Nigeria’s National Economic Management Team – Incompetence Meets Absurdity

A meeting of the national econmoic management team

By Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia

Nigeria’s Economic Management Team is chaired by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and it includes  the Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo who serves as the Vice Chairman, other members are the Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of National Planning, Minister of Trade and Investment, Minister of Power, Minister of Petroleum Resources, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Works, Minister of Education, Minister of Health, Minister of State, Finance, Minister of State, Health, Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Chief Economic Adviser, Special Adviser, Monitoring and Evaluation, Director General, Budget, Director General, Debt Management Office, Director General, Bureau for Public Procurement, Director General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission,  Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises, Honourary Adviser on Agriculture and Governor of Adamawa State, Honourary Adviser on Finance and Governor of Anambra State, Honourary Adviser on Economy and President, Nigerian Economic Society, Mr. Atedo Peterside, Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Director General, Security & Exchange Commission, President – Manufacturing Association of Nigeria and Africa’s richest man -  Aliko Dangote, controversial banker - Mr. Aigboje Aig Imoukhuede and oil baron - Femi Otedola.
PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated the National Economic Management Team, NEMT, with a charge to fast track the economic development of the nation. At the inauguration ceremony, the President said “as a government we have made substantial gains in our objective of accelerating the pace of economic development in our country over a short period of time; I believe that with the economic management team in place, and with the commitment of its members, we will be in a vantage position to achieve a lot more”.
He further charged members of the team to “combine their individual strengths, to generate ideas and initiatives in line with our goal of transforming every sector of Nigerian life and society, particularly the economy”.
Is it not laughable that an economic management team will consist of oligarchs like Aliko Dangote, vulture capitalists like Femi Otedola, and profiteers like Aig Imoukhuede? What sort of advice will they give the President? Perhaps, the people can expect to hear stories of import waivers, petroleum subsidy fraud, and the stripping of our national assets. I am particularly dismayed at the way they all came out to dismiss citizens’ concern as it relates to the proposed N5000 banknote and the coinage of N100, N50, N20, N10, and N5 banknotes. Regrettably, President Goodluck Jonathan has allowed buccaneers and vulture capitalists to hijack his administration and derail his agenda.

The National Economic Management Team in Nigeria is similar to the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) in the United States. It is an agency within the Executive Office of the President and it advises the President of the United States on economic policy. It is a misnomer in Nigeria that a similar advisory body is called a management team and peopled by questionable characters.
It is curious that no member of academia is part of the so called National Economic Management Team. Take the case of the United States where past and present members of the Council of Economic Advisers are renowned economists and policy wonks.   The current Chairman of the CEA is Alan Krueger and a former professor at Princeton.
Unlike its Nigerian counterpart, The American council of Economic Advisers was established by the United States Employment Act of 1946 to provide US Presidents with purposeful fiscal analysis and advice on the growth and execution of a wide range of internal and global economic policy issues. Some of its influential past chairs are: Alan Greenspan and Arthur F. Burns. While influential past members are: James Tobin and Nobel Economist, Paul Krugman.
It is clear from the foregoing that its Nigerian version cannot achieve even a miniscule of the goal that has been set for it. This is not as a result of a dearth of qualified personnel in Nigeria but because time and again Nigeria’s elected officials has shirked their responsibility to the Nigerian people and have a penchant for constituting irrelevant committees and loading such with incompetent individuals. Take the case of the Federal Capital Territory, dirty, chaotic, and leaderless.
The biggest problem in my political party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party lies in its inability to manage the political success that comes out of its ability to cobble together a winning coalition. Those of us on the left to center of the party will continue to call out the leadership to this glaring inadequacy. The proposed currency restructuring agenda is dead on arrival and posterity will not be kind to those who are bent on mortgaging the future of the next generation of Nigerians.

At Gatwick Airport, Air Nigeria Asks Passengers To Donate £40 Each To Buy Fuel For Flight To Lagos

