There is calm these days at the corporate headquarters of NDDC, the 24-year-old interventionist agency established by the Federal Government to fix developmental gaps in the Niger Delta region. The 13-storey edifice, commissioned in 2021, breaks into view as you turn into Eastern bypass in Port Harcourt. Inside, executives are hard at work on the 2025 budget and completing ongoing projects. The rest of the workers are no less busy.

The tranquility is a far cry from the brouhaha that enveloped the commission three years ago in the wake of the forensic audit ordered by the Buhari administration into its affairs. A new management team, headed by Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, seems well determined to leave the ugly past behind. For two weeks beginning Saturday, May 18, NDDC will commission 92 high-impact infrastructure projects executed at over N84 billion across the nine states. They include roads, bridges water, electricity, electrification, a police station, health centres and school blocks.

Among the projects is the 25.7-kilometre Ogbia-Nembe Road, which has created a road link to the ancient city of Nembe in Bayelsa State, for the first time in living memory. It includes 9.15 km of pre-fabricated vertical drains on the swamp and seven bridges. Executed at a cost of N24 billion, the road cuts the travel time to Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital from 3 hours on dangerous water routes to a mere 45 minutes. It also opens up 14 communities for development. The project was executed in partnership with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), and is regarded as a model of the commission’s partnership approach in tackling the challenges of the region.

Also slated for commissioning is the 132KV Transmission Line and I32KV/33KV Substation electrification project, executed at a cost of N8.3 billion to optimize power supply to five local government areas in the southern part of Ondo State. The project covers the construction of 45km double circuit 33KV feeder lines from Omotosho Power Station (Hook-up point) to Okitipupa and two 30MVA, 132/33KV Injection Substations with breakers, gantry and substation automation. It also includes the construction of a three-bedroom semi-detached bungalow as service quarters.

The capacity of this power station is optimized with the provision of 2 x 60MVA, 132/33KV transformer and other ancillary works at Okitipupa Injection Substation, rehabilitation of 35km 33/11KV transmission from Okitipupa-Igbokoda-Ugbonla and environs and the construction of 1km rigid pavement. The electricity project will complement the Federal Government’s effort in the power sector by improving power supply to Okitipupa, Igbokoda and about 2,000 neighbouring communities in Ondo South Senatorial District with direct value chain in small and medium scale industries, job creation and consequently engender growth and development in Ondo State.

NDDC’s executive director in charge of projects, Victor Antai, sounded ecstatic when I spoke with him early Saturday morning. It is his brief to deliver on all the projects undertaken by the agency. And so, for five months since late last year, Antai has been touring the nine NDDC states, inspecting projects and ensuring that contractors are up and doing. He told me: ‘’As you know, I have been on the road, inspecting these projects, meeting with contractors and the communities, just to ensure that every project is delivered on time. It is the decision of the executive management to deliver dividends to our people.”

Before he assumed duties in November, Antai has been a businessman, a Local Government chairman and a commissioner in Akwa Ibom government. To his folks, he is known for his simplicity, affability and generosity. Unlike many ‘big men’ in public service, Antai has no airs and does not encourage partisan divisions and ethnic bigotry. So, I asked him, among all the 92 projects, which one do you have for Akwa Ibom state?

In Akwa Ibom State, NDDC will commission the 6.87-kilometre Iko-Iwuochang road in Ibeno LGA the southern part of the state. The road project consists of two-lane single carriage way, a 600-metre bridge and side drains. The N10 billion virgin road project links 20 communities, hitherto separated by the Qua Iboe River. Three years ago, NDDC completed and commissioned a 1005-student hostel at the University of Uyo. I attended the event. In Abia State, NDDC will commission the Obehie to Oke Ikpe-road reconstructed at a cost of N3.5 billion. The nine-kilometre road restores the road link between Rivers and Akwa Ibom states, through Abia (Ukwa East/West). It involved the reconstruction of seven kilometres of failed section of the road and the construction of drainage.

It is commendable that Dr. Ogbuku and his team are completing and commissioning these projects, many of which were started by previous managements. It is indeed pleasng that he has not fallen into the temptation to abandon them and start news ones as it has often been the case in public service. Said the chief executive: ‘’The most compelling need in completing and commissioning these projects is to put them for use in the communities and help in renewing hope in the people in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.”

It is also important that the NDDC is now generating more good news than the negative ones. I was in the center of the fight in 2021 during the forensic audit controversies, defending the commission in the media. It is my pleasure to report on the calm and the progress that we now have.

ETIM is a former media consultant to the NDDC

What is politics? According to Professor Harold Lasswell, politics is “who gets what, when, how”. In other words, politics is basically about the allocation of resources. Resources are scare but needs are many, far more than available resources can cope with at any point in time. In economic terms, demand outstrips supply; so, some needs will be met while others will be denied or postponed.

The main duty of the government is to allocate resources: How much will be allocated to defence, to education, to the provision of infrastructure, to energy supply, etc. Will salaries and pensions be paid as when due, will there be training, for what category of officers and at what cost? Will there be a salary review, when and what quantum of increment?

In deciding “who gets what, when (and) how”, those who make the decision set priorities, using differing parameters: national interest; interest of the poor and downtrodden; their own selfish and personal interests; primordial interests such as ethnicity, religion, social status or stratification; political considerations, among others. So, often, the closer you are to those in power, the greater or better your chances of getting values allocated to you or your interests.

Those in the corridors of power benefit more from the privileges the government dispenses than those who are far away from it. You must belong, as they say, to participate in the sharing of the spoils of office. The dividends of democracy can be discriminatory!

