The second reason why the topic is apt is the effect of the meltdown on the world’s economy and the negative impact on oil and gas sector as crude oil price has been fluctuating between $50-$60/barrel. This also will affect your operations in NLNG. This is further compounded by pipelines’ vandalism and the inability of your gas suppliers to meet NLNG gas supply needs, which has reduced your optimum capacity by 55%. The overall impact of this is the declaration of force majeure twice by your organization.

In the first week of July 2008, Nigeria’s Bonny Light Crude sold for $146.15 but slipped to $76.24 and $57 per barrel at the middle of October and November 2008 respectively and Light Sweet Crude Oil to  $47.78 by 3^rd December 2008. This represents a dip of about 69.83%. Dwindling revenue will affect budgetary performance, allocations to sub sectors because of the country’s monoculture economy and possible delays in the discharge of government’s responsibilities in recurrent expenditure. This has led to high indebtedness to internal contractors. Pension payment might become a huge source of worry because of the dwindling finances to meet up with the financial obligations of recurrent expenditure.

The third reason for the appropriateness of the topic is that the multinational oil companies in Nigeria will sooner than later put in place, some restrictions which will affect recruitment, corporate social responsibilities (CSR), autonomy of companies as the home countries are likely to put in place stiffer oversight functions. This may also lead to the withdrawal or reduction of foreign aids, which may affect counterpart funding of projects. In worst case scenario, multinationals may withdraw huge sums from their portfolio in the country to support home offices and operations. If the meltdown runs further trends of financial uncertainty, there is the likelihood of divestments, more mergers and acquisitions etc.

The fourth reason why the choice of this topic is apt is that the proceeds from oil drive our economy and the slump from over $140 to below $50 per barrel might affect our country’s foreign reserve. On this, Aluko says “If one looks at its website www.cenbank.org  – Foreign Reserve Movement page – starting from January 2, 2008, one sees that our gross foreign reserves steadily increased from $51.2 billion to a high of $63.5 billion on September 10, 2008, before declining to a value of $61.99 billion on October 1, 2008 – the last recorded entry.  That is a decline of $1.5 billion within a two-week period.

The fifth reason why I commend you for the choice of the topic is that the meltdown occurred because of leadership problems in various institutions. Lack of directional and focused leadership led to the collapse of the world’s economy e.g. lending without borders and restrictions, corruption, extravagance of CEOs, break neck competition and apathy on the part of political leaders.

The sixth reason why the choice of topic is apt is that security of employment is gradually becoming a tall dream for workers. Ogbeifun in his web post said, “In September 2008, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) rose by 167,000 to 2.0 million, an increase of 728,000 over the past 12 months. In the US housing sector alone, the foreclosures in 2007 stood at about 850,000 and by the 3^rd quarter of 2008, financial institutions like Lehman Brothers, AIG; WaMU, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan-Chase, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and many others cracked under the meltdown”. If this can happen in the advanced nations, then ours will definitely be worse.

In Nigeria, it will surely affect direct inflow of investment and capital. Many Nigerians abroad that transfer money to their relations and fund various investments have lost their sources of earnings. Even before the meltdown, our own economy had melted decades ago and jobs have been lost at dizzying pace especially in 1999-2007. Except the government puts in place an effective inward looking mechanism  there is will be more Job cuts, layoffs, increased unemployment and strikes because of shrinking economic landscape.

The seventh reason why you must be commended for the choice of this topic is that, we are running a near 100% consumption economy structure, which behoves that we import virtually everything that supports our economic base from white petroleum products to spare parts to service the few industries that are still on stream. With the depreciation of the naira there has been between 10-50% increases in commodity prices with a corresponding diminishing purchasing power of salary earners.

The last reason why the choice of your topic is apt is that the multiplier effects of the depression will lead to restiveness of the Unions because of policy shifts and inflation. To cushion the effect of the rising commodity prices and inflation, the Unions will be tempted to demand for pay-raise amidst the organizations’ diminishing returns.

The beginning and definition of Trade Union

Prior to 1914, relationship between employers and workers was simple and personal in nature. It was the era of master-servant relationship in which the employer had absolute powers. He had Powers to hire and fire at will, unilaterally fix wages and determine the hours of work. The worker had no voice in matters that regulated his or her working life.

After the First World War, the relationship became more complex. Though the industrial revolution led to improvement in production, the income of workers remained low. Workers became more responsive in the demands for their rights, appropriate wage and improvement in their welfare, equity and justice.

They became rebellious and organized themselves into trade unions for the articulation of their views. This resulted in unrest and declining productivity. Government maintained a lassez-faire attitude to unionism until 1929 when the British government put in place the trade Ordinance Disputes’ Act.

For Nigeria, the journey towards trade unionism began in 1912 with the formation of the Nigerian Civil Service Union. Due to a combination of factors which include: rising cost living, poor remuneration by employers, influx of people into paid employment and the need to forge a formidable front through collective action.

In 1931, the Railway workers’ Union and the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) were formed. Between 1930 and 1976, the Unions grew in leaps and bounds. Government also promulgated several ordinances during this period to support social dialogue. 

However, in 1978, the Trade Union Amendment Act No. 22 restructured trade unions in the country reducing the unions from about one thousand to seventy. This gave birth to National Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers of Nigeria (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).

The early definition of trade union saw it as “a continuous association of wage earners, the primary purpose of which is the maintenance and improvement of the conditions of working life”. This is one of the many definitions proffered by distinguished writers. The main distinguishing feature in the many definitions is that membership of a trade union is exclusively for those in paid employment, that is, those who exchange their labour power for wages. The exclusive concern of a union should be with the improvement of its members’ and the maintenance of their working life (life of job).

However in Nigeria, a trade union is seen and defined as “any combination of workers or employers, whether temporary or permanent, the purpose of which is to regulate the terms and conditions of employment of workers” (Section 1 Trade Unions Act Laws of the Federation 1990). This definition tends to be more-embracing, as it is not limited to workers but also extends to the employer. It has as its focus the regulation of the terms and conditions of employment of workers and to the extent that these terms and conditions of employment affect what the employee gets in return. It can be argued that the interest of employees can be furthered through trade unionism.

Having the above definition in mind and the need to improve the welfare of union members; the recent reduction in the salaries of political office holders, which is like a pronouncement on wage freeze, becomes an issue of concern to any union leader. It will take the enthronement of effective leadership on the parts of trade Union leaders and the leaders of enterprises to stare the ship of various organizations far away from economic and industrial relations’ turbulent waters.

For us to meaningfully discuss the day’s topic, we shall try to examine the previous global economic depression, its effects and impacts on people especially the working class. At the end of the discourse, you should be able to fully appreciate what your roles should be in times of economic downturn.

Historical Perspective of Global economic depression

Several reasons have been given for the First World War. These include the scramble for Africa, which led to face off between the European nations as it led to series of wars. An example of this was the Germany- France fracas over Morocco in 1906 and 1911. Germany was said to have attacked France over Alsace and Loraine in 1870-1871. The Russia versus Turkey war over the BALKANS in 1878 and the break neck Naval competition in which Germany wanted to outdo the British Navy. The various leaders went into series of war of supremacy, which later culminated into the First World War in 1911. The world monarchies that reigned for several hundreds of years in Europe lost their overbearing influence on the world with the end of the war in 1918.

The preoccupation of the political heads at that time was to amass weaponry and not concerned with the delivery of the dividends of democracy to their citizens. After the war, Britain that was adjudged the most powerful country in the world at that time became heavily indebted (Michael Dinatale: 2005). This led to economic crisis and series of events, which include strikes and massive unrests across Europe, followed. America though temporarily shielded from the harsh effects of the depression, was confronted a decade later by the collapse of her stock market.

The agricultural sector that was the mainstay of the economy witnessed severe catastrophic decline for several reasons. After the war there was technological advancement that helped the farmers to improve their productivity. Unfortunately, most of the food produced outweighed the demand and this glut of agricultural produce led to decline in prices. In bid to maintain profitability at a stable level, more food was produced and the farmers produce, the more reduction in the prices of agricultural products. This led to the bankruptcy of most farmers who were not able to meet with the obligations of servicing their credit. Finally, the agricultural market was hit by severe depression.

This was further worsened by the declined importation of goods from Europe by America. Rather than political leaders at that time to intervene in the regulation of the market policies, they relied on the laissez-faire mantra of “let the market run according to the dictates of supply and demand”, which was unable to stem the tide of the deepening depression.

The Second World War (SWW) started because of the spill over of unresolved issues from the First World War (FWW).  For instance Germany thought the Treaty of Versailles was too harsh on her because of the loss of territories, massive reparations and restrictions to remilitarization. The League of Nations watched helplessly as the breaches of rearmament were carried out and the last straw was the invasion of Poland by Germany in September 1939. Again, the political leaders misled the entire world into a preventable war.

After the war, the world powers started decolonizing the Asian and African States they had held under their grips. Rather than allow the new independent States to act in self determination; they started the competitive economic race branded as neo-colonialism.

In the 70s, the nationalization of oil companies in the Arab, Asian and some African countries was a sore point in the relationships between the advanced nations and the nationalizing states. In the ensuing Arab-Israeli war in 1973, the Arab bloc used the OPEC instrument to put sanctions in place against perceived anti Arab interests that were labeled unfriendly states This led to a drastic increase in crude oil price from $ 2.83 to $10.41. These developments led the West to begin massive research into renewable energy source, the use of coal as a major source of energy, reduction on the dependence on oil from the Middle East, the opening up of the North Sea oil fields in the UK and Norway’s search for alternative source of energy.

There were incremental rises in the price of oil until the gulf War started in 1984 when continued until 1986 when the crude oil price crashed from $27.77 to $10.34. Some of these under currents premised on purely selfish agenda rather than genuine concerns for global economic and political interests of the West resulted in the Gulf wars of the 90s as the opinion of Sunday Times of 12 August 1990 suggests “The reason why we will shortly have to go to war with Iraq is not to free Kuwait, though that is to be desired, or to defend Saudi Arabia, though that is important. It is because President Saddam is a menace to vital Western interests in the Gulf, above all the free flow of oil at market prices, which is essential to the West’s prosperity”.  Again the insincerity of the political leaders led into the series of wars that was climaxed by the latest war in the Iraq.

The 2008 Economic Meltdown.

Though not used as a part of the reason for the depression, I believe the multiplicity of the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and other heavy military presence overseas dealt heavy financial blows to the United States. This was further compounded by the collapse of the financial institutions.

Between the second and third quarters of 2008, financial experts and analysts in the advanced economies warned that the world economy was facing an imminent depression because of their worries over the stability of their banks and financial institutions. Governments allowed the markets to run wild without adequate regulations because in a capitalist system, the market forces should regulate the market.

In Nigeria, our manufacturing companies had collapsed more than a decade ago. Unemployment has been a recurring decimal in our labour manuals for so long. Staff rationalization, chronic unemployment, insecurity have been with us for God knows when. Though our economic planners told us in September last year that Nigeria will be insulated from the meltdown, job losses have been on the increase. Compounded by poor power supply and militancy in the Niger Delta; Dunlop, Cadbury and the textile sectors have sacked more than 6,000 workers, with a lot of others on reduced salaries and emoluments. In the oil and gas sector, declaration of redundancies is a daily occurrence. As we speak, most of the companies have relocated to neighboring West African countries and several investors closing shops.

Since the beginning of the 90s in Nigeria, we have had a restrictive labour market, declining productivity, declining economic growth, collapse of the manufacturing sector, increased unemployment of youths, increased prices of commodities, housing, services, vandalism of petroleum pipelines and oil and gas installations, decreasing production levels of crude and decreasing commodity exports.

