Opinion
Dollarised Economy
August 1977, Midland Bank, London, exchange rate for Nigerian naira was 2 dollar; neither was one arrested for currency trafficking, so long as you declared what you had in your possession. Today, 46 years after, the naira/dollar exchange rate is unbelievably high, giving cause for anyone to ask what is responsible for the current sad state of the naira? Neither is there any possibility of naira exchange for 2 dollar, as in 1977. During his period of travail and humiliation after serving as Petroleum Minister, my late friend and colleague, Prof. Tam David-West, had some sad tastes of the shenanigans that have placed Nigeria in its current situations. Accused of being responsible for Nigeria’s economic adversity by taking a cup of tea and a gold wrist watch as a gift from foreign oil thieves, Tam David-West had to stay in prison. His faith in Nigeria was not shaken, but what he told some of his friends in confidence point towards the country’s present experiences. A situation where a few persons could become millionaires without lifting a broom in service of the country, would surely result in adversities.
It was not enough that the Nigerian Civil War provided unhindered opportunity for the mineral resources of the Niger Delta people to be taken over, it was also expedient to cow and intimidate the elite from that zone. It was criminal for a Petroleum Minister to accept a cup of tea and a gold wrist watch from foreigners, but it was not wrong to give a few privileged persons allocation papers to own oil blocks and sell oil, without knowing what a drum of oil looks like. Was it wrong for foreign oil companies to say that they were working for individual oil block owners, rather than the Nigerian nation? Is it not true that the Nigerian economy is predominantly a mono-product one, namely: petroleum resources? Was the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) wrong to say that “Past military rulers, who brooked no opposition, perfected a cloak of secrecy in the award of oil licences”? Did official venality in the oil sector not degenerate to the extent that from the regime of late Sani Abacha (1993-98) our heads of state hijacked the petroleum ministry portfolio? Does anybody know who owns what in the oil and gas industry, especially the ownership profile of all oil blocks in the country?
With the Petroleum Industry Act and privatisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, can it be said that there is transparency, sanity or justice in the nation’s economic stronghold? Where there is public accountability, numerous allegations about frauds and bribes involving N2.4 trillion of oil money and the collection of $620,000, should have been investigated thoroughly and those found culpable penalised, to sustain public confidence. Rather, we complain about dwindling revenue, in the midst of plenty. One does not have to be an economist or an expert in monetary system, to be able to know that productivity is the basis of a sustainable wealth or robust economy. There is a slogan in some quarters that everyone has to earn his daily bread, rather than have it given free. Thus, a healthy economy is one rooted in the concept of equilibrium, rather than a system characterised by sleaze, rent-seeking, patronage and secrecy in the management of public finances. That more than 80 per cent of Nigerians are currently groaning in poverty and agony arising largely from petroleum-related malfeasance.
One of the effects of globalisation, which came into being about a decade ago, is the rise of a predatory and parasitic economic system, which places weak nations at the mercy of the strong. A situation where all individuals and nations are not equal and capable of competing on some equal terms and conditions, there are possibilities of predators and hawks preying on the weak and the gullible. Within nations, there arise class, ethnic and interest groups competing for the monopoly of power and resources, thus creating rooms for crimes and corrupt practices. Oil wealth as the poaching ground! Perhaps, unknown to Nigerian leaders, the concept of international community is basically an opportunity for the strong to take some advantage of the weak. Rather than physical conquest and enslavement as in the past, the modern trend is clever exploitation of the weak and gullible by the strong. With promises of wealth creation, nations that are productive look for foreign markets to sell their products, using e-trading antics. If one trading out-let or customer is able to bring in 7×9 buyers then with time a trading or poaching colony is established, with one millionaire smiling sweatlessly to the bank.
With Nigeria as an oil-producing country and as a consumption-loving population, a political economy that is parasitic and exploitative is established. The rule of such economic system is the enjoyment of the good life made possible by producers of luxury goods, while local initiatives are stifled. There is a growing emphasis on academic learning and certification, and disregard for practical labour, with those who have amassed wealth investing in the establishment of private universities. There are no jobs to create except buying and selling: e-trading.What is known as dollarocracy under the globalisation system is an unwritten agreement or understanding among strong countries that produce goods, to use their currencies or monetary system as the measure of productivity. Countries that import goods must use the dollar as the standard currency for payment for such goods. Even as an oil-producing country, the economic shenanigans have been to make Nigeria a consuming, rather than an exporting nation, where existing refineries would not work. What accounts for that?
