Buhari's One Year in Office

STILL ON BUHARI’S ONE YEAR IN OFFICE

     The last time I checked, the saying that ‘an unexamined life isn’t worth living’ as was propounded by the late great philosopher – Socrates – still held waters in every field of human endeavour. This assertion isn’t unconnected to the fact that any odyssey we embarked on here on earth deserves to be examined at a particular point or having covered a reasonable distance, irrespective of the circumstance.

     Three weeks ago, on May 29, 2016 precisely, the President Mohammadu Buhari-led government clocked one-year since inception. Hence, having covered a tangible distance, which took approximately 365 days, courtesy demands that Mr President ought to thoroughly assess or examine the odyssey to enable him and his allies realize the next step required to be taken. It’s imperative to acknowledge that, most times the assessment in question is best done by the onlookers, not the cabinet members.

      I candidly pledge myself to be unequivocal and whole as long as this critique lasts, because a genuine scorecard doesn’t require an iota of blarney, though eulogy can be accommodated if necessary. Thus, I appeal to those the analysis won’t augur well with, to bear with me. The paramount motive of this piece is to usher in a better Nigeria, which would be beneficial to all.

      Just as it’s well understood that any journey must be characterized by both the good and the bad, this very one isn’t an exception. Prior to President Buhari’s assumption of duty, he categorically disclosed that he was coming to fight corruption and terrorism headlong, as well as tackle all the perpetual crisis bedeviling Nigeria’s economy. It’s obvious that at this point, President Buhari’s administration has been able to combat corruption, which initially seemed like the country’s tradition, to an extent that everyone is marveled how he did it.

     The number one citizen has equally confronted the Boko Haram terrorism, which was on the rampage in the North-Eastern part of the country, tactically that the military had redeemed virtually all the territories that were acquired by the terrorists, thereby making the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to retrace their steps back to their various homes or places of origin. At the moment, the IDPs can exercise at least a glimpse of optimism, contrary to despair which they were formerly preoccupied with.

      It’s unfortunate that having taken a commendable step in the war against terrorism, other forms of insurgency to include the Biafran agitation, Fulani herdsmen conundrum and the Niger-Delta militancy have resurfaced, or have abruptly become the order of the day, thereby keeping the Nigerian polity in a severe state of jeopardy. It’s indeed pathetic and worrying that the Presidency hasn’t been able to address these anomalies as expected, instead their intensity increases on a daily basis.

     Regarding the country’s economy, President Buhari has been able to tackle the lingered leakages found in various sectors. He has succeeded in addressing the ‘ghost-workers’ syndrome that was the talk of the day in the country’s civil service; though enough is yet to be done as regards the menace. Also, by introduction of the ongoing Treasury Single Account (TSA), several antics that prevailed in the past or that were formerly harboured, are now stagnant or have come to a standstill.

      However, Mr President conspicuously disappointed Nigerians when he announced his ministerial nominees in October 2015. Contrary to his earlier pledge that he would work with, or that his cabinet would comprise, only technocrats, he ended up appointing just a few technocrats to the people’s utmost surprise. I must state that this very step taken by his Excellency, perhaps in order to please his party – the All Progressives Congress (APC), is liable to tell on the country’s economy, which he has vowed to revive.

      Aside the said appointment, merging of the various federal ministries that took place before the assumption of duty of the ministerial appointees, which was a highly commendable approach, equally witnessed a lapse. Scrapping of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and therein embedding it in the Information Ministry was an obvious error, especially noting the fact that it was made at the moment we are deeply concerned about diversification of the sources of the country’s economy.    
      Similarly, just to mention but a few, merging of the Power Ministry with that of Works and Housing was a colossal error. One of the greatest achievements that would be recorded by any administration in Nigeria is ensuring that the residents of the country enjoy a round-the-clock uninterruptible electricity supply, thus the ministry responsible for such anticipated accomplishment wasn’t meant to be merged with another for any reason whatsoever.

      Having tendered the critical assessment coupled with constructive criticism, tradition requests that a way forward ought to be equally submitted to balance the equation. To this end, formidable policies should be implemented to ensure that the blocked leakages are sustained; in addition to the TSA, there’s need for a comprehensive database comprising the details of all the government employees with a view to checkmating the ghost-workers syndrome. Moreover, a bill for a Downstream Petroleum Sector should be passed by the legislators to assist the just implemented deregulation policy in the sector.