Today, in Nigeria, we have a new Sheriff in town: Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He came to town with new faces, as it were; a new set of men and women who now call the shots in various sectors of our national life. Men and women who were nobody yesterday are the Very Important Personalities of today. Together with their principal, they are the ones who, today, make the decisions of “who gets what, when, how” They can decide to favour or marginalize you. They can give or deny you your dues.

If you do not belong in their circles, you will only watch the largesse they dispense waltz its way around you and land on someone else’s lap. Or they may choose to fling it over your head for another person to catch. You can decide to worm your way into their heart by whatever means possible. You may also choose to lie low and allow even this to pass. Nothing lasts forever!

Where are yesterday’s strong men and women? Where is Muhammadu Buhari and his all-powerful coterie of cabals? They are all men and women of yesterday. They have all lost power, relevance and glamour. A little more time and today’s men and women of power will also join them. As Zik told Ukpabi Asika, “No condition is permanent”! And nothing lasts forever!

For the umpteenth time, my good people of Ondo State are complaining of being marginalized by President Tinubu. The first time was when the president chose his ministers, service chiefs and the pillars of his administration. My Ondo state people were miffed that those who did not contribute as much as they did to the making of the Tinubu Administration got far more than Ondo State that contributed far more. In terms of the number of positions given and the importance and relevance of those positions, Ondo State believed it was marginalized.

Many complained to me. Write it, they commanded me! But we counseled restraint and accommodation. Let’s give the president another chance! Let’s allow him time and peace of mind to settle down and gather the levers of power and the reins of office in both hands. One year later, Tinubu’s ice has refused to thaw; his coconut leaves, rather than soften, have gotten more toughened.

That is what my Ondo State people are seeing, and saying, with the recent Board appointments announced by Tinubu. It did not take some people much time before affixing State of origin to the 550 Board appointments rolled out by the president. According to them, Ondo State got only six whereas Osun state got 22.

Why zero in on Osun? I would have loved to see them reel out the allocation to other states. But why Osun is not far to fetch. Osun is Tinubu’s purported state of origin. In the last presidential election, he lost that state and, incidentally, also the Lagos state that he claims, to both Atiku Abubakar’s PDP and Peter Obi’s Labour Party respectively; but he won Ondo state handsomely with a princely 68% of the votes cast. But both Lagos and Osun, two failures, have benefited more in terms of appointments from the Tinubu administration than Ondo that gave its all. Why?

Why is failure being rewarded while success is being derided? And I remembered the street football we played as children called “work-and-eat”. To work for others to eat is a curse. Isaiah 65:22 says: “They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat… My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands”. Ondo state and its people need deliverance from the curse of working for others to eat!

One of the posts I received reads: “Osun, 22; Ondo, 06. The difference is clear (like) 7UP! Who did we offend? What is our offence? Why the discrimination? Why the oppression? Why the shortchange? These and many more questions we ask Tinubu and the APC leadership (and) people (APC leaders) like Chief Pius Akinyelure, Ambassador Sola Iji, our distinguished senators, members of the House of Representatives, Honourable minister, etc.

“Ondo State won (the presidential election for Tinubu/APC) with the highest number of votes (68%). We were given 6 over 550 of the Board appointments while Osun state that lost the election was rewarded with 22 over 550. Where did we get it wrong? Who did we offend? Where is the justice in APC’s motto and slogan? Well, time will tell!”

I was sarcastic in my response to the complainant: “Get an Ondo state person to become president! Also, get the Ondo state indigenes who are close to Tinubu to push harder for the State and not be self-conscious alone. If Aketi had been alive, it most likely would have been different. Aiyedatiwa does not have the same influence Aketi had on Tinubu. Besides, he (Aiyedatiwa) is too engrossed in his own survival battle to have the time to lobby for political appointments for anyone.

“When Buhari was president, Daura and Katsina benefited more than other towns or states in the North. Ditto Jonathan’s time as president. Obasanjo, for obvious reasons, benefited the Igbo more than the Yoruba. Let’s thank Tinubu that, at least, he has not marginalized the Yoruba. Osun is Yoruba. So, we thank Tinubu for little mercies!“

I am sure you know I was just trying to give my people cold comfort. Nothing at all justifies the snobbish treatment and cold shoulders they believe they are getting from a man they supported with all their being.

But if you think the Ondo state people are the only ones complaining, you are mistaken: Some APC women leaders have expressed their grouse that they were yet to be compensated for their contribution to Tinubu’s success at the polls. Many who are hopeful or who have been penciled down for appointment are agitated and apprehensive that time is going. One year is gone already.

But, truth be told, I do not envy the president. To make appointments may appear easy on the surface but, in actual fact, it is not. The pressure, the blackmail, the pull and push are better imagined than experienced, especially with all the rumour flying around about appointments being sold and bought. So, Tinubu has to shine his eyes. I heard that he makes efforts to see everything before anything escapes to the public. That is not going to be a small job.

On top of that, he has other things to contend with: Foreign trips to source for FDI; meetings to attend, ECOWAS wahala, his health to attend to, NLC incessant strike actions, ASUU warming up for its own strike, Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar’s ceaseless jabs, etc. He has governance to also attend to. He must also find time to unwind.

Ayo Fayose as governor of Ekiti state told me that if he had a thousand appointments to make, they would not be enough to take care of everyone who contributed to his success at the polls. That is the bitter truth. Everyone who worked for Tinubu cannot get an appointment. Not everyone who worked will have the opportunity to enter the dining room whereas some who did not lift a finger will end up sitting at the head of the table! Such is life!

