In Nigeria, many policies that are supposed to catalyse economic growth end up making things worse and complicate matters for the citizen for whom these policies are designed to enhance their quality of life. Recently, two significant policies typify this: the petroleum subsidy removal policy and the floating of the Naira. Both policies are good and well-intentioned and would bring about substantial progress for people in the medium to long term.

However, the reality is that the policies ended up having a devastating effect on the populace. Removing the subsidy brought untold hardship due to sequencing and implementation issues rather than the principle of doing it. Somehow, we are still battling to survive the impact of the Naira forex rate merger.

The problem was not the nobility of the intention, but something was wrong with these policies’ conception, delivery, and implementation. This is against the absence of a planned execution that appreciated the impact assessment of a singular action on the economic dynamics such that by solving one problem, we created a bigger one.

The most recent 231% hike in the price of electricity units for Band A customers is another presumed good policy that might have an unintended adverse impact on the citizens. The main argument for a cost-reflective tariff must be distinct from that of subsidy removal, especially when the economics of the subsidy is yet to be proven, and the utilisation transition mechanism is not established or communicated. This policy may unleash hardship on the people, which is not the intention of the policymakers. To be clear, I am an advocate of cost-reflective electricity tariffs because of the big picture, and I will give reasons for this, but I am afraid I have to disagree with the current government approach.

Based on the evidence of the roll-out of the policy and the realities of this new electricity regime, it is unclear how the determination of the bands works because the criteria of customers enjoying the constant 20-hour power supply threshold are unsubstantiated and bogus, moreso for a largely illiterate population. This makes the case for tariff increase somewhat confusing and not transparent as there is no measurable way for the average consumer to track supply relative to billing. The result is that people may end up paying for darkness.

A gradual, sequential step to the ultimate destination of appropriate electricity pricing would have delivered a different result and minimised the adverse effect on the citizens. I have gone through the website of the regulator, if what the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has released is the master plan for implementing appropriate electricity pricing, it lacks details of the progression path to a total transition to a cost-reflective tariff regime and falls short of expectations in every respect. The result of this hurried announcement of a price hike, whether for band A, B, or even C clients, may lead to endless inflation and economic stress on the citizens. If we add the electricity price hike to the impact of petrol subsidy removal and spiralling food inflation, the average citizen faces existential shock.

However, I support the appropriate electricity pricing because it is critical for ensuring the sustainability, reliability, and affordability of electricity supply in Nigeria and promoting investment, innovation, and economic growth in the energy sector and beyond. Appropriate pricing ensures that utilities can generate sufficient revenue to invest in the maintenance, upgrade, and expansion of electricity infrastructure to enhance the reliability and quality of electricity supply. It incentivises consumers to use electricity more efficiently, thereby reducing energy consumption. It attracts private investment and, most importantly, helps reduce the financial burden on the government of subsidising electricity prices, freeing up resources for other priority areas such as health care, education, and infrastructural development. For the above reasons, I advocate appropriate pricing and support any policy that will open our electricity regime for growth and development. I understand the importance of electricity in Nigeria’s emerging economic structure.

Nonetheless, I do not support the current policy approach because it is counterintuitive and counterproductive. It will produce a counter-effect to the intended goal. The reasons for my position are evident: first, between 1999 and 2015, Nigerian Senate documents show that Nigeria spent N2.74 trillion on electricity, yet there was no significant improvement in the generation or power delivered to homes and businesses. From 2018 to 2020, we spent N1.7 trillion on electricity, yet 43% of our population, according to the World Bank, needs to be connected to the national grid. The inference to draw is that the electricity power challenge is beyond money.

There are systemic inefficiencies and corruption that no one has bothered to address. Asking consumers to pay more will transfer the inefficiencies to the populace. Second, NERC says only 15% or 1.8 million out of 12 million meterable customers are under Band A, which enjoys 20 hours of electricity per day, although this may seem unrealistic. This Band A must include factories, banks, telecom companies, hospitals, schools, malls, commercial centres, and residential areas of high-net-worth individuals. This increase in tariffs will mean an increase in the cost of doing business by 231%. The cost of school fees for private institutions will also go up by a factor of 231%. The implication is that the businesses will transfer the cost to final consumers, mostly people experiencing poverty who are already undergoing a cost-of-living crisis. Third, this may dampen the real sector, and many businesses may close. Besides, demands for goods and services may drop. The competitiveness and profitability of Nigerian firms may be in jeopardy.

The current approach will create inflationary pressures, reduce the competitiveness of businesses both locally and internationally, impact the household budget that is already battered by harsh economic realities, lead to business closures and resultant unemployment, negatively impact economic growth by constraining production and consumption, and ultimately may exacerbate already tensed social and civil unrest. Policymakers should consider implementing measures to improve electricity generation, transmission, and distribution efficiency and address issues related to tariff structures, affordability, and subsidy mechanisms.

Nigeria has a vast informal sector – micro, small, and medium-sized businesses – that is our economy’s backbone. These businesses account for over 40% of our GDP and 70% of employment. These businesses include vibrant youth-led innovation hubs in informal urban settlements across the country, small service and creative firms scattered across our commercial centres, and burgeoning small industrial production businesses dotted in areas where access to electricity is better and stable. A draconian hike in electricity without appropriate time to plan and adjust may spell doom for these businesses, already spending a chunk of their merger revenue on private power generation.

