For The Record
Africa Gets 10m Of 55m Doses US Covid-19 Vaccine Donation
The Joseph Biden-Kamala Harris administration in the United States has announced the distribution list for 55million of the 80million doses of America’s own vaccine supply President Biden pledged to allocate by the end of June in service of ending the Covid-19 pandemic globally.
“As we continue to fight the Covid-19 pandemic at home and work to end the pandemic worldwide,” Biden “promised that the United States will be an arsenal of vaccines for the world.
“Part of that plan is donating vaccine from our domestic supply, and the President has pledged 80million doses to be allocated by the end of June,” a statement by the State Department, made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt via email, said.
Earlier this month, the administration announced the plan for the first 25million doses that we have begun shipping, and today’s announcement completes the list for the remaining 55million doses.
“For all of these doses, those most at risk, such as health care workers, should be prioritized, based on national vaccine plans,” the statement said.
“In addition to sharing doses from our own vaccine supply, the Biden-Harris Administration is also committed to working with our U.S. manufacturers to produce more vaccine to share with the world.
“To that end, ahead of the G7, President Biden announced that the U.S. will purchase half a billion Pfizer doses and donate them to 92 low- and lower middle-income countries and members of the African Union.
“In total, the G7+ agreed to provide an additional more than one billion doses starting summer 2021.
“In addition, the U.S. is committed to expanding local production of vaccines, and through our Quad partnership and the International Development Finance Corporation’s support for vaccine manufacturing, more than one billion doses will be produced in Africa and India in 2021 and 2022.
“This vaccine strategy is a vital component of our overall global effort to lead the world in the fight to defeat COVID-19 and to achieve global health security.
“For these 80million doses, the U.S. will share 75% through COVAX and 25% will be targeted to help deal with surges around the world.
“Our goals are to increase global Covid-19 vaccination coverage, prepare for surges and prioritize healthcare workers and other vulnerable populations based on public health data and acknowledged best practice, and help our neighbors and other countries in need. And, as we have previously stated, the United States will not use its vaccines to secure favors from other countries.
“Based on this framework and pending legal and regulatory approvals, the allocation plan for these 55million doses include, approximately 41million will be shared through COVAX.”
According to the statement, the allocations include, “Approximately 14million for Latin America and the Caribbean: Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, and other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries, Dominican Republic, Panama, and Costa Rica.
“Approximately 16million for Asia: India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Maldives, Bhutan, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, Cambodia, and the Pacific Islands.
“Approximately 10million for Africa to be shared with countries that will be selected in coordination with the African Union.
“Approximately 14million – or 25% of these 55million vaccines – will be shared with regional priorities and other recipients, such as: Colombia, Argentina, Haiti, other CARICOM countries, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Panama, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Cabo Verde, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Tunisia, Oman, West Bank and Gaza, Ukraine, Kosovo, Georgia, Moldova, and Bosnia.
“Sharing millions of U.S. vaccines with other countries signals a major commitment by the U.S. Government. Just like we have in our domestic response, we will move as expeditiously as possible, while abiding by U.S. and host country regulatory and legal requirements, to facilitate the safe and secure transport of vaccines across international borders.
“This will take time, but the President has directed the Administration to use all the levers of the U.S. Government to protect individuals from this virus as quickly as possible. The specific vaccines and amounts will be determined and shared as the administration works through the logistical, regulatory and other parameters particular to each region and country,” the statement added.
For The Record
Can Rivers Assembly Remove Governor’s Powers To Appoint Executive Officers?
Background
On Thursday, February 15, 2024 at its 109th Legislative sitting, the House passed into Law, the Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2024. The Bill repealed the Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission (Amendment) Law, No. 3 of 2006 and further amended the Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission Law of 1999. The Bill was sent to the Governor for his assent and after the statutory 30 days, the House re-passed the Bill into Law on 22nd March, 2024.
The Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission was established by the Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission Law of 1999. Section 2 provides:
“The Commission shall comprise a Chairman and four other members who shall in the opinion of the Speaker be persons of unquestionable integrity.
“The Chairman and members of the Commission shall be appointed by the Rivers State House of Assembly acting on the advice and recommendation of the House Committee of Selection and shall in making the appointment be guided by the geographical spread and diversity of the people of Rivers State.”
The above section was repealed by the Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission (Amendment) Law No 3, 2006. In Sections 2 and 3, the Amendment Law provides that:
S. 2 “Section 2 of the Principal Law is amended by repealing subsection (1) and substituting the following subsection:
“(1) The Commission shall comprise a Chairman and 4 (four) other members.
S. 3 “Section 2(2) of the Principal Law is amended by repealing subsection (2) and substituting the following subsection:
“(2) The Chairman and members of the Commission shall be appointed by the Governor subject to the confirmation by the House of Assembly and shall in making the appointment be guided by the geographical spread and diversity of the people of Rivers State.”
