By Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai
http://www.saharareporters.com/article/what-nigerians-pay-federal-government-opinion-piece-got-el-rufai-trouble-jonathan
The syndicated article below was first published on July 1st 2011, in it, Nasir El Rufai wrote that several security agencies combined spend about N2 billion a day with nothing to show for it. The office of the NSA is s reportedly angry about these claims and wants Mr. El-Rufai charged for "incitement, sedition and publication of false news". The former minister and CPC chieftain is currently facing interrogation at the offices of the State Security Services in Abuja after he was arrested this morning upon his return from the United Kingdom.
This year, every Nigerian - all 162 million of us - man, woman and child will 'pay' the sum of N27,685 each to help run the federal government. What we cannot afford, government will borrow on our behalf to pay for its activities.
That is why the federal government, on behalf of you and I will spend the sum of 4.485 trillion (over four thousand billion) naira in 2011. This is against the backdrop that our entire oil earnings for the year cannot pay the generous salaries and allowances of politicians on the one hand, and the meagre pay cheques of other public sector workers on the other, while infrastructure and unemployment are barely getting attention.
When you walk into a government office to request for a basic service, the staff you meet may not even bother to reply to your greeting and barely has time to listen to you; the policeman that should protect you on the roadblock, stops you and demands for bribes and has no qualms shooting dead any motorist that refuses to give him twenty naira; the customs officer at the border who is supposed to stop smuggling takes a bribe and actually connives with the smugglers to bring in banned products into the Nigerian market, while harassing the traveller entering Nigeria with two new pairs of shoes; the hospital staff that, contrary to every professional oath, refuses to attend to dying patients because they are on strike; the soldiers who get so bored that they occasionally go on a rampage, using policemen for target practice. With live ammunition, of course; the politician who rigs himself into office then proceeds to loot the treasury: these are all the people whose standard of living we are spending nearly 75 per cent of the 2011 budget to pay for - and borrowing some after spending all our collections from oil and taxes!
It will cost nearly 2.5 million naira this year on average to pay for the salary and upkeep of each of Nigeria’s nearly one million federal public sector workers – in the police, civil service, military and para-military services and teachers in government schools and institutions. Whether this amount justifies the service that is rendered is left for Nigerians to decide. In all, the 49 line Ministries, Departments and Agencies specifically mentioned in the 2011 Appropriations Act will each cost an average of N49.49 billion to run.
We elect a total of 360 members to the House of Representatives and 109 Senators to make laws and enhance good governance by checking and balancing the excesses of the executive arm of government. For this privilege, the 469 members of the federal legislature and their support staff at the National Assembly will spend N150 billion this year. It is worth noting that NASS only passed 8 bills as at the end of May 2011. So assuming that they manage to pass another 7 bills before the end of this year, it would cost the Nigerian citizen an average ten billion naira to pass a single bill! This implies that to pass the 2011 budget (which allocates N150 billion to NASS), Nigerians paid 10 billion naira. An even more interesting statistic is the cost of maintaining every legislator every year. It works out to princely N320 million per legislator per annum. At this rate, every four year stint at NASS works out at N1.28 billion per legislator. No wonder machetes, guns and thugs are used at will to "win" primaries and the elections. How many new businesses can achieve a turnover of N1.28 billion within four years with net tax-free profit in excess of 50 percent? Is this social justice?
For the NASS, even the amount of N150 billion above is just what we can see easily but is not broken down for further analysis or accountability. There is a bit more hidden all over the Appropriation Act - another N1.595 billion was tucked away for "In-lieu of accommodation for the Seventh Session of NASS" and another N200 million for "Funding of House Resolution Mandates." What these two provisions mean is best explained by those that legislated them and the executive that will release the sums! What is clear is that none of these will ever be accounted for, or audited!
Last week, I wrote about the cost of justice. I got a few things wrong because I did not appreciate fully the unique role of the National Judicial Council (NJC) in the administration of the nation's judicial system. My friend and former classmate Mrs. Maryam Wali Uwais clarified this and educated me, for which I am grateful. The NJC's budget of N95 billion covers the salaries and allowances of all judges of superior courts of record in Nigeria - that is State High Courts and their federal equivalents, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. The NJC also funds the overheads of all the Federal Courts only - the Federal High Court and the appellate courts, as well as the salaries and allowances of all Federal Judicial support staff. The State Governments are responsible for the salaries of all other judicial staff (magistrates, support staff, etc.) and the overhead costs of all courts within their respective jurisdictions. It is therefore slightly more complicated to compute what it costs to keep our entire judicial system running without adding up all the budgetary allocations to the Judiciary in all 36 states. We will return to this sometime soon.
An interesting observation is the fact that the government says the problem of power shortage is a priority, yet the Ministry of Power only got 91 billion naira as total appropriation in 2011, while the National Security Adviser (NSA) controls and will spend 208 billion naira (Recurrent - N51 billion, Capital N59 billion, and another N98 billion for the Amnesty Programme!). This amount does not include the Defence budget. The Defence Ministry will get N348 billion, while the Police will get 309 billion naira. In other words, though Nigerians have never felt so insecure in recent history, the NSA, Police and Defence will spend a combined 865 billion naira - more than 2 billion naira a day, weekends included! This does not include the 36 states’ so-called security votes. Even state assembly members and local government councillors now have security votes. Clearly their security is more important than ours!
The point of these statistics is to show how expensive governance has become and how little Nigerians get in return. And the unproductive portions of our national budget have been rising rapidly in the last 4 years, to the detriment of capital investments in infrastructure and human development. Four years ago in 2007, the entire federal government budget was 2.3 trillion naira; today we are spending 4.485 trillion. In 2007, statutory transfers amounted to 102 billion naira or 5% of the total budget. Today, transfers amount to 418 billion or 9% of the total.
This year, the federal government will spend 495 billion naira or 11% of the budget on debt servicing compared to 326 billion naira or 14% it spent the year we finally exited from the London Club debt. More telling is the 1.05 trillion naira or 46% for recurrent expenditure in 2007 against the 2.425 trillion or 54% government will spend this year. Just four years ago, capital expenditure accounted for 36% (830 billion naira) of the budget. This year, the amount for capital expenditure has fallen to 25% (1.147 trillion naira - out of which N1.136 trillion is the budget deficit - that is to be borrowed!).
To the uninformed eye, the figures may seem to represent increases in all aspects, but to what cost, and to what effect? Apologists would want us to believe that the astronomical increase in the cost of government services can be explained by inflation, but even taking into consideration the high inflationary trend (thanks to Jonathan’s profligate campaign year spending), statutory transfers in the budget has gone up by a whopping 310%; debt servicing has a 52% increase; recurrent expenditure has gone up by 131% while capital expenditure has increased by 39% over four years. In real terms however, and accounting for inflation, the total budget has increased by 33% with recurrent expenditure going up by 58% while capital expenditure has actually reduced by 6%.
