A MEMO TO THE FORUM OF BENIN ELITES

Dear Prof,
I use this opportunity to thank you for inviting me to be part of this laudable Forum/Movement and especially  to be in the midst of eminent and accomplished sons and daughters of Benin that have made their enviable marks in their various chosen fields.

I am sending this message to you and must state that the opinions expressed here are personal, based on my political experience, haven served in various national committees/assignments for my Party in recent times.
The political history of our country should not be lost on us all, as we go into formation of this forum as a pressure group for our people.

In the 50's and the first Republic, Parties were formed along regional lines.The reason we had AG (West), NPC (North) and NCNC (East). They were headed by regional Leaders - Obafemi Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello and Nnamdi Azikiwe.  They championed the interest of their people.
As a result of our disenchantment with the AG Western region, the Midwest Region was created.
We had political leadership in Humphrey Omo-Osagie championing the Benin agenda using the Otu Edo Movement within the dominant NCNC party to demand for the rights in political, economic and infrastructural developments for the Benins.
The fact cannot be controverted that the Benins got a fair share of our agitations at the time, with the royal blessings of Oba Akenzua of blessed memory.
What do we have now? This is the question and puzzle this Forum should try and find solutions to.

When the third Republic was being midwifed, I am informed that the then Chief of General Staff (CGS), Admiral Mike Akhigbe, invited the Edo political three musketeers - Gen. Ogbemudia, Chief Anenih and Chief Igbinedion to be at the fore front of the political party formation in the State.
This gave rise to the birth of PDP as a political party in the State. However, two political leaders, decided to go for the Governorship position and the financial benefits in politics, while the third decided to go for the political leadership of the Party at both state and national levels. What do we have now? PDP is being led by a leader from a minority group and using the position for political and economic empowerment/development of his people. Why do we complain?

In an attempt to break away from the PDP political leadership in 2007, our own son Lucky Igbinedion, drafted his political cronies to form a party that he, up till the present time, is struggling to reclaim. The formation of the Party was a half measure effort. When our sons were in the fore front as governorship candidates in the same Party, the incumbent Governor was drafted into the Party to upstage our sons.
The incumbent Governor, at the early stage of his administration and up till not too long ago, will always stress the fact that, he was voted into office by the Benins (Edo South). The leadership of our son's Party is now firmly in the grip of another ethnic minority group.
An objective research/analysis of the political situation in the State is that, political and economic empowerment of this ethnic minority group are being executed by the same person we, the Benins installed as Governor, while offering to some us (Benins) mere political patronages as he deems fit under the table.
The vital question to be asked here is, if  our political leadership in this present political dispensation has and will be in a position to properly represent us and negotiate from a position of advantage for us Benins. The answer, I must confess, is NO.
The proliferation of pressure groups, as it is happening today in Edo South, will not yield the type of result we should look forward to.
In political negotiations and pressure group formation, the purpose is to lay all cards on the table and negotiate and not being offered patronages under the table. The group with the political leadership and advantage will always triumph and not the group with mere size and population.

We should accept our political naivety and short sightedness and embrace the basic fact that, without an identifiable political party platform and structure to operate with, our political, economic empowerment and emancipation will remain a mirage.
We should also accept the fact that, without political empowerment and support to our sons and daughters in politics, economic empowerment of our people cannot be enhanced.. We will therefore continue to accept mere political crumbs under the magnanimity of the political minority groups that are the leaders of the dominant political parties.

The tasks before this forum are to:-
(i)   ascertain if we can take leadership of one of the existing dominant political party structure in the state and how to go about it.
(ii)  if item (i) is not feasible, the forum should identify an existing political party to operate with and take control and leadership of the party.
(iii) identify those in the forum that are politically inclined and form a political committee or group within the forum to chart the way forward to achieving (ii) above as a political agenda.
(iv) set up a finance committee to ensure funds are available to the forum to propagate the agenda of the forum and our people.
(v)  set up an economic committee to advance our economic agenda for our people.
(vi) set up a strategy/development committee to promote our culture at home and in the diaspora and give publicity to our activities.
The list of committees is not exhaustive, but these are personal suggestions.

In conclusion, I am not inviting those who are apolitical to come into politics, but stating that one cannot remain apolitical and pursue an agenda for our people successfully.
Secondly, the seeming failure of our political leadership may have prompted the coming together of this group. There are other political pressure groups set up by our sons and daughters presently. However, most of these groups have been infiltrated by the dominant parties controlled by other ethnic minority groups at inception, through funding. The forum should avoid this sort of situation at inception and avoid inclination or leaning to a political party for now.
Thirdly, we should accept the basic fact that, without the Benins in political leadership of any political party, our quest for political and economic empowerment and emancipation will not be fully achieved.