Passengers stranded-Photo credit-Lekan Fatodu

Passengers waiting for luggage at 2:00 AM-Photo credit-Lekan Fatodu

Photo credit: Lekan Fatodu

By SaharaReporters, New York

In a scandalous twist of events, SaharaReporters learned that an Air Nigeria crew at Gatwick Airport yesterday asked passengers to contribute £40 each to enable them purchase fuel to depart for Lagos several hours after the flight’s takeoff was delayed.
About 190 passengers on Flight LOS-VK 0292/08 said they were surprised by the request.  They confronted the airline official who had made the request, and he quickly disappeared from the riotous scene.
The flight, which was scheduled to fly out of London at 9:50a.m, eventually did so at 5p.m., arriving in Lagos at 12:30a.m.   But the ordeal of the passengers was hardly over.
A passenger, Lekan Fatodu told SaharaReporters that when they arrived at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos, they discovered their baggage had not arrived with them. They were left stranded for several hours before an official of the airline told them to return the next day for their luggage.
It was learned that the airline’s bag handling service, Swissport, refused to provide ground-handling services to the airline because Air Nigeria had not met its obligations to the company.
Air Nigeria’s embattled owner, Jimoh Ibrahim, last week announced the sacking of over 500 workers at the airline and suspension of all flight services starting from tomorrow, September 10.
Mr. Ibrahim claimed that his workers were disloyal to the company but the workers said during a street protest that Mr. Ibrahim was a bad manager who diverted funds given to the airline by the Nigerian government and is negligent in aircraft maintenance. The workers have not received salaries since April 2012.
Mr. John Nnorom, a former chief financial officer of the airline told SaharaTV yesterday that of the 11 aircraft in Air Nigeria's fleet, only one is serviceable. SaharaReporters learnt that most lessors have repossessed their aircrafts from Air Nigeria, leaving it with only four aircrafts.
Following the publication by SaharaReporters of a powerful petition by Mr. Nnorom detailing the troubles facing the ailing airline, Air Nigeria’s operations were suspended.
The petition appeared on June 4, one day after a Dana Air MD-83 aircraft crashed near the Lagos airport killing 159 people.
The international flights were operated through a wet lease arrangement between Egypt Air and AirNigeria.
 

Porn, Rape allegations: Gaiya has to resign from the Sports Committee ~ Jide Fashikun

I read the two allegations against the Chairman, House of Representatives committee on sports, Godfrey Gaiya. Like the prescriptions of our laws, you ain’t guilty until so proven.
As a well-trained journalist, I had to search for his telephone number and sent him an SMS to help me to deny or confirm the allegations against him. He refused to reply or acknowledge the receipt of the SMS which may mean ‘go write any nonsense you want’.
By virtue of the fact that all my youth and adulthood has been about sports. Knowing also that models are the ones needed in sports for the kids and youths to aspire to be like, the chairman of the law making agencies (Senate and the House of Representatives) like their members have a duty to be models both in their private and public lives, Hon. Gaiya may have failed to have that correct record.
Therefore, Nigerians of merit and worth need to ask the Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Ibrahim Tambuwwal to please for the decorum of the nation, employ the powers imposed on his office to please ask Hon Gaiya to step aside until proven otherwise.
In this case, we demand a panel to be put in place to investigate and report this matter for public interest. For now, he cannot continue to remain and be addressed as the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on sports as that will also rob off on me as a likely rapist and porn watcher which I am not.
Therefore, we shall cause a public petition to ask for Gaiya to be relieved of that position until investigated and proven otherwise.
This is a recap of the report in one of the latter issues of the pornography. That of the attempted rape was earlier published on www.olajidefashikun.blogspot.com
London 2012: Rep got Gold in pornography
*Paid N60,000
There is no doubt that with the Paralympics, the London Olympics has come and gone. While the nation struggled and could not raise a medal of any colour in the main Games, the Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Sports, Hon. Godfrey Ali Gaiya got a medal.
He got the medal in a non-scoring event – pornography. He was allegedly said to be busy enjoying himself at the prestigious Marriot Hotel, where he lodged.
Hon. Gaiya, who represents Jaba/Zangon Kataf Federal constituency of Kaduna state in the Federal House of Representatives in Abuja, was said to have attracted a big attention to himself when he was about to check out of the hotel.
The allegation was that he watched pornography in his room. The issue is that there’s nothing wrong with that. The hotel management had requested that Gaiya should settle his total bills before he could be allowed to go.
At this stage, he got peeved insisting that the hotel was trying to play a fast one on him. While the hotel was restrained not to embarrass him with the disclosure of his bill, the action of Hon. Gaiya had already attracted attention of busy bodies and concerned Nigerians.
At a stage, when the hotel could not withstand the unfolding drama, it was disclosed that while the honourable was in his room, he was busy watching pornography channels that were considered premium channels with premium charges.
At this stage, many were shocked and embarrassed that while Nigerian athletes were busy trying to do the country proud, the Honourable was busy watching adult films in his hotel room.
He was reported to have eventually admitted watching the channels and was made to pay about two hundred and forty pounds sterling, (£240).
When the honourable was contacted, he neither picked his phone nor responded to the short message (text) sent to his phone.

