Opinion I As Buhari Alters Democracy Day

AS BUHARI ALTERS DEMOCRACY DAY

        

On Wednesday, 6^th June 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari boldly and proudly tendered a historic proclamation to the greatest surprise of most Nigerians. He informed the general public that, henceforth, June 12 every year shall be recognized as Democracy Day as against the already existing May 29.

        

The unannounced decision was reportedly informed by the notion that June 12, which was the day the most credible election in the history of Nigeria that would have enthroned Chief Moshood Abiola – now of the blessed memory – as the second democratically elected president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, took place to the delight of the teeming citizenry.

        

The president further clarified that since the Democracy Day for the year 2018 had already been marked, the newly approved commemoration would take effect from the subsequent years, commencing from 2019. In addition, the message notified that the new democracy day, which would automatically replace May 29, would be observed as a national public holiday.

         

Mr. President equally informed the citizens that in view of the declaration, the government had decided to award posthumously the highest honour of the land, GCFR to the late Chief Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 annulled elections. Similarly, his running mate, Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe would be invested with a GCON award.

        

He also stated that the “tireless fighter for human rights and democracy in general” late Chief Gani Fawehinmi would equally receive posthumously a GCON award. It’s noteworthy that the event for the investiture, which was scheduled for 12^th June 2018, had successfully been conducted.

       

While Nigerians in some quarters were jubilating over the president’s unexpected avowal, some others were bitter that the procedure followed was ill-advised. Based on their view, the president’s decision was necessitated by the fact that the country’s general elections were fast approaching, hence was only targeted to achieve cheap political goals.

        

Some Nigerians who had also criticized the gesture opined that it was a way of reviving the president’s popularity, which was allegedly on the decline, in the South-Western part of the country. According to their argument, Pres. Buhari was gradually losing his political significance in the said geopolitical zone, thus thought it wise to employ such an avenue towards reclaiming the ostensibly lost glory.

         

As most Nigerians are baffled about the politics and timing surrounding the declaration, I’m only much concerned about the due process that was neglected while such a sensitive decision was taken. I’m saddened that it never occurred to the Presidency that a constitutional matter was in question, hence the need not to overlook the lawmaking ambit of the government.

        

I wonder why Mr. President would think that the existing Democracy Day invariably commemorated on May 29 as recognized by the Nigeria’s Public Holidays' Act would easily be written off by merely dishing out a statement from the country’s Seat of Power. I wonder why it didn’t occur to His Excellency that he would have started his consultations from the revered legislators before making his lofty intention public.

        

Though the president unarguably has a constitutional power to proclaim any day as public holiday, he doesn’t possess the right to write off any clause enshrined in the Constitution at the comfort of his home. So, as we applaud him for having considered making Chief Abiola’s soul to eventually rest in peace, it’s paradoxical to realize that the man who had acted like a true advocate of democracy didn’t take into cognizance the real essence of due process.

        

Besides, rather than annulling the widely accepted May 29, the June 12 can be recognized as something else. It can be called Electoral Reform Day because that was the day the country’s electoral process witnessed an obvious reformation, or even Abiola Day.

         

More so, I pondered on the president’s refusal to include the brain behind the success story of the June 12 elections, Prof. Humphrey Nwosu in the list of those that deserved the national award, particularly the GCON, especially now he’s still alive. Or, should we wait until he is dead?

       

Another controversy trailing the proclamation was that it was in conflict with the Act binding the National Honours. The Act stipulates that the honour shall be bestowed on only the citizens of Nigeria. So, the question was if Chief Abiola, who is now late, is still the citizen of the country.

         

If truly that someone was deprived of a certain honour when he/she was alive, I see nothing wrong carrying out the investiture in retrospect whether the recipient is dead or alive. Hence, from my view, this very case didn’t require the legislature to amend that particular clause before we could correct our past mistakes. The question we ought to rather be asking is; did the supposed recipient really deserve the honour while alive?

        

Meanwhile, as we celebrate Chief Abiola in grave, I equally await a day he would be declared as one-time Nigerian President since the award granted to his person is only reserved for those who must have served, or still serving, the country as president. Think about it!

FDN Nwaozor

National Coordinator, Right Thinkers Movement

__________________________________

frednwaozor@gmail.com

Twitter: @mediambassador            

     

Opinion I Payroll Palaver And ICT Perspective

PAYROLL PALAVER AND ICT PERSPECTIVE

          

The last time I checked, the Nigerian civil service system was still deeply bedeviled by a cankerworm known as ‘ghost workers’. The syndrome, which isn’t peculiar to the federal level, is indeed ubiquitous that no certain level/unit of government is exempted whenever its scourge is being discussed. Funnily enough, the anomaly has lingered that anyone could insinuate that it’s a norm.

