THISDAY MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 17
14 THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015 COMMENT Editor, Editorial Page Peter IshAkA Email peter.ishaka@thisdaylive.com FIGHTING CORRUPTION AND PROTECTING OUR DIGNITY Dele Olowu argues the fight against corruption should not be limited to protecting our material resources, but also about protecting our dignity from assaults Muhammadu Buhari’s victory in the Presidential election has provoked great excitement and expectation about the prospects of a new Nigeria. It is well known, as he himself declared in his convention speech that Buhari does not have a fist full of dollars and that even if he had, he would not throw it at anyone. Buhari barely concealed his relative indigence, and the last Presidential election, would perhaps be the only instance during which penury has been used successfully as an instrument of political mobilisation. Obviously, governance in Nigeria is not a Holy Order populated by saints and angels. But even though corruption is rampant, and countless players have trashed the system flat and out, Nigerians still value people of integrity. That is why in spite of all the material odds against him, Buhari with his meagre resources, not only prevailed against Goliaths in his own party, but also against incumbency and the state-supported PDP. General Buhari’s triumph reestablishes the fact that in spite of the grim reality of widespread corruption in our country, Nigerians still place a huge premium on integrity. Buhari’s signature quality is his honesty and integrity. This character hangs on his chest like a war medal and most Nigerians expect that he will use this asset in changing the face of governance in our country. In view of the massive dysfunctions that have crept into public governance in the last 16 years or so, the public expects so much healing from General Buhari. Some Nigerians may well believe that the General can walk on water. The greatest and most fanciful expectations are in the area of the fight against corruption. If General Buhari were to fail to deliver on this count, we should not expect any dramatic successes from him, in other areas of our national life. But the public needs to be reminded that the fight against corruption is not only about fighting the misuse of resources or about forcing felons to return stolen goods. Nor should we suppose, as is currently being done, that certain public institutions, even without interrogation or scrutiny, can be adjudged guilty of corruption. Most eyes for example, seem to dwell on the Ministry of Petroleum and the NNPC, which have been so massively slandered, it seems not one individual in any of the two entities, can be identified as competent or honest. The oil industry in Nigeria may have been tainted in the past by grave misdemeanors. But, this cannot by itself, mean that everyone who works in this sector is either a felon or a criminal-in-waiting. Even if strong restoration work is required in the oil sector, we must proceed with a proper understanding that eminently useful work has been produced in the oil industry and that its technocrats are amongst the most sophisticated and well- trained of Nigeria’s workforce. Corruption involving massive embezzlement is a huge ulcer on our body politic, and requires to be addressed. They occur in all layers of our national experience and therefore require to be dealt with decisively. But it helps neither the anti-corruption cause GENERAL BUHARI’S TRIUMPH REESTABLISHES THE FACT THAT IN SPITE OF THE GRIM REALITY OF WIDESPREAD CORRUPTION IN OUR COUNTRY, NIGERIANS STILL PLACE A HUGE PREMIUM ON INTEGRITY. BUHARI’S SIGNATURE QUALITY IS HIS HONESTY AND INTEGRITY. THIS CHARACTER HANGS ON HIS CHEST LIKE A WAR MEDAL AND MOST NIGERIANS EXPECT THAT HE WILL USE THIS ASSET IN CHANGING THE FACE OF GOVERNANCE IN OUR COUNTRY nor the fight to raise governance levels, if certain quotas of our workforce are singled out for habitual and mindless denigration. Because the fight against corruption dwells unfairly on particular sectors, we tend to ignore the philosophic origins of the structures by which our leaders corruptly subjugate us. The more enduring forms of corruption, which seem to continue unchallenged, are the several gestures of arrogance with which our leaders oppress us, and continually, remind us that we are beholden to them. These gestures are part of the social and political rites with which the ruling elite reinforce the unjust Nigerian order. These include the protocols of extreme veneration with which we allude to our leaders, namely; “Your Excellency,” “Head of State and Commander –in - Chief”, “Distinguished Senator” and so on and so forth. These protocols, applied often enough, delude our leaders into believing they are deities. This phenomenon has sometimes been referred to as the imperial syndrome in African governance. The use of this language of extreme veneration is a communicative assault on the dignity of those whom our leaders rule over. This assault on our dignity is further expressed in the disrespectful deployment of high police officers to stand behind governors and their wives during public ceremonies; it is also expressed when a Colonel is deployed to stand behind our Head of State during state functions. Often the Colonel does nothing more significant than carrying the President’s speech at public events. Most of the time, the Colonel’s presence is awkward and redundant. And yet such highly-trained manpower is used so cheaply, merely to remind us of the mighty power of those who run our lives. Assaults on our dignity such as these, form part of the structure with which our rulers have sought to subjugate us. This trend also corrupts the phenomenon of power and how it is deployed in our society. We tend to ignore these corrupt assaults on our collective dignity, because they involve no loss of material resource. But we have cumulatively lost our social dignity because of these aggressive assaults. Those who care about the defence of our dignity will therefore be glad to learn about General Buhari’s warming to members of his convoy that they must obey all traffic regulations. The announcement specifically frowned on the common practice by which convoys produce chaos and sometimes accidents on our roads. This announcement marks a useful departure from the old trend which places the comfort of our rulers above every other consideration, including the safety of our citizens. Buhari, may by this token be drawing the curtain on the era of indulgence and selfishness in public governance. Our leaders must cut down on the arrogance of power and respect the dignity of the citizens, over