I thank you for your efforts and my apologies for not being present at this first meeting of this forum.

My warm regards and happy deliberations.
Eddy Ogunbor.

 N/B:- This memo was written to a Forum, yet to be established in Benin City, in January 2012, during its innaugural meeting. I was invited to the meeting as a prospective member. However, I was unavoidably absent due to other engagements at the time, outside Benin. This formed my thoughts in proposing some areas the Forum should focus on as a pressure group for our poeple, the Benins.

Jonathan appoints Power Minister, reshuffles cabinet

Dr. Goodluck Jonathan

Godswill Orubebe has been appointed the Minister of Power. Until his appointment, he was the Minister of the Niger-Delta.
Reuben Abati, the president’s spokesman said this on Wednesday.
The president also made a minor change to his cabinet by swapping the Minister of State for Power, Gauis Dickson, with the Minister of State for Niger Delta, Zainab Kuchi. The change takes effect from next week.

LibertyReport

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala donates proceeds from her book to flood victims

The Coordinating Minister of Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has pledged to donate some part of the proceeds from the public presentation of her book, Reforming the Unreformable: Lessons from Nigeria, to flood victims across the country.
The minister’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and communication, Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu in a statement quoted Dr. Ojkonjo-Iweala as saying that she was making the donation because “their plight reminds us that the work of improving the lives of our people is a never ending one”. The amount was, however, not stated.
Dr Okonjo-Iweala said time was ripe for the de-politicisation of oil price benchmarking, while calling for the establishment of a body of experts to determine the appropriate oil price benchmark in the formulation of national budgets, observing that the strategy has worked successfully for Chile which earns huge revenues from copper.
Those present at the book launch include: Vice President Namadi Sambo; Chief Emeka Anyaoku; Governor Peter Obi, Anambra State; Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa; Chief Sunny Odogwu; Publisher, Vanguard Newspapers, Mr. Sam Amuka; Vanguard Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Gbenga Adefaye; Ministers of Labour, Chief Emeka Wogu; Works, Mike Onolememen; Commerce, Dr. Segun Aganga; Minister of State FCT, Olajumoke Akinjide and Alh. Aliko Dangote.
DailyPost

Armed robbers kill car dealer in Onitsha

Four armed men on Monday robbed and killed a middle-aged car dealer, Chief Emeka Ekwerendu, at Modebe Avenue Junction in the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra.
The Divisional Police Officer at the Central Police Station, Onitsha, Mr. Temitope Fahugbe, confirmed the incident to newsmen, adding that he had not yet received details of the incidence.
An eyewitness said the late Ekwerendu was shot by a four-man armed robbery gang at about 8:30 a.m. a few metres away from the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Odoakpu, Onitsha.
“The gang operating in a light green Toyota Siena without a vehicle number plate trailed their victim from a primary school close to the church, after he had dropped his children at school.
“As he was driving out in his black Land Cruiser SUV, he was shot dead and an undisclosed amount of money taken from the boot of his vehicle.
“The gang armed with four Ak-47 rifle shot sporadically into the air to scare the people away as they escape he said.
 DailyPost

NBA faults Constitutional Ammendment Course

The Nigerian Bar association (NBA) has faulted the process implemented by the National Assembly to review the Constitution.

The NBA’s President, Chief OkeyWali (SAN), while inaugurating the NBA Committee on Constitutional Review and Law Reform and the NBA Rule of Law Action group committee in Abuja yesterday said, they have serious issues with the process adopted by National Assembly to review the constitution.

He said there is no clear agenda or known methodology in the ongoing process.

Besides, he said the November 10 public hearing session  scheduled to hold simultaneously in the 360 federal constituencies as proposed by the House of Representatives, cannot produce anything reasonable  to the amendment of the 1999 constitution.

“We have decided to attend but without prejudice to our reservations on the inadequacy of the process and on any attempt to any claim to legitimacy if Nigerians are not given the opportunities in the future to effectively participate in the amendment of the 1999 constitution.”

“We will continue to call for referendum, at the final stage of the process, thereby giving the average Nigerian a say in the amendment”, he said, adding also that, “Only then could any legitimate claim be made to it being a constitution by we, the people of Nigeria”.