2015: Obasanjo Dumps Jonathan

by Theophilus Abbah.

inShare1

. As a new political bloc emerges in PDP, the former president’s associates regroup for the next political battle

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who saw to the nomination of President Goodluck Jonathan as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in 2011, may have kept a distance away from groups advocating for Jonathan to run for a second term in 2015, checks by Sunday Trust have revealed.

Sunday Trust learnt that the former president is disenchanted with many political and administrative steps taken by President Jonathan and that may have prompted his decision to thrown in the towel as the Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees. Apart from resigning as the BOT chair, Obasanjo was absent at the recent Council of States meeting held in the Presidential Villa on June 11, 2012, which discussed strategies for tackling the insecurity in the country. Also absent at the meeting were former President Ibrahim Babangida and former Head of State Muhammadu Buhari.

Already, a bloc is emerging in the PDP which tend to have the support of Obasanjo. Members of the bloc include governors who may take a shot at the Presidency in 2015, and they include Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State, Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State and Governor Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State. None of these governors, who are known associates of Obasanjo, will run for a second term, and have been engaged in subtle moves to contest for the PDP presidential ticket in 2015.

One associate of Obasanjo and former Governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, has declared that the 2015 Presidency is for the North. According to the senator, who was Obasanjo’s secretary in the BOT, “the PDP has no choice but to give the presidency to the North in 2015. I believe that everybody is saying the same thing – a northern president for 2015; I believe that the north should have a crack at it again. I believe that it is no sin... Take it or leave it, the country is divided; it is North and South. This is a fact; it’s either North or South.”

This statement by Senator Adamu is in consonance with what  a former minister in Obasanjo’s cabinet told our reporter last night. Though he didn’t want to be quoted, he revealed that, “Obasanjo is not involved in any campaign for Jonathan for 2015. Rather, what we have is that those of us who worked with him during his years as President have begun to regroup to form a new power bloc within the PDP. As you can see, even many serving governors don’t tend to agree with Jonathan, and may not support his re-election. Obasanjo is disposed toward a president from the North, and there are several possible candidates. From the South-South, he is likely to support Governor Godswill Akpabio as Vice President. A clear picture of the situation will emerge by the middle of 2013. But you’ll realise from Obasanjo’s recent comments on several issues that he’s not on the same page with the president.”

In an interview published by Sunday Trust on September 2, 2012, Obasanjo had made allusion to the clear division in the country, and his discontent with the squandering of money he left in the foreign reserve. He said, “When I came in 1999, we only had $3.7 billion in our foreign reserve. And we were paying $3 billion yearly to manage the debt of about $35 billion. By the time we left in 2007, we had over $45 billion in foreign reserve while the total debt left behind was less than $3 billion. We also saved $25 billion in what we called Excess Crude Account for the rainy day. And when we left, they said the rain had come. They spent the money.”

Also, Obasanjo declared his opposition to the ongoing plans by the Jonathan administration to introduce N5,000 note when he lamented that the move would hike the cost of production for the manufacturing sector. Previously, he would have reserved his position and, perhaps, made his discontent known to Jonathan personally.

Recently, the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), a political organisation in which Obasanjo, the late Shehu Yar’adua, and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar belonged was resuscitated. Sunday Trust learnt that its structure would become an alternative to the PDP if the emerging bloc in the ruling party is shoved aside.

In spite of this political development, some elements in the South-South have insisted that President Jonathan must seek re-election in 2015.

The Angry Young Nigerian

Yemi Adamolekun

Every other week, this column will introduce a young Nigerian and give him or her the opportunity to express views on governance and public policy issues that matter to their generation which, by the way constitutes more than 70 per cent of our population. It is my singular honour to present ‘Yemi Adamolekun, one of the leading lights of “Enough is Enough” (EiE.org). EiE made groundbreaking contributions in mobilising people to register and vote in the last general election.

Yemi and her colleagues coined the slogan – RSVP – Register, Select, Vote and Protect back in 2009. She writes today about the anger of the young Nigerian. In another fortnight, we hope to introduce another passionate young Nigerian and his or her perspectives.

The numbers tell the story. It is not news that the average young Nigerian is angry and in most cases, hungry. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), 60 per cent of Nigerians live on less than $1 (~N160) a day. Though problematic, Nigeria’s minimum wage law provides this standard of living: N600/day = N18,000/month = N216,000/year. However, for those living in poverty, this is their reality: N160/day = N4,800/month = N57,600/year.

