BusinessDay 22 Oct 2017

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14 BD SUNDAY C002D5556 Feature Sunday 22 October 2017 Wanted: Better transport system, infrastructure for Tomaro Island residents NATHANIEL AKHIGBE Unless there is a better alternative means of transporting humans as well as goods and services on the Tomaro-Onisiwo Island in Amuwo- Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State, residents of Shiku, Okoata, Agala 1, Ifako, Sabokunjo, Agala 2 and other neighbouring communities in the area will continue to rely on aged wooden canoes, exposing themselves to fatal dangers. Residents of these riverine communities rely on small, rickety wooden canoes to transport themselves and their goods. At the cost of N150 per trip, these small canoes are relatively affordable to the residents. They know the dangers involved, but they do not have a viable alternative. Only a few can afford the bigger, perhaps just a little safer but no less risky, painted wooden canoes which cost N300 per trip. Boat mishaps, of course, are a frequent occurrence on the Lagos waterways. Only recently, Mary Adesoba, a police sergeant attached to the Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan, lost her life after a boat en route Ebute Ero from Ikorodu capsized on the Third Mainland Bridge waterways, while 19 other passengers were rescued by the Marine Police operatives who responded to the emergency. Earlier in August, no fewer than 12 persons died in a boat accident in the Ilashe area of the state when a boat capsized shortly after leaving an unauthorised jetty. Some residents of the Tomaro- Onisiwo Island communities and those who do one work or the other in the area say they are compelled to use the wooden canoes because the cost of alternating it with steel boats is too high for them to contemplate. As at the time of this report, steel boats remained the exclusive preserve of tourists who can afford between N2,500 and N3,000 per trip. Curiously, the operators of the privately-run ferries that ply the CSM/Apapa, CSM/Ikorodu and many other routes on the Lagos waterways appear not to be interested in plying Tomaro and its neighbouring communities, even though there is a large number of potential passengers on the Tomaro axis. A resident alleged that the canoe owners, who are largely overseers of the coastland, and the canoe operators themselves have been the ones preventing the modern boat operators from going to the route because of the fear that such change would deprive them of their source of livelihood. When this writer embarked on a journey to the Tomaro coastal line right from the Liverpool Boat Jetty, the dangers of sailing on these wooden canoes stared him right in the face. Wading through the ever busy perishable food market just at the mouth of the bridge, one soon got to the water garage to behold an array of mainly aged wooden canoes overloaded with passengers – old and young, pregnant women, nursing mothers with little children, and piles of luggage. Women with babies strapped on their backs and heavy loads on their heads walked on the edge of several closely-lined-up boats before boarding a boat whose turn it was to depart. Sailing to the coastal communities in these canoes is itself characterised by fright – with water threatening to flow inside the canoe anytime a bigger boat or ship passed by as the canoe dangled like a pendulum, with passengers clutching at any available object to avoid falling off. This is a constant reminder that a dangerous eventuality is not farfetched after all. It takes only an adventurous spirit to stay calm. And lives have been lost on these waters. While some residents blame these accidents on negligence on the part of canoe operators and carelessness on the part of passengers, the bigger issue, however, is the apparent lack of government regulatory presence on the waterways. It does not appear that there is a government agency currently monitoring strict adherence to existing safety standards on these waterways. Abisola Kamson, managing director, Lagos State Waterways Authority, while commiserating with the families that lost their loved ones during the boat mishap that happened in August, had said the accident was caused by overloading of passengers on a Banana boat as well as operation of illegal jetty. Kamson, who said the accident brought to the fore the need for the National Inland Waterways Authority to respect the verdict of the Court of Appeal which upheld the powers of a state government to control its intra-inland waterways, urged boat operators and other stakeholders in the inland waterways sector to always adhere to safety standards. In other words, adherence to safety standards is left at the discretion of the boat operators. No government regulator is on ground to enforce it. Many residents, even though they cherish their lives in the coastal communities, lamented that the communities are utterly neglected. One resident, who simply gave his name as Daniel, said he decided to relocate to the coastal community earlier in the year after his landlord threw out his belongings over his inability to pay rent, saying that many of the people living in the area are there for the same reason. “I was staying in Ilaje, Ajah, and I was working at a factory around Awoyaya up till February this year when the company folded up and I couldn’t afford to pay my rent anymore. My landlord was initially patient but he became tired when I continued telling stories and he issued me a quit notice. “That was when my brother who was already living here asked me to join him, instead of begging for where to sleep. I work in Apapa now and that makes it easier for me. Life is easy here. I actually started living in the house my brother got for me before I paid my landlord. The security here is also good; no kidnapping and stealing here. “But our