17062019 - Parents now afraid to send children to school — UNICEF

FINANCIAL VANGUARD
Thanks Dangote but...
Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 17, 2019 — 29
How do you have economic growth without power? So,
no power, no growth because without power there can’t
be growth. Egypt increased its electricity by 10
gigawatts, which is equivalent to 10,000 megawatts in
18 months.
In Nigeria we have been struggling for 18 years
without adding 1000 and we have spent about three
times above Egypt, why?” —Alhaji Aliko Dangote,
VANGUARD, June 10, page 8
AT last a powerful and
patriotic voice has
spoken up about the scandal
which the Nigerian electricity
power supply situation had
become ever since former
President Olusegun Obasanjo
spent between $13 billion and
$16 billion on power supply
and the nation ended with
little or nothing to show for it.
The ever self-righteous Baba
Iyabo created the template
which has made it possible for
succeeding federal
governments to swindle
Nigerians of billions of dollars
under false pretences of
increasing our power supply
without any significant
improvement to show for the
waste and massive
embezzlement.
Perhaps Alhaji Dangote will
want to follow me on a short
look at the crimes committed
by Buhari’s predecessors in
office before his own
government added its own
from 2015 to 2019.
Insanity is doing the same
thing over again and
expecting a different result —
Chinese proverb.
There must be something
wrong with us Nigerians;
otherwise how does one
explain our penchant for
electing into office the losers
we did since 1999?
On September 7, 2007, late
President Yar’Adua
established a Power Sector
Reform Committee when
national power supply was
stuck at 3000MW compared to
South Africa’s 45,000MW. In
July 2008, the committee
issued a report listing 21
reasons for our intractable
poor performance; but only
seven are highlighted here.
They are listed below.
Anybody, who cares to listen
(I stopped listening to him
two years ago) to the past
Minister for Power, Mr.
Babatunde Fashola, would be
astonished by the recurrence
of the same reasons in 2019
for low power output in
Nigeria.
We have either been voting
the wrong people into office
or Nigerians don’t really want
change. That is being polite.
Yar’Adua’s committee
informed us that seven major
reasons accounted for our
power generation and
distribution problems.
•Insufficient generation due
to old and obsolete
equipment.
•Poor maintenance culture
leading to inadequate and
delayed maintenance of
facilities.
•Shortage of gas due to
inadequate supply
•Water management and
shortages at the hydro
stations
•Overloaded and weak
distribution system
•Low tariff regime
•Lack of proper government
funding.
All the lame excuses are
important. But, the one which
should engage our attention
was the last one, namely,
“lack of proper government
funding”, because Obasanjo
left office just sixteen months
after spending an estimated
$16 billion on power supply
and Nigerians were being told
that nonsense about lack of
funds. A probe by the
National Assembly which was
rendered inconclusive by the
corrupt cabals which were in
control of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, at least
revealed that several of the
contracts awarded were not
executed - yet the contractors
were fully paid.
Several articles written
urging Yar’Adua and, later,
Jonathan to conduct an honest
probe in an attempt to recover
some of our billions of dollars
and re-direct them towards
improving power supply fell
on deaf ears. The PDP always
treated issues of
How does Buhari
explain to Nigerians
that four years into
his administration
the nation is still
stuck in the mud?
Where is the room
for hope that things
will be better by
2023?
embezzlement of public funds
as “a family affair”. Mostly,
unpatriotic and myopic men
and women, it never occurred
to most of them that they
would one day leave office
and live in a Nigeria they
failed to develop.
Obasanjo Farms now pays
billions to generate power and
cannot compete with imported
birds if an import ban is not
in place. The Senate
presidents and speakers who
refused to stand for Nigeria
are back among us suffering
and not smiling.
Buhari came into office and
swore to publish the list of the
corrupt elements who robbed
Nigeria through bogus
contracts - especially NNPC
and power sector deals. He
finished his first term and
nothing happened - for good
reason. Some of the
contractors are perhaps now
in the All Progressives
Congress, APC. They have
become untouchables; and
Nigeria’s power problems
remains intractable - with the
dire consequences we now
experience as dividends.