The National Youth Policy defines a Nigerian youth as someone between the ages of 18 and 35. Per the 2006 census, 50 per cent of Nigerians were between 18 and 35. According to the National Population Council, there are 167 million Nigerians as of July 2012. If we assume the ratio has stayed the same, there are approximately 83.5 million Nigerians in this age bracket. The Africa Economic Outlook 2012 estimates that Nigeria’s youth unemployment rate is 37.7 per cent. In reality, the rate is probably higher. So, little surprise that young Nigerians are angry and hungry when 31 million of them are jobless!

A report released by ‘The Next Generation Nigeria Task Force’ - convened by the British Council in 2010 - highlights the unique position Nigeria finds itself with its demographic spread, stating:

If Nigeria fails to collect its demographic dividend, the seriousness of the country’s predicament should not be underestimated. Its prospects will be bleak and could be catastrophic. … In the worst case, Nigeria will see: growing numbers of restless young people frustrated by lack of opportunity; increased competition for jobs, land, natural resources, and political patronage; cities that are increasingly unable to cope with the pressures placed on them; ethnic and religious conflict and radicalisation;and a political system discredited by its failure to improve lives.

The Ministry of Youth Development was established in February 2007 with a mandate to “promote the physical, mental and socio-economic development of Nigerian youth through the advancement and protection of their rights within the Nigerian state, the promotion of their welfare and provision of opportunities for their self-actualization.” With six ministers in five years, the revolving door has produced policy inconsistencies and flip-flops.

Bolaji Abdullahi was appointed Minister in June 2011. By the time he was ‘promoted’ to Sports in May 2012, he had drawn up a new blueprint for NYSC, set up a new website and actively maintained a social media presence to engage his constituency. In the three months since Inuwa Abdul-Kadir was appointed minister, one is unsure what he plans to do with the beleaguered NYSC and the Ministry’s social media presence has died. Even the website was not functional for a few weeks. How can we expect to institutionalise change when the government gives no time to policy implementation and removing one man grinds a whole programme to a halt?

From YouWin! to incentives in agriculture, the Federal Government is trying to increase opportunities for self-employment to young Nigerians, though tax and regulatory obstacles remain unresolved. In the 2012 Budget, N1.6 billion has been allocated for youth employment, but the Youth Ministry is yet to unveil its plans. The Ministry’s 2012 budget is N76 billion. Of this amount, N70 billion (92%) is allocated to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) which trains about 250,000 young Nigerians every year.

In summary, 0.3 per cent of young Nigerians spend 92 per cent of the budget meant for young Nigerians. This parallels the discovery Mrs Oby Ezekwesili made as Minister of Education when she realised that about 80 per cent of the Federal Ministry of Education’s budget and over 85 per cent of the Ministry’s staff resources were being spent on the management of the 102 unity schools, which had only 120,718 students and 27,200 staff members out of a total national population of 6.4 million secondary school students. This alone is enough to make any sane person angry!

Amplified Voices
Despite the many shortcomings of government in addressing our concerns, this demography continues to adapt and innovate; keeping abreast with global developments in technology. With the penetration of mobile phones and social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, this generation has taken to tweeting and blogging about its fears, successes, frustrations, disappointments, and yes, its anger.

Unfortunately, for those in government, they see social media as the enemy, not as a platform to engage and receive constructive criticism. Then again, you would only care about constructive criticism if you actually want feedback.  Our rulers do not want feedback and are very used to traditional media where traffic is uni-directional. With social media, people talk back! And, no, it is not a small population of the educated elite who have these opinions.

Most Nigerians feel short-changed by government and believe government is not working, but what social media does is amplify voices. For traditional media, you need to know someone to get an article published or have money to pay for an advertorial. With social media, all you need is a mobile phone and some credit for a data package and people from Kaduna to Brazil will know exactly why you think the Federal Government’s Cassava Policy is a joke or follow you as you track the supposed fuel subsidy savings. Nigeria’s cyberspace is highly critical, but what else would one expect from an angry generation? At least the anger is being channelled in a public and relatively controlled medium.

Technology has given this generation a voice and we are using it actively. Now, we have to use it wisely! From the Minister of Information to the Senate President, to Mr President, all have acknowledged the power of these platforms to spread information quickly (false and true) and galvanise a people to action. From the Enough is Enough March 2010 protest to the National Assembly to the January 2012 country-wide protests on government waste triggered by the fuel subsidy removal, people are plugging in to get educated. 