A dollarised economy is one which joins the dollarocracy as an unproductive partner, thus assuming the position of a weak partner, prone to exploitation. Sadly, the exploitation is unmerciful because it makes use of internal cabal and rent-seekers. The old idiom that those who dine with the devil must use long spoon, is full of wisdom in the sense that it cautions against a weak partner joining in the feast of champions. A weak partner is not only made to feed from the crumbs left over by the champions, but he is also made to prey on his own constituency by opening economic gates to the insatiable champions. In this dollarocratic system, you measure yourself by the standards of the champions as an unequal partner while the masses of your constituency bear the brunts and agonies caused by your audacity and pride. Nigerian political leaders must be paid in dollar standard while civil servants and producers of wealth must be paid not a living wage, but minimum wage, based on devalued naira. The Dollar Club is a group of champions meant to protect the global economy in the ratio of 80:20.
By: Bright Amirize
Dr Amirize is a retired lecturer from the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.
Opinion
The Rantings Of Rivers ALGON
For the first time in the last eight years , one can observe a moribund and toothless, Association of Local Government of Nigeria, Rivers State Chapter trying to lull the people of Rivers State in believing that it exists, that it is versed and abreast with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), knowledgeable about subsisting judicial pronouncements on the Local government administration matters by courts of competent jurisdiction, and it has workers and. the people’s welfare at heart.
These wrong impressions can be deduced from the text of the Press Conference delivered by the Association last week.
Despite the window dressing and cosmetic posture that the Association of Local Government of Nigeria, Rivers Sttate chapter wants to impress on the people and residents of Rivers State, it is crystal clear that workers at the Third Tier of Government have not fared well in the last eight years of the repressive and workers unfriendly immediate past administration in the State.
While workers at the State were fortunate to have a controversial minimum wage paid to them, local Government workers did not benefit from the N30,000 Minimum Wage which became a legal instrument about six years until March 2024, following a directive by the Executive Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, to Local Government chairmen in the State to immediately implement the minimum wage, wage award and promote workers.
Where was.the Legal Adviser of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria, whose statutory responsibility it was to advise the former Rivers State. Governor that it is an affront on the sensibilities of workers and fragrant.breach of extant law to not pay minimum wage to workers at.the 23 Local Government councils.
Civil servants at the State and Local Government councils were not promoted and did not benefit from the annual incremental credit for about ten years. The incremental credit is a paltry and very insignificant amount compared to the inputs of workers to drive implementation of government policies and programmes and what elective office holders take home within the comparable period.
I had expected a “concerned and workers-friendly ‘ Association of Local Government in the State to midwife the promotion of workers, implementation of Minimum wage and fulfill their statutory obligations to the workers and the people at the local government areas whose resources they hold in trust and on whose behest they are in power.
It therefore beats my imagination that Local Government Chairmen of ALGON, who are products of the ballot and not appointees of the former governor lost their “Executive” status and played the second fiddle role. Even when there was unconfirmed tampering of local government funds, they could not protest or raise an eye brow.
How the people who were cowardly and timid before the former administration in the State suddenly cultivated and imbibed the effrontry and temerity to hold a Press Conference attempting to disparage the performing and conscientious Sir Siminalayi Fubara-led administration leaves much to be desired and a bad taste in the mouth of all patriotic and truthful Rivers people.
I expected the self serving chairmen under the aegis of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria to brace up to the challenges of seeming derecognition and denial of their right of expression as elected chairmen by the former administration in the State.
While the ALGON has the legitimacy to contest violation of, or infringement on their interests, such protest should not be seen as selective. Between 1999 and 2003, the Association of Local Government of.Nigeria in Rivers State was vociferous and so alive to its onus that they rejected allocations that did not reflect the true figures of what the local government councils deserved from the Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC). That was when ALGON was keen and committed to the essence of its formation. That was a real workers-friendly ALGON.