Imagine how many thousands of candidates must have been screen for the 550 Board appointments! And the uncountable number of interest groups to satisfy! On one corner was the ASUU mounting pressure and threatening another strike action; one of its grievances being the absence of Councils that have slowed down the pace of work in the universities, making a bad situation even worse! I suspect that some of the Board appointments might have been rushed to take the wind out of ASUU’s sail.

That, however, does not excuse the (deliberate or oversight?) marginalization of anyone. Awujale (Ogun state) celebrated 90 years and got GCON. Yoruba leader Pa Reuben Fasoranti (Ondo state) took pains to visit Tinubu on a wheelchair at the Presidential villa but returned empty-handed. Closely thereafter he celebrated 98 years and still got nothing. Pourquoi?

The president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has given a breakdown of their new minimum wage demand.

Recall that the federal government had upped its offer from its earlier proposed ₦48,000 to ₦54,000.

However organised labour rejected the new ₦54,000 minimum wage and insisted on ₦615,000 living wage demand.

Speaking on the Congress demands during an interview with Daily Trust, Ajaero explained that they had to critically watch the impact of the removal of subsidy before deciding on a befitting wage Nigerian workers could survive on.

He explained that cost of feeding, housing, gas, education, medicals were added together before an amount was presented to the government.

The president, however, stated that expenses such as communication, tithes and offering were exempted.

According to him, “When the subsidy was removed, the government told us to go and negotiate a wage. Negotiating a wage is not something that is done immediately.

“We’ve now watched the impact of the removal of subsidy, and it has dawned on every one of us. And it wasn’t only the removal of the subsidy, they also went into price fixing, the price of fuel went up to over N700 per litre.

“With that, we can tell you clearly how much it costs a worker to go to work. We know how much a bag of rice is being sold? So, the cost of all this has dawned on us and we have prepared what it takes for a worker to go to work and survive with a family of four.

“We also came up with this analysis and based it on some of the global experiences. The UN position is that nobody can survive on less than $2 per day.

“And if you take it from that angle for a family of six, giving them two dollars per meal, in a day, you’ll have $12 and about $360 in a month. I’ll leave the calculation for us to do. Let us come to the issue of the cost-of-living index which we normally use.

“We gave the government a breakdown; for feeding, we gave everybody in that family N500 per meal. If you give everybody in a family of six N500 naira per meal, one person will get N1,500 per meal in a day. And for the six people, they are going to have about N270,000 for feeding in a month.

“We looked at about N40,000 for accommodation, for education for 4 children, we put N50,000 assuming that your children should not go to private schools because you can’t do that with that amount of money.

“For Medicare, assuming there’s no surgery or serious medical issue, we put N50,000. For electricity, we put N20,000. That was even before this electricity tariff increase.

“And you discover that if today, you buy a token of N20,000, it no longer lasts as much as before. For Gas/kerosene, considering that people refill every two weeks, at the cost of about N15,000 – N17,000 for 12.5kg cylinder, we estimated about N30,000 a month.

“All these are how we arrived at the sum of N615,000. Note that we didn’t add expenses like communication, tithes/offerings in church or any other social obligation.

“Now we brought it out for negotiation. However, in doing this, we said that if the government can check all these other issues like the inflationary rate and the value of our currency, then we can adjust our demands.

“The labour movement wouldn’t have asked for more than N200,000 before the removal of subsidy. Apart from transportation and house rent, you know the cost of living. A bag of rice now costs over N70,000, bread and other food items are very expensive too.”

[NaijaNews]

Unilever Nigeria Plc. has announced the appointments of Mr. Bolaji Balogun as Independent Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Board, and Ms. Ngozi Edozien as Independent Non-Executive Director.

The appointments took effect from May 16, 2024.

Mr. Balogun is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Chapel Hill Denham. He has over thirty-five years of experience in investment banking, investing, and mobile telecommunications. Chapel Hill Denham, which he founded in April 2005, is Nigeria’s leading investment bank.

Ms. Edozien is a business professional with over 35 years of global leadership experience spanning Management Consulting, General Management, Private Equity/Venture Capital, Finance, Sustainability, and Strategic Planning/Business Development in multi-national companies in Europe, the USA, and Africa.

Speaking on the appointments, the Managing Director, Unilever Nigeria, Tim Kleinebenne said,

“As a centenary old business and the longest-serving manufacturing company in Nigeria, we are pleased to strengthen our board with these seasoned professionals.

We are confident they will add immense value to accelerate our growth following our outstanding results in 2023. I am also happy to report that our Board represents a diverse group of Independent Non-Executive Directors, in line with our unique values at Unilever.”

Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Balogun said, “Unilever is part of the fabric of Nigeria’s history and has contributed to Nigeria’s development, over the years. I am honoured to join the Board and look forward to working with my Board colleagues, Management and Staff of Unilever to continue to build its heritage and delivering greater value to all of our stakeholders.”

The Board of Directors and Management Team congratulate Mr Balogun and Ms Edozien on their appointments and wish them success as they assume their new positions.

[Nairametrics]

During the era of General Sani Abacha GCFR (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998), there was the National Economic Intelligence Committee (NEIC). The committee had its office at the seventh floor of the Federal Secretariat, Abuja. The committee was a co-pilot in the execution of economic policies for the country. The committee’s work was later inherited by General Abdusalam Abubakar GCFR (81) following the death of General Sani Abacha and then by President Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR (87) in May 1999. 