Why the Market failed

v      Negative impacts of borderless markets (globalization).

v      Criminal borrowing.

v      Incompetent practices.

v      Weak regulations.

v      Lack of transparency.

v      Corruption.

v      Unrestricted mortgage activities and lending to those with bad credit history.

v      Decreased consumer spending as a result of massive job losses.

v      Questionable break neck competition and expansion craze. 

v      Lack of proactive strategy by the executive, legislature and the financial experts to deal with the symptoms at an earlier stage.

v      Absolute freedom of the market economy.

Negative Impact (s)

v      Closure of enterprises because of lack of access to borrowing from banks and high interest rates.

v      Massive job losses and accentuated unemployment (In the aftermath of the South Asian crises in the 90s, job losses rose from 5,015 in 1996 to 38,217 in 1997).

v      Erosion of the middle class.

v      Decreased consumer spending.

v      Decreased capacity utilization.

v      Increased cost of available goods.

v      Hyperinflation.

v      Recession.

v      Increased restiveness of the labour unions.

v      Industrial actions.

Howbeit and irrespective of the state of this seeming harsh economic environment, Unions making demands that Management sees as unreasonable in times like this, there is the need to have synergy of thoughts and ideas rather than take extreme positions capable of widening the gap between the parties. The Unions should not brood over the present global financial crisis. Union leaders have a huge challenge and an opportunity to reinvent labour-management relations; engender increased developmental processes to improve human behaviours, attitudes of their members that will bring about improved productivity that will at the end foster greater understanding between Management and the Unions. At this time, what should be of utmost importance to the Unions is how to keep their members productively engaged.

The recklessness of some of our political leaders, corruption, looting of the treasury and embarking on white elephant projects is the albatross of the Nigerian Nation. We virtually have nothing to show for the windfall from the oil revenue from 1999. When other nations are investing massively for periods like this outside the shores of our country we have our leaders amassing billions of dollars and pounds outside Nigeria as typified by the number of governors and public officers already convicted by EFCC. There has been so much societal dysfunction because of leadership crisis in Nigeria’s political system. From all the dysfunctional economic states highlighted from the nineteenth centuries until now, leadership to me is at the apex of the causes. Therefore, there is the need for us to systematically address the missing links in the leadership strata at all levels so that gradually, Nigeria and indeed the workplaces can become the successes we so much desire to make of them.

Concept of leadership

Leadership as a concept has been known to mankind from the inception of man but only recently did organizational theorists start to examine the qualities in relationship to management. People all through history do believe that there is a linkage between those who lead and accomplishments. This might have been why some people believe in bold, courageous and charismatic leaders and abhors leaders that are selfish and docile.

The evolution leadership theory began with Fredrick Winslow Taylor. The Scientific Management in early 1900s sought to improve workers productivity through the studies of time and motion rather than the rule-of-thumb as in traditional methods. The leader under the Scientific Management or Classical theory was to put in place and sustain performance criteria in order to actualize organizational goals. The focus here was on productivity of the enterprise rather than the welfare of the individual. Irrespective of this, (Brittel et al in Fredrick W. Taylor) opined that “the success of the enterprise should be premised on mutuality of interests, training and development of workers; enthusiastic cooperation with workers to ensure that all work performed is done in accordance with scientific principles and believing that the interests of workers and management could be made to coincide”

In the 19^th century, urbanization made so many rural dwellers migrate to cities where they were exploited by employers who believed in absolutism in their right to hire and fire; and the maximization of profit. At the beginning of the 20^th century (Luwoye: 2005) said “We began the twentieth century focused almost exclusively on a leader-dominant theory of leadership that assumed a low opinion of the followers’ maturity, maturity and abilities”. The 20^th century started on leader-dominant theory of leadership with little sympathy for the reward of followers and had little or no respect for their capabilities.

In the 1920s, the likes of Elton Mayo began the human relations’ theory. This theory focused on employee needs and motivation to increase output. The leader under this concept was to maximize organizational alignment through cooperation and providing opportunities for the personal growth and development of the followers. This theory went on to focus on the needs of the follower rather than the organization.

There are other theories including the great man theories which arose from the belief that leaders are born with the special and inherent qualities and therefore destined to lead, the traits’ theories that has the belief that the traits and qualities of an effective leader are abound and only needed to be identified and recruited for the leadership positions in organizations.

After the Second World War, leadership theories began to focus on finding the equilibrium between the demands for output and the welfare of the employees and behaviours. Douglas Mac Gregor propounded the Theories X and Y, which provided the framework to analyze the attitude of leaders towards their followers. Theory X and Y though not strictly a theory of leadership, but the leadership strategy of effectively-used participative management as proposed in his book, “The Human Side of Enterprise” had a phenomenal impact on managers.

Theory X says that man has inherent dislike for work and will avoid it if possible. Therefore, he must be controlled, directed, coerced and if possible threatened for an alignment with organizational objectives. This postulation is autocracy directed.

Theory Y says that under proper conditions, the average being sees work as natural as play or rest and will seek responsibility, exercise self control and self direction to achieve objectives to which they are committed. This theory stresses participative management style.

Relating all of the above to the management of Unions, Union Leadership becomes a social contract between the followers and the leaders. The myth is in the power of the followers to willingly submit to the authourity of those chosen to lead them.  There are defined roles ascribed to positions of authourity that have been built on trust between the Union leaders and their members. These roles are defined by the constitution, guidelines, and handbooks of the Union etc.

For instance, the constitution states in clear terms the vision and mission statements of the union, the governance structure, the duties and responsibilities of each officer of the union, the mode of finance and the disciplinary procedures. It is in the interest of the Union that the leaders should try at all times to lead their members according to the dictates of the constitution. At difficult times, leaders must learn to put the followers first because without the followers the leaders will cease to exist in that capacity.

Leadership is a process of giving purpose (meaningful direction) to collective effort, and causing willing effort to be expended to achieve purpose, (Jacobs & Jacques, 1990). An effective leader should give purposeful and meaningful direction to his/her followers. This is more relevant in times like this. The leader should not play to the gallery by telling members what they want to hear, but should be bold to tell them the truth and the reality on ground that will enable them make concise decisions and willingly take appropriate actions about the challenges they encounter in the workplace. It is in your position to direct the workers to where they ought to and should be and not where the workers want to of necessity be. 

Leadership is the ability to step outside the culture, (E.H. Schein, 1992).  Here, union leaders should have the capacity and attributes to carry their members along in order to achieve organizational goals. They should be in a position to support the changes that will effectively lead the organization to a more profitable future because it is in the existence of an organization that workers draw their own lifelines in form of wages and other emoluments. The Union leader must have the courage to step outside the culture of “so it has been from the advent of unionism”. You should innovatively seek ways of moving both management and the unions to the level that both will have mutual trust, confidence and reliability in each other.    

Expected leadership behaviours and attributes

Sacrifice:

 The Union leader should at all times endeavour to feel that they are in the union to serve and sacrifice for the growth of the organization and promote the welfare of their members and not to be served. This is the basement of the servant-leader concept. In doing this, especially in Nigeria where most of the practitioners are not career unionists; they face the herculean task of combining their primary roles (employment) with their secondary roles (union).

Focus:

Members vote for particular candidates because of electioneering promises and the character of the individuals. The leader should therefore, never lose focus about the destination that was conceived from the beginning.

Know thyself:

A union leader should start by knowing all about himself in terms of strengths and weaknesses. The leader must articulate and convince others on why he/she is the right person to lead them at this time of depression. The ideal leader tries to work to improve on the weak areas that will enable him forge a harmonious working relationship with the people around him.

Courage:

Courage is at times misplaced by union leaders who believe that courage is synonymous with militant unionism. The Union leader must have the courage to tell management and the union members what the reality and truth are at all times. The leader must also have the courage to stay up to his weaknesses, work through them into strength that will uplift the organization and the interest of the followers.

Empathy: T

he Union leader should cultivate effective listening skill that will enable him or she put the efforts of people to use under any circumstance. It is through this that they can fully appreciate the positions of their followers and Management.

Integrity:

The union leader should learn to “walk the talk” through the use of accountability and transparency as effective tools of governance that will make the followers follow their leaders willingly.

Hope carrier:

In times like this, Union leaders should be carriers of hope. Let them know that though tough times are here, it’s for a season and would soon pass away. Urge them to be strong and see opportunities in the phase.

Stress pacifier:

A union leader in times of recession is a sponge that soaks stress from the members of the union. He is a stress pacifier and remover of spots of doubts and impossibility from the dictum of staff. The leader should be a source of life and strength to the wary workers that are scared of the recession and possible retirement.

Visionary:

Use today’s events to determine the outcome of tomorrow’s events. The effective leader translates the big picture into actionable elements. Alert to social environment and plans how to strengthen the Union for effective unionism in the future. For example, it is a fact that the membership of NUPENG is shrinking in several organizations. Time has come to think of how to get membership or get involved in massive investments in oil and gas business in other to get funds to prosecute union objectives and stay afloat in times of adversities.

Demonstrates Interpersonal Effectiveness:

The Union leader should demonstrate effective interpersonal relationship when dealing with other people. Such interactions should focus on assigned tasks and the achievement of group goals.

Displays Leadership Values:

The leader should try to live the values that are consistent with the purpose for his/her aspiration to lead. This should be laced with self discipline with which others can measure the character. Develop core values, competencies, best practices and be gender sensitive.

Efficiency and Effectiveness on the Job:

As non-career unionists, you should be on top of your profession and encourage your members on the need for improved job performance and productivity.  

Loyalty to the Organization:

Irrespective of the Union leader’s differing views on management policies, the loyalty and commitment to the organization must be unwavering

Communicate Effectively:

a)     Writing:

The Union leader should be very good at putting the views of the Unions on paper in an accurate, precise and unambiguous manner.

b)     Reading:

Should be research oriented in order to remain abreast with information and have accurate facts to face management. Having the heart to lead is one thing, having the intellect to disarm management that has hired the best of brains in the management of human resource is another ball game.

c)      Two-way communication:

The Union leader should be very effective in communication with his constituents through meetings. Congress meetings should be held as prescribed by the Union’s bye laws. Management should not be presented as uncaring, callous and wicked during such briefs. There should be no grand standing and playing to the gallery. Tell them what is real, true and not what the members want to hear.

Feedback:

Share information and social partnership. the information from the shop floor members should be objectively presented to Management without coloration and feedback to the constituents should be accurate and without distortions.

In dealing with Management, the Union leader should refrain from seeing management as “they” and the unions as “we”. Both those in the management cadre and the other unionized staff are employees of the same organization that must work together for the good of the enterprise.

Duties of Union leaders

v     Sustenance of jobs/management of redundancies.

v     Protect the interests of members.

v     Bargain for improved welfare/wage packages of members.

v     Train and retrain members.

v     Facilitate flow of information management to members and vice-versa

v     Hold executive and congress meetings as at when due to avoid rumour mongering

v     Support the organization to plan survival strategies

In the pursuit of the above duties your role is to provide responsible leadership, be an outstanding performer on the job, supportive by showing concerns to the matters affecting both the union membership and the organization, displays confidence in his dealings with both internal and external customers, consults widely before decisions are made, displays loyalty to the organization and the union without subordinating the interest of one for the other, decisive, motivates others to believe in themselves and the survival of the enterprise.

It is your duty to develop and maintain a responsible union that management can trust and take serious, informed membership, maintain as much as possible symbiotic relationship with your employer, put in place a code of conduct, disciplined members. As a leader, you should ensure that your members must be seen to do what is right at all times. You must not condone insubordination and any wrong doing from your members. You should endeavour to set standards, insist on punctuality and best practices. It is also your role to keep faith with agreements reached with your management.

One of the critical functions of a union is to improve on the welfare of its members. This it does through Collective Bargaining through scheduled negotiation cycles.

Collective Bargaining

ILO Convention No 154 defines collective bargaining as all negotiations which take place between an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organizations on the one hand, and one or more workers’ organizations on the other for:-

1)     determining working conditions and terms of employment; and or

2)     regulating relations between employers or their organizations and a workers’ organization

Article 8 of the Convention states “the measures taken with a view to promoting collective bargaining shall not be so conceived or applied as to hamper the freedom of collective bargaining. This is based on the rule of social dialogue by social partners. It is your role as union leaders to bargain in good faith and adopt the principled bargaining methods.