major challenges are those basic things like water and electricity and having to cross this water every now and then. I was afraid of the water when I first came but my mind is stronger now. Government should help us get better transport because where we are belongs to Lagos. Within the few months that I have lived here I have seen people falling into this water at the garage and I have seen canoes capsize,” Daniel said. A teacher, who resides outside the communities but teaches in one of the two schools run by the Lagos State Government in the area, also complained that the attitude of the government towards its teachers in Tomaro as regards transportation was not inspiring, adding that the government appears not to care whether the teachers die in the water or not while trying to access their places of assignment. “The other day I nearly fell inside the water from this wooden canoe. I have seen people falling inside the water and canoes capsizing. As teachers, coming here from Monday to Friday is a must for us. Many days we arrive late to school because no matter how early you arrive at the Liverpool Jetty, you will have to wait for the canoe to fill to capacity before the operator can proceed. To be able to arrive earlier on a day like that, one would have to charter a canoe or a boat, but how much is my salary? By not providing safe water transport system for us teaching in the government schools there, doesn’t it mean they want us to relocate to Tomaro? You can see that there is no electricity and medical service here,” said the teacher who did not want his name mentioned for fear of victimization. He said the people living in the area were mainly the Badagry Yoruba, the Togolese, the Beninese, the Ilajes, very few Igbo people, and other people who like living close to the water. “Maybe the Lagos State government is not interested in the place because the people there are not Lagosians, otherwise there is no explanation for the way the place has been abandoned by successive governments of the state. Even those of us teaching in government schools are being forced to face the dangerous journey to school on a daily basis. This is our main concern and we are praying that the government will address it in the interest of the school children,” said the teacher. A resident of Tomaro, who said he loves the place, told BDSUN- DAY at the Liverpool Jetty that apart from the sandy island and the tranquillity of the area, he also loves the place because it is safe. “Tomaro is very safe. You can walk around anytime of the day and night. You can come out at night without fear of robbers. The waterways are also very safe. No kidnapping and hostage taking. You can take a boat ride to Ojo, Badagry even at night,” said the resident who did not want his name mentioned. “The schools are not bad, but the small clinic donated by the Americans needs a major upgrade. The community needs to be connected to the island. It also needs to be connected to the national grid so that the people there can have power supply that they are badly in need of,” he said. He said his house is a decent one and not a shanty and that the view from the window of his room is what some people will kill for. “The small lake and the backdrop of the rising Eko Atlantic is what I wake up to every day,” he said.
Sunday 22 October 2017 C002D5556 SUNDAY BD 15 Politics The Zuma statue in Imo and the opportunity cost ZEBULON AGOMUO The Governor of Imo State, Rochas Anayo Okorocha, is a man who lives big in controversy. For him, it is one week, one controversy or call it scandal. Last week, Okorocha occupied yet again a vantage position in the “infamy” book in Nigeria’s chequered history when he declared a worship of human god in his state. What struck many people is that those who worship certain objects or beings believe in certain supernatural power of such gods which the one projected for the people of Imo State seriously lack. In his country, many citizens see him as an unfit person to occupy such an exalted position as a result of the man’s moral deficiencies that are legion! So, the argument is, if you are looking for a god to worship, critics believe, Zuma does not possess the credentials. So, what’s the attraction? Okorocha, who tore apart his party, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) when he went into a political marriage with the All Progressives Congress (APC), had carried himself as if he could die for President Muhammadu Buhari, talking about his love and loyalty to the president. Yet, he did not consider the President presidential enough to carve him a bust, but he gave a total stranger a full length statue. Loyalty my foot! What transpired last week in Imo clearly showed where his true love and loyalty lie. In a state where the government had declared two days workfree for civil servants, saying they could go to the farm to reduce their dependence on the state government; a state where workers protest ceaselessly over non-payment of salaries and allowances, Okorocha’s administration found the resources to sink close to N600 million in the name of the statue for Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa. The question has been, why Zuma of all the presidents in the world? Here’s a man that has no good record in his home country. A man accused of many things and has serial court cases. A man that should be rotting away in prison were it not for the immunity on him as president. Critics say that what Okorocha did, though appeared ordinary to a natural eye, has a spiritual nuance and explains a dangerous bond between the two men. Just as it is said, ‘deep calleth unto deep’, by the same token, ‘shallow calleth unto shallow’. Here is a governor, a leader of “progressive” governors, whose country is just coming out of re- Zuma and Governor Okorocha cession, who also is complaining about paucity of