         

Two years ago, precisely on Thursday, 5^th May 2016, during the meeting between federal ministries and Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) in Lagos State as organized by the Minister of Information and Culture – Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun categorically disclosed that the ongoing N165 billion monthly salaries cum allowances of federal civil servants was over-bloated, thus could no longer be sustained by the Federal Government (FG).

         

Mrs. Adeosun who was speaking on the economy reform agenda of the present administration, stated that the said fund represented about forty percent (40%) of the total spending made by the FG. According to her, the figure was outrageous; hence, government was pursuing aggressive measures towards detecting as well as prosecuting ghost workers and other saboteurs in the system.

        

She landed with a mind-boggling revelation that the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), which wasn’t fully functional, still had names of about ten thousand (10,000) workers on its payroll regularly serviced by the FG’s coffers.

         

In a related development, in the same 2016, over a huge sum of N4 billion fraud was reportedly discovered in Aso Rock, the Nigeria’s Seat of Power. The discovery was made by President Muhammadu Buhari’s National Security Adviser (NSA), Major Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd). Aside his alleged shocking discovery, which was made after a general security auditing and verification exercise ordered by Mr. President, the NSA further disclosed that  names of twenty-nine (29) ghost security personnel had been on security payroll in the Presidency over the years.

        

The various states and LGAs across the federation aren’t exceptional. On Thursday, 26^th May 2016, the Bayelsa State government said it had uncovered payroll fraud in the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), with the discovery of over 765 illicitly employed teachers in the existing eight local government councils in the state. According to the report, names of fifty (50) dead teachers were equally found on the payroll of Ogbia Local Government Education Authority (LGEA) alone.

         

In spite of the thus far war against corrupt practices or graft invented by the Buhari-led government since inception, the payroll of most government MDAs, and even that of the pensioners, at various levels are still presently influenced by the enemies of the society. This very societal ill, if not aptly tackled, is liable to degenerate into a colossal economic damage in no distant time.  

         

It baffles me that at this age, Nigeria is still lagging behind as regards Information and Communications Technology (ICT). We can’t continue indulging ourselves in retrogressive issues in an era when ICT or Hi-Tech has succeeded in simplifying everything, or unraveling every mystery related to information. Most times I wonder; is it that Nigeria cannot afford the services of IT, or that she can’t boast of or source for the required IT personnel?

        

The answer, of course, is No. Nigeria can afford all of the above. Her plight ab initio, has been lack of orientation and corruption. The people she had had in positions of authority refused to be convinced that ICT is the only way forward concerning the lingering payroll palaver in the country, perhaps owing to lack of political will occasioned by corruption. However, we are intensely glad the current administration apparently detests graft profusely.

          

As the President Buhari–led administration is interested in getting it right, it must acknowledge that obtaining a comprehensive database for all the federal workers is long overdue. Such measure can only be actualized via a forensic approach. To this end, a special unit/department must be created by law under the Ministry of Finance. The proposed unit is subject to be manned by well qualified and reliable IT experts; and no one ought to have access to the department, except its staff and the director/HOD.

        

Additionally, an agency comprising thoroughly scrutinized individuals ought to be set up by law to monitor or oversee the day-to-day activity of the department. The agency would ascertain whenever a worker dies or retires, as the case may be, among other likely events, and thereafter ensure that the record is duly implemented by the unit. Moreover, from time-to-time through their oversight functions, the federal legislators should invite the members, particularly the chairman, of the agency to keep them abreast of happenings.

        

For the above unit to function tactically and properly, every federal MDA must equally boast of a competent and reliable IT unit that would regularly update that of the Finance Ministry being the umbrella body, on matters relating to employment, death, retirement, expulsion, retrenchment, or what have you; the said agency would assist in monitoring the genuineness and adequacy of the aforementioned cooperation. For efficiency’s sake, the unit must engage a viable and reliable software consulting firm toward ensuring holistic update of its software maintenance.

        

The above measure ought to as well be replicated on the part of payment of pensions and gratuities. And, the various state governments ought to, on their part, endeavour to borrow a leaf from the overall proposed approach. It’s arguably time we fully embraced ICT towards enjoying forever. Think about it!

FDN Nwaozor

National Coordinator, Right Thinkers Movement

___________________________

frednwaozor@gmail.com

Twitter: @mediambassador

Opinion I On Did We Get To This Point?

HOW DID WE GET TO THIS POINT?

       

The last time I checked, Imolites could apparently be described as ‘enemies’ of Imo, the Eastern Heartland. They were seen as those who do not wish the state well.