Facts and figures do not lie. Every figure used in this analysis came from official government records. What is the justification for allocating such huge amounts to running the government when a staggering 30 million Nigerians are unemployed? Only N50 billion has been budgeted to create employment, forgetting that money by itself does not create jobs without a well thought out plan to stimulate small and medium scale enterprises and the creation of appropriate regulatory environments. What are the strategies to ensure that these funds are not diverted? How many jobs will be created this year or in the next four years? Are our priorities right?
All these come down to the questions: Will government’s 4.485 trillion naira budget make life any better or even provide security for Nigerians? Can we feel the impact of this huge spending? Is the cost of governance justified? If we do not have the courage to ask these questions, we will be doing ourselves a disservice and endangering our people's future.
Saturday, 2 July 2011
‘Nigeria tops hard drugs use in Africa’
By Dele Anofi, Abuja
Nigeria tops use of illicit drugs in Africa, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) World Report 2011 has said. The UN body said information on drug use in Africa is extremely limited, given the lack of scientific survey in the region. Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Ahmadu Giade said Nigerians should not panic over the report as the nation is heavily populated compared with other African countries. Speaking during the presentation of the report in Abuja at the weekend, UNODC Country Representative Dr. Oliver Stolpe, however, commended Nigeria’s efforts at curbing the trend of illicit drug use and trafficking. He said the removal of the country from the United States government’s list of major drug trafficking countries was recognition of the country’s determination to sanitise its environment of illicit drug use and trafficking. According to the report, the annual prevalence rate in Africa for cannabis use fluctuates roughly between four per cent and 14 per cent, and is the highest in the world. It said: “Nigeria has the highest prevalence of cannabis abuse in the region, with an estimate of more than 14 per cent.
“Annual prevalence of cocaine use in Africa in 2009 ranged between 0.2 per cent and 0.8 per cent, Nigeria, with a prevalence rate of 0.7 per cent, again is among the top consumers within the region. “Annual prevalence for opiate use in Africa is estimated between 0.2 and 0.6 per cent. In Nigeria the opiate prevalence rate was estimated to have increased from approximately 0.6 to 0.7 per cent in 2009. This means that Nigeria would host roughly 500,000 heroin users”. The prevalence rate for amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) in Africa was put at between 0.2 and 1.4 per cent. The prevalence rate in Nigeria is estimated at 1.4 per cent, also the highest in Africa. But the report also noted that trafficking in illicit drugs might be on the decline in Nigeria. Stople warned that against complacency to achieve the desired result of curbing the illicit trade that poses the danger of turning the country to a notorious transit country. “In 2009, 104 kg of heroin were seized in Nigeria, although this represents a sharp increase from the 2008 level of 12 kg, seizure were already high in 2007 (121kg).
“Reports suggest that Nigeria may serve as a transit point for limited quantities of heroin destined for consumer markets in other countries,” Stolpe noted.Besides, it was also reported that decline in the seizure of cannabis in Africa was partly due to a significant drop in Nigeria. “In 2007 and 2008, the largest annual seizures of cannabis herb in Africa were reported in Nigeria. However, in 2009 seizures in this country fell by almost two third. “Nigeria also reported notable increase in the farm-gate price of cannabis. Both the decline in seizures and the increase in price were attributed to the destruction of cannabis farms by law enforcement in Nigeria,” the report stated. The NDLEA boss who spoke with The Nation after the presentation said Nigerians should not panic noting that population of Nigeria was responsible for topping most of indices. “Though we are high on the table in Africa but when you look at the population we are equally higher, so if you look at the population and the percentage it is not something alarming that we should be bothered about. “Moreover, when it was confirmed that the sources of gathering information on this report as it relate to Africa and Nigeria were not through scientist survey, then we should not be overly alarmed. This is not to say we have to relent our efforts at bring down the menace in our society. “As you know, even the US government recognized our efforts at cleaning our environment of drug abuse and trafficking, we are set to do more” Gyade added.
Nigeria tops use of illicit drugs in Africa, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) World Report 2011 has said. The UN body said information on drug use in Africa is extremely limited, given the lack of scientific survey in the region. Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Ahmadu Giade said Nigerians should not panic over the report as the nation is heavily populated compared with other African countries. Speaking during the presentation of the report in Abuja at the weekend, UNODC Country Representative Dr. Oliver Stolpe, however, commended Nigeria’s efforts at curbing the trend of illicit drug use and trafficking. He said the removal of the country from the United States government’s list of major drug trafficking countries was recognition of the country’s determination to sanitise its environment of illicit drug use and trafficking. According to the report, the annual prevalence rate in Africa for cannabis use fluctuates roughly between four per cent and 14 per cent, and is the highest in the world. It said: “Nigeria has the highest prevalence of cannabis abuse in the region, with an estimate of more than 14 per cent.
“Annual prevalence of cocaine use in Africa in 2009 ranged between 0.2 per cent and 0.8 per cent, Nigeria, with a prevalence rate of 0.7 per cent, again is among the top consumers within the region. “Annual prevalence for opiate use in Africa is estimated between 0.2 and 0.6 per cent. In Nigeria the opiate prevalence rate was estimated to have increased from approximately 0.6 to 0.7 per cent in 2009. This means that Nigeria would host roughly 500,000 heroin users”. The prevalence rate for amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) in Africa was put at between 0.2 and 1.4 per cent. The prevalence rate in Nigeria is estimated at 1.4 per cent, also the highest in Africa. But the report also noted that trafficking in illicit drugs might be on the decline in Nigeria. Stople warned that against complacency to achieve the desired result of curbing the illicit trade that poses the danger of turning the country to a notorious transit country. “In 2009, 104 kg of heroin were seized in Nigeria, although this represents a sharp increase from the 2008 level of 12 kg, seizure were already high in 2007 (121kg).
“Reports suggest that Nigeria may serve as a transit point for limited quantities of heroin destined for consumer markets in other countries,” Stolpe noted.Besides, it was also reported that decline in the seizure of cannabis in Africa was partly due to a significant drop in Nigeria. “In 2007 and 2008, the largest annual seizures of cannabis herb in Africa were reported in Nigeria. However, in 2009 seizures in this country fell by almost two third. “Nigeria also reported notable increase in the farm-gate price of cannabis. Both the decline in seizures and the increase in price were attributed to the destruction of cannabis farms by law enforcement in Nigeria,” the report stated. The NDLEA boss who spoke with The Nation after the presentation said Nigerians should not panic noting that population of Nigeria was responsible for topping most of indices. “Though we are high on the table in Africa but when you look at the population we are equally higher, so if you look at the population and the percentage it is not something alarming that we should be bothered about. “Moreover, when it was confirmed that the sources of gathering information on this report as it relate to Africa and Nigeria were not through scientist survey, then we should not be overly alarmed. This is not to say we have to relent our efforts at bring down the menace in our society. “As you know, even the US government recognized our efforts at cleaning our environment of drug abuse and trafficking, we are set to do more” Gyade added.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way ought I go from here?