The import of the 2024 Amendment Bill passed into Law by the House is that the Governor will no longer have the power to appoint the Chairman and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission and the power of appointment shall be vested in the House of Assembly.
Legal Issues
The first issue to consider is the Constitutional power of the Governor. Section 5(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 provides that the executive powers of the State shall be vested in the Governor of that State.” Further, Section 176(2) provides that: “The Governor of a State shall be the Chief Executive of that State.”
This follows that the Governor is the Chief Executive Officer of the State Government and by the powers vested on him, is responsible for making appointments into various executive bodies, subject to the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and other statutes. All Commissions and other parastatals are executive bodies under the control of the Governor. The House of Assembly Service Commission is an executive body and as such, the Chairman and members can only be appointed by the Governor. The House of Assembly has no powers to make any appointment into an executive body as no statutory body is under the control of the legislature. The Rivers State House of Assembly should not mistake the presence of the building of the Service Commission in its premises as conferring powers on the House to appoint the Chairman and members of the Commission.
The second issue to consider is the Constitutional alteration of 2023. In that alteration, the Third Schedule was amended to include State Houses of Assembly Service Commissions, which invariably follows that a State House of Assembly Commission is one of State bodies established by section 197 of the 1999 Constitution. Let’s be reminded that Section 198 of the 1999 Constitution gives the Governor the power of appointment into various executive bodies, subject to confirmation by a resolution of the House of Assembly of a State. The job of the Rivers State House of Assembly ends with the confirmation of the appointees.
The alteration to the Third Schedule, paragraph 1A provides that the composition, tenure, structure, finance, functions, powers, and other proceedings of the Commission shall be as prescribed by a law of the House of Assembly of the State. Notice that the appointment of the Chairman and members of the Commission is not listed. Therefore, it can be safely inferred that the power to appoint the Chairman and members of the House of Assembly Service Commission lies with the Governor, as is the case with the other bodies listed under Section 197 of the 1999 Constitution.
There is nothing in the Alteration that, by any stretch of imagination, can be inferred to confer the power of appointing the Chairman and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission on the Rivers State House of Assembly, notwithstanding the fact that the law creating the Commission was enacted by the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Thirdly, is the Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission and its staff under the control of the State Government? To answer this question, we will take our voyage to Section 318 of the 1999 Constitution. That section gives the definition of a Public Service of a State to mean: “the service of the state in any capacity in respect of the government of the state and includes service as: clerk or other staff of the House of Assembly; member of staff of the High Court, the Sharia Court of Appeal, the Customary Court of Appeal or other courts established for a state by the Constitution or by a law of a House of Assembly; member or staff of any Commission or authority established for the state by this Constitution or by a law of a House of Assembly; staff of any Local Government Council; staff of any statutory corporation established by a law of a House of Assembly; staff of any educational institution established or financed principally by a government of a State; and staff of any company or enterprise in which the government of a State or its agency holds controlling shares or interest.
The purport of this section is that the Assembly Service Commission is not an appendage of the legislature but under the control of the State Government. Even at the national level, the members of the National Assembly Service Commission are appointed by the President in collaboration with the National Assembly.
Fourthly, what is the position of the Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission Law vis-à-vis the National Assembly Service Commission Act? Section 4(5) of the 1999 Constitution provides: “If any Law enacted by the House of Assembly of a State is inconsistent with any law validly made by the National Assembly, the law made by the National Assembly shall prevail, and that other law shall, to the extent of inconsistency, be void.”
Further, in A.G Bendel v AG Federation & 22 Ors (1982) 3 NCLRI, the Supreme Court held per Fatayi Williams CJN (as he then was) “neither a State nor an individual can contract out of the provisions of the Constitution. The reason for this is that a contract to do a thing which cannot be done without a violation of the Law is void.”
The fifth issue is: “can a statute revive a repealed statute?” In the case of Idehen v University of Benin, Suit No FHC/B/CS/120/2001, delivered on 19th December, 2001, the court held that:
“Contrary to the contention of the University, the effect of a repealing statute is to erase the repealed statute from the statute book. When a statute is repealed, it ceases to exist and no longer forms part of the laws of the land. In other words, the effect of the repeal is to render the repealed statute dead and non-existent in law. Like a dead person, it cannot be revived.”
The court also held in Onagoruwa v IGP (1991) 75 N.W.L.R (pt. 193) 593 that in law, a non-existent statute is dead and cannot be saved or salvaged by the court.
In Madumere v Onuoha (1999) 8 NWLR (Pt. 615) Pg 422, the Court of Appeal held that:
“the effect of repealing a statute is to obliterate it completely from the records of the Parliament as if it had never been passed. Such a law is to be regarded legally as a law that never existed…This means in effect that when a statute is repealed, it ceases to be an existing law under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
For the purpose of reviving your memory, the provision giving the Governor the power to appoint the Chairman and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission under the repealed 2006 Law provides in its opening paragraph:
“3. Section 2(2) of the Principal Law is amended by repealing section 2 and substituting the following section…” (emphasis mine).
