearsay. Go and answer for the part you played in Malabu OPL 245 deal at least. Osinbajo is not your problem. The wicked runneth when no man pursueth. You think you will just chop and clean mouth go like that abi? The court in Milan will soon send out an Interpol warrant for your arrest, if you continue to remain absent when summoned.

As a lawyer, you should set an example for others who have been accused of one crime or another, mind you , you were only a suspect until proven guilty, so let justice prevail, it might take some time but its worth the wait