The Union leader is a problem solver; not just for the union but for the organization. For there to be a win-win during bargaining, the leader should negotiate in good faith. The ingredients of good faith bargaining includes:

v     entering the negotiation with open mind

v     not making excessive demands above what management can afford especially in times like this;

v     learning to be hard on the problem and soft on the people;

v     Focusing on interests;

v     Imbibing change when such changes are imminent and for the good of the organization;

v     Separating people from issues;

v     Displaying friendliness;

v     Being patient;

v     Tolerance;

v     Having multiple options that could be explored by both parties;

v     Using objective criteria and shifting of positions with objective and superior arguments.

v     Doing reality testing in almost all issues;

v     Learning to give;

v     Not being afraid to disclose your bottom line;

v     Like the right of way, learn to yield to pressure if convinced without reasonable doubts that management has reached its zenith on mandate.

v     Having a  best alternative to negotiated agreement (BATNA); and

v     Ensure that an agreement is signed at the end of the negotiation and avoid deadlocks.

Negotiation

                                      SWOT ANALYSIS

                                               CBA PROCESS CHART

Deadlock and arbitration in the negotiation process should be avoided. Because they often lead to a win-lose situation. Deadlock could occur because of inexperience of negotiators, ego trip, power imbalance, bad faith bargaining, unwilling to negotiate with open mind, hostile environments, poor communication skills, use of threat, distrust, intolerance, coercion, hidden bottom line, one-sided offers and rigidity.

Rather than seek the strike option if there both parties are unable to reach an agreement; a small committee should be put in place from both sides to deliberate on areas of differences and report back to the plenary.

Union leaders should at no time have prejudices against management nor constitute themselves as a parallel management.

Roles of management

Ogbeifun (2008) said “workers see the future security and welfare over above doing their jobs as prescribed by the organization’s procedural handbooks. Therefore, managers of human resources (HR) should have it at the back of their minds that they are dealing with employees that are confronted with high emotions, low morale, curiosity, anxiety, uncertainty, thoughts of negativity, possible loss of life savings, losing their houses, apprehension and near state of hopelessness because of the fear of trial democracy and the unknown over the sustainability of their gratuities and pension

It behoves on HR practitioners to start a realignment of thoughts, synergy and step up programmes that will give hope to workers. Only an inward looking HR management, which is strategically positioned, efficient and effective that will successfully swim through this ocean of uncertainties into a period of boom, which usually comes after a period of downturn.

Management strategic communication must be such that ensures the workers are interested, ready to listen and portrays that management has the interest of the workers at heart by letting them know what is in it for them, stresses dignity of labour, wet and fill their appetite to energize them for maximization of organizational alignment.

Management must encourage the development and maintenance of industrial democracy, should not interfere in the internal affairs of the unions either overtly or covertly; especially during elections. It should not engage in divide-and-rule by either engaging workers using the Yellow-Dog contract or the formation of a parallel union.  For the senior staff, the only recognized and legal mouth piece of the senior workers is the PENGASSAN and NUPENG for the junior workers.

Management should Ensure that the grievance procedure is maintained, the provision of a safe working environment and even without asking, in times of boom management reward staff through incremental improvement on welfare packages so that in times of decline, management will be bold to also ask for the understanding of the union. These rewards should provide decent work and encourage the use of CB. Some Management believe that the training of union officials is outside the mandate of the organization. This is a grievous mistake because most of those canvassing for leadership roles in the unions are sometimes neophytes and are not career unionists. The management should endeavour to assist in this area because an enlightened union leader is an asset to his organization.

Modern Management should desist from having the mindset of the traditional management belief that union officials are rabble rousers and confrontational. A new friendly approach is necessary for the sustenance of industrial peace and harmony.

Implementation of Agreement:

Once an agreement has been reached and signed with the Unions, management should faithfully implement the agreement.

Management Prerogatives:

Emphasis on this is gradually waning and no management should hold on to this when there is need for a win-win solution.

Transparency:

Often times, it is in periods of negotiation that the Unions are told that the company is not doing well. This should not be. Management should engage the unions regularly on the state of the enterprise for them to appreciate management’s position.

Dignity of Labour:

Management should be magnanimous enough to dignify labour with appropriate wage for its efforts. It is only when employers pay wages commensurate to the investment of labour efforts in the production chain that one can talk of dignity of labour.

Conclusion

Leading any union through adversity could be challenging but respect is almost always gained on difficult grounds. The measure of a man is the way he bears up under misfortune and no one sees your courage in the sunshine. It takes challenges and darkness to prove bravery. When others see your character and persistence during the rough stretches in the chain of leadership, they walk away with an enhanced opinion of you.

The mental strength acquired in dealing with challenges we are faced with today, is an invaluable asset in pushing forward into a better tomorrow. It is assured that a brighter tomorrow awaits the followers of an astute leader on the other side at dawn.

Leaders acutely feel the pains and pressure of economic crunch that creates adversity, but it is at such moment that one identifies a true and dependable leader. While no one hopes for adversity, it can actually serve to benefit a leader.

By bearing in mind the potential upside of leading through difficulty, it can be easier to deal with the present circumstance either as management or as union leaders.

Obviously today, there is a dramatic shift in leadership and management roles with the belief that employees are the greatest resource of any forward looking organization. Employees want leaders that a willing to intentionally spend time with them and aid their development and progression. Therefore, coaching and mentoring are even more apt at this period.

An employee enjoying growth opportunities will be more likely to offer loyalty and commitment to the organization. Today’s leaders are not expected to be frozen when obstacles disrupt the perfect plan, but they should be willing to step into the unknown by “calculated risk syndrome and find now and better ways to operate.

To both management and the union, I want to:

v   Stir-up inspirational dissatisfaction in you;

v   Make you develop a daily dose of paranoia- a pebble in your shoes;

v   Continue to set goals that stretch your team; and

v   More from motivation to inspiration

It is a tradition that triennially, you gather during your Delegates’ Conference to elect your new officers that will run the affairs of the Association for the next three years. While this may be the real focus for the Delegates, I urge you to also use the period as a moment of sober reflection and introspection on all facets of your governance in the last three years. Use the lessons learned as a platform to strengthen the cause of the Association and the continued survival of NLNG.

Hunger and poverty knows no race, tribe or sex. Therefore, those to be elected by you must be elected based on their track records of accountability, trust, honesty, loyalty to the Association and the organization, integrity and not on professional, tribal or sectional interests. I wish you a very successful Delegates’ Conference.

The Once again; I thank the organizers for this opportunity.

Great PENGASSAN!

Great NLNG!

Great Management!

Great Nigeria!

References

Bittel, R. et al; (1995); Encyclopedia of Professional Management vol.1 (2^nd edn), McGraw- Hill

Bittel, L.R; Ramsey, J.E; (1995); Encyclopedia of Professional Management, vol.2;

Grolier International, Danbury, Connecticut,

Center for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR): (2004); Handbook of Mediation, U.K.

Convey, S. R (2004): The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, New York, Free Press

Dana, D (2005): Managing Differences, Prairie Village – Kansas, MTI Publications.

DiNatale, D; (2005) The Second World War: An Examination of Failed Peace, www.Associated Content

http://www.egoproject.nl/Histoil.html

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7178/economic_depression_cause_and_effects.html

http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/Scrambleforafrica.htm

http://www.secondworldwar.co.uk/germans.html

http://www.rpfuller.com/gcse/history/6.html

http://www.worldsocialism.org/articles/economic_causes_of_the.php

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7175/the_second_world_war_an_examination.html?cat=37.

http://www.accel-team.com/human_relations/hrels_03_mcgregor.html

http://www..economicconfidential.com 

Luwoye, S. O. (2005): The dynamics of leadership: Styles and Traits of a successful Leader, Owerri.

McGregor, D. (1960) The Human Side of Enterprise. New York: McGraw Hill.

Ogbeifun, L.B: (2004), “Labour-Management Relations in the Oil and Gas Industry”; Port-Harcourt, Nigeria

Ogbeifun, L. B (2007): The Role of Labour Unions in the Oil and Gas Industry in

Nigeria: A Practitioner’s Perspective, Lagos, Concept Publications.

Schein, E, H (1992): Organizational Culture and Leadership. 2d. Ed. San Francisco, CA.

Nigeria’s Trade Union Act 1978

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | May 1, 2009

I thank the organizers of this workshop for finding me worthy to deliver this paper before this august gathering. Your choosing to discuss corruption in the oil and gas industry means that there are cynicism and corruption in the sector, that all is not well with the system and that there is urgent need to put processes in place to add value to hydrocarbon production for the benefit of all stakeholders and Nigerians in general. That Nigeria is the 10^th and 3^rd largest oil producer of oil in the world and Africa respectively; yet so poor goes against any rational reasoning, methodical explanation and epistemological interpretation. It is incontestable that we are where we are because we run a spoilt system. The need to shift from our past makes the topic very apt at this time.

Introduction

For more than five decades of oil and gas exploration in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, all we have are tales of woes and the massive negative impacts amongst which are: extreme poverty, high unemployment rate, infrastructural decay and corruption. All these have led these communities; in whose land we extract oil and gas to ask the Nigerian State to come up with the best arrangement that will reverse their awful and agonizing past.

Corruption is the deviation from the norms and ideals of transparency, accountability, honesty, truth and the engagement of people in self-serving activities to actualize selfish interests at the expense of the larger group. Corruption is a non-restrictive practice, which knows no boundary, culture or society. It is found in the nooks and crannies of every nation, whether emerging or developed. It starts from the micro level of the family as a unit and extends to the broad spectrum of society.

Therefore, corruption is not just taking and giving of bribes. It could be moral, political, social, economic and religious. It is effusive, pervasive, infectious and a highly globalized phenomenon. Corruption is human. It has voice, flesh, bone and marrow. It is highly professional. Corruption cuts across classes and strata of societies. It occupies low and high places. Those at the low level engage in it to make ends meet. Those in high places engage in it to maintain the status quo, cling on to power and eat what they do not need in the present to preserve their generation unborn. The perpetrators are conscienceless and deadly. It is on this premise that one believes that the oil and gas industry cannot be insulated from corruptive tendencies. Corruption is destructive and must be seriously tackled because where corruption thrives, nothing works. Corruption may not be totally wiped out but structures can be put in place to reduce the endemic social disease to the barest minimum. I believe that it is in the contest of trying to reverse the negative trends of corruption that the African in Diaspora Initiative is seeking a pathfinder, which will enthrone transparency and accountability in the oil and Gas industry in Nigeria.

Oil is an organic matter and also usually referred to as hydrocarbon. It is formed from dead marine organisms and plants, which were buried over several million years ago. It is transformed into oil and gas by heat, pressure and bacteria. Our economy could be said to be largely monolithic and largely dependent on the oil sector, which accounts for more than 98% of export earnings, about 85% of Federal government total earnings, 30-40% of our GDP; 90%-95% of foreign exchange earnings and between 65%-70% of government budgetary revenues. It is the most efficient natural resource that could be used for the rapid economic growth and development with the highest propensity to attract abundant foreign investment. Oil and gas are strategic to our national security, development and growth. They are even more important in our environment where we have no developed ready-made alternatives like coal, solar and nuclear energy to drive our technological development.