whom, they rule. More importantly, we must remind ourselves that the fight against corruption is not only about protecting our material resources, nor about auditing a specific entity. It is also about protecting our dignity from the predatory assaults of our rulers. Olowu, a public policy analyst, wrote from Abuja THE BIG WHY Despite the inability of the federal government to fully fulfill its statutory obligations, NNDC has acquitted itself creditably, argues Ifeatu Agbu. It is common knowledge that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was established by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration in December 2000 to facilitate the rapid development of the Niger Delta region that produces over 90 per cent of the country’s oil wealth. It is, however, unfortunate that despite the spirited drive by successive boards of the commission to perform, their efforts were seriously constrained by several factors, including inadequate funding. The act establishing the NDDC states clearly how the commission shall be funded. Section 14[2] provides that “there shall be paid and credited to the fund established pursuant to subsection [1] of this section; [a] from the Federal Government the equivalent of 15 per cent of the total monthly allocation due to the member states of the commission from the federation account, this being the contribution of the Federal Government to the commission; [b] three per cent of the total annual budget of any oil-producing company operating onshore and offshore in the Niger Delta area, including gas processing companies; [c] 50 per cent of monies due to member states of the commission from the ecological fund...” and other sources such as grants and loans. Apart from the federal government which did not comply with the provisions of the act, especially during the Obasanjo years, some of the oil companies have also not been paying the three per cent of their annual budget as required by law. Records show that they deduct first charges before calculating the three per cent from the balance. It is more like cutting the nose to spite the face, given that what they spend for the development of the Niger Delta is for their own good at the end of the day. The federal government is reported to have defaulted in meeting its obligation to the commission to the tune of about N740 billion. In spite of these constraints, it could be said that the NDDC has acquitted itself creditably. The conspicuous presence of its projects in all nook and crannies of the region bears this out. Even with this, previous boards were accused of leaving behind many uncompleted projects. This was what made President Goodluck Jonathan to specifically order the current board during its inauguration to focus on the completion of projects rather than starting new ones. The new board, from all indications, has kept faith with the presidential directive despite the funding challenges that it has faced since its inception on December 16, 2013. Contrary to the spurious allegations by a body called the Emergency Integrity Group that the current board has received and squandered over N300 billion, the facts available show that all that the board has received so far is just about N56 billion. It has to a large extent, prudently deployed this amount in completing some of the big ticket projects initiated by the previous boards. Information from the commission’s project monitoring directorate shows that NDDC constructed about 550 kilometres of roads; completed over 50 water schemes in addition to providing electricity to about 70 communities. Records from the commission also show that in the last one year, under the watch of the current board and management, 247 projects were completed. Among the projects inaugurated within this period are four 522-bed space modern hostels at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) and the Imo State University, both in Imo State, as well as the University of Benin and the Delta State University, Abraka. In all, 19 of such hostels are being built in universities and polytechnics across the Niger Delta. The contributions of the NDDC to the education sector were not limited to infrastructure. According to the commission’s Managing Director, Mr. Bassey Dan-Abia, the interventionist agency had in recent times provided “science equipment to our secondary schools; retrained 500 science teachers and 225 principals and vice-principals, for capacity enhancement in schools management and administration. It has also provided 3,600 sets of computers to all the polytechnics in the region and awarded 1,021 overseas scholarships for Master degrees and PhD programmes in engineering and sciences, including medicine to youths of the nine NDDC states, in the best universities across the world.” Other training programmes were also designed to take care of the youths who could not make it to tertiary institutions. In this wise, the commission introduced various youth development schemes to arm the young ones with skills that would get them gainfully employed. The positive fall-outs of this strategy are now evident as statistics made available by the commission indicate that a total of 5,765 youths across the Niger Delta Region have so far benefited from the youth empowerment programmes. According to the MD, “when we develop and empower young people, we are bound to reduce crime and violence in the region.” In addition to its youth empowerment schemes, the NDDC has made substantial contributions to the shift from subsistence farming to modern agricultural practices. The commission recently distributed over 100 tractors to State Ministries of Agriculture in the nine Niger Delta states to boost food production. It also donated 27 tractors to the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) group, for delivery to farmer cooperatives in their respective host communities. The appraisal of NDDC’s performance cannot be complete without reference to its popular Free Health Care Programme. This is one intervention that brings tremendous relief and makes immediate impact on the lives of the rural people. During the nation-wide strike by medical doctors last year, the current board deployed the free health care mission to fill the void in several communities. Furthermore, the NDDC managing director said recently that the commission had undertaken the construction of three specialist hospitals in Bayelsa State (orthopaedic), Akwa Ibom State (cardiovascular) and Rivers State (cardio-vascular) in partnership with private sector service providers. The NDDC has also inaugurated several roads and bridges, including the Iselu-Okaigben-Idungboko road and bridge, which is a bypass that takes traffic from Asaba in Delta State to Auchi in Edo State. The 25.7-kilometre road reduces the journey from the Delta State capital to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja by over an hour. There is nothing wrong with criticism so long as they are based on verifiable facts and figures and not sheer mischief or ignorance. Constructive criticism can be helpful in spurring development and that is the only way it can command respect. If the Emergency Integrity Group had taken pains to investigate what the current board has achieved with the resources available to it, they wouldn’t have embarked on a campaign of calumny. Agbu wrote from Port Harcourt