Further, Section 6(1)(a) of the Interpretation Act provides:
“(1) The repeal of an enactment shall not revive anything not in force or existing at the time when the repeal takes effect.”
Please note that Section 318(4) of the 1999 Constitution provides that “The Interpretation Act shall apply for the purposes of interpreting the provisions of this Constitution.”
It follows from the above that the House cannot repeal Sections 2 and 3 of the Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission (Amendment) Law No 3, 2006 to revive the already repealed provisions of the 1999 Law.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Rivers State House of Assembly lacks the powers, legal or otherwise, to remove the power of appointment of the Chairman and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission from the Governor and vest that power on themselves. The provision in the Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission (Amendment) Law, 2024 seeking to vest that power on the House is in clear contravention of the 1999 Constitution, and therefore, a nullity in the eyes of the Law. See the case of MacFoy v UAC (1961) 3 All ER 1169 where the court held that you cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand.
In that case, Lord Denning stated: “If an act is void, then it is in law a nullity. It is not only bad, but incurably bad. There is no need for an order of court to set it aside. It is automatically null and void without more ado, though it is sometimes more convenient to have the court declare it to be so. And every proceeding which is founded on it is also bad and incurably bad. You cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stay there. It will collapse.”
Rt Hon Ehie is Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt.
By: Edison Ehie
For The Record
We ’ll Not Take Rivers People’s Trust And Confidence For Granted – Fubara
Being a text of the 2024 Budget speech presented to the Rivers State House of Assembly by Governor Siminalayi Fubara at Government House, Port Harcourt on Wednesday, December 13, 2023. Excerpts.
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, distinguished guests, ladies, and gentlemen.
It is my pleasure to be before this hallowed chamber today to present our state’s budget estimates of Revenues and Expenditures for the fiscal year 2024.
Before I proceed with my presentation, I wish to, again, thank God for the special opportunity to serve our people as their elected Governor.
We thank our dear President, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR for his special interest in the peace and progress of Rivers State and the bold steps he has taken to revamp the nation’s economy and sustainable development across the country.
We are also grateful to the good people of Rivers State and the progressive members of the State House of Assembly for your continuing support and prayer for the success of our administration.
We assure you that we will never take your trust and confidence for granted. We will remain faithful to our oath of office and do the best we can to advance the aspirations of our people for good governance, peace, security, and inclusive development.
Our spirit is high; our determination is forever strong as we remain focused on delivering on our mandate in an honest, accountable, just, and fair manner to all parts of the State and all segments of society.
Under our watch, no part of the State will be neglected in our development agenda; no one will be left behind in the distribution of resources and opportunities.
We reaffirm our commitment to working closely with the State House of Assembly to fulfil all our promises and take Rivers State to greater heights of peace, progress, and prosperity.
Mr Speaker, recall that we launched the construction of the Port Harcourt Dual Carriage Ring Road as a flagship project to accelerate the socio-economic development of our State. Julius Berger has since mobilised to the site and work on this multi-billion-naira project has begun.
In line with our consolidation mantra, we have in the last six months, completed many of the uncompleted projects we inherited from the immediate past administration, including roads, hospitals, and schools, while those not yet completed, have reached advanced stages of completion.
Some of the completed roads include Oyigbo – Okoloma Road, Alode – Onne Road, Botem-Gbene-Ue-Hiro Road, Mgbodahia internal roads, Ogbo-Uhugbogo-Udiemude Road, Omoku-Aligwu-Krigene road, Eneka internal roads, Ogbakiri internal roads, and Omagwa internal roads.
Other roads, which construction is proceeding very well include Ahoada-Omoku dualization, Emohua-Tema junction dualization, Umuakali – Eberi road, Alode-Ebubu-Eteo junction road, Egbu-Ehuda internal roads, Elelenwo internal roads, Rumuepirikom internal roads, phase 2, Bori city internal roads, the Ngo section of the Ogoni-Andoni-Opobo unity road, and the Opobo ring road and electrification projects.
On education, we have delivered Government Comprehensive Secondary School, Borokiri, Government Secondary School, Eneka, Government Secondary School, Emohua, Government Secondary School, Okehi, Comprehensive Secondary School, Alesa – Eleme, Government Secondary School, Ataba, and the 10,000 capacity University of Port Harcourt Auditorium. The hostel and auditorium projects at the Yenagoa campus of the Nigerian Law School are also almost completed.
Our commitment to healthcare delivery remains strong. Already, we have delivered the Professor Kelsey Harrison Hospital, the Dental, Maxillofacial, Ear Nose Throat and Ophthalmology Hospital, and several primary healthcare centres across the state.