As Dangote said, and we all
know, there can be no
significant economic growth
without adequate power
supply. And unless Nigeria,
like India, can grow her
economy by at least 4-5 per
cent per annum for at least ten
years, joblessness and its
attendant evils - kidnapping,
armed robbery, gun running,
smuggling, cattle rustling,
cyber crimes, etc. - will
continue to provide jobs for
millions of idle hands. And,
there is very little government
can do about it.
The World Bank recently
reduced the nation’s growth
forecast for 2019 to 2.1 per
cent. Some of us regard that
poor estimate as unrealistic.
Our Gross Domestic Product,
GDP, for this year might
actually drop below 1.9 per
cent - worse than 2018. Each
0.1 per cent drop translates to
250,000 Nigerians dropping
below the poverty line and we
are entrenching our nation’s
position as the Poverty Capital
of the world - again with all
the dangerous consequences
attached to that position.
No single cause can be
identified to explain the
Nigerian’s poor economic
performance over the years
than the power situation. It is
a national shame that an
economy of 180 million
generates only 4,000MW; and
distributes even less.
Continuous tinkering with the
structures of power supply
and distribution and close to
$20 billion expended since
1999 have only brought
darkness, frustration, misery
and resignation among
Nigerians. We will not allow
this to go on.
On May 29, 2015, Buhari
announced that it was
disgraceful for the nation to
generate and distribute
4,000MW, and he would not
allow this to go on. On May
29, 2019, power generation in
the country stood at
3,306.3MW.
He who speaks without
modesty will find it very
difficult to eat his words. How
does Buhari explain to
Nigerians that four years into
his administration the nation
is still stuck in the mud?
Where is the room for hope
that things will be better by
2023? Morning shows the day.
Yet, there is a way out.
Buhari mentioned $20 billion
as the expenditure on power
since 1999. He should
develop the courage and the
patriotism to institute a
powerful judicial inquiry into
the expenditures from 1999 to
2019 May. Nobody, especially
Obasanjo, should be allowed
to be treated as sacred cow.
OBJ and Jonathan must be
asked to come forward and
openly tell Nigerians what
they did with those billions of
dollars. Then, Buhari himself
should step forward and tell
us what happened from 2015
to 2019.
Anarchy is already on our
door steps in Nigeria and the
major cause is joblessness
which is synonymous with
idleness. Nigeria is rapidly
creating millions of people
with nothing to lose - they are
the most dangerous elements
in any society. We can’t go on
like this. Somebody should
give Buhari Dangote’s piece
to read. May be he will listen
to Africa’s richest man and
Nigeria’s biggest investor.
He, after all, is not from
UniJankara.
FINANCIAL VANGUARD ECONOMY
ISN holds quality assurance summit in Lagos, Abuja
ISN Products Nigeria
Limited has held its
inaugural Quality Assurance
Summit (ISN QAS) in Lagos
and Abuja.
Speaking at the summit,
Executive Director, ISN
Products Nigeria Limited, Mr
Felix Ofungwu, said it is
designed to evoke pragmatic,
sustainable and most effective
initiatives
for
institutionalizing quality
assurance in laboratory
practices and diagnosis.
Ofungwu who was
represented by Head
Business Development and
Client Services, Dr Sandra
Achebe, noted that ISN is
committed to providing
clients and end-users with
consistent professional
support to overcome daily
challenges in laboratory
practice and enable them
produce laboratory results
that can be trusted locally and
internationally.
He stated: "The summit is
geared towards equipping
stakeholders with knowledge
to improve technical
proficiency and develop the
ability to produce precise and
accurate test results and
calibration data which will in
turn engender best-in-class
patient care."
Fundamental
principles
According to him, ISN QAS
has also been conceptualized
to domesticate the
fundamental principles of the
ISO15189 framework in
laboratory practice in Nigeria.
The ISN boss further stated:
"The overall aim of ISN QAS
is to equip Laboratory
Scientists and Quality
Assurance Officers on prudent
healthcare principles,
processes and troubleshooting
procedures. Effective
laboratory diagnosis remains
a key driver and a critical
enabler of sustainable
healthcare delivery in Nigeria
and the current economic
landscape in the Country
provides a unique
opportunity for the public and
private sectors to collectively
address healthcare
infrastructure gaps."
He added that with the
support and active
collaboration of all
stakeholders, ISN QAS will
take place annually.