funds to carry out people-oriented projects; he also is a member of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) that ‘besieged’ the President a few days ago demanding for release of another tranche of the Paris club refund, yet lacks the conscience to channel the money into a worthy project that could positively impact the lives of the people. After erecting the Zuma idol, he must have proclaimed to the Imo people “here is your god, O Imolites, worship him”. This thing that Okorocha has done may have opened a negative chapter of affliction. All those who took that step in the Bible days regretted it when it was very late for them to make any amends. Had Okorocha erected President Buhari’s statue in Imo, it would have been more tolerable. That Okorocha chose to so honour the President of a country, where his brothers are being slaughtered in recurring xenophobic attacks is numbing. On Wednesday, August 30, 2017, Okorocha’s ‘brother’ Kingsley Ikeri, 27, a native of Mbaitolu in Imo State, was reportedly killed at Vryheid town in Kwazulu Natal Province, South Africa. What may be going on in the minds of Ikeri’s relations while Okorocha was celebrating and presenting Zuma for reverence can only be imagined. The Imo State governor took a serious matter to an infantile level to the point of insulting President Buhari by inviting him over to Owerri to commission the idol and to watch him lavish all manner of eulogies on Zuma. It appears that many of our leaders lack common sense. Did Okorocha actually consider how President Buhari would feel, unveiling a half-a-billion naira statue of a less-fanciful counterpart at a time Okorocha and others are suffocating him (Buhari) for a fresh bailout and at a dangerous time when workers in many states of the federation, including Imo, are going to bed without food as a result of unpaid salaries, a situation that causes the President migraine? Not only that Okorocha erected an idol of Zuma, he proclaimed him “The Grand Commander” (Ochiagha). This, indeed, is a dangerous sign for Imo. Well, like every ephemeral thing on earth, Okorocha reign in Imo will not be everlasting. There shall come a time, when a king who does not know Zuma comes on stage, then shall the statue kiss the dust. The opportunity cost Opportunity cost refers to a benefit that a person could have received, but gave up, to take another course of action. Stated differently, an opportunity cost represents an alternative given up when a decision is made. This cost is, therefore, most relevant for two mutually exclusive events. It is estimated that the Zuma statue in Owerri may have cost the state government a princely sum of N520 million. Many civil servants in the state say that since 2016, they have been on half salary even after the state government sometime ago renegotiated the salaries of civil servants because he said his administration would not be able to pay. Supposed the minimum wage of junior civil servants in the state is N50,000. About 1040 workers could have been paid their one month salary in full with the money that was sunk into the statue project. On the other hand, if some local schools in Imo state that collects N10,000 per term were to be given N520 million, about 5,200 pupils would have gone to school unhindered for a whole term and their poor parents saved the trauma of school fees. Or if the money was deployed to the school feeding project of the APC government, many pupils would have been positively impacted and the multiplier effects on businesses in the state would have been massive. Critics flay Okorocha’s justification It would be recalled that Okorocha tried to defend the extraordinary honour done to Zuma, saying it was to encourage business relationship between the state and South Africa. According to him, Zuma was in the state principally to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), between the Jacob Zuma Educational Foundation and Rochas Foundation College of Africa. He also went political, pointing fingers at the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) family as those behind the condemnation of the bazaar, accusing the umbrella party of failing to build the image of the state, while looting public treasury. But an angry retired civil servant in Owerri, who spoke with BDSUNDAY on condition of anonymity, queried the morality of the governor in pointing finger at the PDP, “when he should be man enough” to defend his action in a most convincing and logical way. “I find it very insensitive on the part of Okorocha to sink so much money erecting a statue in honour of President Zuma. Our governor was talking about promoting business with South Africa as the reason for the statue, that to me is nonsensical. He has done six years as the governor of Imo State, is it the first time he would be talking with foreign investors or was it the first time he would be signing an MoU with foreign businessmen? What is he talking about? He has not told us what is special about Zuma. There must be something special about this individual, and we want to know,” the retired civil servant said. Timothy Osuagwu, a human resources expert, said that the timing was wrong. Osuagwu said: “When I first heard of the news, I thought it was one of those internet hypes and stunts, and I was like, can that be possible in this country? But the next morning, the news was all over the newspapers and in some of the online sites, I was sad. Sad because you don’t engage in such a jamboree at a time when you have not paid workers’ salaries; you don’t get involved in a project of that magnitude when there are hungry and suffering masses. I have read what the governor said was the reason for erecting the statue, yet I think it is unwieldy.”
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BusinessDay 22 Oct 2017

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