To accelerate the delivery of affordable housing, we have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with TAF Global Africa and turned the sod for the phased development of 20,000 units of houses in the State.
This is another signature project of our administration, which is targeted at creating new model cities within Obio/Akpor and Ikwerre Local Government Areas of the State with enormous socio-economic benefits to the State and our people.
On sports development, we have opened the Real Madrid Football Academy for full academic and football training activities with the admission of the first batch of students. We have also rehabilitated the indoor basket hall and pitch at Niger Street, Port Harcourt.
We are poised to stimulate industrialization by creating an enabling business environment to attract investors to invest in the different sectors of the State’s economy.
To this end, plans are underway to organise the first Rivers State Investment Summit in decades to work out an investment and industrialization road map for the State.
We have also approved three bills: the Rivers State Investment Promotion Agency Bill, the Rivers State Youth Entrepreneurship Development Trust Fund Bill, the Rivers State Electricity Bill, and the Rivers State New Towns Development Bill, which are critical to accelerating investments, job creation, energy security, economic empowerment, and the socio-economic advancement of the State when passed into law.
Furthermore, we have concluded arrangements to launch the N4,000,000,000.00 seed fund in partnership with the Bank of Industry to support small and medium-scale enterprises across the State at a single-digit interest rate.
We have also entered into a memorandum of understanding with an investor to build a modern spare parts market in the State.
We appreciate the relevance and importance of the civil service to the development of the State through effective implementation of government policies and programmes.
Consequently, our commitment is to strengthen and motivate the civil service for optimal and responsible performance through regular promotions, payment of salaries, pensions and gratuities, and the provision of a good working environment.
Accordingly, we are happy to report that we are up to date in the payment of salaries and pensions to our civil servants and concluded the promotion exercise for our mainstream civil servants and other staff, except those without functional governing boards, such as the secondary school teachers and health to legally conduct the exercise, will be done as soon as we constitute the governing boards.
We have restored water and installed new lifts at the State’s Secretariat complex to improve sanitation and ease access to the higher floors of the complex.
Since we came on board, we have spent over 6 billion naira to pay the gratuities backlog to retired civil servants. Again, our commitment is to ensure that we clear all arrears of gratuities owed to civils by previous administrations.
Also, the recruitment exercise of 10,000 workers into the State’s civil service is almost completed and successful candidates will receive their engagement letters as soon as the report from the State’s Civil Service Commission is ratified by the State Executive Council.
Finally, we have worked with security agencies, local governments, and community leaders to keep our State peaceful, safe, and secure. This is an achievement we will continue to further improve and sustain throughout the Yuletide and beyond.
Mr Speaker, I have highlighted some of our achievements in policies and projects as a relatively young administration implementing a budget and programmes we inherited from the immediate past administration.
As a government, we are satisfied with the modest mileage we have gained in implementing our blueprint despite the prevailing economic hardship and the political challenges and distractions we faced since the inception of our government.
Nevertheless, we can assure our people that the tempo of governance and delivery of services in our priority areas of investments and economic growth, infrastructure delivery and job creation, education, healthcare and human capital development, agriculture, and food security will gain traction and accelerate with speed and vigour in the new year.
2023 BUDGET PERFORMANCE REVIEW
Mr Speaker, a total revenue of 755,666,987.238 was projected for the 2023 fiscal year. This sum included a supplementary estimate of 200,000,000,000.00, which we accessed for the exclusive purpose of funding the construction of the Port Harcourt Ring Road project.
35. The breakdown of the 2023 budget was as follows:
(i) Recurrent Expenditure: N175,249,692,201.00
(ii) Capital Expenditure: N380,417,395,037.00
(iii) Supplementary capital estimates: N200,000,000,000.00
Total: N755,666,987.238.00
As of October 2023, the total actual receipts from all sources, was approximately 66% performance on the revenue side.
There were encouraging improvements in internally generated revenue receipts as against the projections for the year, while the performance of recurrent expenditure was 100%.