Brief historical perspective

• 1908: Exploration work started in Lagos and Okitipupa coastal areas by the Nigerian Bitumen Company established by a German consortium.
• 1908-1956:  Various exploration, exploitation continued in various parts of the country
• 1956: Oil discovered in commercial quantity at Oloibiri by Shell D’Arcy
• 1958: Shipment of 5,100 BOPD
• 1960:  175,000 BOPD
• 1971:   Nigeria joined OPEC
• 1979:  2.3mm BOPD
• 1958: Shipment of 5,100 BOPD
• 1960:  175,000 BOPD
• 1971:   Nigeria joined OPEC
• 1979:  2.3mm BOPD
• 1983: Oil glut led to a reduction to 1.3mm BOPDv  2008: 2.4mm BOPD
• From mid 1980s-september 2003, oil prices generally stood at $25/barrel. From then on prices rose above $30/barrel.
• August 11 2005, it rose to $60/barrel
• July 2008, it peaked at $147.30

At the end of 2008, it slumped to $33.87 and in 2009, gradually climbed to above $50 by the end of March, 2009. Currently, more than 800,000 barrels have been shut in due to youth restiveness, militancy in the Niger Delta region and the unabated vandalism of petroleum pipelines

Upstream

The upstream focuses on mining, exploration, exploitation, production and exportation of crude oil and the most important sector to the Nigerian economy. Nigeria’s average yearly production of crude oil is 710 million barrels. Present reserve is expected to last for about 49 years if no additional reserve is added. This shows that oil is a depletable asset. Nigeria has proven natural gas reserves of 187 trillion standard cubic feet, the 7th largest gas reserve and a production capacity of 34.97 billion cubic billion metres and present average gas consumption is 700Mscf. The country currently flares less than 75% of our gas is flared (it is 42.52% (2006) and 27% (2007) of associated gas and hopefully would wish to have a zero flare target by the year 2010. In addition, it is also the desire of the country to increase the National Oil Reserve base from the present 36.22 billion barrels to 40 billion barrels with a daily production of 4.5 million barrels by the year 2010.

The Downstream sector

The downstream sector concentrates on the refining of crude oil into usable products through distillation, conversion, extraction, and other special treatments to produce petroleum products and petroleum gas. It also covers the operations of the petrochemical plants. Nigeria has four refineries; two in Port Harcourt, one in Warri and one in Kaduna with a total refining capacity of 445,000 barrels (PHRC 210,000 WRPC 125,000 and KRPC 110,000) per day. However, these refineries have been unable to meet with their refining capacities because of several mitigating factors, which include decades of neglect, lack of turnaround maintenance, obsolete policy thrusts and vandalism of petroleum pipelines.

Service sector

Provides technical, engineering and consultancy services mainly to aid the upstream in the drilling, exploration and production activities.

It is noteworthy to note that NEITI has tried to instill fiscal discipline in the oil and gas industry through financial, physical and process audits. The audits reconciled figures and coherent maps of who paid what money, to whom, how much, the amount of oil and gas produced, lifted, exported within the period under review and a critical examination of extractive processes and levels of justification of capital expenditure.The reports noted weak accounting infrastructures, inefficient interfacing between the relevant agencies, inadequate financial and infrastructure to support the operations of the agencies, poor record keeping practices and lack of independent capacity to carry out independent assessment of oil companies royalty liabilities,  Like in any other sector, corruption can take place right from the planning stages to the completion phases of projects.

Therefore, there is the need to understand and appreciate how they can occur before we can begin to proffer solutions to corruption issues in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.  Our policies and laws guiding the operations of the oil and gas are so obsolete that they skew in favor of the contractors and give vent to corruption. Technical incompetence and lack of adequate manpower further compounds the inability of government to optimize the revenues accruable to the government in oil and gas business in Nigeria. It is in realization of this that the Oil and Gas Reforms Implementation Committee (OGIC) was constituted by the Federal government. The bill to support the legal framework is presently before the National Assembly.

Tender process

The beginning of any oil and gas business starts from the tendering and bidding processes. Often times, what transpired here will be the determinant of how much corruption can be perpetrated in the life of a particular project.Contractors usually seek those that can assist them with in-house benchmarks or even get the scope drawn by the internal collaborator for a fee.

This was proven in the Wilbros case in which $6million was said to have been used to secure a contract through various agegovernment. With an accomplice and a “godfather” at the top, the contractor either stays on the benchmark or a little lower. Once the job has been secured, he pushes for variation costs, which can be as high as 200-500% of the original cost.

More worrisome is that the supervising arm of government may not have recommended the companies that finally get the job, courtesy of “orders from above”From recent revelations, it has been found that winning contracts in the oil and gas industry is laced with huge corruptive tendencies. On this, Isakpa revealed “Steph, two other unnamed Wilbros executives and two employees of a multinational construction firm, were alleged in the indictment to have planned to spend $6 million to secure lucrative contracts with the construction of Eastern Gas Gathering System. The bribes were hidden as consultancy fees”. Continuing, Isakpa said “At some point US, French, Swiss and British authorities investigated allegations that Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), the Halliburton subsidiary, was involved in the operation of a slush fund when they secured the award of contracts worth $10 billion for the construction of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas plant at Bonny in the late 1990s and early 2000s”. 

Agreements/types of agreements

The agreements drawn could give teeth to the corruption traps set during the bidding stages.

Joint Venture

The Joint Venture arrangement in which two or more oil companies enter into an agreement for joint development of jointly held oil prospecting licences (OPLs) or oil mining licences (OMLs) and facilities. Each partner in the joint venture contributes the operating costs and shares the benefits or losses of the operations in the venture.

Drawbacks

• Delayed cash calls and projects because all crude oil sales are paid into the Federation account therefore subjecting it to the whims of government bureaucracy
• The Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) which regulates the Joint Venture deal does not have review clause which makes the contract to be in favour of the operators.
• Personnel recruitment and expatriate quota are grossly abused. For instance, at this time and age of our development, some companies still have expatriates as community liaison officers.
• Perpetration of corruption through a community liaison officers. 

 PSC and Cost verification

It is because of the drawbacks of the JOA that PSCs emerged. The prospecting licences and mining leases granted in the deep water fields of the Nigerian coast have been on this term. The PSCs enable a sharing formula to be implemented which allows the operators to pay statutory tax and royalty and keeps the larger part of the profit.The contract period is usually for 30 years (inclusive of 10 years exploration and 20 years OML period and governed by the PSC agreement).

Cost Verification

It is that portion of the amortized cost for the period recovered through crude lifting. The components for consideration are capital and recurrent expenditure. The capital expenditure is amortized through a period of five years i.e. 1/5 of the total recovery while the recurrent expenditure is recovered within the year. These are the total expenditure that will be available for recovery.According to the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts (Amendment) Decree No. 26 of 1999 PSC “means any agreement or any arrangements made between the Corporation or the Holders and any other petroleum exploration and production company or companies for the purpose of exploration and production of oil in the Deep Offshore and Inland Basins.

Origin of PSC

According to Johnston (1994:39-40), the first PSC was signed by IIAPCO an Indonesian National Oil Company at that time (now Pertamina) in August 1996 with Permina. The concept is now used in more than thirty (30) developing countries including, Malaysia, Oman, Angola, Peru, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Libya, Gabon, Thailand, China, Nigeria, etc.The essential characteristic of PSC is that of state ownership of the resources. The Contractor receives a share of production for services performed after payment of Royalty, recovering of operating costs, and payment of tax oil. The remainder is shared as profit oil in an agreed ratio.

Emuchay in Egwuenu (2000) in a public lecture  postulated that “PSC emerged as one of the fiscal regimes in the Nigerian Oil and Gas sector as a concerted attempt to improve on the traditional Joint Venture agreement to the advantage of the government which lacks adequate technical base and sufficient financial resources”.

Johnston (1994: 242-243) posits that the 1993 PSC in Nigeria has cost recovery limit of 40%. He also defined PSC as “a contractual agreement between a contractor and a host government whereby the Contractor bears all exploration costs and risks and development and production costs in return for a stipulated share of the production resulting from this effort”.

Akomolafe in Kupolokun (2004) posits that “it is anticipated that the PSC arrangement would attract up to $10 billion in foreign investments to the upstream over the next five years. However, effective and consistent monitoring and control of costs by NNPC as well as the general supervision of the operations on a continuous basis is a necessity”.

From the above, Production Sharing Contract (PSC) could be defined as is a contractual agreement between a contractor and the host government or it’s agency. The Contractor bears all the risks, incurs all the costs for exploration, development and production. In this arrangement, a contractor is engaged to carry out operations in Government wholly held acreage. Initial exploration and risks are borne by the Contractor and recovers his costs as oil is produced, the Contractor receives shares for its services after the payment of Royalty, recovery of operating costs (cost oil), payment of tax oil and share profit in an agreed ratio.

There is usually a clause in the agreement, which states, “the operator and its auditors shall have the right to inspect and audit the books and accounts relating to the contract for any year and if such inspection and auditing have not been so carried out within two (2) years following the end of the year in question, the books and accounts relating to such year shall be deemed to be acceptable by the parties as satisfactory”.

This means that cost verification is time barred e.g. 2008 verification must be carried out from January 2009-December 2010. To ensure that the deadlines are not met, the companies dilly-dally over reconciliation meetings with the appropriate government agencies and seek ways of ensuring that the cost verification is not done with the stipulated period.Cost verification is an important tool in PSC agreement as it relates to our country because the verified and certified cost constitutes a background with which the operator puts on record its performance bond and above all recover costs through cost oil (crude entitlement).  Once a cost verification has been duly carried out and certified crude is allocated under PSC arrangement after cost has been verified and certified. Where this is delayed or not done, crude will be allocated on the contractor’s reported cost, which usually will be higher than verified cost. It has been opined by several interest groups that PSCs are increasing in number without commensurate capacity to cope.

According to Akomolafe (2007:18) ‘Timely preparation of cost verification exercises of PSC companies by skilled personnel will bring about quality verified costs devoid of misstatements and errors for cost recovery purpose of the operator.” Olamide (2008:29) posits that the delay or lack of constant cost verification gives the PSCs especially the leeway to file for unmerited costs”. This is one situation that favours the producing PSCs are very comfortable with, but a serious means of leakages to the government. Even where these costs are recovered at a later date, money loses value with time. Corruption here if detected could run into multi billions of $. If for instance a government agent had to verify and certify costs of a company and the government agency found $35 million unmerited costs.

The company in bid to keep all the profits can offer such government agent(s) $10 million while the company keeps $25. For an officer that does not earn up to $2.500 per month, your guess as to what might happen is as good as mine.

Features of PSC

• Signature Bonus $0.5-$1.0 Million per block.
• Bid Bonus $10-$30  Million per block
• Royalty Oil up to 16.67% depending on water depth
• Cost Recovery- 100% after royalty.

The Fiscal arrangement for Gas and Downstream Investment have five years tax holiday, exemptions from import duties/VAT

Petroleum Profit tax

During the NEITI audit, it was discovered that some companies were in arrears of 3-4 years. This encourages corruption and short-changing of accountability and transparency processes.

Royalty

• Paid based on volume and decrease as there is increase in water depth
• On Shore                      20% 
• Off Shore  0-100 M      18.5%
• 100-200M               16.67%
• 201-500M               12.00%
• 501-800M                 8.00%
• 801-1000M               4.00%
• Above 1000M           0.00%  

Draw backs of PSC include

• Agreement stresses cost recovery rather than paymentv  Loaded costs
• Possible underpayment of royalty, due partly to the lack of a clearly defined point of assessment of royalty.
• Possible underpayment of PPT, due to a practice of self-assessment that has not been adequately validated by FIRS 

Risk service Contract (RSC)

The RSC is a minor variant of PSC and rarely used. The contractor carries out exploration activities on behalf of the government or its agency for a fee either in cash or kind. The main features of a Service Contract are: The contractor has no title to the crude oil, but the right to be repaid the investment plus an agreed mark up if and when oil is discovered in commercial quantities and produced, each Service Contract relates to a single block unlike PSC, which may cover more than one block. The continuation of the contract is subject to the contractor meeting an agreed level of work programme each year. The major incentive for the risks undertaken is that the contractor has first option to purchase the fixed quantities of crude oil produced from that contract area.In Kuwait- the constitution forbids foreign ownership of mineral resources but government allows foreign investments in the upstream oil development in their own terms. She pays the agreed term per barrel rather than Production sharing arrangements.