However, with the advent of crude and uncivilised godfatherism that circumvented real democratic processes for manipulative and coercive selection that ultimately produced unpopular candidates of the godfather, chairmen were reduced to puppets, playing subservient roles for their benefactors instead of protecting the interest and welfare of workers and the people of their local government areas, who they ought to represent.
Having therefore failed to speak up for workers and defend the welfare of the people of their local government areas, at a time they were oppressed, the association in my candid opinion does not have the moral justification to cry fowl against the present administration in Rivers State whose policies and programmes so far, reveal that the governor understands that the legitimacy of his administration is derived from the people, so he is accountable to them by putting in place infrastructure that will give fresh breath to a people who are recuperating from the suffocation of repressive and coercive governance.
Sir Siminalayi Fubara is today a messiah to workers in Rivers State. Local government. workers are .being paid minimum wage, promoted and duly placed at their appropriate levels after 10 years of no promotion.
Civil servants in the State are sure of receiving their pensions immediately after retirement from service which was a marked. departure from previous administration.
Rather than vilifying or demonising the present administration in the State, the Association of Local Government of.Nigeria, Rivers State should thank the Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, for doing in less than one year what their grand master could not do for them and workers in eight years.
Remember, everyone will stand in the court of history and posterity to account for their actions and inactions in office.
Igbiki Benibo
Opinion
Kidnapping: Need For Govt To Address The Monster
Kidnapping, a heinous crime, cannot be condoned in any circumstances. The situation in Nigeria, characterised by various security challenges, including the presence of militant groups and criminal organisations, requires a multifaceted approach to address its root causes.
A report by the Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited, a security risk management and intelligence company based in Abuja, stated that at least 2,583 people were killed and 2,164 kidnapped in the first quarter of this year.
The record carries the number of killings and abductions across the country from January to March, indicating that 80 percent of the killings and 94 percent of the abductions occurred in the Northern part of Nigeria.
This report, however, varied with the position by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, who said that the casualty figures were going down, the consulting firm’s report showed that an average of 28 persons were killed and 24 kidnapped.
The Nigerian government, through the Minister of Defence, Muhammad Badaru Abubakar, during the maiden edition of the annual lecture series organised by the Nigerian Army Resource Centre in Abuja, said the security situation was under control.
The casualty figures in zones, according to the data from the Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited, revealed that out of the people killed during the period, 793 were from the North-West, 681 from the North-East and 596 from the North-Central. The casualties were recorded from bandits’ attacks, farmers/herders’ conflicts and communal clashes.
The South-West recorded 194 killings, the South-South, 161 people; and South-East, 158. The five states with the highest number of killings were Borno, 517; Benue, 313; Katsina, 252; Zamfara, 212 and Kaduna, 206. The data showed that out of the 2,164 persons abducted within the period, 1,297 were kidnapped in the North-West, 421 in the North-East, 330 in the North-Central, 30 in the South-West, 66 in the South-South and 20 in the South-East.
Kaduna State recorded the highest number of abductees with 546; Zamfara, 447; Borno, 340; Katsina, 252 and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), 102. Experts hope that the present government under President Bola Tinubu will do the needful.
Firstly, addressing the socioeconomic factors that contribute to kidnapping is crucial. High unemployment rates, poverty, and lack of economic opportunities push individuals towards criminal activities. Investing in education, job creation programmes, and infrastructure development can help alleviate these issues and provide alternatives to crime.
Secondly, strengthening law enforcement and judicial systems is essential. Improving police training, equipping them with necessary resources, and enhancing collaboration between security agencies can help in apprehending criminals and ensuring justice for victims. Additionally, enhancing the efficiency of the judicial process and holding perpetrators accountable through swift and fair trials can deter future criminal activities.
Furthermore, enhancing intelligence gathering and surveillance capabilities can help in preempting kidnapping attempts and dismantling criminal networks. Cooperation between government agencies, intelligence services, and international partners can facilitate information sharing and coordination in combating organised crime.
Moreover, addressing corruption within the government and security forces is imperative. Corruption undermines efforts to combat crime by facilitating criminal activities and eroding public trust in institutions. Implementing anti-corruption measures, promoting transparency, and holding corrupt officials accountable can help in restoring trust and integrity within the system.
Community engagement and empowerment play a vital role in preventing kidnapping and other crimes. Building strong community relationships, fostering trust between residents and law enforcement agencies, and promoting community-based initiatives can help in identifying and addressing security threats at the grassroots level.