THE 2024 BUDGET ASSUMPTIONS
38. Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, the 2024 budget, christened Budget of Promise is based on the following assumptions:
(i) oil price benchmark of $70 per barrel;
(ii) oil production rate of 1.5 million barrels per day; and
(iii) exchange rate of #750/US as projected by the Federal Government. THE 2024 BUDGET SIZE
The total projected revenue for Rivers State for the 2024 Fiscal Year is N800, 392,485,433.01 billion. This is constituted as follows:
(i) Recurrent Expenditure: = 361,598,242,570.85
(ii) Capital Expenditure = 410,266,485,090.64
(iii) Total: = 800,392,485,433.01
FINANCING THE 2024 BUDGET
The financial sources of the 2024 budget are as follows:
Internally Generated Revenue – 231,057,836,945.00
Statutory Allocation – 68, 458,610.00
Mineral funds – 145, 526,581,463.00
Value Added Tax – 55, 650,000,000.00
Refunds Escrow, Paris/ECA – 1, 200,000,000.00
Refunds from bank charges – 1, 500,000,000.00
Excess Crude Account – 1, 700,000,000.00
Exchange rate gain – 1, 200,000,000.00
9. Forex equalization – 3, 000,000,000.00
10. Other FAAC – 5, 000,000,000.00
11. Asset sales – 20, 000,000,000.00
Capital receipts – 9, 879,557,210.00
Proposed internal/external grants – 24, 570,000,000.00
14. International Credits – 2, 000,000,000.00
Bonds – 237, 000,000,000.00
Internal loans – 235, 000,000,000.00
Prior year Balance – 6, 934,784,872.01
TOTAL = 800, 392,485,433.01
RECURRENT EXPENDITURE
The Recurrent Expenditure is projected to be spent as follows:
Personnel Emolument – 99, 588,939,939.39
New Recruitments – 28, 924,562,980.61
Overhead costs – 18, 871,623,339.00
Grants, contributions & subsidies – 7,908,000,000.00
Counterpart pension scheme – 15,000,000,000.00
Gratuities/Death Benefits – 77,850,000,000.00
Monthly pensions – 30,240,000,000.00
Domestic loans interest – 32,420,734,367.60
Foreign loan interest – 536,709,798.04
Domestic loan, principal repayment- 26,018,966,086.70
Foreign loan, principal repayment – 5,081,731,374.51
FAAC Deductions- 12,865,723,913.00
COT/Charges/ General Admin – 5,000,000,000.00
CAPITAL EXPENDITURE
The capital allocation of 410,266,485,090.64 represents about 51 per cent of the total budget projections for the fiscal year 2024.
SECTORAL ALLOCATION OF THE CAPITAL BUDGET
The sectoral allocation of the capital budget is as follows:
Governance – 161,742,835,256.27
Information & Communication – 2,234,273,168.00
Public Administration – 13,852,493,641.59
Finance and Planning – 7,779,818,293.13
Agriculture – 20,311,574,254.53
Infrastructure – 128,003,540,952.66
Commerce and Investment – 1,787,418,534,40
Culture and Tourism – 1,381,187..049.31
Education – 40,426,441,994.74
10. Health – 30,555.506,748.20
Social Development – 10,155,787,127.27
Environment & Sustainable Development – 8,449,614,889.89
Judiciary – N 5,646,617,642.76
The 2024 Budget Policy and Objectives
Hon. Speaker, the overall policy objectives of the 2024 budget are to promote economic development in the State through inclusive growth, the provision of critical infrastructure to support economic, business, and social activities, and the creation of an enabling environment for private sector-led industrialization, job creation and poverty reduction.
We will strive to address the challenges of socio-economic inequalities by ensuring improved access to quality and affordable education, healthcare, water, electricity, housing, social investments, gender empowerment and social inclusion.
This accounts for the reasonably high allocations in the 2024 capital budget to infrastructure, education, healthcare, social development, environment, sustainable development and agriculture.
With these funds, we will build more road networks to interconnect the State, rehabilitate, equip, train and staff all dilapidated primary and secondary schools, build technical and vocational education centres, and allocate more funds to our tertiary schools to improve the quality of teaching, learning and research.
We will also rehabilitate, equip and staff dilapidated primary healthcare facilities, restore, equip, and staff all our general hospitals, complete, equip and staff all five zonal hospitals, implement socially beneficial healthcare schemes, and introduce social investment schemes to fight poverty, social exclusion, and gender discrimination.
Given the importance of the judiciary in the advancement of the rule of law, economic growth, and social accountability, we have also improved the allocation for the funding of the judiciary, law, and justice sectors in this budget to achieve effective and speedy dispensation of justice in the State.
We will ensure that accessed local and international credits are used only for capital projects that would benefit economic growth, give attention to the completion of ongoing projects before embarking on new ones, and grow the economy through targeted investments in areas of comparative economic advantage, including commercial agriculture, electricity generation, renewable energy, oil and gas, housing, and sports development.
We will also provide our young people with the skills and tools they need to succeed in the 21st-century economy and to ensure that education and healthcare are accessible to all regardless of background and means.
Conclusion
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, thank you again for your patriotism and dedication to the service and advancement of the State.
The budget we have put forward reflects our commitment to responsible financial management and our dedication to the progress of our State and the well-being of our people.
Our priorities are clear: to secure our State, foster sustainable economic growth, create opportunities for all, invest in the future, and ensure our collective prosperity.
As we all know, the security and well-being of the people are the reason we are in government. The budgeting process is fundamental to the realisation of this fundamental objective of state policy.
We recognize the challenges we face as a State and the pointless efforts to frustrate and sabotage our government even before we get started. As you know desperate situations call for desperate measures. I assure you of our determination to weather the raging storm strategically and responsibly.