Cheshire cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don’t much care where. –
Cheshire cat: Then it doesn’t matter which way you go. - Culled from a scene from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Cheshire cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don’t much care where. –
Cheshire cat: Then it doesn’t matter which way you go. - Culled from a scene from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
FADAMA III Project Gulps N1.2b In South East – World Bank
GLORIA EZEIRU Business
http://www.leadership.ng/nga/articles/1241/2011/06/24/fadama_iii_project_gulps_n12b_south_east_%E2%80%93_world_bank.html
The FADAMA III Project has funded over 2,600 subprojects to the tune of over N1.2 billion in the south-east zone of the country, the World Bank has said.
The bank explained that out of this number of projects, about 260 have been completed, while the rest were at various levels of completion.
World Bank team leader, Obadiah Tohomdet, in a statement issued in Abuja, noted that these facts were contained in the various status reports presented by the five project implementation units (PIUs) in the zone.
The team was on a 3-day mission in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital to ascertain implementation reports from the State Fadama Offices as well as visit some subproject sites in the state.
The mission also noted that over 683 Fadama Community Associations (FCAs) and 7,712 Fadama Users Groups (FUGs) were already benefitting.
Some of funded subprojects, according to the reports, include; Rural roads, culverts, markets, storage cold rooms, poultries, cassava processing mills, palm oil processing mills, fish ponds, piggeries, rice mills among others.
Reacting to the reports, the team leader, noted that what was happening in the zone was encouraging, urging beneficiaries in the zone to maximise the benefits of the project.
Tohomdet added that the World Bank had already made available $250million , while the federal, state, local governments and the primary beneficiaries were providing the balance of $200million of the total $450million package for the entire project.
Meanwhile, Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State, while exchanging views with the team in his office, said aside from Fadama III Project, there were other development partners-sponsored projects for which government had not been regular in meeting its obligation.
Elechi, however, noted that the state government was in the process of streamlining her activities in order to meet the needs of the people, but was not specific on whether these projects would continue to benefit from government’s counterpart funding.
“The state government would review her further participation in the project, and come up with proposals which would be forwarded to the World Bank for possible consideration,” he said.
Responding, the team leader recalled that the State was in arrears of 2010 and 2011 counterpart funds, the Team Leader appealed to the Governor to offset all outstanding counterpart funds, more so where Fadama III Project concept tallied with the major priorities of the state.
http://www.leadership.ng/nga/articles/1241/2011/06/24/fadama_iii_project_gulps_n12b_south_east_%E2%80%93_world_bank.html
The FADAMA III Project has funded over 2,600 subprojects to the tune of over N1.2 billion in the south-east zone of the country, the World Bank has said.
The bank explained that out of this number of projects, about 260 have been completed, while the rest were at various levels of completion.
World Bank team leader, Obadiah Tohomdet, in a statement issued in Abuja, noted that these facts were contained in the various status reports presented by the five project implementation units (PIUs) in the zone.
The team was on a 3-day mission in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital to ascertain implementation reports from the State Fadama Offices as well as visit some subproject sites in the state.
The mission also noted that over 683 Fadama Community Associations (FCAs) and 7,712 Fadama Users Groups (FUGs) were already benefitting.
Some of funded subprojects, according to the reports, include; Rural roads, culverts, markets, storage cold rooms, poultries, cassava processing mills, palm oil processing mills, fish ponds, piggeries, rice mills among others.
Reacting to the reports, the team leader, noted that what was happening in the zone was encouraging, urging beneficiaries in the zone to maximise the benefits of the project.
Tohomdet added that the World Bank had already made available $250million , while the federal, state, local governments and the primary beneficiaries were providing the balance of $200million of the total $450million package for the entire project.
Meanwhile, Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State, while exchanging views with the team in his office, said aside from Fadama III Project, there were other development partners-sponsored projects for which government had not been regular in meeting its obligation.
Elechi, however, noted that the state government was in the process of streamlining her activities in order to meet the needs of the people, but was not specific on whether these projects would continue to benefit from government’s counterpart funding.
“The state government would review her further participation in the project, and come up with proposals which would be forwarded to the World Bank for possible consideration,” he said.
Responding, the team leader recalled that the State was in arrears of 2010 and 2011 counterpart funds, the Team Leader appealed to the Governor to offset all outstanding counterpart funds, more so where Fadama III Project concept tallied with the major priorities of the state.
World Bank Votes $27m For Disaster Mgt In W/Africa
http://www.leadership.ng/nga/articles/1242/2011/06/24/world_bank_votes_27m_disaster_mgt_wafrica.html
ALU KINGSLEY Business
In order to help improve disaster management and also assist countries that are already reeling under the impact of climate changes in the West Africa sub-region, the World Bank through a global facility on disaster reduction and recovery has set aside the sum of $27 million.
Africa Disaster Risk Management Team Leader at the World Bank, Mr. Paolo Caputo, disclosed this at the on-going 14th Regional Climate Outlook Forum for West Africa, Cameroon and Chad in Abuja yesterday.
He listed the priority countries for the global facility to include; Burkina Faso,Ghana,Mali,Togo and Senegal.
Caputo said some of the main criteria were vulnerability to floods and at the same time, the track records of the various governments in terms of disaster management and their commitment to the global framework for action and also the possibility of integrating actions of disaster management with the existing World Bank portfolio.
The World Bank helmsman emphasised that the five countries were on the most vulnerable list and were chosen by a large constituency of donors which support the global facility for disaster reduction and recovery, adding that the list could be expanded depending on the needs and the requests from the various governments in West Africa.
He also hinted that the World Bank was supporting the simulation exercise on floods at the event in view of the fact that improved dialogue and cooperation between disaster management specialists could help to improve the effectiveness of early warning system for floods, reducing the loss of lives and property in West Africa.
ALU KINGSLEY Business
In order to help improve disaster management and also assist countries that are already reeling under the impact of climate changes in the West Africa sub-region, the World Bank through a global facility on disaster reduction and recovery has set aside the sum of $27 million.
Africa Disaster Risk Management Team Leader at the World Bank, Mr. Paolo Caputo, disclosed this at the on-going 14th Regional Climate Outlook Forum for West Africa, Cameroon and Chad in Abuja yesterday.
He listed the priority countries for the global facility to include; Burkina Faso,Ghana,Mali,Togo and Senegal.