Finally, kidnapping in Nigeria is a complex issue that requires a comprehensive and coordinated approach. Addressing socioeconomic factors, strengthening law enforcement and judicial systems, enhancing intelligence capabilities, combating corruption, engaging communities, and promoting international cooperation are all crucial components in combating kidnapping and improving security in the country. However, it is important to remember that any strategy must prioritise human rights, the rule of law, and the protection of innocent lives.
Badamasi Junaidu
Junaidu writes from Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic, Bauchi.
Opinion
Local Government As Agent Of Nation Building
Development is regarded as sequential changes or growths that occur in a society or country over time. It remains a product of good governance, which mostly lies in the hands of those at the helm of affairs at a particular time and process that led to the emergence of such leaders.
The local government is universally found in contemporary societies, both in the developed and developing countries. It is a vital political institution, such that modern politics and administration revolves around it. Today, most countries across the globe have adopted democratic system of government, being the government of the people, by the people and for the people. In these countries, governance is centered on three tiers with constitutional backing to aid rapid development. A country like Nigeria has three tiers of government, Federal, State and Local Governments. Each tier has constitutional roles, aimed at complementing each other. The mother of them, that is, the Federal Government, plays significant roles in nation building, and this is one of the reasons why citizens always look unto the presidency and participate actively during presidential elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
It is an established fact that citizens also perform their civic responsibilities as expected during the governorship elections, while there is a lot of apathy during the chairmanship and councillorship elections, forgetting that without a solid foundation, the longevity of structure or building is in doubt.
Citizens’ nonchalant attitude to the process that produces public administrators at the grassroots is quite alarming, and this usually results into having the wrong peg in the right hole.
Findings revealed that voter apathy associated with local government council elections was due to non-performance of some previous elected administrators, lack of security of lives or property and lack of trust in States Independent Electoral Commission (SIECs). Others include introduction of caretaker committees to man the affairs of the councils, do-or-die approach of political soldiers to the council’s polls, interest of the incumbent governors, choice of political godfathers, influence of respected monarchs and many more. The local government is a tier of government that provides essential services to the public, such as health and safety, transportation, sanitation, environmental, and utilities.
Also, it is the tier of government that ensures grading of rural roads, management of basic schools, local markets, among others. Public administrators play a crucial role in the delivery of these services and the management of local government organisations. Some time ago, the governor of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Umo Eno, at the swearing-in ceremony of chairmen and vice chairmen of Nsit Ibom and Urue–Offong / Oruka Local Governments, compelled chairmen of the local government councils in the state to reside within their areas of jurisdiction for effective delivery on their mandate and development of rural areas.
Also, the ongoing campaign or demand for financial autonomy for local government by relevant stakeholders in the country further attests to how important this tier of government is in building a prosperous and self-sustained nation.
This development led to the conduct of local government council election in the 33 local government council areas of the state in 2021 by the current leadership of the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC), headed by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Aare Isiaka Abiola Olagunju. About 30 percent of registered voters took part in the election, a result that further attest to the long-time nonchalant attitude of citizens and residents to local government council elections. According to records, the feat attained by the commission in terms of voter turnout was the highest in recent times.
No doubt, democracy provides opportunity for people to choose their leaders and enables citizens to make their opinions known to those in power, enjoy good governance and interface with the authorities, especially those at the grassroots.
Adegoke writes in from Ibadan, Oyo State.
By: Adedamola Adegoke
-
Oil & Energy3 days ago
NNPCL Assures On OB3 Pipeline Completion
-
Ict/Telecom1 day ago
Technology, Others Responsible For Nigeria’s Bonga Oil Operations
-
News1 day ago
Why Wike Is Playing God In Rivers -Asari Dokubo
-
News3 days ago
We’re In Full Control Of Rivers, PDP Boasts
-
Opinion3 days ago
Local Government As Agent Of Nation Building
-
News1 day ago
Nigeria, UN Seek $306m For Urgent Food Crisis In Three States
-
Nation3 days ago
NDLEA Intercepts Three Trailer Loads Of Opioids, Others, Arrests Suspects
-
Rivers1 day ago
Road Flag-Off: Fubara’s Planned Visit To Omoku Excites Monarchs