Mr Speaker, I, therefore, commend this budget to the House of Assembly for your consideration and speedy passage.
Thank you for your kind attention. God bless you all; God bless Rivers State.
For The Record
‘Big Tech Firms Are Threat To Journalism In Nigeria’
Being a paper titled, ‘Nigerian Media Sustainability and Existential Threat by Big
Tech’, presented by Azubuike Ishiekwene at the 19th All Nigeria Editors Conference
holding at Ibom Icon Hotels & Resorts, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State from November 14 -18, 2023.
Protocol
“Every morning a lion wakes up, it knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve to death…It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle, you better be running”
Quote first attributed to Dan Montano in The Economist, but was popularised by Thomas Friedman in The World is Flat.
Overview
If you asked me if big technology (or big tech) companies were a threat to journalism, say, 20 years ago, my answer would have been an emphatic yes. After all, these companies do our job without our job description. They also disrupt the media space while taking little responsibility for content.
Before I go too far, perhaps I should explain that there is a slight difference in form, but not always in substance, between big tech and big search engines.
While big tech could sometimes be a dominant player in information technology hardware, like Samsung, or in e-commerce, like Amazon, search engines are software monsters although both core hardware and software providers in this field have the capacity as we have seen, for forward or backward linkages. In this paper, I will focus more on search engines, at least a few in the big league that have significantly disrupted our work, for good or ill.
I am sure you know them – Google, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Yahoo, YouTube, Baidu and so on. Please, do not add MySpace to this list; it died before they could write our obituary.
By the topic assigned to me, it appears that I am obliged to follow the lead that big tech – that is, one or a combination of the companies I mentioned – could eventually send traditional media into its final resting place.
However, the caveat in this topic, “sustainability” suggests that the Guild still hopes that conventional journalism would survive. But what is sustainability? One of the most practical definitions I have seen is, “sustainability consists of fulfilling the needs of the current generation without compromising the needs of future generations.”
As to whether big tech poses an existential threat to the survival of the Nigerian media and the way out, if indeed such a threat exists, we shall see soon enough.
How media earns
Traditional media’s two basic sources of revenue are advertising and circulation or subscription sales. On the face of it, the fear of a journalistic doomsday appears justified in light of catastrophic declines in revenues from these two major sources of media income.
The relationship between big tech and traditional news media is already complex enough. But I can assure you that the impact of big tech on the media as we know it is just beginning. The Reuters Institute has already predicted this year to be the breakthrough year for artificial intelligence and its application for journalism.
The institute rightly said the arrival of ChatGPT has transformed the debate over whether AI is here to stay or not. In its journal, Journalism, Media, and Technology Trends and Predictions 2023, the Institute said about ChatGPT, “Its speed and capabilities are awe-inspiring and frightening at the same time. While the underlying models have been around for some time, ChatGPT has turned these into an accessible prototype that gives a real sense of where AI may be heading. It can tell jokes (but has been trained not to tell racist or sexist ones), come up with plots for a film or book, write computer code.”
In case you missed it, AI even mocked our industry in the report by summarising the challenges facing local news media in 50 words!
The above was published in the report.
More news outlets, including News24 of South Africa, are training their systems with the voices of their popular anchors with astonishing accuracy.
Big Tech: Archenemies, Frenemies, or Friends?
Big tech may be playing more actively in our industry than us, taking an increasing share of our money and maybe our jobs without being responsible – both in proprietorship and accountability – for the information it disseminates. It has exploited its unmatched reach, ability to use algorithms to tailor content to suit consumers, and real-time engagement advantage to retain consumers. But as they say, there are two sides to a coin.
Positive Impact:
1. Increased Exposure:
• Big tech platforms provide news media companies with a vast audience. Articles and videos can be shared and spread rapidly on these platforms, leading to increased visibility and traffic for news outlets.
2. New Revenue Streams:
• Some tech platforms have revenue-sharing agreements with news media companies. For example, YouTube shares ad revenue with news organisations that post videos on its platform, once you reach a certain threshold.
3. Better Analytics:
• Tech platforms provide news media companies with sophisticated analytic tools that allow them to better understand their audiences and tailor content to user preferences.
4. Engagement Opportunities:
• Social media platforms allow news outlets to interact with their audience in a way that was not possible before. They can receive immediate feedback, address concerns, and build communities around their content.
Negative Impact:
1. Ad Revenue Competition:
• Big tech companies have diverted advertising revenues away from traditional media outlets. They offer targeted advertising based on vast amounts of data, which is often more appealing to advertisers. I was scandalised during the recent general elections in Nigeria that folks who had built their careers in the mainstream and whom we were banking on left us high and dry, with the excuse that their principals wanted minimum use of legacy media platforms! But I understood, even if I did so with a heavy heart! Why? A BBC online report www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zd9bd6f/revision/7 said, “Politicians are investing heavily in the use of websites, blogs, podcasts and social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter as a way of reaching voters.”