What could the NERC have done differently to implement a better pricing system? NERC could have delivered a well-thought-through transition plan over a six-to-nine-month period with a model allowing everyone to see what an increased tariff and electricity supply would mean. This way, citizens can adjust, make alternative arrangements and plan accordingly. Transparent communication and stakeholder engagement are essential for building trust and effectively managing potential social and economic impacts. The necessity of public sensitisation on matters that affect the livelihood of the majority must be balanced. There is a need to prepare the public before implementing any new policy that has a significant impact on livelihoods. Socio-economic reform must never be an ambush shock therapy; otherwise, the populace will react like an injured collective. NERC ought to match an electricity tariff adjustment plan with a post-reform plan to show how the government and stakeholders intend to mitigate the adverse impact of a hike in price and other critical reforms.

Conceptualising and adopting sound economic policies is necessary for increased output in the electricity sector, but more is needed: any policy is only as good as its implementation and impact. Policy implementation can fail for three reasons: the absence of complementary measures necessary to make the policy effective, nonalignment with reality, and the inadequate capability of prevailing institutions and administrative systems to respond to changes.

This electricity tariff hike, especially given our current socio-economic realities, is one policy that may hurt the people because of poor conception and disoriented implementation. Though a great idea, the timing, implementation approach and lack of complementarity of favourable institutional and economic capacity to mitigate the unintended effect of the hike in price may end up creating more significant problems than we already have. Inadvertently, we may be biting more than we can chew.

Omobayo Godwins, the new deputy governor of Edo, says the feud between Godwin Obaseki, governor of the state, and Philip Shaibu, is not his business.

Speaking in an interview with Channels Television on Monday, Godwins said his appointment as a deputy governor was an “act of God”.

Earlier on Monday, Godwins was sworn in following the impeachment of Philip Shaibu, the erstwhile deputy governor, by the Edo state house of assembly.

The state assembly adopted the report of a seven-member investigative panel set up to probe the allegations against Shaibu as the deputy governor.

Shaibu was accused of “misconduct, perjury, and disclosure of government secrets”.

Shaibu has rejected the impeachment, saying he was impeached because of his desire to contest the 2024 governorship election.

Over the past few months, Shaibu and Obaseki have been at loggerheads over issues regarding the governorship election in the state.

Speaking during the interview, Godwins said he was not aware of what happened between the governor and Shaibu.

“That is politics for you. Your job, first of all, is to be loyal. Even though Fashola said, ‘may your loyalty not be tested’. I don’t know what had happened in the past; that is not my business. I’m just happy for this opportunity.” he said.

The deputy governor added that he is also not interested in Obaseki’s relationship with the likes of Nysesom Wike, minister of federal capital territory (FCT), and others.

Godwins said he was contacted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the job.

“The youths are very happy that a 37-year-old, who will be 38 on July 19, is now deputy governor. It is big news for them. It will raise their confidence to participate actively in politics,” he added.

“I came from Akoko Edo federal constituency. I consulted very widely, and popular opinion suggested that I should take that appointment, even if it is for 30 seconds, the people of Akoko Edo are very grateful.

“To me, it is like six years. It is not the number of years or months, it is by impact. I just want to finish strong with the governor.”

[TheCable]

The crisis of confidence and the battle for the control of the PDP both nationally and in Rivers State is gaining momentum and the 18th of April is the date fixed at the Wadata Plaza battleground being the date the PDP NWC had scheduled to hold its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting which promises to make or mar the party’s future. Except coordinated control is Deployed, the April 18th NEC may be ambushed legally. Events leading to such coordinated attacks have begun to manifest in many folds.

At a recent public event in Port Harcourt, the Gov of Rivers state Siminilaye Fubara comforted party faithful that the list of party caretaker committee members that emanated from the party is fake and should be discountenanced and that anyone caught parading himself as an EXCO on that fake list will be dealt with mercilessly. Faced with this existential threat Wike in swift action had already gotten Amb Damagun to Authenticate His List of Excos For Rivers as a matter of finality. The stage is therefore set for a tripartite clash between Wike, Fubara, and Damagun at the NEC meeting.

There are discordant tunes emanating within the Aso Rock Presidential Villa of the gradual loss of relevance of Wike within the PDP and the likelihood of him losing effective control of the Party to Atiku Abubakar. Should that be the case his significance to Tinubu’s 2027 aspiration will have paled into insignificance making him less relevant in the scheme of things.

As a strategic move to bolster his political confidence and prove relevance, Wike is selling a new narrative that the battle for the soul of the party is between himself and Atiku Abubakar. To shore up his credibility, significance, and relevance, Wike characteristically decided to stir the hornet's nest.

At a recent media parley with some media executives in Abuja Wike had lambasted Rivers state PDP elders as expired politicians and with a speed of lightning Uche Secondus, Austin Opara, and Celestine Omehia all responded by referring to him as a chronic, self-serving, and pathological liar in their separate press statements. He had claimed in that media chat that Secondus was not a member of the party by the court of appeal and Supreme Court judgment recently delivered. He promised to take up the matter soon.

Perhaps that explains why one Titus Jones filed a lawsuit in the federal high court before Justice I E Ekwo seeking to restrain Uche Secondus and Austin Opara from attending and or participating in the April 18th NEC meeting. Why was this suit necessary since a judgment according to Wike had barred Secondus from being a member of the PDP? The truth of the matter is there is no such judgment and Wike is scared that the presence of Uche Secondus and Austin Opara will add value and assist the governor in overwhelming him at the meeting. As the clock continues to tick towards the NEC meeting the outcome could rather be conceived rather than imagined.