Caputo said some of the main criteria were vulnerability to floods and at the same time, the track records of the various governments in terms of disaster management and their commitment to the global framework for action and also the possibility of integrating actions of disaster management with the existing World Bank portfolio.
The World Bank helmsman emphasised that the five countries were on the most vulnerable list and were chosen by a large constituency of donors which support the global facility for disaster reduction and recovery, adding that the list could be expanded depending on the needs and the requests from the various governments in West Africa.
He also hinted that the World Bank was supporting the simulation exercise on floods at the event in view of the fact that improved dialogue and cooperation between disaster management specialists could help to improve the effectiveness of early warning system for floods, reducing the loss of lives and property in West Africa.
Meet husbands of 10 successful Nigerian women .
http://www.weekly.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6452:meet-husbands-of-10-successful-nigerian-women&catid=40:cover-stories&Itemid=26
Hussain J. Ibrahim, Amina Alhassan, Adie Vanessa Effiong, Mulkat Mukaila, Abuja & Andrew Agbese, Jos .
It used to be said that behind every successful man is a woman. It is a saying that acknowledges the fact that men are usually at the forefront while their women ride to glory behind them. But times have changed. Women are now becoming leaders in their own right, celebrated for their success on the basis of their hard work and effort. But then, the saying is just as applicable that behind every successful woman is a man. Weekly Trust goes behind the scene to investigate the profile of these men who have not just only been supportive of the aspirations and ambitions of their women but have in some ways been enablers who helped to ensure that their women flourish and do well not just for themselves but for the society at large.
Pauline Tallen
Chief Mrs. Pauline Tallen was born on January 8, 1959, in Shendam LGA of Plateau State to the family of Baba Paul and Mama Elizabeth Kattiems. She attended the University of Jos where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology in 1982. She won her first political appointment to the local council in 1994 as councilor in Shendam LGA. Luckily for her, the new regime of the military government in Plateau State viewed her as an asset in her community and appointed her into the position of commissioner in the state executive council overseeing the Ministry of Social Development, Youth, Sports and Culture from 1995-1999.
With the election of Tallen as Deputy Governor of Plateau State, she was the first and only female Deputy Governor in the entire northern Nigeria. A quiet personality, Miskoom John Tallen, husband of Pauline Tallen, is known for his community support efforts and acts of philanthropy. Many in the state, especially in his native Shendam remember him for encouraging farming and for the practical steps he had taken towards that by personally assisting farmers with tractors in his area.
He was a director in the old Plateau civil service where he had been in charge of cooperative shops in the 70’s. He is also known to have used his spare time to promote religious tolerance among the people in the state by organizing different forums where discussions about mutual coexistence are held. Now Chairman Board of Trustees of Shendam private school which was established around 1982, Miskoom Tallen has offered scholarships to orphans since then with over 300 university graduates among them.
He was active in partisan politics in the Second Republic but has been silent on the political scene but is believed nevertheless to have encouraged his wife to pursue a career in politics.
During the recent gubernatorial campaigns in the state where his wife contested against the incumbent governor, Jonah Jang, Miskoom Tallen stood by her and once had to defy his age by mounting the rostrum to physically stand by her to correct the impression that he was not in support of her gubernatorial ambition.
Diezani Alison-Madueke
Diezani Alison-Madueke was born on December 6, 1960 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. She studied architecture in England and then at Howard University in the United States, and worked in USA for some years before returning to Nigeria, joining Shell Petroleum Development Corporation in 1992. In 2002, she attended Cambridge University for her MBA. In April 2006, Shell appointed her its first female Executive Director in Nigeria.
Allison-Madueke was appointed Transport Minister in July 2007. On December 23, 2008, she was appointed Minister of Mines and Steel Development. Since 1999 she has been married to Admiral Alison Madueke (retired), one-time Chief of Naval Staff who was at various times governor of Imo and Anambra State.
Allison-Madueke was born in 1944 in Oji River, Enugu State, and is of Igbo origin. He attended the Britannia Royal College, Dartmouth England and the School of Maritime Operations, Southwick. Madueke studied at the Nigerian Defense Academy between 1964 and 1967. He served at the Embassy of Nigeria as Naval Attaché in Washington DC, USA. After a military coup d’état overthrew civilian President Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983, as Navy Captain he was appointed governor of Anambra State from January 1984 to August 1985, and then of Imo State until 1986 during the military regimes of Generals Muhammadu Buhari and Ibrahim Babangida. Promoted to Rear Admiral, from 1993-1994 he served briefly as Chief of Naval Staff under General Sani Abacha. He was sacked after a Supreme Military Council meeting in August 1994 where he supported the release of the elected civilian president Moshood Abiola, who had been imprisoned after the coup that brought Abacha to power.
Senator Grace Bent
Adamawa State’s Senator Grace Bent got elected into the National Assembly in 2007 where she served her constituency until 2011. While at the National Assembly, she was a house committee member on Ethics and Petition, Environment, Aviation and Foreign Affairs. Senator Bent has previously held positions as Assistant Producer, NTA Kaduna and Managing Director, Jack Ventures Nigeria Ltd and Gammako Nigeria Ltd.
But behind the amiable Senator is retired Major Jackson Bent who hails from Dong, Demsa Local Government Area of Adamawa State. The constituency Senator Bent represented in the National Assembly is actually the constituency she married into and not one where she was born. But probably it is a measure of the support she enjoys from her husband that she won the election in his constituency to go and represent the people of the area in the National Assembly, a position she held meritoriously and being one of the few Nigerian women who got elected at constituencies different from their states of origin.
Major Jackson Bent was born on 14th December, 1951. He attended St. Theresa Primary School, Jimeta, Yola and GSS Ganye from 1963-1967 where he proceeded to GSS Bauchi for his higher school certificate .He attended the NDA as an Officer Cadet from January 1972 to 1974, then later became Combatant Officer in 1974 as a second Lieutenant in the Nigeria Army.
Major Jackson was the ADC to the Military Governor of Kano State from 1975-1976 from where he was later transferred to Kaduna as the ADC to the then military governor in 1978, from there he proceeded to Kachia Kaduna State as Commandant of the Army Resettlement and Rehabilitation centre.
He has held positions in the Army like Military Assistant to the Adjutant General, Staff Officer to the Quarter-Master General, Directing Staff Officer at the Command and Staff College Jaji, and Acting Commanding Officer, 181 infantry Battalion, Lokoja, until his retirement.
After his retirement from the Army, he became the Executive Director /Group Executive Coordinator of Buhari Group of Companies and later formed Jack Ventures Nigeria Ltd and Jamal Nigeria Enterprise where he has since been Group Chairman /CEO till date.
