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West Can Learn More From Africa -Obasanjo
Rivers State Deputy Governor, Dr. (Mrs) Ipalibo Harry Banigo (middle), receiving an award of excellence from Akwa-Ibom People’s Forum, during a Thanksgiving Service in honor of Governor Nyesom Wike for his victory at the Supreme Court. With her is Elder Ubomg Elijah (right) and Mr. Sunny Noah (left).
Nigeria’s former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has said that the West can learn a lot from Africa and Africans.
The former president and Co-Chair of the Commonwealth Africa Initiative (CAFI), Obasanjo and former United Nations scribe, Dr. Kofi Anan, were among the key leaders at the recently concluded Commonwealth Day Service and Commonwealth Africa Summit activities in London with Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, in attendance.
In his keynote speech during the opening plenary of the Commonwealth Service and Commonwealth Africa Summit (CAS) 2016 with the theme: “Leveraging our shared Heritage – What Africans can learn from their developed Commonwealth counterparts”, Obasanjo, said “I want to correct the impression that it’s only we (Africans) that can learn from other people and others don’t have anything to learn from us. I believe that any good person can learn from any other person, from situations and all the things around you. There is a lot the west can learn from Africa”.
Highlighting some of the lessons from Africa, Obasanjo said, “In the Commonwealth, if the Africans had not put their act together and work as hard as they have done, South African Apartheid regime might still be on-going. How we did it, what we did, others can learn from us”.
The former president said, “Let’s focus this conversation with what is right with Africa and what we can do with Africa. Africa is not an unmitigated failure; there are good things in Africa. Africa is the cradle of humanity. However, let nobody confuse you with this word globalisation. For me, I don’t take it, if globalisation means you ask me to open my door and you close your door against me, and you want to take everything in my own house to yourself, then to hell with globalisation.
“We as Africans should remember that nobody will do anything for us unless we do it for ourselves. In my part of the world, when you want to carry a load, you put a pad on your head, and stand by your load, then, they will see you need help, and come to help you. We need to put our pad on our head as Africans and stand by our load ready to carry, then, they will help us. Our greatest asset is our people. Let us train and educate them. I was talking to Kagame once, and he said, ‘when I started school, I had no slate, so, I was writing on my thigh’. Let us educate our people”, Obasanjo added.
In his remarks, the summit Coordinator, Mr Dayo Israel said, “Africa has come of age and it’s not enough to belong to the Commonwealth, we must benefit from the Commonwealth. There is a reward for being a member of the EU – free trade agreement and what have you, we need to begin to push for better rewards for our Commonwealth membership. We must be able to leverage on our shared heritage when it comes to Immigration, Trade, Youth Development and Security. We must make the commonwealth more relevant to the ordinary African people”.
The Commonwealth Africa Summit is an annual event hosted as part of the activities to celebrate the Commonwealth Week in London and organised by the Commonwealth Africa Initiative and GLEEHD Foundation.
The Commonwealth Africa Summit with the theme: “Shared Prosperity. Mutual Security”, was also attended by mayors from across London; high commissioners, members of parliament and a huge number of the African Diaspora Community leaders and citizens from across the Commonwealth.
The summit began with a wreath laying ceremony at the Memorial Gate where member states laid wreath in honour of the dead of the Two World Wars.
Commonwealth Africa Initiative Co-Chair, Baroness Flather, while speaking to the audience at the event, which had in attendance, the new Commonwealth Secretary General, Baroness Scotland said, “through this activity, we are able to honour the Africans who fought in the two world wars, like the Nigerians who fought alongside the British in Burma”.
Dr. Caroline Harper while speaking at the summit at the prestigious Tag Hotel in Victoria said, “We must leave no one behind in the Commonwealth and as the SDG says, we must reach the farthest behind first”.
The Queen’s annual Commonwealth Day message formed part of the event’s programme at Westminster Abbey, and in it, she wrote: “Today, and in the year ahead, the theme An Inclusive Commonwealth is an inspiration for us all. Let us give it practical effect by supporting those in need and those who feel excluded in all walks of life. By doing so, we will continue to build a truly representative Commonwealth community.”
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
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