Dr Kenny Adeniran’s widely circulated “Geometric Power and the Yoruba Omoluabi” makes compelling reading. It brings an entirely fresh perspective on the national discourse on the place and importance of Nigeria’s first integrated power project in national development. The author argues that even though that the recently commissioned 188-megawatt Geometric Power thermal plant is located in Abia State, like the Aba Power Electric Company which takes power from the plant and distributes to nine of the 17 local government areas in the state, Yoruba persons in government have over the last two decades gone out of their way to ensure the realization of this key electricity project. He posits that these Nigerians of Yoruba extraction are driven by the Yoruba philosophical concept of omoluabi, or strong commitment to the public good rather than parochial or personal interests.

The instances which Dr Adeniran cites are interesting enough. Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, following a request by then-World President James Wolfensohn and then-Nigeria’s Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, carved out Aba from the national electricity network to generate its own power, distribute it and collect money from the people, so as to fulfill Aba’s enormous potential as an industrial centre. This was at a time both subnational governments and the private sector were not allowed to participate in the generation, transmission and distribution of power. President Obasanjo’s concession to Professor Bart Nnaji and his team at Geometric Power is historic and path-breaking.

Dr Adeniran recalls how the Yoruba Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Bola Onagoruwa, lost her job during the privatization of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) in 2013 because she wanted the National Council on Privatization (NCP) to respect the Federal Government’s 2005 agreement with Geometric Power on the development of the Aba Ring-fenced Area. It is, indeed, interesting that the mess created by the manner the EEDC was privatized was resolved by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Power Minister Babatunde Fashola, both Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs). As Dr Adeniran has revealed, both President Bola Tinubu and Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu acknowdge Geometric Power’s critical role in Nigeria’s power development and have ensured that relevant Federal Government agencies are on the same page.

The ordinary interpretation and summary of Dr Adeniran’s article is that Geometric Power is a key national project sited in Aba, Southeastern Nigeria, and that successive Yoruba people in government have demonstrated a profound understanding of this fact. The truth is that while Prof Nnaji and his team may come from the Southeast, the Aba Independent Power Project (IPP) is a huge national asset. It will definitely benefit Nigerians in all parts of the country.

Power Minister Adelabu and Prof Nnaji as well as Governor Alex Otti of Abia State have stated that Aba and the environs may not absorb more than 90MW right now. Therefore, the excess of 51MW, or 98MW as the case may be, will be sent to the national grid. This will mean improved power availability throughout the country. What is more, the 25MW hitherto supplied Aba from the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) via the national grid will be taken to other parts of Nigeria, thereby making more electricity available to the Nigerian people.

During the commissioning of the Aba IPP on February 26, 2024, ex-President Obasanjo stated that with constant, quality and affordable power supply in Aba, such international manufacturing firms as PZ which have their production plants in the famous Enyimba Industrial City will produce more and more toiletries at lower costs. Power accounts for 50% of production costs in Nigeria because manufacturers practise electricity self-generation. As automative gas oil (AGO), popularly known as diesel, now goes for at least N1,700 per litre in the southern part of Nigeria, electricity may be responsible for a bigger percentage of production cost. However, all things being equal, the prices of Joy soap and other toileteries produced by PZ may not go up; they may even come down as a result of constant, quality and affordable power supply.

The same thing can be said about the costs of leather products. Many of the handbags, shoes and belts in Nigeria and neighbouring countries with the emblems of “Made in Italy”, “Produced in Spain”, “Manufactured in France”, and “Made in the UK” are actually produced in Aba, and given such labels as Gucci, Calvin Klein, etc. They are of high standards, but given well-established foreign labels for marketing purporses. This pratice is common in leading manufacturing nations like China and Vietnam.

Such large national institutions as the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police Force, Nigeran Navy, Nigerian Air Force, National Youth Service Corps, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps can rely on Aba for their boots and belts. Needless to state, the Aba leather industry can depend on an endless supply of hides and skin from Kano and other places in Northern Nigeria. The onus is now on the public and private sectors in the North to drive the regeneration of the leather industry which centuries ago brough their region to international attention.

The army and similar organisations can also depend on Aba for their uniforms. Aba is famous for its fashion industry. Its suits can compete with the best anywhere. Its African designs are unrivalled. With the dollar so scarce in the country and the naira depreciating at an alarming rate which makes inflation unprecedented in our national history, Nigeria’s military and paramilitary organizations as well as the police force need to look in the Aba direction. As someone born and raised in this city, I know what Aba can offer.

Geometric Power may have been started by some Igbo people and located in their part of the country, it is a true national asset. While Vice President Shettima was being conducted around the Geometric Power premises on February 26, we saw on Arise TV which was beaming the ceremony live that the top Geometric Power official explaining the workings of the facilities was one Engineer Usman who hails from Borno, the same state as the vice president. There are many Nigerians from different states holding high positions in the Geometric Power Group. I am aware that the company goes for the best talent in the country and the world.

It is gratifying to watch Power Minister Adelabu tell Nigerians that the Tinubu administration is watching the Geometric Power Group closely with a view to replicating it in different parts of the country, so as to end Nigeria’s perennial and shameful electricity crisis which has impeded the country’s rapid progress. May there be more Geometric Power Groups throughout Nigeria.

Momoh, a lawyer, is a entrepreneur in Abuja.

The Edo state house of assembly has impeached Philip Shaibu as deputy governor of the state. 

The impeachment followed the adoption of the report of a seven-man investigative panel.

The panel was set up by Daniel Okungbowa, chief judge of Edo, and was headed by S. A. Omonuwa, a retired justice.

Shaibu was accused of “misconduct, perjury and disclosure of government secrets”.