Aisha Dukku
The former Minister of State for Education, Hajiya Aisha Dukku, is an achiever in her own right. With an unyielding resolve to bring positive changes to her people, especially the vulnerable girl-child and women, she had tried to make positive impact through community development initiatives. After serving as minister she engaged fully in her NGO, Centre for Development and Partnership (CEDAP) activities to further achieve this goal.
She is married to Jamaluddeen Arabi, an influential community member. Her husband has been one of her major pillars of support. She said of him: “What is important is that I have a supportive husband and he gives me all the encouragement I need to discharge my duties. Where I fail he understands, because I never want to fail in whatever I do, but as a human being I am bound to make mistakes, somehow, somewhere and he understands.’’ In one of her recent interviews she was quoted as saying, “my husband remains my pillar of support”.
She thanked her husband for being supportive at all times while she tries her best to ensure that the home front does not suffer in spite of the daunting task of her public calling. “I believe Allah created me and He knows why He created me, because He created me as a woman, He has also given me the strength to do what I have to do and I have been coping successfully without any problem,” she said.
Nenadi Usman
Nenadi Usman is one woman that needs no introduction. She was Minister of State for Finance during the Obasanjo administration and later rose to become the substantive Minister of Finance in the same administration. Mrs Nenadi has played a prominent role in women development and empowerment and has played a pivotal role in the formation of a Non-Governmental Organization called “Education and Empowerment for Women” with its headquarters at Jere in Kaduna State.
Nenadi Usman is married to Dr. Sa’ad Usman (the Chief of Jere). She said of him in an interview: “He is a very good father and husband and he has always been in support of me in everything I venture into. He told me that the sky was my limit and with hard work I could get there. He is a very gentle person, loving and very accommodating.”
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Ngozi Okonjo Iweala is known as the iconic lady of Finance. She was born June 13, 1954 and hails from Delta State. She was the first woman to hold the portfolio of the Minister of Finance when she served as the finance minister in 2006. Prior to her ministerial career, okonjo iweala was vice president and corporate secretary of the World Bank Group. She is married to Dr. Iweala, a surgeon from Abia State, who works with Washington’s Province Hospital, USA.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa
Abike Dabiri-Erewa is the one-time anchor of NTA’s popular Sunday television show, Newsline after Frank Olize, before she contested for a seat in the Federal House of Representatives where she is currently serving her third term. Married to Segun Erewa, with four children, she describes marrying her husband as the best decision she has ever made. “I am lucky and blessed with a very understanding person and I ask where he has been all these years. He is an extremely wonderful, down to earth person, sincere and very blunt. We call him the Most Valuable addition (MVA).”
Obiageli Ezekwesili
Popularly referred to as ‘Madam Due Process’ during her tenure as Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili began her career as an accountant, auditor, financial and management consultant with Deloitte &Touché where she worked as an auditor, management and financial services consultant. Thereafter, from 1994 to 1999 she served as a founding Director of Transparency International (TI) and as TI’s Director for Africa. She worked as Director of the Harvard-Nigeria Economic Strategy Program, between 2000 and 2002. About the same time she was appointed as an aide to President Obasanjo before being made Senior Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence in 2003.
She is married to Pastor Chinedu Ezekwesili of the Redeemed Christian Church, a man who is an acknowledged religious and community leader who has touched the lives of several Nigerians by teaching positive values. It is an influence he extended to his wife who during her stint in office was one of the vocal voices against government wastage and corruption.
Priscilla Kuye
Priscilla Kuye is past president of the Nigerian Bar Association, past president, Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce, past vice-president, Commonwealth Lawyers Association, Principal Consultant, Priscilla Kuye& Co (Legal Practitioners), Member, Body of Benchers and past Chairman, Human Rights Committee, NBA, and hold leadership positions at many other organisations. She is married to Chief Omowale Ajani Kuye, a former Permanent Secretary who retired from public service in 1988 after holding several key positions in the federal civil service which include Assistant Director, Federal Ministry of Finance, 1979-1983; Director of Budget, Federal Ministry of Finance, 1984-85. He was also Director-General, Special Duties, Office of the President and was also Secretary, Technical Committee on Privatization and Commercialization of Government Companies and Parastatals, 1989-93. He has been married to Priscilla for over 45 years.
Senator Ajuji Waziri
Farida MzamberWaziri is the current chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. She was born on July 7, 1946 and raised in Gboko, Benue State. Farida Waziri enlisted in the Nigeria Police Force in 1965 and rose to the position of Assistant Inspector General of Police. She also served as Commissioner of Police (special fraud unit) in which role she recorded the first conviction for Advance Fee Fraud in Nigeria. She led the West African delegation on Advance Fee Fraud to Lyons, France in 1996. She led the Nigeria delegation to Dallas, Texas for a seminar organized by the United State Secret Service in 1998.
Farida Waziri is married to Senator Ajuji Waziri, a former Senator representing Bauchi South East Senatorial District in 1983. Apart from being a member of the Constitutional Conference between 1994-95 he was Nigeria’s ambassador to the Republic of Turkey between 2004-2007. He was also elected Senator in 2010 following a by-election to fill that position.
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Hussain J. Ibrahim, Amina Alhassan, Adie Vanessa Effiong, Mulkat Mukaila, Abuja & Andrew Agbese, Jos .
It used to be said that behind every successful man is a woman. It is a saying that acknowledges the fact that men are usually at the forefront while their women ride to glory behind them. But times have changed. Women are now becoming leaders in their own right, celebrated for their success on the basis of their hard work and effort. But then, the saying is just as applicable that behind every successful woman is a man. Weekly Trust goes behind the scene to investigate the profile of these men who have not just only been supportive of the aspirations and ambitions of their women but have in some ways been enablers who helped to ensure that their women flourish and do well not just for themselves but for the society at large.
Pauline Tallen
Chief Mrs. Pauline Tallen was born on January 8, 1959, in Shendam LGA of Plateau State to the family of Baba Paul and Mama Elizabeth Kattiems. She attended the University of Jos where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology in 1982. She won her first political appointment to the local council in 1994 as councilor in Shendam LGA. Luckily for her, the new regime of the military government in Plateau State viewed her as an asset in her community and appointed her into the position of commissioner in the state executive council overseeing the Ministry of Social Development, Youth, Sports and Culture from 1995-1999.
With the election of Tallen as Deputy Governor of Plateau State, she was the first and only female Deputy Governor in the entire northern Nigeria. A quiet personality, Miskoom John Tallen, husband of Pauline Tallen, is known for his community support efforts and acts of philanthropy. Many in the state, especially in his native Shendam remember him for encouraging farming and for the practical steps he had taken towards that by personally assisting farmers with tractors in his area.