The committee was established by Decree 17 of February 1994. It was headed by Professor Samuel Adepoju Aluko (August 18, 1929 – February 7, 2012) from Ode in Ekiti state.  Professor Aluko played advisory to Chief Obafemi Awolowo (6 March 1909-9 May 1987), Chief Adekunle Ajasin (28 November 1908 – 3 October 1997), General Yakubu Gowon GCFR (89) and General Sani Abacha GCFR (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998). He was very close to Ikemmba of Nnewi, Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu (4 November 1933 – 26 November 2011), before, during and after the civil war.

The first military coup and the events that led to the civil war met him in Eastern Nigeria and it was at that time that he formed a personal friendship with the secessionist leader, Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu.

 In fact he advised Chief Ojukwu to go into exile to Cote Ivoire instead of Togo or Tanzania or France.

In one of his interviews with THE SUN Newspaper before he died, Professor Aluko explained that Chief Ojukwu did not fully understand the average Igbo mind since he did not visit the Old Eastern Region until General Aguisi Ironsi GCFR (3 March 1924- 29 July 1966)appointed him the Military Governor of the Eastern Region in January 1966.

Those within government will attest that the bond between Professor Aluko and General Sani Abacha helped tremendously in the creation of Ekiti state on October 1, 1996. Instead of flying to Abuja via Akure or Ibadan or Lagos while serving as NEIC Chairman, Professor Aluko would drive in his Peugeot 504 station wagon car from Ode in Ekiti state most often carrying plantain from his farm during weekends.

Alhaji Lawal Garuba, a friend, the son of a Muslim Scholar in Kano and a businessman, is never tired of telling anyone how Professor Aluko took him to General Sani Abacha to seek for a favour even at the detriment of General Sani Abacha’s close friend, Alhaji Dan Kabo.

He was a down to earth man, who practiced what he preached. He never spared anyone if you are on the wrong route no matter who you are, even if you are his first son, Professor Mobolaji Ebenezer Aluko (69), the pioneer Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Otueke, Bayelsa State from 2011 to 2016.

Professor Aluko’s brand of economic policy was critical of ostentatious government spending. When he returned from London, he became an informal adviser to the Action Group. He was appointed to head its austerity committee which was set up to find ways to save money. The committee recommended the slashing of allowances provided to ministers and political office holders, an idea that was not well supported by some of the political class within the party.

 In 1962, Professor Aluko was approached to serve as the regional economic adviser of the Western region. His salary was to be £2,942, at that time, he was a lecturer at University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University earning an annual wage of £1000. He accepted the offer on the condition that his new salary be reduced to the level he was paid at Ife stating that he will not be more productive at the new job than what he was doing at Ife. But this condition was rejected by the government.

While Professor Aluko was at Ile-Ife, he was a member of an informal advisory committee of AG, along with Professor Wole Soyinka (89), Professor Victor Oyenuga  (April 9, 1917 – April 10, 2010), Dr Odumosu and a couple of other lecturers. This group were strongly in favor of an idealistic party, a democratic socialist party that believed in curbing executive excesses, the advisory group also split with some members of the political class in terms how to engage with the national government and branching out of the Western region. Chief Obafemi Awolowo positively received some of the recommendations of this group but his deputy, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola who was now premier of the region did not like most of the recommended policies.

In 1965, when Professor Saburi Biobaku  (1918–2001), the deputy Vice-Chancellor of UNIFE advised all lecturers to support the party of the day, which was NNDP, a splinter group of the Action Group led by Chief Samuel Akintola,  Professor Aluko sided with Awolowo’s side of the Action Group who were receptive of the recommendations offered by the Ife group. Professor Aluko offered to resign and gave a 3 month notice, the resignation was accepted immediately and he was ordered to vacate official premises as soon as possible, he left the university and joined the economics department of University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Before the January 1966 coup, Professor Aluko addressing a youth conference had tasked the youths to be less tribal and engage with one another to unite the regions.

Professor Aluko’s views on economic growth and public finance was less elitist and was to approach decision making by using the federal, state and local government institutions as an instrument of growing the national economy. Professor Aluko’s view was drawing funds through higher rates of taxation and tracking tax defaulters to generate government income.

In interviews, columns and public lectures, Professor Aluko supported measures to increase workers productivity through better supervision and cutting of waste such as subsidized rent and allowances to government employees. These measures are capable of increasing government revenues that could fund policies to reduce unemployment and rural development.

As oil production increased in Nigeria in the 1970s, Professor Aluko was still inclined to support the thought that the state can be an engine of industrialization through funding of technical education, agriculture extension and infrastructural development. With a technical literate populace, the adoption and local reproduction of technology will be feasible. In addition, introducing mechanized farming will increase the income level of commercial farmers and the taxable income of government.

Professor Aluko’s support for mechanized farming meant balanced assistance to surplus producing commercial farmers and technical and educational assistance to small scale farmers to become surplus producing farmers. Small scale subsistence farmers who mostly live in the rural areas will use some the additional income to buy more affordable productive instruments. A strong believer in planning, it became important in agricultural planning for the development of a locally initiated agriculture instruments industries to save foreign exchange and produce affordable instruments for small scale farmers.

During General Ibrahim Babangida’s administration, Professor Aluko still steadfastly held on to the thought that the tiers of government had a major role to play in developing the economy. He was critical of the liberalization prescriptions of the structural adjustment programme adopted by the government.