The commencement of the panel’s sitting followed the resolution by the state house of assembly on initiating impeachment processes against Shaibu.

Shaibu had since fallen out with Godwin Obaseki, governor of the state.

At the panel’s inaugural sitting on April 3, the house of assembly was represented by Joe Ohiafi, deputy clerk, legal.

Shaibu was represented by Oladoyin Awoyale, a professor and senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

In July, Shaibu approached a federal high court in Abuja with a suit to prevent the impeachment plot against him.

He asked the court to restrain Obaseki, the speaker of the state assembly, and the chief judge, from “initiating impeachment proceedings or sanctioning any impeachment” against him.

Thereafter, the court restrained Obaseki, the speaker, and other defendants in the suit from initiating impeachment proceedings against Shaibu.

In September, Shaibu withdrew the suit he filed against Obaseki, paving the way for the proceedings which eventually sacked him from office.

[TheCable]

On March 23, 2021, the Federal Government announced its plan to end electricity subsidy by the end of that year. According to the Special Adviser to former President Muhammadu Buhari on Infrastructure, Mr. Ahmad Zakari, "We plan to eliminate subsidy by the end of the year. People will say if you eliminate subsidies, you will have poor people pay more. But our argument is that the only reason the power prices in Nigeria are high is because we don’t generate enough. If you generate 10GW of power, tariff will be half of what it costs. So, keeping the prices very low is not the approach, but delivering adequate power."

On March 12, 2022, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed that the Federal Government had quietly removed electricity subsidy. Speaking at a virtual meeting of African Finance Ministers and the International Monetary Fund, Ahmed also said the amendment of the budget was ongoing to accommodate the incremental removal of fuel subsidy. The theme of the meeting was ‘The political economy of fiscal reforms’.

Ahmed said, “We are cleaning up our subsidies. We had a setback; we were to remove fuel subsidy by July this year but there was a lot of pushback from the polity. We have elections coming and because of the hardship that companies and citizens went through during the COVID-19 pandemic, we just felt that the time was not right, so we pulled back on that. But we have been able to quietly implement subsidy removal in the electricity sector and as we speak, we don’t have subsidies in the electricity sector. We did that incrementally over time by carefully adjusting the prices at some levels while holding the lower levels down."

To the utter dismay of Nigerians, the Minister of Power, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu claimed on January 15, 2024 that, "the Federal Government still subsidises electricity because the current tariff DISCOs are allowed to charge is not cost-reflective. This is why the Federal Government spent close to N700 billion in 2023 to subsidise electricity. If tariffs are left at this current rate, it is projected that the government will spend about N1.7 trillion to subsidise electricity. The FG cannot afford that.”

On March 6, 2024, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that continuation of fuel and electricity subsidy will cost Nigeria N2.33 trillion or three per cent of its Gross Domestic Product, GDP in 2024. The warning was given by the team led by Mr. Axel Schimmelpfennig, IMF Mission Chief for Nigeria that visited Lagos and Abuja, February 12–23, 2024, to hold discussions for the 2024 Article IV Consultations with Nigeria.

Last week, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has approved an increase of electricity tariff to N225 ($0.15) per kilowatt-hour from N68. The 300 percent hike took for urban consumers, also known as Band A consumers in the country took effect from April 1, 2024. In justifying the insensitive hike, the Minister of Power, Mr.
Adelabu said that government was subsidising 67 per cent of the cost of generating, transmitting and distributing power in Nigeria, amounting to over N3 trillion, which he put at 10 per cent of government total revenue.

From the foregoing, it is undoubtedly clear that the IMF and the Federal Government are juggling figures of electricity subsidy to blackmail and deceive the Nigerian people. Whereas the IMF claims that "fuel and electricity subsidy will cost Nigeria N2.33 trillion" in 2024, the Federal Government has given a subsidy figure of N3 trillion from the sum of N700 billion allegedly consumed by subsidy in 2023. Curiously, the Federal Ministry of Finance has failed to reconcile the conflicting figures being peddled around by the IMF and Ministry of Power.

Since the Buhari administration had stopped electricity subsidy in 2022, the Federal Government should institute a panel of inquiry to investigate the claim of the Minister of Power, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu that electricity subsidy for 2024 is N3 trillion. The inquiry is necessary as arrangements have been concluded by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission to further hike electricity tariffs under the pretext of removing subsidy from the sector. The panel should also inquire into the diversion of the N32 billion paid into the account of a private company account in 2003 for the supply of three million prepaid metres in the country.

(Statement by Prof. Tunji Olaopa, Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission as Chairman of the 3^rd Conference of the Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA) South West, held at the Lead City University, Ibadan on Wednesday, 27 March, 2024)

One of the critical planks in my institutional reform philosophy hinges on the functional capacities of communities of service and practice to achieve an optimal oversight in stimulating the significance of national discourse for the health of democratic governance in Nigeria. Indeed, good governance and real development achievements is not just a function of leadership acumen and the forthrightness of government policies, it also requires the vigilance of an enlightened citizenry that is proactive in pushing the frontiers of democratic accountability. This dynamic is also shaped by the level, quality and relevance of scholarly contributions facilitated by communities of practice as the National Political Science Association (NPSA). And how far the NPSA will go in the analytical and discursive interrogation of development policies, governance and institutional reforms will in turn depend of how successfully it frames research questions to set agenda for researchers as well as the effectiveness of its strategic communication strategy as it ventilates research findings as scholarly inputs to national problem-solving and policy conversations.