He was a director in the old Plateau civil service where he had been in charge of cooperative shops in the 70’s. He is also known to have used his spare time to promote religious tolerance among the people in the state by organizing different forums where discussions about mutual coexistence are held. Now Chairman Board of Trustees of Shendam private school which was established around 1982, Miskoom Tallen has offered scholarships to orphans since then with over 300 university graduates among them.
He was active in partisan politics in the Second Republic but has been silent on the political scene but is believed nevertheless to have encouraged his wife to pursue a career in politics.
During the recent gubernatorial campaigns in the state where his wife contested against the incumbent governor, Jonah Jang, Miskoom Tallen stood by her and once had to defy his age by mounting the rostrum to physically stand by her to correct the impression that he was not in support of her gubernatorial ambition.
Diezani Alison-Madueke
Diezani Alison-Madueke was born on December 6, 1960 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. She studied architecture in England and then at Howard University in the United States, and worked in USA for some years before returning to Nigeria, joining Shell Petroleum Development Corporation in 1992. In 2002, she attended Cambridge University for her MBA. In April 2006, Shell appointed her its first female Executive Director in Nigeria.
Allison-Madueke was appointed Transport Minister in July 2007. On December 23, 2008, she was appointed Minister of Mines and Steel Development. Since 1999 she has been married to Admiral Alison Madueke (retired), one-time Chief of Naval Staff who was at various times governor of Imo and Anambra State.
Allison-Madueke was born in 1944 in Oji River, Enugu State, and is of Igbo origin. He attended the Britannia Royal College, Dartmouth England and the School of Maritime Operations, Southwick. Madueke studied at the Nigerian Defense Academy between 1964 and 1967. He served at the Embassy of Nigeria as Naval Attaché in Washington DC, USA. After a military coup d’état overthrew civilian President Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983, as Navy Captain he was appointed governor of Anambra State from January 1984 to August 1985, and then of Imo State until 1986 during the military regimes of Generals Muhammadu Buhari and Ibrahim Babangida. Promoted to Rear Admiral, from 1993-1994 he served briefly as Chief of Naval Staff under General Sani Abacha. He was sacked after a Supreme Military Council meeting in August 1994 where he supported the release of the elected civilian president Moshood Abiola, who had been imprisoned after the coup that brought Abacha to power.
Senator Grace Bent
Adamawa State’s Senator Grace Bent got elected into the National Assembly in 2007 where she served her constituency until 2011. While at the National Assembly, she was a house committee member on Ethics and Petition, Environment, Aviation and Foreign Affairs. Senator Bent has previously held positions as Assistant Producer, NTA Kaduna and Managing Director, Jack Ventures Nigeria Ltd and Gammako Nigeria Ltd.
But behind the amiable Senator is retired Major Jackson Bent who hails from Dong, Demsa Local Government Area of Adamawa State. The constituency Senator Bent represented in the National Assembly is actually the constituency she married into and not one where she was born. But probably it is a measure of the support she enjoys from her husband that she won the election in his constituency to go and represent the people of the area in the National Assembly, a position she held meritoriously and being one of the few Nigerian women who got elected at constituencies different from their states of origin.
Major Jackson Bent was born on 14th December, 1951. He attended St. Theresa Primary School, Jimeta, Yola and GSS Ganye from 1963-1967 where he proceeded to GSS Bauchi for his higher school certificate .He attended the NDA as an Officer Cadet from January 1972 to 1974, then later became Combatant Officer in 1974 as a second Lieutenant in the Nigeria Army.
Major Jackson was the ADC to the Military Governor of Kano State from 1975-1976 from where he was later transferred to Kaduna as the ADC to the then military governor in 1978, from there he proceeded to Kachia Kaduna State as Commandant of the Army Resettlement and Rehabilitation centre.
He has held positions in the Army like Military Assistant to the Adjutant General, Staff Officer to the Quarter-Master General, Directing Staff Officer at the Command and Staff College Jaji, and Acting Commanding Officer, 181 infantry Battalion, Lokoja, until his retirement.
After his retirement from the Army, he became the Executive Director /Group Executive Coordinator of Buhari Group of Companies and later formed Jack Ventures Nigeria Ltd and Jamal Nigeria Enterprise where he has since been Group Chairman /CEO till date.
Aisha Dukku
The former Minister of State for Education, Hajiya Aisha Dukku, is an achiever in her own right. With an unyielding resolve to bring positive changes to her people, especially the vulnerable girl-child and women, she had tried to make positive impact through community development initiatives. After serving as minister she engaged fully in her NGO, Centre for Development and Partnership (CEDAP) activities to further achieve this goal.
She is married to Jamaluddeen Arabi, an influential community member. Her husband has been one of her major pillars of support. She said of him: “What is important is that I have a supportive husband and he gives me all the encouragement I need to discharge my duties. Where I fail he understands, because I never want to fail in whatever I do, but as a human being I am bound to make mistakes, somehow, somewhere and he understands.’’ In one of her recent interviews she was quoted as saying, “my husband remains my pillar of support”.
She thanked her husband for being supportive at all times while she tries her best to ensure that the home front does not suffer in spite of the daunting task of her public calling. “I believe Allah created me and He knows why He created me, because He created me as a woman, He has also given me the strength to do what I have to do and I have been coping successfully without any problem,” she said.
Nenadi Usman
Nenadi Usman is one woman that needs no introduction. She was Minister of State for Finance during the Obasanjo administration and later rose to become the substantive Minister of Finance in the same administration. Mrs Nenadi has played a prominent role in women development and empowerment and has played a pivotal role in the formation of a Non-Governmental Organization called “Education and Empowerment for Women” with its headquarters at Jere in Kaduna State.
Nenadi Usman is married to Dr. Sa’ad Usman (the Chief of Jere). She said of him in an interview: “He is a very good father and husband and he has always been in support of me in everything I venture into. He told me that the sky was my limit and with hard work I could get there. He is a very gentle person, loving and very accommodating.”
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Ngozi Okonjo Iweala is known as the iconic lady of Finance. She was born June 13, 1954 and hails from Delta State. She was the first woman to hold the portfolio of the Minister of Finance when she served as the finance minister in 2006. Prior to her ministerial career, okonjo iweala was vice president and corporate secretary of the World Bank Group. She is married to Dr. Iweala, a surgeon from Abia State, who works with Washington’s Province Hospital, USA.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa
Abike Dabiri-Erewa is the one-time anchor of NTA’s popular Sunday television show, Newsline after Frank Olize, before she contested for a seat in the Federal House of Representatives where she is currently serving her third term. Married to Segun Erewa, with four children, she describes marrying her husband as the best decision she has ever made. “I am lucky and blessed with a very understanding person and I ask where he has been all these years. He is an extremely wonderful, down to earth person, sincere and very blunt. We call him the Most Valuable addition (MVA).”