Professor Aluko’s trouble with Structural Adjustment Programme also extended to the multilateral institutions who made the recommendations and the Nigerian economists who followed the dictates of Western capitalist thought. Professor Aluko faulted the benefits of free market currency devaluation and high interest rates that came after the programme was implemented.

Professor Aluko married his wife, Joyce Amomogha (September 20, 1934- March 5 2021) from  Ekpoma in Esan West local government area of  Edo state on valentine’s  day in 1955. He had his education at Christ’s Secondary School, Ado Ekiti, 1942-1945, London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, 1955-1959; lecturer, Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Ibadan, 1959-1962, lecturer, University of Ife,Ile- Ife, 1962-1964, senior lecturer and head, Department of Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 1964-1966, reader in Economics, 1966-67, dean, Faculty of Social Science, University of Ife, 1968-1970, chairman, College of Humanities, University of Ife, 1972-1973, appointed Professor and head, Department of Economics, University of Ife, Nigeria, 1967; member, International Economic Association, member, American Economic Association, member, Royal Economic Society, member, International Association of Agricultural Economists, member, Nigerian Economic Society, member, World Council of Churches Advisory Committee on Technical Services; chairman, Election Planning  Committee, Action Group Party, Nigeria, 1964-1968.

While serving as Chairman of National Economic Intelligence Committee (NEIC), we often met in the elevator of the Federal Secretariat in Abuja, since I worked on the eleventh floor at the office of the Secretary of the Government of the Federation.

 General Sani Abacha made him a member of the Federal Executive Council and always differed to him on Economic issues during council deliberations. 

Other members of the committee were Brig-Gen. G.A. Mohammed, a Quantity Surveyor from  Borno State who was the Secretary. The rest were Dr. Haroun Adamu (Bauchi), Dr. Dalhatu Araf (Nassarawa), Alhaji Umaru Audi (Niger) , Alhaji Musa Bello (Adamawa), Alhaji U.K. Bello (Kebbi), Mr. Walter Ekwensi (Imo), Barrister Eugene Madu (Anambra),   Princess (Mrs.) A.O. Oguneye (Ekiti), Dr. Ode Ojowu (Benue), Mr. Babatunde Sangokunle (Ogun), Alhaji Nasiru Maitama Sule (Kano), Comrade Godwin Uluocha (Abia) 

In November 1995, Mr. Walter Ekwensi died and was replaced by Mr. Donald Duke, a Barrister, from Cross-River State.

In December 1997, the Secretary, Major-General Garba Ali Mohammed was appointed the Minister of Works and Housing and in August 1998, Princess (Mrs.) A.O. Oguneye was appointed the Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.  In March 1999, Dr. Haroun Adamu was appointed Member/Secretary of the Presidential Policy Advisory Committee (PPAC) by the President-Elect, General Olusegun Obasanjo. Barrister Donald Duke was elected Governor of Cross River State in January, 1999.  Both Barrister Donald Duke and Dr. Haroun Adamu resigned their appointments from NEIC as a result of their new positions.

When the committee was formed in 1994, the following were part of the committee’s responsibilities:

Functions of the Committee

Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2) of section 1 of this Act, the Committee shall –

(a) analyse the annual budget and extract all economic measures requiring enforcement;

(b) work out details on the method of enforcing implementation of the annual budget;

(c) analyse the monetary guidelines issued by the  Central Bank of Nigeria (in this Act referred to as “the Bank”) and monitor the implementation of all the measures enumerated therein;

(d) monitor and identify factors inhibiting the realisation of set revenue targets such as tax evasion by individuals or association of individuals, and bodies corporate in the private and public sectors of the economy; (e) enforce the implementation of existing tax legislation; (f) assess the report on any project being carried out by the Federal Government and confirm that funds released for Federal Government projects are judiciously utilised;

(g) monitor and report to the Federal Government,  on quarterly basis, the inflationary rate, the consumer price index and such other growth indices on output, liquidity and cost of funds, transportation costs, fuel prices and other related tariffs;(h) recommend any increase or decrease of price on manufactured goods;(i) monitor the supply and demand of forex, the gap and factors affecting the markets sales and indicated rates, use of forex and operation of the market;

(j) consider any issue appropriate and relevant to the subject of revenue collection; (k) give a situation report of all its activities  on quarterly basis to the Federal Government; (l) ensure that any defaulter of any of the issues mentioned above or any other matter related thereto is brought before the Federal High Court; and (m) consider such other matters as may be referred to it from time to time by the President.

5. Powers of the Committee

The Committee shall have power to- (a) invite any person, group of persons or body corporate to appear before it; (b) call for memoranda from any person, association of individuals or bodies corporate, whether public or private; (c) ask for copies of reports, audited accounts or such other information as may be required for the purposes of the Committee and in whatever manner if deems fit from any person or association of individuals and body corporate whether public or private; (d) monitor any matter to the extent that it affects the functions of the Committee; (e) enforce foreign exchange regulations and cause offenders to be prosecuted; and (f) enter and inspect premises, project sites and  such other places as may be necessary for the purposes of carrying out its functions under this Act.

6. Directives by the President

(1) The President may give to the Committee such directives as appear to him to be just and proper for the effective discharge of the functions of the Committee under this Act. (2) It shall be the duty of the Committee to comply with any directives given pursuant to subsection (1) of this section. (3) Any decision reached by the President in accordance with this Act, shall be final and binding and notwithstanding the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1979, as amended, no suit or legal action in any court of law or tribunal shall be filed against any person for any act done or intended to be done in pursuance of any decision of the President.