Suffice it to say that the political and institutional reform design issues still awaiting technical resolution through research contributions of scholars are legion. Is it the whole issue of getting our federalism to be developmental through constitutional reengineering? Or the whole dynamic of making inter-governmental relations to be enabling for service delivery especially as touching the concurrent schedule of function? Or the role of the state in the maelstrom of ideological contestation in making better sense of our brand of liberal democracy and in enabling the private sector to be engine of growth for the national economy? Or better still, the challenge of getting Nigeria to optimise the full potentials of public private partnership (PPP) along its three-level maturity curve, and I can go on and on. The role of the political scientists is, in other word, cut out in spite of what many might regard as the anti-intellectualism in the policy space in Nigeria

In other words, communities of practice and service like NPSA constitute the gauge by which the functional health of institutions can be measured. Once these communities are comatose, then something fundamental is wrong and the consequences can be very dire, as we have seen with some of these communities in the Nigerian context. It is therefore a delight to see how NPSA has begun to reshape its internal institutional dynamics in response to its mandate as a gatekeeping mechanism for political science scholarship in Nigeria. And the theme of this annual conference is apt. This is indeed an appropriate time to not only interrogate the scorecard of Nigeria’s fourth republic but to also deepen the government’s objective of achieving optimal and efficient service delivery to Nigerians.

Nigeria has come a long way since the inauguration of the democratic experiment since 1999, and from the inaugural administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo to the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. We have seen so many evolutions and transformations of parties and the dynamics of party politics. We have also witnessed so many legislative transitions, governmental interventions and energetic institutional reforms. However, what could have made that scorecard really memorable for Nigerians is still missing. And this is the impact of the efficient service delivery mechanisms of successive administrations on the welfare and well-being of Nigerians. The pervasive perception of Nigerians, from way before the inauguration of the fourth republic, is that public institutions are not working for their betterment. And this perception is difficult to fault because it is backed by the experiential agonies of Nigerians as they encounter public infrastructures and their abysmal failures. Roads are not worth the amount spent on them. they begin to break up and become death traps just weeks after they are commissioned. Private schools have overtaken public ones in terms of reliability and quality services. Power supplies from national distribution companies are now mere backups to generators and solar inverters. Nigerian governments have so far failed in providing accessible public infrastructures that could demonstrate the responsiveness of the government to the yearnings of Nigerians for the dividends of democratic governance.

The governance template has been reduced to that of benchmarking failure in terms of government performance. Nigerians have been left with the task of comparing one bad government with another. This is because there has never been a period in Nigerian political development when Nigerians were given an undiluted experience of good governance. And institutional reforms that consecutive administrations have put in place have not been up to par because the leadership have not adequately been able to get a handle on the enigmatic devils in the details: the binding constraints to policy execution in the Nigerian public sector space that have constrained the translation of good intentions, good vision and masterplans to performance and inclusive development outcomes with evidences of dividends that conduce to life more abundant to the generality of Nigerians. And, as we are all aware, the leadership has not been able to put a hand on a general theory that can harness best practices, models and paradigms that will not always meet their Waterloo in Nigeria.

All over the world, good governance is defined around the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery made possible by a modernizing public service whose optimal function revolves around managerial innovation, technology savviness, and administrative flexibility. And the service delivery project in Nigeria, since 1999, has received lots of institutional transformation. The most prominent for me include the SERVICOM innovation we are all familiar with, the medium-term sector strategy and expenditure management frameworks, the Public Procurement Act, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the public private partnership (PPP) mechanism to leverage capacities and capabilities of private enterprises and industries as well as other sectors of the Nigerian economy to reinforce the delivery capability of the public service, the adoption of international chart of account and move towards performance budgeting, and many more.

However, in administrative terms, the fourth republic’s governance fortunate has been limited by the collective fixation on a public service operating system that is defined by the traditional “I-am-directed” Weberian bureaucratic model that is more defined by its regulatory control and capacity to manage the input-process side of policy, programme and project management rather than weighing in on the relationship between performance, outputs and outcomes, and service delivery. This operating system has facilitated the gradual shift of the Nigerian public service system into a chronic bureau-pathological state that has made the civil service, for instance, more interested in its own bureaucratic culture rather than its instrumental value for enhancing democratic governance in Nigeria. Transforming this operating system demands, as a matter of urgency, a managerial paradigm shift that will inject into the system frameworks of strategic planning, project management praxis underpinned by monitoring and evaluation system and performance management orientation.  

Hitting on this crucial point of the problem with the public service system, for me, remains the most fundamental credit due to the Udoji Reform Commission of 1974. Nigeria missed that opportunity. And that singular misdirection has been compounded over the years by increasing bureaucratization that has led to incremental ⁠erosion of competency-based human resource practices and poor sensitivity to training investments, strategic coaching and deliberate mentoring approaches that transcend classroom-rooted reskilling. This systemic deficit is further aggravated by the bureaucratic closemindedness in relation to fresh ideas and insights, the unresolved pay and compensation structure, the adversarial industrial relations, etc. have compromised the organizational intelligence quotient (IQ) of MDAs. And to cap it all, managerial skills and talents are rushing off in drove either out of the country or to the private sectors because the government has lost its capacity to attract, recruit, incentivize and retain fresh and innovative blood. The result is that the MDAs largely depend on consultants, policy experts and subject specialists as well as technical supports extended by the donor community.