“During the 2019 election campaign,” the BBC report continued, “the Conservatives spent one million pounds on Facebook alone, at a point, running 2,500 adverts.”
Let’s look at some more numbers: Google earned about $3billion from sales to China-based advertisers in 2018; Google UK earned £3.34billion in 18 months ending December 2021 as total revenue in the UK market; in 2022 Google’s share of UK digital advert market was 38 percent of all adverts valued at £5.72billion.
If the UK media is complaining, I will advise they should not do so as loudly as us. Why? I’m sure most of you already know that on revenue from traffic, for example, while you can get as much as $2 in CPM from traffic from the UK or the US, the best you can hope to get from local traffic, that is, traffic from Nigeria regardless of the size, is probably 80cents per 1000! Sure, this example is related to revenue from traffic; but the ratio, even for advertising is not significantly different.
2. Spread of Misinformation:
• The ease of sharing on social media platforms can contribute to the spread of misinformation. This not only misleads the public but also undermines trust in news media.
3. Algorithmic Control:
• The algorithms used by tech platforms control what content is seen and what is buried. This can lead to a loss of control for news media over how and to whom their content is distributed. In an article by Kanchan Srivastava, published on February 27, 2023, entitled, “Surviving the algorithm: News publishers walk the tightrope as Google ‘updates’ hit hard,” the author quoted a respondent as saying, “Google has released major algo updates in 2022, which impacted search traffic across publishers.” Publishers did not find two major updates last year by the big tech funny at all.
4. Dependency:
• News media companies may become dependent on these platforms for traffic and revenue, which can be risky given the changing algorithms and policies.
5. Potential for Censorship:
• Big tech companies have the power to censor or prioritise certain types of news content based on their own policies or external pressures, which can impact the democratic discourse.
6. Data Privacy Concerns:
• There are concerns about how big tech companies handle user data, and these concerns extend to the partnerships between tech platforms and news media companies.
7. Dilution of Brand Identity:
• Being lumped together with a multitude of other content producers on a single platform can dilute a news outlet’s brand identity.
8. Room for redress
• Complaints about discriminatory business or editorial practices from Nigeria and a number of other developing countries are hardly treated with seriousness
All About Algorithm, the Devil?
Not all the challenges summarised by our AI friend in 50 words were brought upon the traditional media by big tech. Nor are we here solely because of Google’s malicious fiddling with its algo. We in the traditional media space share in the blame for what took our industry from distress to life support.
I will tweak HBS Professor Clayton Christensen a bit by saying for a long time, we were innovating our products in response to technological shifts, with very little attention to our business models, or if you will pardon my drift, what E. Jerome McCarthy described in his book, Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach, as the 7Ps of marketing – Product, Promotion, Price, Place, People, Process and Physical Evidence.
Nothing depicts this more tellingly than media organisations’ need to reconsider obsolete editorial culture and imbibe new ones, especially in the areas of collaboration, audience-centered production, and creating an audience community.
To be able to compete favourably, media houses may have to take another look at the redundancy levels in-house. Reuters Institute predicted that more newspapers would stop daily print production due to rising print costs and the weakening of distribution networks. It also predicted a further spate of venerable titles switching to an online-only model. They are happening before our own eyes.
Let me be local. In LEADERSHIP the average production costs of our major consumables – newsprint, plates, ink, energy – have risen, with the most significant rise being in energy cost, which increased by 40 percent in one year, while our advert rates have remained largely constant.
Survival in the media industry used to depend on rivalry in the media; now it depends on collaboration. Recent collaborative works on the Pandora Papers, BureauLocal, and the #CoronaVirusFacts have shown that media organisations can work with colleagues across boundaries to share resources for the common good.
In 2020, Aliaa El-Shabassy, a teaching assistant at Cairo University, listed six reader needs outlined by the BBC for media organisations that want to stay ahead and compete with tech platforms. Why should other media companies listen to the BBC’s advice? Well, its global reach in 2020 was 468.2m people a week!
El-Shabassy wrote, “During Corona’s peak when audiences needed a trustworthy source to rely on, BBC News scored the highest reach among other international media organisations. Moreover, according to the annual Global Audience Measure, a total of 151 million users per week are accessing BBC’s news and entertainment content digitally.”
Six reader needs that any Media Practitioner must be aware of, according to the BBC are:
Update me – which means in the era of information overload, your audience should know in a new light what they already know about.
Give me perspective – it is a newsroom’s own goal to believe that perspective can only be shaped by the newsroom. Your audience can provide perspective.
Educate me – everyone wants to learn about an exciting new thing. Once you provide diverse content with curiosity value, your audience will be eager to find more from you.
Ishiekwene is Senior Vice Chairman/Editor-In-Chief, LEADERSHIP Media Group.