According to him, NBA believes that the 1999 constitution, as it is, cannot sustain the present democracy in the country, “the 1999 constitution contains good provisions however, it also contain weak and obnoxious provisions and equally admits of several lacunae. Above all, the constitution has legitimacy burden.”

Wali said the NBA knows that putting in place an appropriate legal framework is a vital part of sustaining reforms and economic development and charged the committee to formulate new ones that will aid economic development as well as identify laws that have become outdated and formulate new ones that will aid economic development.


The Charles Edosomwan’s (SAN) led  twelve-member committee, is expected to look at the devolution of power, strengthening institutions that consolidate democracy, judicial and justice sector reforms, electoral systems reform, local government system reforms, state creation, federalism, socio-economic rights, regionalism, fiscal federalism and supremacy of the constitution.
BusinessNews

Ayobami Oyalowo: Nigeria’s DemoCRAZY… And the madness continues

“Remember, democracy never last long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy that did not commit suicide.” -John Adams.

Nigeria is a country of absurdity. The more you look, the less you are likely to see. Governance is shrouded in mystery & secrecy. Everything, including simple issue like salaries and emoluments of elected & appointed public officials is shrouded in mystery, in the guise of public interest or national security. Health and well-being of public official is always shrouded in mystery, leaving room for speculations, innuendoes and rumour mongering.
Nothing is ever as it appears in Nigeria. Simple informations that ought to be available for the benefit of the people are often treated like classified information by public officials, thereby orchestrating monumental paucity of necessary information and statistics which in turn make it impossible for scholars, researchers or interested citizens, to make informed and accurate opinion about most if not all national happenstance.
The general hoarding of information in Nigeria is responsible for several scams and politically motivated financial heists of unimaginable proportion. For instance, the approved Budget for the year 2011 was N4,971,881,652,689 as passed by the national assembly, N250billon was budgeted for as fuel subsidy, but as at today nobody knows the exact figure spent on that cesspool of corruption aptly nicknamed fuel subsidy scam 2011. Same problem is noticeable in the administration or pension in Nigeria. Billions have either been mismanaged or outrightly stolen but as I type, nobody can confidently give accurate figure nor does any Nigerian have the foggiest idea of what transpired and what have been done to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice and the reoccurrence is forestalled.
While information has consistently been hoarded by the Nigerian government officials to aid and abet them in their criminal plundering of the Nigerian commonwealth, another noticeable conundrum is the absence of strong institutions to ensure that things are properly done and in case of any proven laxity to correct and if possible sanctions errants. Nigeria currently operates like a jungle where the stronger can get away with any offense, no matter the magnitude, it is a known facts that those who have been accused of stealing billions are either friends of the government or are even members of the cabinet. For instance, the current senate of Nigeria has a huge number of former governors, majority of whom have been accused and even tried of monumental mismanagement of funds belonging to their states, although not any of those cases have been diligently pursued, in fact a few of them are just free on bail.
It is a well know fact that most ministries, departments and agencies (MDA) of the federal and even state government have a bloated and poorly executed budget. In the recent past, a few ministers, some permanents secretaries and other seniors officials have been tried and found guilty of falsification of budget figures, just to accommodate enough money for sleaze and outright embezzlement. This has led to situations where some item have been consistently budgeted for year upon year, yet nobody have ever been arrested nor found guilty of falsification and embezzlement. For instance Benin-Ore expressway have been consistently budgeted for, for several years, yet not only has the road not being fixed, it stands as a constant death traps to hapless Nigerians who ply that road daily.
A democracy is supposedly a government put in place by the people to cater to the need and welfare of both the rich and poor, the strong and weak, the secure and the vulnerable members of the society. But the Nigerian brand of democracy is a queer one. It is a democracy bereft of any scientific analysis.
For instance, governors who came into government as average men, becomes overnight multimillionaires and rather than calling them to account, such men either become senator or ministers and “power brokers”. Elections are supposed to be a time when ordinary citizens either reward good perfomance or or punish racalcitrance & irreponsibilty in leadership. But in Nigeria, elections are generally a mere charade. People who wish to serve, will stop at nothing to win elections, even to the point of murder, all in the name service.
The reason for the above is not farfetched. Winning an elective position in Nigeria automatically translate to a positive change in financial fortune of the winner. In fact the common people derides anyone who leaves public office and does not have a fleet of cars, palatial mansions scattered allover the country and at times, choice places all over the world. This change in financial and pecuniary fortune has made a mess of commonsense in Nigeria.
Those in power, either by election or appointment, becomes alienated from reality. They talk down on those on whose back they rode to power. The view of the ordinary citizens never counts anymore, since the overlords in power have arrogated to themselves power of the immortals, who knows better and should deciders for lesser mortals, not minding the fact that those lesser mortals were the donkeys whom the politicians rode unto power.
The mismanagement and outright greed of the rascals with state powers have seen several abandoned projects, and this present government in Nigeria has defined a new low in kleptomania and shameless embezzlement of public funds and as usual most law abiding citizens wither do not know or do not care what happens to the Nigerian commonwealth. In the ministry of the Niger Delta Affairs, for instance, three phantom projects were executed in the last year budget and as usual no many Nigeria, knew, nor raise an eyebrow. The phantom projects are:
1. Contract for the canalization of Odoubou-Bololou creek project-Ogbaba-Gbene, Burutu Local Governmet for the sum of N1,259billion.
2. Contract for Land reclamation shoreline protection at Ogbobagbene for the sum of N2, 431
3. Contract for canalization training of Foupolo -Bibu Ndoro Creek project -Burutu for the sum of N370
These projects above are phantom and nonexistent, yet the money involved have been fully paid by the ministry of finance.
It is very clear from the forgoing that top level secrecy is constantly being maintained by those in the government of Nigeria, presumably because they are not only greedy and corrupt thieves, they also have no interest of the masses at heart. A case in point of their selfishness is the handling of the accident of Pilot Suntai, who have been flown to Germany for treatment, while his aides who were with him in the ill fated plane crash are being treated in the national hospital Abuja and you wonder whether the lives of those aides are less important than the life of the governor.
The government of Nigeria will remain a kind of a secret cult as long as graft and sleaze is the sole purpose and main reason of those who either contest elections or were appointed into political position.
As the madness continue and the greed of those in power thrives and fester, it is obvious that secrecy will remain the watchword of the government but as John Adams said in the quote above, I hope Nigerian rulers wake up and smell the coffee so that the young Nigerian democracy do not fade off. The amount of sleaze and greed is monumental, but equally devastating is the cover ups, in the name of secrecy and national security. As at today, no ordinary Nigerian knows how much as been expended in the current year’s budget, meanwhile they are already appropriating another budget for next Year 2013.
2015 is another year for Nigerian citizens to make a statement and free themselves from the shackles of ruling greedy fiefdom, but if the apathy, docility and outright political illiteracy among the teeming populace continues and the madness in government circles thrives unabated…… I fear if there would be a 2015…… But…..
 DailyPost