Obiageli Ezekwesili
Popularly referred to as ‘Madam Due Process’ during her tenure as Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili began her career as an accountant, auditor, financial and management consultant with Deloitte &Touché where she worked as an auditor, management and financial services consultant. Thereafter, from 1994 to 1999 she served as a founding Director of Transparency International (TI) and as TI’s Director for Africa. She worked as Director of the Harvard-Nigeria Economic Strategy Program, between 2000 and 2002. About the same time she was appointed as an aide to President Obasanjo before being made Senior Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence in 2003.
She is married to Pastor Chinedu Ezekwesili of the Redeemed Christian Church, a man who is an acknowledged religious and community leader who has touched the lives of several Nigerians by teaching positive values. It is an influence he extended to his wife who during her stint in office was one of the vocal voices against government wastage and corruption.
Priscilla Kuye
Priscilla Kuye is past president of the Nigerian Bar Association, past president, Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce, past vice-president, Commonwealth Lawyers Association, Principal Consultant, Priscilla Kuye& Co (Legal Practitioners), Member, Body of Benchers and past Chairman, Human Rights Committee, NBA, and hold leadership positions at many other organisations. She is married to Chief Omowale Ajani Kuye, a former Permanent Secretary who retired from public service in 1988 after holding several key positions in the federal civil service which include Assistant Director, Federal Ministry of Finance, 1979-1983; Director of Budget, Federal Ministry of Finance, 1984-85. He was also Director-General, Special Duties, Office of the President and was also Secretary, Technical Committee on Privatization and Commercialization of Government Companies and Parastatals, 1989-93. He has been married to Priscilla for over 45 years.
Senator Ajuji Waziri
Farida MzamberWaziri is the current chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. She was born on July 7, 1946 and raised in Gboko, Benue State. Farida Waziri enlisted in the Nigeria Police Force in 1965 and rose to the position of Assistant Inspector General of Police. She also served as Commissioner of Police (special fraud unit) in which role she recorded the first conviction for Advance Fee Fraud in Nigeria. She led the West African delegation on Advance Fee Fraud to Lyons, France in 1996. She led the Nigeria delegation to Dallas, Texas for a seminar organized by the United State Secret Service in 1998.
Farida Waziri is married to Senator Ajuji Waziri, a former Senator representing Bauchi South East Senatorial District in 1983. Apart from being a member of the Constitutional Conference between 1994-95 he was Nigeria’s ambassador to the Republic of Turkey between 2004-2007. He was also elected Senator in 2010 following a by-election to fill that position.
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Why I’ll always remain a Northerner – Gov. Rochas .
http://www.weekly.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6453:why-ill-always-remain-a-northerner-gov-rochas&catid=40:cover-stories&Itemid=26
Abdulkareem Baba Aminu & Amina Alhassan .
Born Rochas Anayo Ethelbert Okorocha in September 22, 1962, from Ogboko Ideato South Local Government Area, the Imo State Governor was a businessman and philanthropist before venturing into politics. He achieved gubernatorial victory under the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). He also holds a Masters degree in Law and is married, with three daughters and three sons. Weekly Trust recently interviewed him on a wide spectrum of issues. Herewith, are excerpts:
In the past twelve years you have changed political parties like eight times. Does that mean we’ll see you ditching APGA anytime soon?
I have no intention to change party for now. When you say I have ditched different parties, I would not say that is quite right because this whole thing is about vision. The political party is only a vehicle with which people use to attain their political ambition. The most important thing is the vision that you have for the people.
I was a founding member of the PDP but in a situation where they would not give me the ticket to achieve my vision for the people, I had no other alternative than to go to a party where my political dreams for the people will be achieved. I moved to APGA, which to me is not really a political party for our people, but more like a culture. It is an organization that represents the interests of the people.
Speaking of the PDP, there were speculations that you were at a time a mole for Obasanjo, to distort the game-plan of that and other parties...
Does Obasanjo really have a friend? I do not think he has any friends and so when those cheap speculations of him planting people to do things are bandied about, it baffles me. He could not have done that, at least not with me.
The elections have come and gone and obviously marred by a polarized population. What efforts have you put in place to re unite the people of Imo state?
I believe that what is important is the state itself. The interest I have to protect is more of the interest of the common man because that is the yardstick in which we can measure the success of any given government at any time. Most people will like to go into witch-hunting their predecessors, but that is not my type of game. That is not what I was elected for. But again that does not mean I will not look for where every naira of Imo State had gone and whether it was able to achieve the purpose of which it was meant.
In doing so, many might look at it as fighting but it is not. In fact, my concern is that contractors who collected these monies and never did the job should be held responsible. I am not concerned about who approved or gave the job.
You reportedly dissolved the council of traditional rulers in your state. Why?
The traditional institution is and remains the mirror of a state and such an institution is supposed to maintain a certain level of responsibility. Before my coming in as the governor, you will notice that the traditional institution was getting over-politicized and generally began to lose focus. Some of them became fully involved in politics as it got to a stage that we could not differentiate a traditional ruler from a politician, which was not healthy for our society.
What I’m doing is trying to reorganize the place to give it its dignity and the decisions we took is in line with the people of the state. The confidence of the traditional institution is going to be restored in the hearts of the people of Imo State.
What is your stand on the issue of the new minimum wage?
We will pay, definitely. If it is a law, it is a law and we cannot say otherwise, so we must pay. What people should understand is that the law says N18,000 minimum and I think that is fair enough. How can you pay someone N10,000 or N15,000 in Nigeria today? What you are telling the person indirectly is to go and steal. Even the N18,000 is little but it will at least go a long way.
What the state governors are saying is that the Federal Government can afford to pay but the states cannot because the Federal government has 52% of the entire revenue-sharing formula. So if you put together the total civil servants in states and compare it with those at federal level, it is a very large difference. So the Federal Government can pay while the states will need to generate more revenue to be able to pay the minimum wage. The Federal Government has smaller responsibilities while the states have bigger ones. So, we are calling for restructuring of the revenue-sharing formula.
You have introduced free education from primary to secondary school in your state. How feasible do you think this will turn out to be?
Many people have confronted me on this issue of free education. But let me ask one question, what legacy can we leave for the upcoming generation? Is it to build mansions or to buy posh cars for them or what? Education is an emotional issue for me. I would have not have gone to school and become a governor today if I did not go on the streets of Barkin Ladi in Plateau State, selling oranges and groundnuts before being able to go for classes. So I know firsthand the pains of poor people when they are not able to send their children to school.
People have come to me to argue how Imo State can achieve this with 1.9 wage bill and 2.3 subventions amidst the debt profile of the state. And I say to them if that is all we will achieve in the state, so be it and that is my stand.