Let us break down the numbers. As of July 2012, there were five million Nigerians (in Nigeria) on Facebook. Assume 200,000 of them become more educated and aware-based on the information they learn online and each person influences five people in their network (not necessarily online), who then influence another five people. Imagine the exponential growth and the Facebook population is not stagnant!

What Next?
This Nigeria is our reality; not our desire. No one seems fundamentally interested in handing over a functional Nigeria to the next generation and since Waiting for Godot is not an option, not only must we demand that they make this country work, we must also be willing to get involved to ensure our demographic strength is to our advantage, not our destruction. A few options are before us:

• Financiers: “If Nigeria’s younger and more politically conscious elite really want to change the face of politics in Nigeria; they will do well to speak louder in the only way Nigerian politics knows to listen; money. … An influx of private money strategically and surreptitiously employed to counter corrupt public money to support the campaigns of better qualified candidates.” – Iyin Aboyeji. One can be singularly focused on amassing enough wealth to have a voice. Ask Dangote. Financial support is needed for candidates and advocacy campaigns.

• Advocates (Civil Society): There will always be a role for those on the outside looking in to provide checks & balances.

• Politicians: Our numbers as a voting bloc can be used to get serious people into positions. Young people should join political parties – run for office or support as strategists, campaign managers, mobilisers etc.

• Media: As writers - investigative and analytical pieces. As owners of the medium – all news platforms have a slant. More platforms are needed to educate the population especially through radio.

• Intellectuals: Policy makers – you can either consult from the outside or be appointed as a technocrat.

• Civil Servants: Government programmes are only as good as the people who execute them. We must return to the days when being a civil servant was a role of service discharged with passion, honour and integrity. We all can’t want to work in the private sector and expect miracles in the public sector.

How will you make your mark?
Mr. President’s administration can shout the word ‘transformation’ till they are black and blue, however, as summarised in the British Council Report, “The next generation can make a huge contribution to Nigeria’s future, but if its potential is not harnessed, it will become an increasingly disruptive force.”

•Adamolekun is the Executive Director of Enough is Enough Nigeria (EiE)

Presidential Persecution Complex

The Verdict according to Olusegun Adeniyi.

Without conducting a poll or a content analysis, Dr Goodluck Jonathan has declared himself the most criticized president in the world. That I guess is what he is being told by some favour-seeking politicians and ‘media consultants’. But from experience I know why the people who peddle those tales to the president do so: one, to make his media managers look bad; two, to bring in their own men if possible; and three, to make money. Before I however conclude on what President Jonathan’s real problem is, I want to share my experience with the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on this same issue.

In my first year working for him, I was aware that many people were telling my late principal how his efforts were not appreciated by Nigerians because of media opposition. Both the Minister of Information, Mr John Odey, and myself were blamed for this situation. These were, however, mere whispering campaigns until the day I got a document from the president directing me and Odey to read before meeting with him to discuss it. The document in question was a media strategy paper from one of the aides retained from the President Olusegun Obasanjo era. Even though the man wrote that it was strictly a secret paper, the president forwarded copies to myself and Odey.

The paper brought to the fore the challenges I faced and which I think any serious journalist in government would face. My understanding of an effective media strategy was for government to address the issues critics were raising and that was the approach I adopted which my late principal appreciated even though there was also pressure on him that by not “fighting back”, I was not showing enough commitment to his administration. This was the same argument advanced in the ten-page paper which the author apparently never imagined would come back to me.

The “foundation” to the submission, according to the man, centered on the fact that “Nigeria is today being led by a visionary, self-less and committed leader but how many Nigerians know about him or his vision? Whereas government has done so much and achieved positive results in so short a time, most of the achievements are not known to the public and other critical constituencies, largely because of the barrage of negative press coming out of the Nigerian and international media—both in hardcopies of Nigerian newspapers and other internet media.”

According to the official who incidentally was brought to the villa by Obasanjo, and is a Yorubaman, a good media manager should be able to sell Yar’Adua’s “gentle mien and approach (dialogue and consensus building) in contrasts to President Obasanjo’s aggressive and combative approach” aside Yar’Adua’s “personal integrity and simplicity which Nigerian masses can identify with and the ambitious vision 20-20-20 can be positively projected for maximum redefining.”

After the long preamble, the official now recommended a Media and Information Management Team which would require “co-option of good writers drawn from editors of Nigerian newspapers” to be domiciled in his office! There were other recommendations that would require huge capital outlay for both domestic and international propaganda.