Chief Paul Agbai Ogwuma (91) from Abayi in Imo state was governor of Central Bank at that time  while both Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu (84) from Ohafia in Abia state and Chief Anthony Ani (87) from Odukpani local government area of Cross River State served as Ministers of Finance under General Sani Abacha. At that time brilliant economists were running the economy of the country.

At that time also, there was the National Council of Nigerian Vision (NCNV), the Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC) and the National Economic Intelligence Committee (NEIC).

On March 25, 1998, the three bodies were merged together and they formed the Capital budget Monitoring Team. I was one of the Masters of Ceremony at the event, along with Ikenna Ndaguba (1935-2011). The inauguration was performed by the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Gidado Idris GCON (15 March 1935- 15 December 2017)

The terms of reference of the team were to verify the judicious utilization of funds allocated to all Ministers and Parastatals for capital projects. Specifically, they were to verify that: the capital projects of the Ministries are prioritized, funds are used for the purpose for which they are allocated, funds are released to projects as and when due, the provisions of Financial Instructions are strictly observed in disbursement, there is a link between the Federal Ministry of Finance and the various Ministries themselves and the various capital projects they are handling and there is constant collaboration between the Monitoring Agencies, i.e. National Economic Intelligence Committee (NEIC), Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC), National Council of Nigerian Vision (NCNV), National Population Commission (NPC), and the internal ministerial monitoring units.

The following persons served in the Capital Budget Monitoring Team. They were Alhaji A. Mohammed, Professor (Mrs) E. Eke, Princess (Mrs) A. Oguneye, Mr. M.S. Hamid, Mr. C.D. Gali, Dr. A.A. Owosekun, Alabo T. Graham-Douglas, Mr. Eugene C. Madu, Professor T.O. Olowokere, Professor Gini Mbanefo, Mr. A.G. Oladuntoye, Mr. C.C. Chukwura, Mr. Idakwo, Alhaji B. Albasu, Mr. I.O. Shangotola, Comrade G.O. Uluocha, Mr S.O.O. Osanyintuyi, Mr. J.O. Olaniyi, Engineer V. Ogunmakin, Professor T.A. Omobighe, Mr. Adams Oshiomole, Dr. Ode Ojowu, Mr. S.O. Majoroh, Mr. A.T. Ikomi, Alhaji K. Bashir, Professor Anya O. Anya, Professor U.D. Gomwalk, Alhaji Nasiru Maitama Sule, Mr. Olu Akindutire, Mr. A. Adejuwon, Alhaji A. Jimoh, Professor S.A. Aluko, Chief P.C. Asiodu, Dr. H.R. Adamu, Professor Munzali Jibril, Mr. O.G. Okoye, Mr. J.B. Ilori, Mr. Tunji Olaopa, Alhaji S.Y. Hamma, Alhaji Ballam Manu and Mr. Donald Duke.

Although General Sani Abacha GCFR abused the system by enriching himself fantastically, it was Professor Aluko’s committee that pegged the official rate of N22 to 1 dollar.

The committee also recommended the following: There will be no bidding or allocation of foreign Exchange at the CBN, every company, individual or organization shall source foreign exchange requirements in the autonomous market, CBN shall hold the official foreign exchange, and from time to time, intervene in the autonomous market, all government parastals, government companies, agencies and government majority owned companies and organizations, exploration and production oil companies, and oil service companies, recipients of foreign of loans and grants must continue to maintain these foreign exchange currently domiciliary accounts with CBN which shall purchase such funds as and when necessary at the prevailing autonomous rates, operation of the domiciliary accounts shall be authorized and export proceeds and other repatriation in-flows shall be held in domiciliary accounts which shall be held and maintained with any authorized bank in Nigeria.

The beneficiaries of domiciliary accounts shall have unfettered use of funds contained therein, Interbank autonomous market shall operate freely and for the avoidance of doubt, no oil processing company shall be permitted to operate a foreign exchange market in Nigeria. The main actors in IFEM shall be the bank and bureau de change, with CBN intervening from time to time and Bureau de change shall be allowed to buy notes and coins and travelers cheques freely but shall sell only notes and coins up to a maximum of US$2500 per transaction. Buying and sale of notes and buying of travelers cheque by bureau de change shall be at autonomous market rate subject to a margin of 2%.

For better or worse the committee also recommended the promulgation of Failed Banks (Recovery of debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks No. 18 of 1994, advances free fraud and other Fraud related offences decree 1995 (otherwise known as “419 decree”) and the Money laundering Decree of 1995.

Persons charged under the decree are to face the Miscellaneous Offences Tribunal.

After the death of General Sani Abacha, the National Economic Intelligence Committee (NEIC) played fewer roles especially during the tenure of General Abdusalam Abubakar. However, on Monday, November 8, 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo revived the committee when he appointed Dr. Ibrahim Ayagi (1940-2020) as Chairman of the committee.

While inaugurating Dr. Ayagi as chairman of NEIC, President Obasanjo declared, “The development effort since independence has been characterized by huge public investments in all sectors of the economy. If we stop to take stock of total public expenditure in the nearly forty-years of our independence, we would find the sum-total to be staggering. Yet, in spite of these staggering expenditures, and in spite of our vast human and material resources, we have made only minimal progress with alleviating the sufferings of the majority of our people”.