      We needn’t to be reminded that Nigeria’s money market is currently wearing a pitiable physiognomy; our Foreign Exchange (Forex) is being suppressed by the so-called parallel market, thus making the official points seem incapacitated. This anomaly needs to be urgently addressed holistically. In the same vein; in the last one year, nothing much has been heard about the education sector, if not the proposed scrapping of the post-UTME which is never the paramount challenge the sector is facing. We must acknowledge that no society can grow beyond its educational standard; in other words, the status of any society or country can never outweigh its educational level. Thus, the 2016 budget should pay greater attention to the country’s education industry. 

      Regarding the reemerged Biafran agitation and the Niger-Delta Avengers, there’s a compelling need to make amends if need be. I’m glad the government has ordered for a ceasefire as regards the latter; the proposed sanitation of the ancient Ogoniland is also a way forward, but the government must be very sincere about it.

      For the above recommendations to be actualized, the ministers are required to be proactive. In view of this, any minister who feels he/she would be a disappointment to Nigerians ought to tender his/her resignation at this point; that’s how it’s being done in an advanced democracy. No appointee is expected to deceive him/herself at the expense of the country’s economy or welfare.

      Inter alia, the opposition hasn’t lived up to the expectations, so far. The members of the opposing political parties tend to misplace commendation with condemnation. Opposition is meant to be a wholesome attribute in any democratic setting, because a viable and sound opposition helps to properly direct the ruling party regardless of the circumstance.

     We wrongly perceive the essence of opposition in this part of the world; that’s the reason we invariably see it as an uncalled recipe. In the real sense, even the civil society is supposed to be at the opposition side. Hence, all the opposing political parties as well as the civil society are required to, henceforth, concentrate only on the needful, for posterity sake. Think about it!  

Comr Fred Doc Nwaozor

(TheMediaAmbassador)

-Public Affairs analyst & Civil Rights activist-

Chief Executive Director, Centre for Counselling, Research

& Career Development - Owerri

_____________________________________

frednwaozor@gmail.com

+2348028608056

Twitter: @mediambassador

    

2016 World Day Against Child Labour

WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOUR: NIGERIAN CHILD ON MY MIND

     

     June 12 annually, the global community commemorates the World Day Against Child Labour. This implies that tomorrow being Sunday 12^th of June, Nigeria is expected to join the rest of the world to mark the 2016 edition of the remarkable event. This year’s theme is ‘Child labour and supply chains’. Supply chains are the sequence of activities or processes involved in the production and distribution of a certain commodity.

     The aforesaid day was launched in 2002 by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to focus attention on the global extent of child labour and the action needed to eliminate it. Each year on 12^th day of June, the World Day Against Child Labour brings together governments, employers, NGOs and civil society as well as millions of well-meaning individuals from around the world to highlight the plight of child labourers and what can be done to help them.

    Child labour refers to the employment or engagement of children in any work or activity that deprives them of their childhood rights, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to them. It can also be described as a fulltime employment of children who are under a minimum legal age.

     Child labour is globally considered as an exploitative practice. Many international bodies describe it as an inhumane act. Legislations across the world prohibit it with extreme passion, that, it is widely regarded as a societal monster. Though, these laws do not consider all work by children as ‘child labour’; exceptions include, work by child artists, supervised training, and certain categories of work such as those common among indigenous American children, among other countries that are technologically inclined.

     Prior to 1940, several children aged 5-14 worked in Europe, the United States of America and various colonies of European Powers. These children worked in areas including agriculture, factories, home-based operations, and mining. Some worked night shifts lasting twelve hours. Subsequently, with the rise of household income, availability of schools as well as passage of Child Labour laws, the rate of the incidence dropped tremendously.

     In developing countries with high poverty and poor schooling opportunities like Nigeria, child labour is still prevalent that it requires a keen effort of the concerned authorities towards its holistic eradication. For instance, in 2010, Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest incidence rates of child labour with several African nations including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and many others witnessing over fifty percent (50%) of children aged 5-14 involved in one or two uncalled activities.

     Survey shows that agriculture is the largest employer of child labour worldwide. More so, vast majority of child labour cases is found in rural settings as well as informal urban economies; in this area, children are predominantly employed by their parents or guardians, rather than factories. Suffice it to say that child labour is fundamentally attributable to poverty and lack of education or illiteracy.

     According to the World Bank, the incidence of child labour in the world decreased from twenty-five percent (25%) to ten percent (10%) between the years 1960 and 2003. Nevertheless, with the acknowledgement of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), recently by the year 2013, the total number of child labourers remained high involving about 168 million children worldwide.