When I got a copy of this paper with a directive that myself, Odey and the man should meet with him (Yar’Adua) four days later, I could not contain my anger as I sent a memo back to the president that same day. I am reproducing excerpts from my memo which underscores my own understanding of what I consider to be the role of a journalist in government.

“I have received an invitation to a meeting with Your Excellency on Monday with an accompanying document on ‘Media and Information Management’ and I hasten to say that the meeting is not only unnecessary, the motive behind it is unfortunate. I wish to inform Your Excellency that the so-called strategy paper is a rehash of an eight million Dollar proposal from a consultant promoted by…to me upon assuming office last year but which I turned down because I believed then, and even more so now, that that is not the way to go.

“While I will in a separate paper counter each of the false assumptions which inform the conclusion that there is information management deficit, I wish to reiterate my stand that on balance, this government and indeed President Yar’Adua has a relatively fair media image. While it can be better, the approach being proposed is unnecessary, wasteful and will at the end be counterproductive.

“This ridiculous idea of selective newspaper cuttings (of negative media news reports or articles) to the president has a purpose: either to portray me as incompetent or create the image of a media siege so that some consultants (and necessarily huge resources) can be deployed to combat this exaggerated problem. While some people can bring in ‘experts’ who they assume have the magic wand to ensure that the media begin to celebrate the president and the government without any criticism, the problem is that the only beneficiaries of such self-deluding enterprise are the consultants and their promoters, not the president or the government.

“Your Excellency, I scan the Nigerian media everyday and I also do same for American and British media and I am aware our media is not as cynical and contemptuous of their government and the man in power as the British or American media. While some people have issues with the style of government, there is still a general perception that the president is a man of integrity and has his plan but rather slow in his approach. Because some key issues like power emergency/Niger Delta Summit/Infrastructure are yet to be resolved, I am aware of current media challenge. But I also know that this can be an advantage because when the media create low expectations, as they do now, results will be easy to see and appreciate as it would ultimately happen in this instance. On the other hand, when you pump the people up with expensive media propaganda, then you create problem when results don’t match expectations…”

After reading my memo, President Yar’Adua cancelled the meeting earlier called and just directed that myself, Odey and the man should iron out the issue. Not surprisingly, the man felt so small at our meeting chaired by Odey and three weeks later, he was sacked by the president. But it would not be the end of the intrigues I would survive in the villa nor of the constant bombardment of the president with insinuation that the media was his problem.

Now that President Jonathan is also facing a barrage of criticism, he has promised to be “the most praised president” by 2013. If I understand that statement clearly, what it means is that the critics are justified because the president has not met their expectations and that by next year, his performance would have been such that they would begin to sing his praise. But we all know that is not what President Jonathan meant to convey. He feels he is being unfairly attacked by the media.

That, however, is not true. The fact is that the conventional media is not more critical of President Jonathan than his predecessors. The real problem this president is facing is from his social media “friends”, the crowd he carefully cultivated and set out to please as the first “Nigerian Facebook President”. Unfortunately, he ought to have been warned that the social media can cut both ways. So if he in 2010 enjoyed public adulation at the expense of the “Yar’Adua cabal”, it is naïve not to understand that he is playing in a jungle where rumour peddling, hate mongering, bitter retorts, malicious gossips and innuendoes are also fair games.

It is, however, patently dishonest for his handlers to argue that those who criticize or hurl personal abuse at the president do so because he is from Niger Delta (or whatever other ridiculous reasons being invented). No, it is because he is the president of Nigeria while his implacable traducers even enjoy attacking him for the simple reason that he has made them to know that they are getting to him.

What makes the situation so pathetic is that those close to the president refuse to locate when the real problem began, especially with regards to genuine supporters who now feel disappointed. It all started in January following the sudden withdrawal of fuel subsidy on the first day of the year. Not only was the timing inauspicious (with many still in their villages) there was also the question of trust since government officials had announced that the policy (which by the way I wholeheartedly endorse) would not commence until the second quarter of the year.

To compound the situation, revelations began to come from the probe of fuel subsidy payments in 2011 of how billions (in Dollar) of public funds were practically shared by some unscrupulous marketers and their government collaborators, all under President Jonathan’s watch. Then, on a rare interview on national television which was watched by many Nigerians (at home and in the Diaspora), he angrily proclaimed that he doesn’t give a damn about what people feel on his refusal to publicly declare his assets. With all these, the president frittered away enormous goodwill though there is still time to make amends not with the critics but with the silent majority of Nigerians who only desire good leadership and appreciate genuine efforts.