Concession

This is a contractual agreement that guarantees the exclusive rights of a company to explore, produce, market and transport oil and gas in return for paying specified costs and taxes. This is contained in the Petroleum act of 1969. It is usually for 20 years.

DrawbackIt has the lowest returns in form of royalty or income tax

Bidding for oil blocks

This is an area that has been grossly abused because of obsolete laws, the spoilt system and military/government interventions in the running of the oil and gas sector. In the Petroleum Act of 1969, the Minister of Petroleum reserves discretionary powers to allocate oil blocks. To support this assertion, the Sun quoted Ofurhie (2008) as saying that “between 2001and 2006, there was no open bidding for oil blocks, but only selective bidding authourized by the Presidency”

During this period and contrary to the rules, monies for signature bonuses have been paid in naira instead of in hard currencies and monies paid were not receipted for more than five years.The House Committee noted that some signature bonuses were paid in naira contrary to the provision of the guidelines, adding that from the records available to them, there was a short fall in the payment of signature bonus of $1.6bn. according to the Committee, the records of the signature bonuses in 2005 showed a total of over $2bn but only the sum of $1.6bn was paid while some payments were made in local currency the Director of DPR admitted that some payments were made in local currency but that he was directed by the Minister of state for Petroleum to do so. “I received signature bonus in naira because of instructions from above. It was also discovered that the wired payment for $2.5 million paid for OPL. 257 in June 2003 by Vintage Oil spent five years before it was receipted on July, 8 2008”. Even with the open bidding system, which is supposed to be a more transparent system, many companies came to the panel of the House Committee investigating the oil and gas sector  accusing government of unfair treatment in the allocation of blocks while Starcrest investment Ltd said to have been represented by its Secretary Emefor Etudo, alleged that about 10 powerful individuals connived and cornered $35 million stated before that blocks were awarded after the bid rounds based on the instruction of the Minister (http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/….ocks%20missing); sensitive documents relating to block allocations were said to have been missing.

This was confirmed by the acting director of DPR, Alhaji Mohammed Aliyu Sabo before the Committee said “we can only give out what we have and cannot give what we don’t. We can’t find some of the documents”. More disturbing is even the reallocation of the oil block belonging to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC); a supposedly government’s agent, which is the exploration arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to a Chinese company, the China National Oil Development Corporation (CNODC).  An oil block which NPDC has operated since 1989 as Oil Mining Licence (OML) 65 since 1989 was put in for sale as Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 289. The committee found that OML 65 was transformed to OPL 289 without first being first revoked therefore going against due process.

The Former Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC, Funso Kupolokun was said to have expressed shock when he found out that the two oil blocks were one and the same. He told the committee that he was deceived by DPR into approving the oil block which was already in the possession of NPDC for sale to CNODC. The question is, are there no ways of verifying assets before putting them on sale?.

Blocks have been found to have been allocated, withdrawn and given to another company at a lesser amount. The committee also discovered that Shell paid $210 million in December 2003 as signature bonus, but only the sum of $1 million was reflected in the records, while Statoil also made a payment in 2003 but the receipt was issued in 2004. In the case of the controversial OPL 245 won by Malabo Oil, it was discovered that while $210 million was paid, it was later withdrawn and awarded to Shell which, paid $1 million as commitment fee before Malabo went to court).

Torulagha (2006) posits that “the oil blocks is almost given freely to those who are highly connected to those in power. These individuals then sell the blocks to International Oil Companies and earn substantial income. It operates like a government-subsidized welfare program for the selected few. Translated politically, Nigerian leaders use oil blocks as a form of reward and punishment to compel or elicit certain behaviour from certain individuals”. 

From this standpoint, it can be summarily adduced that when a particular leader wants support for a particular policy or self effusing agenda, he identifies the zone where opposition will be massive and settles them with oil blocks as a pre-emptive way of eliciting their support to buy into the agenda. On the other hand, an agreement on any block so freely given can be revoked at the whim of either the President or the Minister of Petroleum as a punishment for not supporting an agenda of government. This type of system if allowed to continue perpetuates corruption and where there is corruption, nothing works.

Seismic Activities

This is the beginning of acquiring data whether in the swamp, onshore or offshore. Here, the money spent on community activities and hiring of equipment can be veritable source of overload and corruptive tendencies. Another area in which searchlights should be beamed is in the area of equipment lease agreements, which could be hyper inflated. All these increase overhead costs, make money into private pockets with slimmer margins to government. 

Lifting

The main important components under watch here should be records and metering. NEITI auditors opine that “The amounts listed may not for various legitimate reasons not correspond to the entitlements inferred in the hydrocarbon balance like the lack of standard definitions and measurement points.

Downstream

On July 20, 1999 former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his speech on the occasion of the inauguration of the National Council on Privatization at the Presidential Villa on in his speech noted that the refineries were built on quicksand and went ahead to put succinctly some of the challenges facing the refineries and listed them as:

• Defective Capital Structurev  Excessive Bureaucratic Control or intervention.
• Inappropriate Technology.
• Gross incompetence and Mismanagement.
• Blatant Corruption and;
• Crippling Complacency

What he however, refused to tell Nigerians in addition to the above is that the past leaders, the political heavyweights, proxies of those in power and the Nigerian factor led the refineries to their death knell.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) would have been at the hob of turning around the downstream sector but the criminal crippling complacency of government in its refusal to allow the refineries run like a truly commercial venture since inception led to the coma of the refineries. The NNPC Act of 1977, which established NNPC as a statutory corporation did not provide it with the power to borrow beyond nominal sums by bank overdraft arrangement. Section 8 of the NNPC Act provides that the approval of the National Council (now the President under the present constitutional dispensation) must be sought before any substantial borrowings.

Furthermore, under general legislation affecting the borrowing of statutory corporations, the Ministry of Finance is designated as the appropriate arm of government to administer such transactions.This Act negates the core foundation principles of commercialization. For instance full commercialization means that enterprises so designated will be expected to operate profitably on a commercial basis and be able to raise funds from the capital market without government guarantee. Such enterprises are expected to use private sector procedures in the running of their businesses. Partial commercialization on the other hand means that such enterprises so designated will be expected to generate enough revenue to cover their operating expenditures. The government may consider giving them capital grants to finance their capital projects. In both full and partial commercialization no divestment of the Federal Government shareholding is involved; and subject to the general regulatory powers of the Federal Government the enterprises shall:

1. Fix rate, prices and charges for goods produced and services rendered;
2. Capitalize assets; and
3. Sue and be sued in their corporate names (Guidelines on Privatization & Commercialization, p 55).

Previous administrations paid lip service to the strengthening of the downstream sector. What they put into it with the right hand they took back with the left. The refineries were rendered ineffective through policy inconsistencies. The main share holder (government) changes the leadership at will and in less than a decade, NNPC had about 5 Group Managing Directors. With these changes, the Managing Directors of the subsidiaries also change to the effect that some of these refineries have had more than 10 Managing Directors in less than two decades. The Turnaround Maintenance, which should be done biennially was left undone for decades and where it was done, the shareholder through back hand business determines which companies should do the TAM irrespective of having the technical competence or not. Those managing the refineries were never truly empowered to effectively manage the plants. The Managing Directors had a financial authourity of N5 million ($34,000) when Managers of lesser and newer plants have signing authorities of $1-2 million. Seeking approvals for capital projects, refurbishment of spares could take more than one year in some cases. When the NNPC was still running Eleme Petrochemical Company, the officer in charge of its Materials’ Management unit had a signing authourity of N30,000 ($200). From 1999-2007, almost all the approvals for capital projects ended with the Presidency. This meant that projects were bogged down by bureaucracy and the Management was unable to react to critical emergencies. 

To turn the bad dreams into depressing nightmares, restiveness and militancy took its roots in the Niger Delta region. The chanomi Creek trunk line, which supplies crude to the Warri and Kaduna refineries have been blown up twice between 2004 and 2006. The contractors were unable to mobilize to site until they settled issues with the communities. The repairs took about one year and six months each. This meant that WRPC and KRPC were unable to perform their roles as they could not possible produce petroleum products from water. Whereas the enabling statutes setting up Petronas and Petrobras from inception made them truly commercial enterprises, the Act that set up NNPC programmed it as a merely regulatory body thereby being made to be unable to compete with any National Oil from inception.

Under the above circumstances, only magic and miracle would have brought NNPC to a world class standard of our dreams. It is in this direction that the Oil and Gas Reform Implementation Committee (OGIC) was put in place. If implemented as conceptualized, it will be a welcome development. The essence of the exercise is to put the organization in the same position as the Petrobras of Brazil, Petronas of Malaysia, and Statoil of Norway, which were established at the same time with the NNPC. These companies managed their countries’ petroleum resources and have also ventured into exploration and production of oil in countries other than theirs and they are making remarkable progress in this regards, Petrobras is investing on Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL) 216 and 246 and Statoil have invested in Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL) 217 and 218 in Nigeria.

While the Petrobras, Petronas and Statoil are busy investing in other lands, NNPC has been crippled and weighed down largely by the overbearing influence of its shareholder and unending bureaucracy. Efforts to invest in the past had been inhibited by government bureaucracy. This was corroborated by some previous Group managing Directors of NNPC. Dalhatu Bayero, a former GMD of NNPC, remarked, “I hope the government will allow NNPC to carry out successfully its process of transformation”. Another former GMD, Chambers Oyibo once said: “It was not that the NNPC never made attempt in the past to invest outside Nigeria, but it was never supported by past governments”. 

Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) Issues

Pre-90s, staff of the refineries with a very few external experts were responsible for doing TAM and on the dot of ninety days, those plants were back running. However, as soon as the military government introduced third party contractors’ arrangement that they can foist on the system, the plants went comatose. The third party arrangement was put in place as a deliberate attempt to make money for the military leaders at the detriment of effective running of the refineries. In October 1994, the government enacted the Petroleum Special Trust Fund (PTF) Decree. All proceeds from the petroleum product sales in the domestic market except for fuel oil and special products were transferred from NNPC to PTF. NNPC was then paid N1.7 per litre ($0.02) to transport crude oil to refinery, refine the crude oil and distribute the products nationwide. Consequently, they were denied access to internally generated revenue. The World Bank’s Report on its 1994 Public Expenditure Review opined that the allowed margin of N1.7 per litre was just 54 per cent of refining cost. This implies by rough estimate that refining cost should have been above N3 per litre as at 1994 by World Bank Standard. This arrangement made NNPC to go cap in hand to beg for money to run her operatoins.

On TAM, Ereyukomhen in Ola says “that the Turnaround Maintenance (TAM) of the Port-Harcourt Refinery was awarded to an Oil Services company in 1998 and was partially completed in 2001. The Oil Service Company was unable to handle the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit. As a result, the capacity utilization level after TAM remained below 60 per cent. The Turnaround Maintenance of Warri refinery was awarded to another French Company. Despite the completion of Tam, the company could not operate beyond a maximum of 70 percent. The TAM of Kaduna was awarded to an oil marketing company in 1997 but the bulk of the work did not start until 1999. After the TAM, the plan could not operate above 45 per cent capacity utilization”.

If indeed our past leaders were sincere about their commitments towards the effective running of the refineries and the provision of petroleum products for Nigeria’s use, all the companies that took part in the sham TAM would have been called to question. The refineries were terribly raped but the rapists are out there in absolute freedom enjoying their loot. This is against the principles of due process, accountability, transparency and the rule of law. 

Challenges

• Decayed infrastructure.
• Corruption.
• Lack of political will of government to turn around the oil and gas sector.
• Improper record keeping.
• Lack of adequate institutional infrastructural support.
• Attitudinal problems.
• Complacency by government towards genuine oil and gas reforms.
•  Manipulation of oil and gas industry to give rewards to loyalists of the government in power.