The reform shift required—the one that President Tinubu is gambling on for development and good governance—must be one that abjure the search for a once-size-fits-all and service-wide model emanating from a centralized governance of public resources and the management of the public service that hinders line managers’ creativity and productivity in getting the works in the MDAs done. On the contrary, the system must be retooled to become flatter, agile, streamlined and technology-enabled (FAST) in ways that achieve performance and productivity. It becomes FAST through citizens engagement, administrative efficiency effective decision-making processes and strategic intergovernmental and cross-sectoral collaboration. Three fundamental levels of reform inquiry point in this direction:

• How can the MDAs’ skills deficit be corrected through a mix of re-skilling, regulated injection of fresh new scarce skills, and some rightsizing if unavoidable?

• What contingent changes to we need to do to extant personnel policies, pay structure and recurrent cost ratios to get government to regain its status as employer of choice in the national economy?

• How would the civil service be at once sensitive and reliable ally in achieving the political objectives of government while being accountable to the public without its independence and professionalism being undermined?

First, we need to undertake a periodic MDAs’ capability review to achieve an internal institutional scan that establish their capability readiness to implement development agenda along such quadrants as quality of leadership, people management and incentive structure, bureaucratic efficiency of the internal processes and resource management, framework of stakeholders engagement, action research and analytics to activate monitoring, evaluation and change management systems. This will involve, for instance, a streamlined understanding of the relationship between the core and non-core functions of the MDAs, as well as exploration of alternative service delivery mechanisms. This also inevitably requires performance planning including revaluation of organizational vision and strategy, establishing the goals, objectives and measures at key institutional and at operational levels, and benchmarking of performance. Second, reprogramming the MDAs’ operating system for efficient performance and productivity will amount to a wasted effort if policy designs and programming in terms of development planning and other policy formulation processes are not creatively aligned with strategic implementation planning. Finally, there is the need for the installation of performance management metrics, like performance contracts and audit. This ensures that significant actors, from ministers to line managers, are held accountable to specific performance agenda. This is where the system’s technology-enabled savviness becomes critical. In other words, performance is also a function of the MDAs’ capacity not only to deploy the digital technologies, but to also become open and transparent.

This, in summary, is the crux of the task before the NPSA and other communities of practice that are forced by the fact of their charters to engage with the Nigerian state and her failures and possibilities.

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Folashade Yemi-Esan has spoken of how Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation saved her from unexpected difficulties associated with the passage of her budget by the National Assembly when she was appointed to the position in 2019. At a public event recently in Abuja, Mrs. Yemi-Esan observed that but for the intervention of the foundation, she would have had a very difficult first year in office. ‘’We have been able to do a lot in the last four years, but it was not easy initially’’, she said in a sombre tone to a packed audience of Nigerians and foreigners.

She said: "I became Head of Service in 2019, just before the budget process closed, and so I went to the National Assembly to get our budget approved. But while waiting for our budget to be passed, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede came to see me in the office to congratulate me on my appointment. He briefed me on his foundation and its initial contacts with the Office and the teething problems it had encountered, and noted that the foundation was desirous of moving forward on the partnership. He then proposed to give technical assistance to the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) and support the digitalization of the Office.’’ ‘’I just want to make a difference in the work you do’’, Yemi-Esan recalled Aig-Imoukhuede telling her in that meeting.

The Head of Service and her team and the foundation thereafter signed an MOU to digitalize the work of the OHCSF and this involved the foundation providing the resources, funding, technical assistance and the vendor to digitalize the operations and activities in the OHCSF. ‘’I told Aigboje, ‘We don’t need your money. Don’t give us money. Just ensure that you implement the program to the letter’, Yemi-Esan recalled. The foundation placed adverts in the newspapers, selected vendors and paid for the software; and thus began a complex and difficult process which sought to replace manual and paper-based operations with automation of the processes that enables civil servants to work online from any part of the world without dealing with physical files.

‘’So, with the support from the foundation, we were able to continue our in work in spite of the difficulties we experienced in getting our budget approved. The foundation saved from us from a very difficult situation’’, she said, adding that the digitalization program has succeeded far beyond expectations and the technical support from the foundation is huge. ‘’Everybody around me has been touched and the mentorship is superb. As busy as Aigboje is, he makes out time to meet with us regularly’’, she recalled.

The foundation believes that only an automated public service manned by well-trained professionals can deliver development in Nigeria. Its MOU with the OHCSF therefore contains shared responsibility in reforming the civil service with the digitalization program at its core. To achieve this, the foundation plays multiple roles including providing funding, project planning and management, vendor management and capacity building, project quality assurance and stakeholder management, while the OHCSF makes its staff available to participate in trainings and project implementation; provides devices, internet and power to enhance digitalization. A steering committee of both organizations is responsible for oversight and monitoring. It meets regularly to review progress and deal with hiccups.

An integral component of the program is focused on changing the mindsets of civil servants to accept automation as a new way of life, and this entails advocacy, change management, project management, stakeholder categorization and management. The overall objective is to make the civil service more efficient and resilient to deliver quality service. As in many projects, there have been many hurdles and this include lack of standard operating procedures, insufficient devices and poor funding, high level of digital illiteracy, poor internet connectivity, poor power supply, absence of guidelines on use of personal IT devices, lack of official email addresses and poor email use culture for those who had. But both parties have been determined to scale them as they arise

So far, the outcome has been outstanding. The digitalization program has positively impacted on the work of the 1,100 civil servants in the OHCSF, and in addition, it has impacted the work of the MDAs who can no longer take physical files to the OHCSF, but have to mail them electronically. Gushes Raymond Uwaenyi, Director, Human Resources Management at the OHCSF, ‘’the automation by the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation has made my work faster and easier. It makes filing and references to materials in files far easier than it’s ever been. I can easily track any file wherever it has gone; you’ll be able to follow up to know if there are any challenges right where you are sitting’’. Uwaenyi recalled even when he travelled out of the country recently, he was able to keep working ‘’because the materials and information I need are always on the ECM (the enterprise content management system’’.