What Dr Goodluck Jonathan must, however, come to terms with is that presidents don’t crave momentary applause as he seems to be doing; they target history. To his credit, the power situation has improved significantly but the things that would earn him enduring legacy in the sector (or in any other sector for that matter) are not necessarily decisions that would provoke instant praise. The way things are in Nigeria today, the president is like a man charged with leading an orchestra. To succeed, he must learn to back the crowd.

But here is the greater lesson for President Jonathan: Asked on Monday how he took actor Clint Eastwood’s bizarre attack on him (characterised by an empty chair) at the Republican Convention, President Barack Obama said: “One thing about being president or running for president—if you’re easily offended, you should probably choose another profession.”

The Horizon By Kayode Komolafe

A Return to Malabo

Some alumni of  the University Calabar recently returned to their alma mater in a journey that was suffused with both nostalgia and projection. That was no surprise given the purpose of the gathering: the occasion was organised by the university to honour just a few of its many accomplished former students located in different parts of the world. These alumni were appointed Goodwill Ambassadors. The idea itself is a product of a synergy of purpose between the university management and the alumni association under the leadership of the energetic Kennedy Dike. Always exuding enthusiasm when discussing the progress of the university, Dike has explained that the goodwill ambassadors and indeed all alumni are expected“ to project the image of the university positively and also use their  positions to attract funding and projects to our alma mater”.   

The grand reception and awards were reasonably preceded by a tour of the campus in which the vice chancellor, Professor James Epoke, and other members of the university management laid bare the developmental problems and prospects of the institution. In sum,  the alumni saw on ground challenges in the form  a number of projects begging for actualisation or completion  such as the proposed complexes for the faculties of law, engineering and education. They also saw progress as Unical has since moved from being a campus of the University of Nigeria in 1975 with 500 students receiving tertiary education in the premises of the Duke Town secondary school.  The university began awarding its own degrees in 1980. Now, with over 32, 000 students in nine faculties and 54 departments the university has indeed come of age.

There are in addition three institutes and three directorates. In fact, a brand new campus has been built with new lecture theatres, auditorium, laboratories and an ultra-modern library equipped with digital facilities. The ICT Directorate ensures Internet services in every part of the campus including the halls of residence. With a large expanse of land still available for construction despite recent encroachment, the university still promises to be one of the most beautifully located campuses in the country. In a power-point presentation during the lunch the deputy vice chancellor (academic), Professor Austin Obiekezie, told the alumni that the geographical location offers “opportunities and challenges”. As Obiekezie, who was the first Ph.D. candidate of the university, reminded his audience in his presentation aptly entitled “Unical: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”, the campus is “one of the few to straddle a major river with direct access to the sea amid a lush mangrove habitat”.

For any visiting former student who was in Unical in the early days, a comparison of the campus today with the those days when a section of the campus was named Malabo is inevitable. By the  way, the name Malabo was given by the students  to the section of the campus where three of the male halls of residence, the refectory and the students’ union building were located. The name, a protest of sorts, was borrowed from Equatorial Guinea, the central African country whose capital is called Malabo. With a population of fewer that 700,000 and daily production of over 360 barrels of crude oil, the tiny country has the highest Gross National Income per capital in Africa. Yet, 70% of the population lives below the poverty level.

In fact, in the 1970s, the condition in the country ( especially the plantation workers)  was that of excruciating poverty largely caused by  the plundering of the national wealth by a dictator. The name Malabo was, therefore, the students’ way of capturing the physical deprivations they encountered in the early days. Hence, male students and alumni are called Malabites and the female ones, Malabresses. So, as the alumni made that journey back to their former school, they knew they were not just visiting the exceptionally neat and serene city of Calabar again, they were indeed seeing Malabo after many years. 

The good news is that unlike the real Malabo in Equatorial Guinea that corruption and neo-colonial exploitation has stultified its development, the Malabo in Calabar has good products to show for its years of transformation. From the period of the pioneer vice chancellor and   the eminent historian, Professor Emmanuel Ayankanmi Ayandele, to the current Professor Epoke, a measure of progress is undeniable. This was evident in the warmth with which Epoke received the alumni.