Nigeria Approves Siemens, Korea Electric Power Grid Bids

Engineers Inspect Supergrid

Nigeria approved bids from companies including Siemens AG (SIE) and Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEP) for 10 state-owned power distribution companies, marking the end of a five-year privatization process.
The successful bids were worth more than $1.3 billion, the Abuja-based National Council on Privatization headed by Vice President Namadi Sambo said in an e-mail yesterday. Siemens led a group of four companies that won with a $135 million bid for the Eko Distribution Co., and Korea Electric headed the winning offer for the grid in the Ikeja region of Lagos, it said.
Buyers are required to provide bank guarantees “for 15 percent of the transaction value within 15 days of notification from the Bureau of Public Enterpirses,” the council said in the statement. Payment should be completed within six months, it said.
Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, is selling majority stakes in power plants and letting private investors buy as much as 60 percent of 11 distribution companies spun out of the former state-owned utility as it seeks private investment to curb power shortages. Blackouts are a daily occurrence in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with more than 160 million people. Demand for electricity in Nigeria is almost double the supply of about 4,000 megawatts and the government plans to boost output to 14,019 megawatts by 2013.

Structural Reforms

“This is an important step forward and probably the main area where the outlook for structural reforms is promising,” Samir Gadio, a London-based emerging markets strategist at Standard Bank Group Ltd., said today in an e-mailed response to questions. “What is encouraging is that the authorities have realized over time that the power sector would not be qualitatively reformed as long as a public entity remained the main player.”
Bids worth more than $700 million for five power plants were also approved by the privatization council, after the winners were announced on Sept. 25.
Other successful bids for power grids confirmed by the council were by companies including Meralco Industrial Engineering Services Corp., Aurecon Australia Group Ltd. and Copperbelt Energy Corp., Calcutta Electric Supply Corp. and Turkey’s Kayseri & Civari Elektrik TAS.
 BusinessNews