Though the short-comings of our development process include policy inconsistency as well as wrong policy prescription and articulation, the real problem is with policy implementation. Thousands of Government projects which were initiated two or more decades ago, remain uncompleted. These projects include the Ajaokuta Steel Complex, the Paper Mills at Iwopin, Jebba and Oku lboku ; the Oshogbo Machine Tools and a number of multi-purpose dam projects, roads, etc. This situation is aggravated by the manifest inability to maintain existing structures. Those projects completed have been badly mismanaged and badly run down. In addition, corruption and lack of transparency have become formidable impediments to the efficient allocation and use of resources. They have become all-pervasive and pose severe, if not mortal, danger to our moral and civil responsibilities and commitments as a nation.

As you are already well aware, this Administration is committed to poverty alleviation through rapid economic growth and development. We will ensure efficient use of resources, speedy implementation of projects and we will tirelessly light against corruption and indiscipline. The task before us is enormous and all hands must be on deck if we are to succeed. It is in this connection that this Administration has decided to reconstitute the National Economic Intelligence Committee (NEIC)”.

President Obasanjo then weakened the committee’s power by placing it under the Minister of Economic matters, Chief Vincent Eze Ogbulafor  (24 May 1949 – 6 October 2022. He said the legal instrument under which NEIC was established would be revised. With that the committee could no longer monitor the supervision of the implementation of capital projects in various ministries.

During the tenure of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR (66), the National Economic Intelligence Committee (NEIC) was scrapped. Till today, it has not been revived. In the presence circumstance we are at the moment, we may need to take another look at some of the measures recommended by the National Economic Intelligence Committee (NEIC).

Palpable fear has gripped communities in  Plateau State after unmen suspected to be bandits attacked Zurak and Bankalala villages in Bashar District of Wase local government area of Plateau State, killing more than 50 residents, including vigilantes, and injuring others in the process.

A LEADERSHIP investigation revealed that several houses were razed by the rampaging gunmen.

The residents of the community said the incident occurred at about 7pm on Monday when people in the community were going about their normal activities, but that they could not report the incident due to the poor communication network in the area.

Earlier, the death toll was put at 40, but last night, it increased to 50.

A traditional ruler in Wase, Alhaji Ahmed Lawal, said the death toll had risen to 50 persons, adding that the victims had since been buried in the area according to Muslim rites.

Sahpi’i Sambo, a youth leader in the area, who also confirmed the incident to our correspondent, said the bandits arrived at the community on motorcycles – two to a bike – armed with sophisticated weapons and started shooting sporadically at everyone on sight.

He said, “More than 40 people were killed while many others were injured. Residents of the village have fled to neighbouring communities. As of yesterday, security personnel had not yet arrived at the community. It was a deadly attack,” Sambo said.

Similarly confirming the killing to LEADERSHIP, the information officer of Wase local government area, Daniel Manwan, said from the information made available to im, over 30 people were killed in Bankalala village while operatives of the Directorate of State Services (DSS) pursued and killed three of the bandits at Zurak village.

“As I speak to you the entire villages are deserted for fear of the unknown,” he said.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the state police command, DSP Alabo Alfred, was yet to respond to the inquiry by our correspondent as of the time of filing this report. Also, the state government had yet speak on the incident as of the time of filing the report.

Deadly attacks on Plateau communities have been frequent in the last decade. One such attack in January left nearly 300 residents dead in more than 20 communities, showing the attack was well-coordinated.

 [Leadership]

Governor Similanayi Fubara of Rivers State has said he started taking decision as a governor in February, 2024.

Fubara, who spoke on Tuesday at Egbeda Community Secondary School field, venue of the inauguration of some internal roads project in Emohua Local Government Area, inaugurated by Delta State governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, reiterated that the projects people were seeing were accomplishments of four months.

He said good governance, service and projects were being delivered at a cost-effective rate.

He said, “We are just starting but I assure you of more attention. If in four months, we can do this, and we are getting this level of applause, you can imagine what will happen when we do one year of our record time, two years of our own record time, Rivers State would have experienced something different from the regular governance.

“I know why I said four months. We started full governance in February, 2024. That was when we started taking decisions, when we started confronting governance. And I am proud to say that our people are happy with what we have done.

“What we want to do is to bring governance to our people, service delivery at record time, and in a cost effective way.

“Everything that we are doing is in my white paper. I carry it along, so, there is no issue of any manipulation. Call me any day, anytime, it is there. Even the ones I did before this time, I still have all the records.

“If you call me any day, I will bring the records of all my activities in government, because I know that as a civil servant, what is most important is record keeping; so that if you are not there, and something happens, it is just for somebody to pick up the file and he will see the history.

“That is how I am trained, and I have that in my mind before I do anything. So, I am not scared of anything. Anybody who calls me any day, anytime, I have my records to show. I have all the approvals to show that I acted based on approval and not personal decision.”

The governor assured that his administration would continue to deliver projects that impact positively on the people directly while also empowering them to live better lives.

He stated that the Egbeda Internal Roads Project had been accomplished to both satisfy the needs of the people by making them happy and solving the perennial flooding problems experienced in the area.

The Governor acknowledged the support of the people before, during and after the elections, saying what his administration owes them is the dividends of democracy that included projects and social service delivery.

Performing the inauguration of the project,Oborevwori said he drove with Fubara on the road while accessing the venue of the event, and can testify of the commitment of his brother governor to sustain infrastructure development in the State.

He said, “This road project at Egbeda bears true testimony of the commitment of the Rivers State Government towards fulfilling its promise of sustainable infrastructure development of the State.