The multiplier effects are palpable across the bureaucracy. Says Chioma Njoku, the foundation’s Director of Programs. ‘’Civil servants in the OHCSF and across other MDAs have had to learn to document their standard operating procedures, learn to use Microsoft software, get more comfortable with technology and learn to use the ECM solution platform’’.

Last June, President Bola Tinubu sent a thank you letter to the foundation for its contributions, but as Mrs. Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, its executive vice chairman, says, the work is not yet done. She chimes, ‘’our long-term goal is improved efficiency in the civil service both at the federal and subnational levels. We want to see a Nigeria and Africa where automation drives governance, the public sector works efficiently and effectively, and is responsive to changes and the public they are called upon to serve’’. So far, the foundation has spent over N500 million on the digitalization program.

Akpo Esajere (1954-2024) exited not in the bloom of youth at 70, but his influence outdid his final deadline. His legacy grips memories and imaginations, binding hearts and minds, and making his transition at 70 premature. Esajere was not arrayed in the trappings of wealth or swathed in the cloak of widespread fame, but he was a curator of values, a pen luminary, a classicist of the political reporting genre, puritanical about scintillating prose, and a beacon of professional honour.

“Check the library”, he would say to the young reporter at inception, just so a fact can be double-checked. The Guardian newspaper library was reputed as a quintessential repository of all contemporary knowledge, especially around fleeting matters. “Go and check again, so that we can have all the angles”, he would instruct time and again, not only to validate cues but to boost a piece. “You are a reporter with calibre” he would hail, if it appears you have been checking and checking and getting weary “I believe in your ability to get it right and complete”

Then watch him draft an introduction to a story. I mean that spellbinding or compelling initial few words to welcome the reader in advance of details. Akpo could devout tens of offcuts (the loose sheets for drafting stories in days gone by), trying to get it right. Head immersed in the paper, he could do a first, with just two words and ignore it. He will try again and discard if still underpar. Then he would try another and then another until it jelled. This time, he will read it to himself, but to the hearing of an adjunct, just to be sure. Then he will proceed to the remaining paragraphs.

When the story reaches the next processing line, the famed The Guardian sub desk, a hub of literary excellence, where celebrated copy conjurers, maestros, that included, at different times, Rasaq Adedigba, Banji Adisa, Kayode Idowu, Eziuche Ubani, Julius Omokioja Eto, etc, were in wait, Akpo Esajere’s “crafts” (as he used to call such drafts), where often assured of an easier pass. To be sure, this sub-desk then hallmarked The Guardian's strength. It was a springboard around which the paper’s prose prowess rotated. Smart reporters could hone their skills by comparing their drafts, with what the desk eventually makes of it the day after.

Often the transformations were awesome. The difference was always clear. The doctoring was regularly impressive. While your byline sat beneath the headline, a chunk of the prose was not likely to be yours-just the facts, therein. The men at that desk were sacrificial writers, committed to the preservation of a glorious paper’s house style, a clearing house of a sort, but raising some subtle classroom questions on intellectual property, about content and ownership. In academia, the original writer will ideally have to submit, re-submit and re-submit again until s/he gets it right if to compare. In the newsroom, however, there is no luxury of time. A back-and-forth is not thoughtful. The newsroom is a rapid room. There is a frantic race to keep apace, and then the thankless job of the subeditors, even though the enthusiastic reporter is thankful.  

But back to Akpo Esajere. “I am going to interview Lagbaja Tamodu tomorrow. So, I will be in the library if anyone is looking for me” He will announce. “I now have enough on him. He has some explanations to give” he would say afterwards, with a wry smile. Then read the interview when published and you will behold rounds of penetrating questions, some epistemic peppering, sometimes theatrical, but able to force out as many facts as possible from the interviewee, for readers’ benefit as Esajere’s priority. “Be concerned about your reader. Don’t leave them in doubt. Provide as much verifiable information as possible and let them make up their mind”

That’s Akpo, the essential interviewer, easily one of the best in the newspaper industry in his heydays. Then compare his pre-interview session library research to present times. He would have had all the details he needed about you beforehand. He is now simply approaching you for an update. These times, reporters begin the interview session by asking “May we meet (know) you?” Goodness! Excuse me! It should not even be the case in the 21st-century world of information and smart technology deluge, where you could check for details on the go, via the phone before the interview if the physical library is at a distance. But see!

I remember a presidential candidate strolling into The Guardian newsroom, asking to meet Akpo. “You have been interviewing everyone, but me. Why have you not looked for me?” It turned into a prickly scene. “Me! Interview you?” Akpo retorted between an exclamation and a question. The aspirant was yet to know what was ahead of him, so he dug in, unfortunately. “Yes, why not? Am I not a human being? Am I not contesting to be president? Do you think I don’t have money?” “Who told you we interview people because of money? And my friend, aspirants do not come to us for interviews, like you have done. We will find out if we think you are qualified. The Guardian is not cheap” Akpo explained, but becoming impatient. “Are you saying I am cheap, or not worth your pages? I am better than many of those you have interviewed!” “Can you leave, please? You can see I am busy” “Leave for what? Interview me, I said!” The man responded.