     During the Industrial Revolution, children as young as four were employed in production factories with dangerous, and often fatal, working conditions. In view of the recent understanding of the dangers attached to the use of children as labourers, presently it is considered by wealthy countries such as Germany, Japan, France, the U.S.A, et al, as a human rights violation, thereby outlawing its practice. Whilst, some poorer countries still condone child labour.

     The last time I checked, an average Nigerian child was immensely crying for rescue, particularly in the areas of education, health and social welfare, just as a baby cries for a breastfeed. Child labour has succeeded in depriving a Nigerian child his/her rights or the basic needs of life like the aforementioned ones, just to say the least. It isn’t anymore news that the said menace is currently the order of the day in various parts of the country. 

     It is noteworthy that, child labour has in recent times deteriorated appallingly in Nigeria. The one that has degenerated into a fathomless eyesore is the ongoing alarming incidence of hawking witnessed on several major streets and roads across the federation. The most devastating aspect of this scenario is a situation where the children in question would be seen hawking their wares when they are meant to be in their classrooms. It is usually noticed that most of these child hawkers are under the care of their so-called guardians or relatives, unknowingly to their biological parents that their children are being subjected to such torture or life-threatening activity.

     The type observed in the area of prostitution cannot be swept under the carpet whenever child labour is being discussed. In most occasions, female children are cajoled into prostitution by some pimps. The less-privileged parents would be told by the pimp, albeit deceitfully, that their children would be taken abroad for some lucrative jobs; they would also be informed that the children would be privileged to attend one of the best schools in the world.

     Though in the contemporary Nigerian society it appears slavery has gone or is a thing of the past, when you take a painstakingly study of what most house-helps do in various homes in the country, you would observe that they are not unlike mere slaves. Some of them, aside being deprived of basic education or healthcare, end up functioning like camels in their respective places of assignments.    

     As Nigeria is prepared to join the global community, tomorrow, in commemorating the 2016 World Day Against Child Labour, we are requested to do everything within our reach and humanly possible to ensure that poverty and illiteracy, which are the basic attributes of child labour, are drastically and thoroughly alleviated in our respective societies; we can achieve this by acknowledging that our voice and effort count, regardless of the circumstance. The less-privileged parents, on their part, must always be conscious of the social status and occupation of who they lease their child to. They ought to use every means to ascertain the actual background as well as place of residence of the prospective benefactor.

     I can’t conclude this critique without calling on the federal government to set up a formidable and reliable agency that would ensure a holistic enforcement of the Nigerian Child Rights Act; the Act needs to also be reviewed toward making amends where necessary. Similarly, there’s an urgent need for the governments at all levels to make the various existing Children Parliaments more proactive with a view to giving our children a thorough sense of belonging in the ongoing democratic setting.

     If the above measure is taken into consideration by the apt quarters, I’m of the view that passage of the bill on Child Abuse, currently lying on the floor of the National Assembly, into law, may no longer be considered consequential. Think about it!

Comr Fred Doc Nwaozor

(TheMediaAmbassador)

-Public Affairs analyst & Civil Rights activist-

Chief Executive Director, Centre for Counselling, Research

& Career Development - Owerri

_____________________________________

frednwaozor@gmail.com

+2348028608056

Twitter: @mediambassador

    

               

The PMS Deregulation Policy: Buhari, a Tyrant or Hero?

THE PMS DEREGULATION POLICY: BUHARI, A TYRANT OR A HERO?

     The last time I checked, the federal government had completely removed the subsidy on petrol otherwise known as Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), thereby hiking the price of the said product from #86.5 its previous worth to #145.

     Subsidy is a statutory fund invariably released by the government on a certain commodity or good with a view to reducing the price of the good, to enable the citizenry purchase it at ease. Hence, the recent total removal of the PMS subsidy implies that henceforth the said product will no longer enjoy such gesture.

     Implementation of suchlike policy by the government was informed by the obvious fact that the prime reason for which the subsidy was made was being shortchanged owing to corruption. Needless to say; the so-called subsidy on petrol consistently constituted more harm than good. To this end, the President Mohammadu Buhari - led administration via the effort of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Dr Ibe Kachikwu, thought it wise to deregulate the sector for the interest of Nigerians in general.

     Deregulation, on its part, is the act of selling off a certain government firm, sector or parastatal to interested private investor(s) as a result of a tangible reason, contrary to concession which is the practice of leasing the management of a particular government firm, sector or parastatal to interested private investor(s) for a stipulated period of time after which the government can redeem the ownership.