What I’m simply doing is cutting down on a lot of things, as there is a lot of waste in government. When you go to most government houses, you hear of champagne allowance, travel allowance, lodge maintenance allowance and all sorts of allowances which run into millions of naira. Why all this extravagance when there is a child out there who is not going to school? So if we can make such sacrifices then we can allow the poor people to go to school. My kids are making the sacrifice as they are in public schools in Nigeria and my wife is not a high-profile woman.
The over 13,000 staff I have at the secretariat are being redeployed back to the states because I do not know what they sit in the state doing, writing files, selling groundnuts and biscuits at the secretariat. But all that has stopped now.
It has been in the press that you are short-tempered, how true is this?
I think if there is anybody who has a large heart, it would be me. It is not true that I am short-tempered. I mean, if you ask those who have worked with me they will tell you that the largest of my heart extends even beyond elasticity. I do not keep malice and I am not someone who would keep enemies.
Do you read a lot?
No, unfortunately. I’m not one who reads a lot because for me I feel reading someone else’s idea gets your idea polluted. I particularly don’t like self-help books. So when I see people applying alien economics theories in Nigeria, it baffles me.
You speak flawless Hausa. How come?
I will always say I am a Northerner and I’m very proud of it. The East gave birth to me, the North gave me life and the West empowered me financially. The North gave me life and made me who I am today and there is no reason why I should forget that. They are everything to me.
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Abdulkareem Baba Aminu & Amina Alhassan .
Born Rochas Anayo Ethelbert Okorocha in September 22, 1962, from Ogboko Ideato South Local Government Area, the Imo State Governor was a businessman and philanthropist before venturing into politics. He achieved gubernatorial victory under the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). He also holds a Masters degree in Law and is married, with three daughters and three sons. Weekly Trust recently interviewed him on a wide spectrum of issues. Herewith, are excerpts:
In the past twelve years you have changed political parties like eight times. Does that mean we’ll see you ditching APGA anytime soon?
I have no intention to change party for now. When you say I have ditched different parties, I would not say that is quite right because this whole thing is about vision. The political party is only a vehicle with which people use to attain their political ambition. The most important thing is the vision that you have for the people.
I was a founding member of the PDP but in a situation where they would not give me the ticket to achieve my vision for the people, I had no other alternative than to go to a party where my political dreams for the people will be achieved. I moved to APGA, which to me is not really a political party for our people, but more like a culture. It is an organization that represents the interests of the people.
Speaking of the PDP, there were speculations that you were at a time a mole for Obasanjo, to distort the game-plan of that and other parties...
Does Obasanjo really have a friend? I do not think he has any friends and so when those cheap speculations of him planting people to do things are bandied about, it baffles me. He could not have done that, at least not with me.
The elections have come and gone and obviously marred by a polarized population. What efforts have you put in place to re unite the people of Imo state?
I believe that what is important is the state itself. The interest I have to protect is more of the interest of the common man because that is the yardstick in which we can measure the success of any given government at any time. Most people will like to go into witch-hunting their predecessors, but that is not my type of game. That is not what I was elected for. But again that does not mean I will not look for where every naira of Imo State had gone and whether it was able to achieve the purpose of which it was meant.
In doing so, many might look at it as fighting but it is not. In fact, my concern is that contractors who collected these monies and never did the job should be held responsible. I am not concerned about who approved or gave the job.
You reportedly dissolved the council of traditional rulers in your state. Why?
The traditional institution is and remains the mirror of a state and such an institution is supposed to maintain a certain level of responsibility. Before my coming in as the governor, you will notice that the traditional institution was getting over-politicized and generally began to lose focus. Some of them became fully involved in politics as it got to a stage that we could not differentiate a traditional ruler from a politician, which was not healthy for our society.
What I’m doing is trying to reorganize the place to give it its dignity and the decisions we took is in line with the people of the state. The confidence of the traditional institution is going to be restored in the hearts of the people of Imo State.
What is your stand on the issue of the new minimum wage?
We will pay, definitely. If it is a law, it is a law and we cannot say otherwise, so we must pay. What people should understand is that the law says N18,000 minimum and I think that is fair enough. How can you pay someone N10,000 or N15,000 in Nigeria today? What you are telling the person indirectly is to go and steal. Even the N18,000 is little but it will at least go a long way.
What the state governors are saying is that the Federal Government can afford to pay but the states cannot because the Federal government has 52% of the entire revenue-sharing formula. So if you put together the total civil servants in states and compare it with those at federal level, it is a very large difference. So the Federal Government can pay while the states will need to generate more revenue to be able to pay the minimum wage. The Federal Government has smaller responsibilities while the states have bigger ones. So, we are calling for restructuring of the revenue-sharing formula.
You have introduced free education from primary to secondary school in your state. How feasible do you think this will turn out to be?
Many people have confronted me on this issue of free education. But let me ask one question, what legacy can we leave for the upcoming generation? Is it to build mansions or to buy posh cars for them or what? Education is an emotional issue for me. I would have not have gone to school and become a governor today if I did not go on the streets of Barkin Ladi in Plateau State, selling oranges and groundnuts before being able to go for classes. So I know firsthand the pains of poor people when they are not able to send their children to school.
People have come to me to argue how Imo State can achieve this with 1.9 wage bill and 2.3 subventions amidst the debt profile of the state. And I say to them if that is all we will achieve in the state, so be it and that is my stand.
What I’m simply doing is cutting down on a lot of things, as there is a lot of waste in government. When you go to most government houses, you hear of champagne allowance, travel allowance, lodge maintenance allowance and all sorts of allowances which run into millions of naira. Why all this extravagance when there is a child out there who is not going to school? So if we can make such sacrifices then we can allow the poor people to go to school. My kids are making the sacrifice as they are in public schools in Nigeria and my wife is not a high-profile woman.
The over 13,000 staff I have at the secretariat are being redeployed back to the states because I do not know what they sit in the state doing, writing files, selling groundnuts and biscuits at the secretariat. But all that has stopped now.
It has been in the press that you are short-tempered, how true is this?
I think if there is anybody who has a large heart, it would be me. It is not true that I am short-tempered. I mean, if you ask those who have worked with me they will tell you that the largest of my heart extends even beyond elasticity. I do not keep malice and I am not someone who would keep enemies.
Do you read a lot?
No, unfortunately. I’m not one who reads a lot because for me I feel reading someone else’s idea gets your idea polluted. I particularly don’t like self-help books. So when I see people applying alien economics theories in Nigeria, it baffles me.
You speak flawless Hausa. How come?
I will always say I am a Northerner and I’m very proud of it. The East gave birth to me, the North gave me life and the West empowered me financially. The North gave me life and made me who I am today and there is no reason why I should forget that. They are everything to me.
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