Conclusion

All said however, I want to conclude by saying that for there to be accountability and transparency in the oil and gas sector; we must all be committed to the values of honesty, transparency, patriotism and loyalty. The government should sincerely and genuinely follow through the OGIC reforms it has put in place. Anti corruption drive must be sustained at all levels. The government must find ways of shielding whistle blowers and anti corruption agents in the industry from victimization. Society should also stop eulogizing corruption made heroes and heroines. Celebrating and associating with corruption made individuals calls to question the definition of corruption and the moral principles of our leaders who wine and dine with these questionable characters in the cover of darkness. This attitude has brought to bare the kind of polarized contradictions in our society where we attempt to fight corruption but on the other hand accept it as a norm.Thank you. 

References:

Abba-Ogbodo(2006); DPR declares documents on oil blocks missing Guardian, Abuja.

Ezekwesili, O (2006); NEITI, Mining and sustainable Development, Enugu.

Ereyukomhen, S (2006); NNPC Funding Challenges, Warri.

Fadakinte, M.M. (2005): J.V cash calls and alternative Funding: The Workers’ Perspective, Port Harcourt

http://www.mbendi.com/indy/oilg/af/ng/p0005.htm

http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.phpoption=com_content&task=view&id=13325&Itemid=43

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpage…7-2008-003.htm

http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/…ocks%20missing 

http://www.neiti.org.ng/files-pdf/ExecutiveSummaryFinal-31Dec06.pdf

http://www.businessdayonline.com/index.php
Ogbeifun, L. B. (2007): Industrial relations Practice in a Dysfunctional Oil and Gas

 Ogbeifun, L. B. (2006); Oil and Gas Operating Environment: A Challenge for Labour-Management Relations, Kano.

Ojo, J (2008); No open bid for oil block, House told,  Sun News online, Abuja.

Isakpa, P (2009); Nigerians, routinely indicted abroad for corruption, are let off at home, Business day, Nigeria

Okogu, B (2006): The Nigerian EITI: Extending the Quest for Transparency to the Solid Mineral Sector, Enugu.

Opusunju, F (2008); PSC Cost Verification and Crude Oil Entitlements, Kaduna.

Usigbe, L (2008), NPDC, Chinese firm clash over $2bn oil block, Vanguard Newspaper Abuja.   

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | January 2, 2008

I was in Port Harcourt (the Garden City) for a Joint Consultative Council (JCC) meeting from December 3^rd - 7^th 2007. Meeting days are usually Herculean because it could begin in the morning and end late in the evening. So, the only time I could attend to some private issues was between 7.30am and 8.30am or late in the night. Though calm had returned to Port-Harcourt, I was not courageous enough to take the risk at night so I chose the morning option. I wanted to open my mails and if possible do some few things on the internet. Unfortunately, the server in my hotel was down so I stayed put in my hotel room, hoping to accomplish the task the following morning.

I had visited the Garden City a couple of times in the past and found it easy communicating with friends and colleagues on the net because there were about three cyber café shops around the First bank cum B-Beck plaza hotel in the GRA around which axis I usually pitch my tent.

On Tuesday 4^th December 2007, I confidently strolled to the spots where the café shops were located to send some of my book launch photographs to brothers Umoh Ubong and Babatunde Oke for a story in their papers. I was utterly disappointed to find that one of the buildings where I used for internet surfing now hosts a political party secretariat while the other two cyber café have been turned into offices. After some enquiries about the nearest cyber café, I was directed to the State library complex not too far from Shark’s stadium. I paid eighty naira to okadalize (the art of travelling on motor bike) to the library. If there was any café around, I would have added only twenty naira to the okada tariff for a one hour browsing session.

It is no news that power outages are a way of our national life, so the facilities at the library complex were also powered by a generator set. Within the spate of an hour, there were more than three outages. The effect was the protests from the computers’ uninterrupted power supply (ups) as soon as power supply was interrupted. I am sure that in no time, the negative effect of sudden power surges and outages will take its toll on the air conditioning systems, stabilizers, ups, computers, printers, etc;.

Haven finished with my assignment which was not conclusive because of time constraint and the frequent power interruptions; I tried to ask questions on why those cyber café near my hotel closed up. The reasons for the closure were lack of electricity supply, which led the operators to the use generators as a source of power, rising cost of diesel, damages to computers and other accessories due to fluctuation of power if ever available, rising cost of maintenance of the facilities and the use of adulterated petroleum products, which was not friendly to the equipment.

I wept that morning because Nigeria is fast becoming the proverbial patched tube that won’t stop leaking despite all the interventions to seal the leaking spots. Aside the erosion of the employment generated by the operators of these closed café, I wondered what a developing country like ours can do to progress her technological advancement without infrastructures for information technology, stable power supply and high energy cost.  As I retired to my hotel room later that night, my mind wondered on what has befallen my beloved country and how we can get out of the valley of toddler nations.

The reason for my worry stems from the fact that though money is being pumped into the comatose energy sector, it seems to me that some very powerful but criminally minded Nigerians have perfected the act of taking away our comfort from us and are hell bent on bringing Nigerians to their knees.  Recently, the federal Government approved N1.4billion for the design, manufacture and supply of transmission and distribution equipment, stabilization through procurement of transformers and other system maintenance. Even with the wobbling electricity supply, which does not meet our national needs, the spate of vandalism of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) cables, transformers, the condensate lines of Shell Petroleum Development Corporation’s (SPDC) and other equipment associated with these service deliveries that should supply Gas to Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) for the provision of Gas to thermal stations across the country are going on at a dizzying pace. If nothing is done to stem this ugly trend we may just be sliding to the darkness of all ages no matter how much money government spends in the revamping of the sector. Worrisome also is that investors are not likely to put their money into distribution of power because of the fear of these vandals.

These acts of vandalism of PHCN cables and transformers, multinationals’ condensate lines would mean among other things:

1.   Decrease in capacity utilization by all the companies involved in the production and supply chain of Gas. Hector in his write up in the Vanguard of December 5^th opined that the recurrent fire at the Utorogu- Ughelli Pump Station trunk line due to vandalism and the shutting down of the facility has led to a shortfall of about 300million standard cubit feet of gas to the national supply grid. This is a huge economic loss.

2.  Associated power outages, which affect commercial activities especially manufacturing outfits.

3.  Increased overhead cost by the companies in the production and supply chain of Gas, which would be passed on to consumers. For instance, at Christmas, cooking Gas sold at between N6, 000-N8, 000.

4.  Increased cost of goods and services.

5.  Reduced level of power generation. Currently, Nigeria runs on a little less than 2000 Mega watts (Vanguard, Thursday, December 6, 2007; p.5).

6.  Massive capital flight courtesy of the country becoming a safe haven for large scale importation of generator sets.

7. Closure of manufacturing outfits because of high cost of energy.

8.  Increased environmental degradation due to fumes from the generators.

9.   Loss of employment to foreign countries where these generators are manufactured.

10.  Increased unemployment for the locals who are the losers in this criminal act.

11.  IIlegal smuggling into the country of arms by these vandals to fight law enforcement agents and other Nigerians who dare challenge their nefarious activities thereby heightening insecurity.

12.     Loss of revenue to Federal Government through these massive leakages and the subsequent replacement of vandalized PHCN equipment and condensate lines. For instance the multinationals will factor in all these costs of repairs of their burst pipes, vandalized flow stations and equipment into the joint venture accounts. So by default, Nigeria pays the bills for these despicable acts.

13.     Increased environmental pollution and degradation due to fires and spills from the vandalized pipelines.

14.    Destruction of car engines that use condensates from these illegal traders.

The implication of the above is a whole gamut of negative consequences like, explosions leading to scores of deaths as witnessed recently in Warri in 2007, economic sabotage in which the products meant for Nigerians are hijacked and aggrandized by a few cabals through the process of vandalism and subsequent illegal siphoning of products from the burst pipes. I became even more worried because these illegal wares are displaced every where in full glare of all and sundry and it seems the security agents are helpless in tackling the menace.

I believe we all must share in the blame of watching these ills perpetrated in and around us. If we had no markets for stolen cables, transformers and petroleum products, there shall be no cable, transformer and petroleum pipeline vandals. It will just be a matter of time for these dare devils to be out of business.

Unknown to so many people, the condensate stolen from vandalized pipelines, which we buy as kerosene end up killing our people. The specie we buy as premium motor spirit (PMS or petrol) damage our car engines. Head or tail, the larger society loses while these saboteurs smile to their banks. So, why can’t we help the Government to identify these cabals in order to save our people from these sudden deaths, tragedies, pains and agonies? After all, these people are not masquerades or spirits. They live with us as neighbours in our communities; they are our brothers and sisters, they congregate with us in our spiritual sanctum. We know where their businesses are located. We even eulogize these actors of evil at social functions and give them special chairs in places of worship. How could we be so mean to ourselves by allowing those who steal our common wealth to oppress us with the same products they have stolen from us? We must now start thinking of how to collectively strip these thieves of our inheritance. We can no longer rationalize that poverty and fighting for any freedom on our behalf are reasons for this unwholesome practice.

For the Government, it must do much more than vote money for energy projects because this money might just have gone into the bottomless pit as these economic saboteurs devise means of taking for themselves what government puts in at every turn. Government must ensure this vandalism stops. Since Chanomi creek pipeline, which was blown up in February 2005 is ready to transport crude to the refineries, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Communities, Federal and Delta State Governments must device ways and means of ensuring that Chanomi creek disaster does not occur again so that Warri and Kaduna Refineries would function optimally in 2008 and save for the country the hard currency deployed to the importation of such large amount of white products.

We had canvassed for community policing and satellite monitoring option in time past. It was consigned to the dust bin. Now that government seems to be interested in one of these options, it should be tried and soon too. Developmental projects tied to an all year round free pipeline and cable vandalism in a given community should also be considered as a form of motivation to the communities. Such promises must be fulfilled once the communities deliver on their commitment. It should not be business as usual.

Government should make it very clear to all our security chiefs that they would face the cudgel if in the next one year insecurity in their zones is not down by 75%. The security chiefs should in turn give their divisional subordinates the same target. However, to ensure fairness and equity, government must provide appropriate tools for the security agencies to enable them effectively discharge their duties. We cannot pretend that all is well. We have seen from the recent fight against corruption that some of our political leaders and their acolytes are richer than the Nigerian State and would do everything to continue to illegally lord it over us.

Except President Yar’Adua moves fast on his agenda on the power sector to save manufactures from their diminishing fortunes, restore hope to barbers, beauticians,  small scale industrialists and use appropriate state apparatuses to decisively deal with all economic saboteurs and the divisional (civilian) garrison commanders that seem to have grown above the law, fast track the war on corruption, do everything humanly possible to re-unite the six geo-political zones to pre-June 1993 level, intensify the dialogue option to disarm the militants that are now holding sway as defacto sectoral and tribal leaders, we may jolly well say goodnight to our envisioned economic height of 2020 because energy is very critical for any meaningful development to take place.

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | January 2, 2008I was in Port Harcourt (the Garden City) for a Joint Consultative Council (JCC) meeting from December 3^rd - 7^th 2007. Meeting days are usually Herculean because it could begin in the morning and end late in the evening. So, the only time I could attend to some private issues was between 7.30am and 8.30am or late in the night. Though calm had returned to Port-Harcourt, I was not courageous enough to take the risk at night so I chose the morning option. I wanted to open my mails and if possible do some few things on the internet. Unfortunately, the server in my hotel was down so I stayed put in my hotel room, hoping to accomplish the task the following morning.

I had visited the Garden City a couple of times in the past and found it easy communicating with friends and colleagues on the net because there were about three cyber café shops around the First bank cum B-Beck plaza hotel in the GRA around which axis I usually pitch my tent.