Keep me on trend – audiences want to be kept trending. Perhaps that was why the BBC reached a record number of people during COVID-19.
Amuse me – one of the reasons tech platforms prioritise user-generated content (remember Facebook’s pivot to video) over professionally produced content is that they have better entertainment value to attract adverts. The simple truth is that if you make your audience smile, they will most likely come back. It doesn’t always have to be serious! The more entertaining yet informative your content is, the more your institution is likely to grow.
Inspire me – inspiring stories attract younger audiences more than others and younger audiences source content through tech platforms more. Do the math!
Big Stick for Big Tech
Yet, big tech can’t get off lightly. In 2021, and despite heavy criticism, the Australian government pioneered a new media bargaining code that compels tech platforms to negotiate payment to local news media outlets for using their content.
Initially criticised as a form of subsidy from big tech to big media, significantly because of the role played by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, the law has been hugely successful. Both big and small media outlets have benefitted from the law while the country’s journalism practice has also been revitalised, leading to the creation of new journalism jobs.
In an article published in 2022 by Brookings, Dr Courtney Radsch, Fellow, Institute for Technology, Law and Policy, UCLA, wrote that Australia’s big tech regulatory efforts were developed around three thrusts: taxation, competition/antitrust, and intellectual property.
The bargaining code therefore allows publishers to collectively bargain without violating antitrust laws; requires tech platforms to negotiate with publishers for the use of news snippets; also requires them to pay licensing fees to publishers; and taxes digital advertising and uses the revenue to subsidise news outlets.
The EU, US and India have since adopted their own media bargaining code and the idea of compelling big tech to pay for news they don’t produce but use and sell is gaining momentum, has been gaining global support since Australia took the bull by the horns.
I’m aware that the newspaper the publishers’ association in Nigeria set up a committee in July to examine the possibility of collective bargaining with big tech.
Staying in business
Understanding that consumers hold all – or most – of the aces, is the first step towards sustainability. For perspective, a paper entitled, “The Newspaper: Emerging Trends, Opportunities, and Strategies for Survival and Sustainability,” by Frank Aigbogun presented at a retreat for NPAN on July 18, 2023, said between 2010 and 2015, audience time spent spend on online media consumption soared to 150%. In that time, audience time spent on television decreased to -8%; radio, -15%; magazine, -23%; and newspaper, -31%.
The reality of digital media is that evolution has brought about new competition and fresh opportunities. Solutions journalism, citizens journalism, and a deeper interface between journalism and technology are the order of the day. There was a time when we consumed music via turntables, stereos with records, and then cassettes and then compact discs. Album sales are no longer used to measure the success of a body of work.
Now it is streaming, the playground of big tech companies such as Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, TIDAL, Pandora, etc. If technology did not pose an existential threat to the music industry, I do not think big tech would end journalism.
Reuters Institute said, “Better data connections have opened up possibilities beyond just text and pictures and smartphone adoption has accelerated the use of visual journalism, vertical video, and podcasts.”
Good content should not be free. What technology is doing, therefore, is to offer traditional media the opportunity to reach more people and make a profit.
Through the use of content and tech-led innovation, a growing list of brands are expanding into broadcast and streaming TV to grow and engage their audiences, and bring in new revenue streams. This involves the use of new formats, new technology, and new products to broaden and retain the audience base.
In addition, feedback tools, such as engagement matrices, are being used to “galvanise the industry on loyalty” (according to FT, which now uses the RFV – Recency, Frequency, and Volume of reading its digital content).
Traditional media organisations in Nigeria also need to rethink their business models, from content to distribution and personnel costs. One of the ways some media organisations are going about change in business model is by targeting niche markets, while others invest in research, education and learning.
Other ideas you may find useful in turning an existential threat to an opportunity for sustainable growth, are:
Diversify: Think about Julius Berger now into massive production and export of cashew nuts! Think about games, films, books, special events & publications, etc
Preserve your candle: Don’t give content free and still not collect and deploy customer data. Know your audiences and cultivate them
Re-purpose content
Review your systems and processes regularly and take tough decisions
Be ethical
Invest in talent
Conclusion
Let me return to the first sentence of this presentation. Yes, big tech poses a threat because of the opaque relationship it has with traditional media. However, is this threat going to pull the plug on journalism? I’ll say no. I’ll be the first to admit that the prevailing mood in the media industry is one of uncertainty.
To be certain, nothing will bring back the days when advertisement and circulation were enough to successfully run a media organisation. Also, because the media is a kind of cultural sector that does not necessarily respond to the principles of demand and supply, media organisations that fail to swim with the tide will continue to struggle or pack up altogether. If we invest in what feels relevant and useful to consumers, then we have nothing to worry about because technology will help us know exactly how to adapt and reach our target audience.
What we should worry about instead is how to retain the ethics of our practice in the face of robotic and artificial media which might just overpower the audiences we share.
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