       

The above assertion was informed by the outcome of what transpired two weeks ago, precisely on Friday, 8^th June 2018. It’s not anymore news that at the night of the aforementioned date, a natural disaster befell the state owing to the unusual wind that blew therein.

        

As a result of that natural phenomenon, several completed buildings – including private and public owned ones – were severely ravaged. In particular, the roofing segment of the affected structures was outrightly detached from the block segment, thereby throwing the various roofing materials to the floor.

        

In some quarters, the main erected structures were equally damaged alongside the roof. But it was deeply painful that most government owned buildings were among those that were seriously affected. Or would I say; most of the structures affected belong to the state government.

        

Ironically, rather than being in sober mood as was rationally expected, thousands of Imolites were seen in their numbers jubilating as well as popping Champagne over the ordeal that visited the state. In some areas, I overheard from the misled citizens that the Governor, Rochas Okorocha had gotten what he deserved.

         

When I caught the sight of the uncalled celebration, I could not help but continued to wonder how exactly we got to this point. I had since then been making frantic effort to fathom what actually led to this scenario. The thoughtful mood I found myself resulted in insomnia, which till now is yet to depart from my system.

        

Doesn’t it sound ridiculous and crazy that a certain state was faced with crisis and instead of being touched by the ugly and unspeakable incident, the citizens were spotted throwing party over the occurrence? Isn’t it untold that my fellow citizens were gloating over a bad omen that arrived at the Eastern Heartland?

         

It’s even more saddening when realized that the jubilation was to witch-hunt the sitting governor, or to hurt his feelings. I wonder why they could think that the incident in question affected only the governor, forgetting that government is a continuum. I wonder why it didn’t occur to them that if the next governor of the state inherits bad properties, its consequence would be to the detriment of the state’s resources. Rescue Mission will surely go someday and another one will come.

        

It was really disheartening that the gloat over the ill was occasioned by the hatred some of the citizens bear for the sitting governor. State owned structures were damaged and we were acting as if the ravaged properties are Okorocha’s. We acted as if the buildings in question belong to the Okorocha dynasty. For crying out loud, we were on the contrary supposed to be deeply sad concerning the anomaly considering that it was an injury to all, and not to one as wrongly perceived.

        

Those structures were erected with the aid of the tax payers’ money, hence the need to see them as our collective belongings rather than personal possessions. We must note that the funds that could have been channeled into other meaningful projects would be used in repairing the damaged structures.

        

Come to think of it; even if the affected properties belong to Governor Okorocha, did the incident call for celebration in any way? Even if we are enemies to the number one citizen, were we meant to give thanksgiving over his downfall? We really need to be guided over how we parade our pattern of politicking to avoid attracting the wrath of God.

        

Those who know me too well can attest to the fact that I’m not one of Okorocha’s fans and had never been, neither am I in any of his camps, but the gospel truth is that we seriously need to be rational and logical while reacting to events.

        

It’s totally preposterous and evil to rejoice over the downfall of anyone irrespective of our relationship with him/her let alone the sitting governor of our dearly beloved state. It’s indeed high time we stopped mixing politics with governance just to achieve our cheap political goals.

        

Another controversy trailing the incident was that inferior building materials were used during the construction of those affected structures. As a tech expert, I’m not unaware that wind effect is meant to be considered before designing any proposed building, hence the need for the government not to see such a criticism as ill-advised or destructive but constructive. In view of this, I implore the government to comprehend that public buildings are in question, thus their construction ought not to be equated with those meant for private usage.

        

The funny part of the criticism was that so many other private owned structures were ravaged in the process but it was reported as if only government properties were affected by the wind. That was a very wrong and unbalanced analysis. However, the bone of contention is that people presently no longer pay attention to the kind of materials to be purchased in the course of erecting any structure, be it private or public. It’s not news that contractors carryout any project according to how they are funded.

         

In accordance with the appraised facts, I urge the Rescue Mission to use this opportunity to ensure that every building erected, or to be built, by the government can stand the test of time as I enjoin it not to be deterred by the natural disaster. The private owners or prospective landlords ought to equally follow suit. In the same vein, as we address the properties that were variously affected, let’s ensure that only the needed materials are engaged.

        

So, as we immensely thank God that the disaster didn’t occur during school or office hours, I want to let my fellow Imolites realize that it’s time they desisted from involving themselves in uncalled thoughts or actions. Think about it!

Fred Doc Nwaozor

National Coordinator, Right Thinkers Movement

__________________________________

frednwaozor@gmail.com

Twitter: @mediambassador