- Page 1 and 2: MPC Likely to Retain Interest Rate
- Page 3 and 4: 2 MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 THISDAY
- Page 5 and 6: 4 MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 THISDAY
- Page 7 and 8: 6 MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015 • THISDAY
- Page 9 and 10: 8 NEWS MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 • THIS
- Page 11 and 12: 10 MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 • THISDAY
- Page 13 and 14: 12 MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 THISDAY
- Page 15 and 16: B MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 THISDAY
- Page 17 and 18: D MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 THISDAY ADVER
- Page 19 and 20: 14 MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 THISDAY
- Page 21: 16 MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 THISDAY CFO
- Page 25 and 26: 20 THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015
- Page 27 and 28: 22 THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015
- Page 29 and 30: 24 MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015 • THISDAY
- Page 31 and 32: 26 THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015
- Page 33 and 34: 28 BUSINESSWORLD THISDAY • MONDAY
- Page 35 and 36: 30 THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015
- Page 37 and 38: 32 BUSINESSWORLD THISDAY • MONDAY
- Page 39 and 40: 34 THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015
- Page 41 and 42: 36 MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 THISDAY THIS
- Page 43 and 44: THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015 BU
- Page 45 and 46: THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015 41
- Page 47 and 48: 46 THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015
- Page 49 and 50: Friday, May 1, 48 MONDAY 2015 www.t
- Page 51 and 52: 50 THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015
- Page 53 and 54: 52 MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 THISDAY
- Page 55 and 56: 54 MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 THISDAY
- Page 57 and 58: 56 MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 THISDAY
- Page 59 and 60: 58 MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 THISDAY
- Page 61 and 62: 60 MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 THISDAY
- Page 63 and 64: F INTERNATIONAL MONDAY MAY 18, 2015
- Page 65 and 66: H MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 THISDAY
- Page 67 and 68: 62 MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 THISDAY
- Page 69 and 70: 64 THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015
- Page 71 and 72: 66 MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 • THISDAY
- Page 73 and 74:
68 MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 • THISDAY
- Page 75 and 76:
70 THISDAY•MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 MO
- Page 77 and 78:
TRUTH & REASON Monday May 18, 2015
- Page 79 and 80:
THISDAY MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 3
- Page 81 and 82:
THISDAY MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 5
- Page 83 and 84:
7 THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY , STARTE
- Page 85 and 86:
MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 • THISDAY 9 N
- Page 87 and 88:
THISDAY MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 11
- Page 89 and 90:
THISDAY MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 A
- Page 91 and 92:
THISDAY MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 C
- Page 93 and 94:
THISDAY MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 13
- Page 95 and 96:
THISDAY MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 15
- Page 97 and 98:
THISDAY MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 17
- Page 99 and 100:
THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2 015 1
- Page 101 and 102:
THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015 PO
- Page 103 and 104:
THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015 23
- Page 105 and 106:
THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015 25
- Page 107 and 108:
THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015 27
- Page 109 and 110:
THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015 BU
- Page 111 and 112:
THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015 Hi
- Page 113 and 114:
THISDAY MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 33
- Page 115 and 116:
THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015 BU
- Page 117 and 118:
38 BUSINESSWORLD BPE: Concessioning
- Page 119 and 120:
40 THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015
- Page 121 and 122:
42 THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015
- Page 123 and 124:
THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015 47
- Page 125 and 126:
THISDAY MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 49
- Page 127 and 128:
THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015 51
- Page 129 and 130:
THISDAY MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 53 IN T
- Page 131 and 132:
THISDAY MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 55
- Page 133 and 134:
THISDAY MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 57
- Page 135 and 136:
THISDAY MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 59
- Page 137 and 138:
MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 • THISDAY INT
- Page 139 and 140:
THISDAY • MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 INT
- Page 141 and 142:
MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 • THISDAY INT
- Page 143 and 144:
THISDAY MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 63 ADVE
- Page 145 and 146:
MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 • THISDAY 65
- Page 147 and 148:
MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 • THISDAY 67
- Page 149 and 150:
MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 • THISDAY 69
- Page 151 and 152:
THISDAY•MONDAY MAY 18, 2015 MONDA