“It is reassuring that these all-season roads will economically empower, not only the people of Egbeda, but the entire Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State.”

[https://newsdirect.ng]

A former Director-General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Akin Osuntokun, has said the only condition that can make the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, consider returning to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is if he will be given the presidential ticket.

The PDP’s 2023 presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, had recently said that if in 2027, the party decided that it is the South-East’s turn and picked Obi as its candidate, he would readily offer his support.

“I have said repeatedly and I even said it before the 2023 general elections that if the PDP decides to zone the presidential ticket to the South or South-East specifically, I won’t contest it. As long as it’s the decision of the party, I will abide by it. But I contested the 2023 presidential ticket because it was thrown open to all members of the party.

“If the party decides that it’s the turn of the South-East and Peter Obi is chosen, I won’t hesitate to support him,” Atiku declared in a recent interview with BBC Hausa Service.

He also said that a merger between the PDP and Labour Party is possible.

Responding to the development, Osuntokun said that with Obi’s large support base in the last general elections, the only chance of him accepting to join the PDP is if he would be offered the party’s presidential ticket.

He said, “Peter Obi going back to the PDP would have to depend on the circumstances and the assurances from the political godfathers of the PDP. The thing is that it’s unrealistic to expect someone who has run for the president to now accept to be a running mate for whoever assumes the superior position.

“That’s because Obi has a unique political appeal among Nigerians. If it’s possible to do it like the way they do in the United States by analyzing the demographic groups that support each candidate, we would find a situation in which Obi carried about 90 per cent of the youth population. And if he chooses to be a running mate, those people are going to be disappointed and offended.

“The only way that Peter Obi could consider returning to the PDP is if he would be given the party’s presidential ticket. Otherwise, he would not embark on a futile exercise. Because if he becomes a running mate in PDP, he will lose a lot of his support. He would be demonized as a sellout.

“So I can’t see the point of his going back to the PDP other than being its presidential candidate.”

[DailyTrust]

The governorship candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections in Enugu State, Barr Chijioke Edeoga has described as scary and unconstitutional, the gale of demolitions recently carried out by the Enugu State Government in some parts of the state.

Edeoga, who accused the state government under the administration of Governor Peter Mbah of disobeying court orders and usurping the constitutional powers of local government areas, said demolishing people’s places of business without plans for alternative places will increase the suffering of the people.

Recall that the Enugu State Government recently demolished many parts of Enugu.

The demolitions, which have affected the Holy Ghost transport hub in the state capital and the Ogige Market in Nsukka, among other places, are being embarked upon to build standard motor parks in the affected areas.

But in a statement he issued on Thursday morning, the Labour Party governorship candidate also lamented the destruction of a private polytechnic belonging to a charismatic preacher and founder of Madonna University, Rev. F. Emmanuel Ede, expressing dismay that the government went to demolish the institution of higher learning in defiance of an order of the court.

“If there have been suspicions that the administration in Enugu State is insensitive to public sentiment and disdainful of the rule of law, the demolition of OSISATECH tended to validate it.

“It is scary that a government that swore to uphold the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is routinely disobeying court orders,” Edeoga said in the statement

He also lamented the demolition of a foremost hotel in Nsukka belonging to a nationalist and pre-independent politician, the late Chief Charles Abangwu, saying such actions were indicative of the insensitivity of the government to the plights of the people.

“The demolition of shops, a section of the Ogige Market, and Premier Hotel are also quite troubling.

“This is because of the dislocation of hundreds of businesses on which the livelihoods of ordinary people and their families are dependent.

“Interestingly, these businesses were forced, only a few months ago, to pay huge taxes and levies on those shops. It is curious that the Enugu State Government waited until it had collected these levies and taxes before destroying the sources of those funds,” the statement continued.

Continuing the LP governorship candidate said: “While it is understood that some of those areas demolished have constituted challenges of congestion and are due for some form of urban renewal, it must be recognized that no urban renewal activity has ever happened in one fell swoop.

“Development, especially as it affects urban renewal is an incremental activity that takes cognizance of impacts on persons and businesses.

“A government that is genuinely focused on renewal approaches such changes with the well-being of the people as its priority.

“This is why it raises serious concerns that the government of Enugu State began these activities without any form of consultation with the people and communities affected.

“More serious is the fact that there was no plan for relocation of those businesses to other locations before the demolition.”

While admitting that many parts of the state needed renewal, he wondered why the government failed to make a relocation and compensation plan before demolishing the properties.

“The essence of government everywhere in the world is the aggregation of the needs of the people into a pool where common solutions are incubated; it is the building of consensus on what constitutes the common good bearing in mind the social, economic, and even personal sensitivities.

“Democratic legitimacy ultimately belongs to the people, and that is why everything governments do must factor in the sensitivity of all concerned.

“But it appears that in Enugu State, under the current administration, the government considered its needs to be higher and more important than those of the people.

“There is no clearer sign that the needs of the people were not considered unimportant by the government than the lack of consultation that preceded these actions.

“The disobedience by the government, of a court order against the demolition, is also viewed by every right-thinking member of society as inherently tyrannical,” Edeoga continued.

He called on the government to take urgent steps to compensate all the people affected by the demolitions, build new markets and accommodate them without cost, and demonstrate respect for the laws and orders of the courts.

“The Enugu State Government must take immediate steps to respect court orders as is the practice in every civilized democratic country.

“A culture of disrespect to the judiciary is tantamount to disloyalty to the Constitution which provides for three independent arms of government that act as checks on one another,” Edeoga concluded.