Akpo sprang up and raced to the security section to call for the ejection of the interview-seeking obvious political tenderfoot. Somehow, inimitable title Editor, Eluem Emeka Izeze emerged from his office, and resolved the performance, permitting a subsequent post-mortem. “You see what I have been saying” Akpo began. “Some of these people just take us for granted. Interview just like that? On the pages of The Guardian? We cannot do that. Let him go elsewhere” Akpo was an epitome of the paper’s philosophy. He was integrity personified, elegant in deliveries and robust in portrayals. He never suffered fools gladly, and neither did he fail to nurture. He was respectful, respectable, and never owamberish in appearances at events. He chose events carefully, believing that not all materials were fit for the pages of the newspaper.

“Ensure you read new things, to vary your language” he will counsel again, just so your word power can be spicily pied. He was not just a journalist and writer, but a teacher, a motivator and an exemplar in a writhing of writers. “Biodun, I see you are now a professor,” he said in what turned out to be our last telephone conversation until we met at the bosom of the Lord. “Keep it up”, he added, further to his guiding spirit.  

The edge death has over humanity shall forever remain mystifying. You know when you arrive, but not when you will depart and how. Looks unfair, but you are still helpless, regardless. You cannot change it.  What sometimes matters is what you do between arrival and departure. But because you do not know the time of departure, man is better off putting in a best, every day, just in case. Akpo did his best, by being one of the best political journalists the nation has ever produced. The reason he will repeatedly be remembered as a first-rate writer, a sculptor of words, weaved into meanings, worthy enough to tickle, to tip-off the intellect, in the manner in which the mind will ever be appreciative. Akpo was a rock around political journalism literati. He will be missed. Bye-bye, Editor.

• Adeniyi, Professor of Communication, and Dean of the School of PostGraduate Studies, Baze University, Abuja, was a former The Guardian Political Correspondent.

As Nigerians grapple with the latest hike in electricity tariffs, soaring from N66 to N225 per kilowatt, concerns arise regarding its implications on the effective delivery of essential public services. 

How will the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, classify public health and educational institutions providing social services to communities across the country but are unable to charge economic rates? 

Health sector, categorized as a social service, stands as a cornerstone of human capital development. It holds a central role in the economic progress of a nation. The axiom "a healthy nation is a wealthy nation" encapsulates the belief in the symbiotic relationship between health and prosperity.

Given this context, any country aspiring for progress must deliberately allocate resources to enhance its healthcare sector. The Federal Government, realizing this need and in demonstration of its promise to prioritize health care for Nigerians voted more than N1.2 trillion for the sector in the 2024 Budget.

Recently, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to enhance oncology care in the country. The Minister, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate and the Managing Director of NSIA, Mr Aminu Umar-Sadiq put pen to paper in Abuja in a collaboration to procure oncology equipment for the management of cancer.

Under the agreement, NSIA will spend N37.4 billion to refurbish and equip six federal teaching hospitals with state-of-the-art medical equipment such as Linear Accelerators, CT Simulators, Brachytherapy Machines, Chemotherapy Suites, PET Scan, Cyclotron and Radio-Pharmacy.

This lofty idea of equipping the teaching hospitals with modern medical equipment may however be jeopardized with the epileptic supply of electricity which experts say are inimical to the optimal functionality of these equipment.

In most federal health institutions, from Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, to University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan, the narrative is almost the same; the cost of providing electricity has become burdensome and unbearable, no thanks to Electricity Distribution companies charging them commercial rates!

The Chief Medical Director of LUTH, Prof Wasiu Adeyemo recently lamented that the hospital spends up to N150 million just on electricity bills monthly, while receiving just N14m for subvention on power from government. Energy cost is thus a significant burden, considering the hospital has to pay for laundry, feeding, security, cleaning and gardening as outsourced services.   

Lending credence to this, the immediate past CMD of LUTH, Prof. Chris Bode asserted that for almost 60 years, the hospital and the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, had a common power source and equitably shared the cost. However, the College eventually discontinued its subscription to the IPP as it could not sustain the monthly cost of paying power bills upfront from its resources.

This has necessitated the need for the facility to look into other options to create a hybrid system, incorporating renewable and clean energy into its electric power menu.

The power situation at UCH Ibadan is nothing different as the nation’s premier tertiary health institution was recently thrown into pitch darkness for days when the Ibadan Electric Distribution Company, IBEDC, disconnected its power supply owing to unsettled bills.

The DISCO has disconnected UCH three times this year owing to the backlog of electricity bills it owed the company estimated at N495m.This has put the facility in incessant darkness, exposing patients, their relatives and medical staff to hardship and health hazards.

Although the management of UCH is trying to pick the bills, it has cried out to the Federal Government for a bail out, seeking the intervention of the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of Economy, Mr Wale Edun to offset its outstanding electricity bill to the DISCO.

In a letter to the Minister, the UCH Chief Medical Director, Prof. Jesse Otegbayo lamented that the hospital has not been able to fulfil its duties of providing quality healthcare delivery to its patients due to the incessant disconnection of electricity from the hospital.

The CMD thinks that the monthly government subvention is rather too low to service various expenditures including electricity bills in a federal health facility operating more as a charity than a commercial entity.

While appreciating the minister for the assistance received in the past, the CMD pleaded for an immediate intervention as the hospital is permanently under threat of disconnection by the DISCO.

To address the aforementioned issue, the NERC must strategically implement customized support measures, including subsidies or lowered tariffs, for these crucial service providers. This is necessary to ensure that government institutions providing essential service, like health facilities are able to fulfil their mandate of safeguarding lives.

Kareem is a public policy analyst in Abuja.