More significantly, the progress could be measured by the quality of the university’s products represented by the following goodwill ambassadors: Chief Godswill Akpabio, Governor Akwa Ibom State; Barr. Efiok Cobham, Deputy Governor, Cross River State; Senator Ita Enang, Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business; Senator Bassey E. Otu, Chairman Senate Committee on Banking. Senator Victor Ndoma Egba SAN, Senate Leader, National Assembly; Mr. Ita Ekpenyong, Director-General, State Security Service; Hon. John Owan Enoh, member, House of Representatives; Hon. Dr (Mrs) Rose Okoji Oko, Member, House of Representatives; His Eminence, Dr. Sunday Ola Makinde, Prelate, Methodist Church of Nigeria; Udom Inoyo, Executive Director, Mobil Producing Nigeria and In-country HR Manager; Dr. Reuben Abati; Special Assistant on Media & Publicity to the President; Ekpo Una Owo Nta, Chairman, ICPC; Dr. A.B.C Orjiako, Chairman Ordrec Group; Barr (Mrs) Mfon Usoro, former DG, NIMASA.

Others are Rt. Hon. Bright Omokhdion, former Speaker, Edo State House of Assembly and Chairman, Board of Trustees UNICAL Alumni Association; Chief Joe Agi SAN, first Malabite to be elevated to the position of Senior Advocate of Nigeria; Hon. John Kennedy Opara, Executive Secretary, Nigeria Christians Pilgrims Commission; Dr. Barclays Ayakroma, Executive Secretary, Nigeria Institute of Cultural Orientation; Dr. (Mrs) Anthonia Ekpa, Director, Monitoring & Evaluation, Federal Ministry of Water Resources; Prof. Hillary Inyang, Duke Distinguished Professor of Environmental Engineering and Science, Professor of Earth Science and Director of the Global Institute for Energy and Environmental Systems at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte (he is currently the President of the International Society for Environmental Geotechnology (ISEG) and the Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction (GADR)); Chief Charles Okon, Corporate Security Services Manager, Nigeria LNG Ltd; Sunny Akpan, Finance & Administrative Manager, Catering International & Services, Siera Leone and Hon. Justice Emmanuel Akomoye Agim ORG, Chief Justice of The Gambia, Judge of the Supreme Court of Swaziland.

Also honoured are Stephanie Okereke, Actress, Director and Nollywood Producer; Keppy Bassey Ekpenyong, Actor, producer and movie director; Dr. (Mrs) Christy Atako, Director, Community & Rural Development, NDDC; Ibanga Akadi Udofia, HR Manager, Deep Water Projects, Shell Petroleum Development Company; John Odey, former Minister, Ministry of Environment; E.C Osondu, Professor of English, Rhode Island University, USA; Emem Isong, Screenwriter, Movie Producer/Director; Dr. Sam Amadi, Chairman, Nigeria Electricty Regulatory Council (NERC); Hon. Justice Franklin Edem, Ebonyi State Judiciary, Abakaliki; Hon. Justice M.E Njoku, Judge, Customary Court of Appeal Imo State Judiciary; Sir. Chika Chiejina, Chairman/CEO, Savannah Suites Group; Odigha Odigha, Chairman, Cross River Forestry Commission, and this reporter.

Not all the goodwill ambassadors were able to make the investiture. Senator Enang who responded on behalf of the awardees asked all alumni to work for the progress in their different locations in life. It is also remarkable that the awardees represented different periods in the history of the institution. For instance, one awardee was born 30 years ago when another one, this reporter, graduated from the university in the third set.

From the available facts, the above is just a tiny representation of distinguished men and women in different spheres of life who passed through Malabo. This  invariably compels some deep reflections about the quality of education in public educational institutions and the lingering question of funding. Doubtless, the Uncial story is a proof   that public educational institutions have produced quality graduates.  The debate on the funding of tertiary education in particular will  certainly continue. Unfortunately, in this debate the voice of those rationalising the failure of government to fund education is louder.

It is as if only private institutions, where education is now treated as any other  commodity, is the only sure source of quality education. For the majority of those in need of university but who could not afford the prohibitive fees in the private institutions, public schools will still remain the answer. A former colleague at THISDAY, who is now the Ogun state Commissioner for Information, Yusuph Olaniyonu, used to raise issues on this page about the need for former students to go back to their alma mater and see how they could help improve the condition of the schools. The moral challenge for graduates of public schools, especially those in position of power, is how to ensure that the conditions of the schools are such that their own children could make  a choice of applying for admission into those schools. 

In this regard, the resourceful step taken by Unical to attract the contributions of the alumni  to the development of the university should be welcome. As the alumni who made the journey back to Malabo observed, the university is in dire need of huge investment of funds to ensure production of quality graduates like those making waves in the public and private sectors today.