On Tuesday 4^th December 2007, I confidently strolled to the spots where the café shops were located to send some of my book launch photographs to brothers Umoh Ubong and Babatunde Oke for a story in their papers. I was utterly disappointed to find that one of the buildings where I used for internet surfing now hosts a political party secretariat while the other two cyber café have been turned into offices. After some enquiries about the nearest cyber café, I was directed to the State library complex not too far from Shark’s stadium. I paid eighty naira to okadalize (the art of travelling on motor bike) to the library. If there was any café around, I would have added only twenty naira to the okada tariff for a one hour browsing session.

It is no news that power outages are a way of our national life, so the facilities at the library complex were also powered by a generator set. Within the spate of an hour, there were more than three outages. The effect was the protests from the computers’ uninterrupted power supply (ups) as soon as power supply was interrupted. I am sure that in no time, the negative effect of sudden power surges and outages will take its toll on the air conditioning systems, stabilizers, ups, computers, printers, etc;.

Haven finished with my assignment which was not conclusive because of time constraint and the frequent power interruptions; I tried to ask questions on why those cyber café near my hotel closed up. The reasons for the closure were lack of electricity supply, which led the operators to the use generators as a source of power, rising cost of diesel, damages to computers and other accessories due to fluctuation of power if ever available, rising cost of maintenance of the facilities and the use of adulterated petroleum products, which was not friendly to the equipment.

I wept that morning because Nigeria is fast becoming the proverbial patched tube that won’t stop leaking despite all the interventions to seal the leaking spots. Aside the erosion of the employment generated by the operators of these closed café, I wondered what a developing country like ours can do to progress her technological advancement without infrastructures for information technology, stable power supply and high energy cost.  As I retired to my hotel room later that night, my mind wondered on what has befallen my beloved country and how we can get out of the valley of toddler nations.

The reason for my worry stems from the fact that though money is being pumped into the comatose energy sector, it seems to me that some very powerful but criminally minded Nigerians have perfected the act of taking away our comfort from us and are hell bent on bringing Nigerians to their knees.  Recently, the federal Government approved N1.4billion for the design, manufacture and supply of transmission and distribution equipment, stabilization through procurement of transformers and other system maintenance. Even with the wobbling electricity supply, which does not meet our national needs, the spate of vandalism of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) cables, transformers, the condensate lines of Shell Petroleum Development Corporation’s (SPDC) and other equipment associated with these service deliveries that should supply Gas to Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) for the provision of Gas to thermal stations across the country are going on at a dizzying pace. If nothing is done to stem this ugly trend we may just be sliding to the darkness of all ages no matter how much money government spends in the revamping of the sector. Worrisome also is that investors are not likely to put their money into distribution of power because of the fear of these vandals.

These acts of vandalism of PHCN cables and transformers, multinationals’ condensate lines would mean among other things:

1.   Decrease in capacity utilization by all the companies involved in the production and supply chain of Gas. Hector in his write up in the Vanguard of December 5^th opined that the recurrent fire at the Utorogu- Ughelli Pump Station trunk line due to vandalism and the shutting down of the facility has led to a shortfall of about 300million standard cubit feet of gas to the national supply grid. This is a huge economic loss.

2.  Associated power outages, which affect commercial activities especially manufacturing outfits.

3.  Increased overhead cost by the companies in the production and supply chain of Gas, which would be passed on to consumers. For instance, at Christmas, cooking Gas sold at between N6, 000-N8, 000.

4.  Increased cost of goods and services.

5.  Reduced level of power generation. Currently, Nigeria runs on a little less than 2000 Mega watts (Vanguard, Thursday, December 6, 2007; p.5).

6.  Massive capital flight courtesy of the country becoming a safe haven for large scale importation of generator sets.

7. Closure of manufacturing outfits because of high cost of energy.

8.  Increased environmental degradation due to fumes from the generators.

9.   Loss of employment to foreign countries where these generators are manufactured.

10.  Increased unemployment for the locals who are the losers in this criminal act.

11.  IIlegal smuggling into the country of arms by these vandals to fight law enforcement agents and other Nigerians who dare challenge their nefarious activities thereby heightening insecurity.

12.     Loss of revenue to Federal Government through these massive leakages and the subsequent replacement of vandalized PHCN equipment and condensate lines. For instance the multinationals will factor in all these costs of repairs of their burst pipes, vandalized flow stations and equipment into the joint venture accounts. So by default, Nigeria pays the bills for these despicable acts.

13.     Increased environmental pollution and degradation due to fires and spills from the vandalized pipelines.

14.    Destruction of car engines that use condensates from these illegal traders.

The implication of the above is a whole gamut of negative consequences like, explosions leading to scores of deaths as witnessed recently in Warri in 2007, economic sabotage in which the products meant for Nigerians are hijacked and aggrandized by a few cabals through the process of vandalism and subsequent illegal siphoning of products from the burst pipes. I became even more worried because these illegal wares are displaced every where in full glare of all and sundry and it seems the security agents are helpless in tackling the menace.

I believe we all must share in the blame of watching these ills perpetrated in and around us. If we had no markets for stolen cables, transformers and petroleum products, there shall be no cable, transformer and petroleum pipeline vandals. It will just be a matter of time for these dare devils to be out of business.

Unknown to so many people, the condensate stolen from vandalized pipelines, which we buy as kerosene end up killing our people. The specie we buy as premium motor spirit (PMS or petrol) damage our car engines. Head or tail, the larger society loses while these saboteurs smile to their banks. So, why can’t we help the Government to identify these cabals in order to save our people from these sudden deaths, tragedies, pains and agonies? After all, these people are not masquerades or spirits. They live with us as neighbours in our communities; they are our brothers and sisters, they congregate with us in our spiritual sanctum. We know where their businesses are located. We even eulogize these actors of evil at social functions and give them special chairs in places of worship. How could we be so mean to ourselves by allowing those who steal our common wealth to oppress us with the same products they have stolen from us? We must now start thinking of how to collectively strip these thieves of our inheritance. We can no longer rationalize that poverty and fighting for any freedom on our behalf are reasons for this unwholesome practice.

For the Government, it must do much more than vote money for energy projects because this money might just have gone into the bottomless pit as these economic saboteurs devise means of taking for themselves what government puts in at every turn. Government must ensure this vandalism stops. Since Chanomi creek pipeline, which was blown up in February 2005 is ready to transport crude to the refineries, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Communities, Federal and Delta State Governments must device ways and means of ensuring that Chanomi creek disaster does not occur again so that Warri and Kaduna Refineries would function optimally in 2008 and save for the country the hard currency deployed to the importation of such large amount of white products.

We had canvassed for community policing and satellite monitoring option in time past. It was consigned to the dust bin. Now that government seems to be interested in one of these options, it should be tried and soon too. Developmental projects tied to an all year round free pipeline and cable vandalism in a given community should also be considered as a form of motivation to the communities. Such promises must be fulfilled once the communities deliver on their commitment. It should not be business as usual.

Government should make it very clear to all our security chiefs that they would face the cudgel if in the next one year insecurity in their zones is not down by 75%. The security chiefs should in turn give their divisional subordinates the same target. However, to ensure fairness and equity, government must provide appropriate tools for the security agencies to enable them effectively discharge their duties. We cannot pretend that all is well. We have seen from the recent fight against corruption that some of our political leaders and their acolytes are richer than the Nigerian State and would do everything to continue to illegally lord it over us.

Except President Yar’Adua moves fast on his agenda on the power sector to save manufactures from their diminishing fortunes, restore hope to barbers, beauticians,  small scale industrialists and use appropriate state apparatuses to decisively deal with all economic saboteurs and the divisional (civilian) garrison commanders that seem to have grown above the law, fast track the war on corruption, do everything humanly possible to re-unite the six geo-political zones to pre-June 1993 level, intensify the dialogue option to disarm the militants that are now holding sway as defacto sectoral and tribal leaders, we may jolly well say goodnight to our envisioned economic height of 2020 because energy is very critical for any meaningful development to take place.

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | February 8, 2008

In the last few weeks, the man Ribadu was the topic of our daily discourse. The Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) was born in 1960. He holds a first and Master’s degree in Law and called to bar in 1984. He joined the Police Force as a Cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police and has since risen to the position of an Assistant Inspector General (AIG), courtesy of accelerated promotions for being a very effective and efficient worker. In 2003, he was appointed the pioneer Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by President Olusegun Obasanjo. The absolute nature of the operations of EFCC under Ribadu, especially between 2004 and 2005 earned him the toga of the “Tsar of EFCC”. The Act that established EFCC mandates it to combat financial and economic crimes.

The Commission is empowered to prevent, investigate, prosecute and penalize economic and financial crimes and is charged with the responsibility of enforcing the provisions of other laws and regulations relating to economic and finance crimes, including:

• Money laundering
• Advance fee Fraud
• Financial Malpractices
• Failed Banks (Debt Recovery)

I have never met Ribadu in this physical plane but I did in my dream on 20 January 2008, at the entrance of a small office within a huge office complex. We greeted and shook hands. The Ribadu I shook hands with in that dream was so ordinary, gentle and polite with the mien of a man that cannot hurt a fly, which is in sharp contrast to the real life’s Ribadu who instilled fears into the high and mighty. It is often said, “The fear of Ribadu is the beginning of wisdom”.

Hitherto before becoming the Chairman of EFCC, little was known of this policeman who has been acclaimed as a crime buster. He came with an unparalleled zeal to rid the country of the incurable disease (corruption), which has made Nigeria one of the poorest countries in the world despite our vast resources. Like a sniffer dog trained to detect hard drugs, he became hyperactive and was ready to demolish both real and imagined corrupt entities with alacrity. He carried the battle to the den of the untouchables. The 419ers ran from pillar to post. Some of the fraudsters who hitherto moved around town with escorts and security details ended up in maximum security prisons. Some foreigners who were swindled out of their money by 419ers got their money back. In truism, the EFCC helped to bring some respect to Nigeria.

For the first time since 1960, the world acknowledged the efforts of the Nigerian Government’s towards the eradication of corruption from its dictum of governance and our national life. No wonder the world raved at the removal of Ribadu as EFCC Chairman. Government cited capacity building as the reason for sending him back to school for a one year course at National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, near Jos, Nigeria; a school meant for very senior officers in the public and private sectors.

At the wake of the dispatch of the big boss of the anti-corruption agency to Kuru for further studies, the spin doctors feasted on the news like a vulture that has been starved of meat for so long. Some, in their views were nationalistic but others were simply self serving. However, the massive criticisms and protests, which trailed his removal, might have put so much pressure on the government to ensure that the war against corruption was sustained. At the end, the Head of operations of EFCC; Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde was made Ribadu’s successor. Information has it that Lamorde has worked at various times with the Metropolitan police, Dutch Police, FBI, and the German Police among others. Therefore, he is not a fry. He cannot afford to deviate from the ideals of EFCC because the world is watching to see what he makes of EFCC during his tenure. As the man who was in charge of operations under Ribadu, his department could be said to be the power house of the actions taken during the tenureship of the erstwhile Chairman. He is in a familiar terrain and common sense dictates that he can only leave the place better than he met it especially when he will be working with a President that sermonizes the rule of law. At the heels of Lamorde’s appointment was the inauguration of the National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG) of the Nigerian Extractive Industry Initiative (NEITI); headed by a renowned transparency and accountability advocate, Professor Assisi Asobie. These actions are reassuring enough and tend to have persuaded the spin doctors to keep their pens for another story.

However, there is the need to take a cursory look at the entire saga. One school of thought opined that Ribadu cannot, and should not be removed because the Act that established EFCC prescribed a four year tenure, which he started last year. Another feared that the Commission might lose focus or crumble without Ribadu. Others said that the action was to whittle and undermine the fight against corruption. Germaine as these fears were, it would seem to me that the proponents personified EFCC rather than seeing the Commission as an organic whole. They did not take cognizance of the fact that EFCC is an organization made up of so many arms and operatives whose effectiveness led to the successes recorded within this short period. They forgot that foremost, Ribadu being a product of a command structure has a bigger boss in the person of the Inspector General of Police (IGP). They forgot that before Ribadu was made the Chairman of EFCC; he was in the same Police Force that has been so rubbished and vilified by the Nigerian people and that it is possible to have other Ribadus in its fold. Some opined that it was done at a wrong time and will portray Nigeria in bad light before the international community.