     It’s noteworthy that deregulation could be whole or public–private partnership. For instance, in the Nigeria’s power sector, what’s presently taking place is the latter; the government sold off the distribution section of the sector. Power supply involves three major segments namely, the generation, transmission, and distribution segments (phases); so the ownership of the distribution phase was sold to private investors.

     Similarly, before now, what we were witnessing in the petroleum sector was public-private partnership whereby the government was the major determinant of pricing; but at the moment, the private investors have been empowered to own refineries, hence determine the price of the petroleum products just as it’s currently witnessed in the telecom sector. In a regime of this kind, what makes the price of the goods to be affordable is competition. When such embargo is lifted, most entrepreneurs would be interested to invest in the sector, which in the long run would definitely usher in a competitive market where every investor would aspire to attract the highest patronage.

     One may wonder: why didn’t the government consider addressing the menace occasioned by corruption that was hindering the anticipated effective functionality of the subsidy regime, rather than outrightly removing the subsidy? Or better still, fix or revive the country’s moribund refineries. The awful truth is that even if the government eventually succeeded in rejuvenating the four incapacitated refineries, it won’t serve up to forty percent (40%) of the Nigerian population. In other words, there’s a compelling need for establishment of several other refineries that would cater for the entire population which is almost 200 million.

     The costly mistake the government did was that the citizens were taken totally unawares. Implementation of a policy of this nature has a fundamental procedure, and the procedure remains that every relevant stakeholder or group must assent to the proposal seeking for such implementation. Government cannot wake one morning and put up an austerity measure. It’s even more pathetic that the organized labour wasn’t carried along; they were only notified on the proposed measure, not that their consent was sought.

     This is why every concerned Nigerian would say: is Buhari a tyrant or a hero? In some quarters, people are of the view that the leader in question could be best described as a tyrant for having implemented the PMS deregulation policy unannounced, whilst in some other quarters, those who seem to acknowledge the essence of such ostensibly cruel-like step are immensely chanting that Buhari is indeed a hero. What we must take into cognizance is that implementation of some harsh policies such as this very one requires the use of non-human face, because if the government decides to wait till the citizens unanimously approve the proposal, implementation of such lofty policy would end up being a shambles.

     Since the policy is genuinely targeted at bringing in a positive change, what we need to do is to accept our fate in good faith, thus wait patiently for the fruit of such labour. What the organized labour is expected to do at this point is to give the government a mandate. An ultimatum of about twelve months or thereabouts can be issued to the government, mandating it to ensure that such policy yields a wholesome fruit within the given period; else, it should consider reversing it thereafter.

     And while the citizens wait, the government ought to note that they deserve compensation so that many wouldn’t depart eternally before the policy becomes productive. They should be duly compensated by ensuring that every clause in the 2016 budget is thoroughly implemented without further ado. On the other hand, there ought to be a legislation regarding the policy, thus the lawmakers are required to headlong pass a bill as regards the policy into law, so that, Nigerians won’t be of the notion that their leaders are acting outside the box; similarly, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) should be revisited toward ensuring a speedy passage.

     In the same vein, the regulatory agencies to include the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), as well as the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) should be more proactive at this critical moment, especially in regard to pricing, purity/quality, and measurement of the petroleum products in various filling stations.

     It isn’t anymore news that some of the petroleum dealers often adulterate the products; and in most filling stations, you would observe that their metres were adjusted, thereby making consumers purchase a quarter-litre of PMS or as the case may be, in the name of one litre. Consumers deserve to enjoy the real value of whatever they purchase, and this shouldn’t be an exception. Moreover, before we start witnessing the anticipated competition in the market in question, the agencies must ensure that the products aren’t sold at outrageous prices.

     The ongoing renewed Niger-Delta militancy cannot be left out while discussing the petroleum sector. Toward resolving any crisis, we must endeavour to ascertain the fundamental origin of the mayhem. The said militants are called Avengers, which indicates that they are significantly a set of aggrieved individuals; hence, we must find out what their grievances are. One may wonder: after the commendable amnesty programme initiated by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, which held waters, why would these men return to the field? The government ought to endeavour to fill the actual lapse.

     Anyone who truly means well for Nigeria looks forward to seeing an era where everyone including critics, sceptics, and cynics would address President Buhari as a hero for having taken this giant step which was long overdue, thus the government must do everything humanly possible towards ensuring that the policy isn’t bedeviled by any form of sabotage. Think about it!   

Comr Fred Doc Nwaozor

(TheMediaAmbassador)

-Public Affairs analyst & Civil Rights activist-

Chief Executive Director, Centre for Counselling, Research

& Career Development - Owerri

_____________________________________

frednwaozor@gmail.com

+2348028608056