While I totally agree that the decision turned some of our friends against us because of a misconceived notion about the intentions of the Nigerian Government, I take particular exception to threats against the sovereignty of Nigeria because of Ribadu. For instance, Eric Avebury, a British lawmaker was quoted in Punch newspaper of 10 January 2008 page 9 as saying that “the move might strain relations between Nigeria and Britain”. He even went further to suggest sanctions against Nigeria. An agent of the United Nations also demanded for an undertaking that Ribadu will be reinstated after NIPSS. Ribadu was not a permanent employee of EFCC and he held that office at pleasure. Just because we are at the mercy of EU donor nations would not mean that the art of governance in Nigeria should be reduced to the master-servant status where office holders will be determined from outside the country.

The appointment of Ribadu was not pioneered or championed by any nation. It was the decision and wisdom of the government in power in Nigeria in 2003. In the same vein, I do not think it is right to insist that except the President of a sovereign state appoints a particular government official into a particular office then the relationship between nations should be threatened. Rather, people should canvass the strengthening of structures like EFCC from the point of Law. The EFCC Act as it is today makes it a veritable tool in the hands of the President. We should be canvassing for the emergence of an independent EFCC that cannot be controlled by the Executive. When the immediate past National Assembly wanted to strengthen the Commission by removing it from the ambit of the Presidency, Ribadu was one of those who kicked against it. No matter the good intentions of those in this school of thought that Ribadu is indispensable as the Chairman of EFCC; they only succeeded in pitching Ribadu against the government, created two Inspector Generals of Police and two Presidents of the Federal Republic: one in Ribadu and the others in Okiro and Yar’Adua.

On the other side of the coin were those who jubilated and celebrated his removal. Ribadu was accused of selective justice, highhandedness, arrogance, breaches of human rights and an unfriendly ally of due process. On selective justice, I have often said that those selectively tackled should prove that they are not guilty of the offenses with which they were charged before they can earn my sympathy. If they committed the offenses they should face the music.

Furthermore, I hold the firm belief that if Obasanjo used EFCC to cow or hound his political opponents; when the table turns, the same instrument will be used against Obasanjo and his allies. At the end of the day, Nigeria will be the chief beneficiary. Whether there was selectivity in the approach or not or people hounded because they did not belong to Obasanjo’s stable or not, the things that stand to reason, which remain fair that EFCC must do are: follow due process, rule of law and preservation of the fundamental human rights of the accused in the prosecution of offenders at all times. I have a very strong conviction that Ribadu’s actions and pronouncements fell short of due process in several instances. However, as soon as Obasanjo left office, the agency and indeed the Chairman changed tactics. The handcuffing of the former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun, former governor of Kogi State, Prince Audu, the former governor of Bayelsa, DSP Alamesigha and encouraging the use of hotel rooms and other places as substitutes for States’ Houses of Assembly in the impeachment of governors did not give credence to the personality of Ribadu and EFCC. On a personal level he did not show restraints in some of his pronouncements. His utterances gave the color of bravado and arrogance. In some instances he played God by pronouncing with air of finality that some persons can never be occupants of Aso Villa. I have reasons to believe that he was in the habit of leaving his pouch of civility and the rule of law behind in his bedroom before leaving for his beat as EFCC Chairman.

EFCC under Ribadu invented its own laws and prosecuted its preys at its own whim and convenience. The likes of Mike Adenuga Jnr; the mother of Uzor Kalu had to beat a hasty retreat out of the country or went underground in order to live to recount their ordeals another day. These same people could still have been arraigned before a competent court if found wanting the way the ex-governors are now being prosecuted. We were in a democracy but operated a totalitarian system under Obasanjo. All these were not in line with due process that the government of that time sermonized.

To a large extent, he fought a very laudable battle though he deployed wrong tactics in some of the cases, which put him on the firing line. At a point, Ribadu said he was ready to die for the good of us all. That was a very patriotic wish but I prayed to God to disregard that wish because many of our heroes that fought for this country are walking the streets begging for their pension and their families living in deep squalor. In addition, the way he carried on under Obasanjo was not good enough for the natural rule of self preservation. Very prominent Nigerians like Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iwealla, Oby Ezekwesili, Professors Asobie, Soludo, Akinyuli and so many others had served or are still serving without dying on the job. Since they are alive, they will continue to render invaluable services to this nation. Hence I wanted him preserved so that someday by God’s grace, he will be one of those to carry out the necessary reforms that will give our police force a new direction and re-engineer it into a world class police outfit that I have always wished.

Irrespective of his short comings, Ribadu carved a niche for himself. He showed uncommon bravery, an unflinching commitment to the cause of ridding this nation of corruption and was truly genuine. Ribadu has proved that the white pap can be made from the hollow of a black pot. He has shown that it is possible to be in the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah and yet refuse to partake in her sins. He was not afraid to hit the balls of the high and mighty. He made political office holders realize that what one needs to fight corruption is the political will, nationalism and high level of patriotism. He, like Professors Dora Akinyuli and Chukwuma Soludo made the world believe in us and that even in the midst of high corruptive tendencies of office holders in Nigeria; there are still Nigerians that can be trusted with mandates. He won several laurels, nationally and internationally. He earned three promotions in about four years for his hard work. He left EFCC as an organization with a firm and strong foundation, which cannot be easily overrun. He walked through the valley of the shadow of death and was not consumed. He came, saw, and conquered. He can rightly say that he fought a good fight and time has come to move on and so shall it be.

The good news is that by dint of collective designs, networking, focused leadership and commitment, there is no more safe haven for the plunderers of our economy. Unlike in the past, when stolen money was stashed away in foreign vaults, nations are no longer ready to accept blood and dirty money into their financial systems and will not shield fraudsters and economic saboteurs from prosecution for stealing public funds. Political office holders now know that if they had immunity during their tenure, they will in less than a decade pay for their sins against the Nigerian people. Presently, two former governors, Chiefs James Ibori and Lucky Igbinedion of Delta and Edo States are in custody, while ex-governors Joshua Dariye (Plateau); Saminu Turaki (Jigawa); Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia), Jolly Nyame (Taraba), Ayo Fayose (Ekiti) and Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu) were at one time or the other inmates of prisons or EFCC’s custody. They have been charged to court for various offenses. Another dividend of the anti-corruption war is that serving political office holders would pay more attention to prison reforms because some of them may be tenants therein, in future.

Now that Ribadu is a student, he should deploy his arsenals to ensure that he is one of the front runners for the coveted prizes and at the end, earn the title of mni after his name. He should work hard to be one of the best students that NIPSS has ever produced. Since his former Director of Operations is at the helm of affairs at EFCC, one can safely presume that he left the organization in the hands of those who share in his drive, passion, vision and mission in the fight against corruption. Therefore, he should think less of EFCC while in Kuru and go to sleep with his two eyes closed.

I have the belief that NIPSS will make Ribadu a better public servant. It will afford him the opportunity to introspect, take a second look at his approach to the execution of public policies when he held sway at EFCC and make amends where necessary. My prayer is to see him come back to the Police Force in order to help reinvent it for a better service to Nigerians. Good luck and welcome to Kuru the tsar of EFCC.

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | June 5, 2008

It is a popular belief that the dog does not eat its own kind. In the past few weeks, this assumption has been proved wrong in South Africa. The camaraderie in animal kingdom if threatened by any enemy incursion is aggressively resisted. It is however surprising to see humans who are more developed care less about one another in similar circumstances.  South Africans woke up to use the same cudgels and machetes hitherto used against racists to cut down their fellow Africans to the admiration of their policemen.

The same Africans who formed the vanguard of solidarity to help in the struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa are now being maimed, burnt and slaughtered like chickens. This happened to Nigerians after our soldiers’ shed blood alongside other peace keepers to bring dignity and democracy to Liberia and Sierra Leone. Just last year, in far away Sudan, faceless Sudanese opened fire on our troops on a peace keeping mission in that country. How long our country shall be so shabbily treated by fellow Africans whom we have contributed so much energy, emotions and money to save them from the trauma of apartheid and the ruins foisted on them by their own brothers beats my imagination.

It has been forgotten so soon, how Nigerian musicians and social crusaders sang to fight racism and the apartheid regime in South Africa. One of such popular songs towards this cause is fire in Soweto by the Oziddi King, late Sonny Okosuns. It goes thus “Fire in Soweto, burning all my people……..shooting in Soweto, shooting in Soweto, killing all my people,…..tell me what you gonna do, when the Lord comes down?  Tell me where you gonna hide when the Lord says come or what you gonna say when you find out the truth? We need something, nothing that we owe you” this song that was relevant decades ago is even more relevant today. There is fire in Fire South Africa burning all my people. There is fire in Cape Town, rendering my people homeless. They are confiscating the belongings of my people and inheriting what they worked so hard to get. I wonder where those guys carrying out this horrendous and condemnable crime would be when the Lord calls them to account for their roles in this show of shame. Tell me what Mbeki gonna say, when the Lord calls him to account for his stewarship in the protection of immigrants in South Africa during his rule. This is even more shocking because they were not reprisal attacks, but a criminal act stemmed from pure jealousy and man’s inhumanity to man.

I watched the gory sight of a widow whose only son re-entered their apartment to pick a wrapped gift item from the rubbles of what was left of their belongings and in shock over how her former neighbours hooted and booed her and her son as they left their  apartment, which had been pad locked and confiscated by the hoodlums. She later told the reporter she didn’t know where to go from there. How can fellow Africans drive Zimbabweans in this their moment of need back into the evil enclave of Robert Mugabe thereby sentencing many of them to further torture and untimely death?

I have delayed this post to see the reactions of Nigerians when the Super Eagles played against the Bafana Bafana team from South Africa in the African nations and world cup qualifiers at Abuja Nigeria. During the match, we saw the way our security men came out on horses, with guard dogs to protect any infiltration into the field of play as against the attitude of South African policemen who looked the other way only to leave people to be so brutalized and worst still, watched the victims bleed to death. This is not the first time South Africans have shown utter hatred for Nigerians. Was it not in the same south Africa that our own Wole Soyinka, an acclaimed international figure treated with so much disrespect? Was Soyinka coming to apply for a job in their country too? This ugly incidence occurred in 2005. It took the intervention of the wife of legendary Papa Nelson Mandela to prevent the deportation of Wole Soyinka from South Africa

I have been a victim of the wickedness of some of these criminals in February this year. They ripped my box and bag open at Oliver Tambo airport. The valuables I bought from South Africa were stolen. The case is still before Virgin Nigeria authorities in Nigeria. Mine was nothing compared to those travelers followed from Oliver Tambo airport, stripped and robbed of their foreign currencies. If the reason for this mayhem is poverty and immigrants taking up all available jobs in South Africa, what reasons have they to attack those coming into South Africa to invest their own money or those coming into the country to inject their hard earned money from other lands into their economy in the name of tourism?  When my things were stolen on my way back to my country from South Africa, was it done because I had gone to South Africa to take anybody’s job or had also contributed to make anyone poor in South Africa?

It is even more unfortunate that South Africans accusing other immigrants of taking their menial jobs are running into the banks with multi billion dollars from South African investments in other lands. For instance, more than 90% of the communication outfits in Nigeria are corporate citizens of South Africa. While they are busing chasing us away over cleaning services, their investors are repatriating billions of our hard earned money to develop the South African economy.

This wanton destruction of the lives and properties of black immigrants in South Africa marks the descent of black solidarity into the cemetery of darkness and infamy. If uncontrolled, it will mark the beginning of the end of African solidarity. This is where I appeal to Africans to rise against this wicked act and the dehumanization of any human being within and outside the continent. We are a community of people that believe in being our brothers’ keeper. This milk of kindness must not be allowed to run dry. Rather than kill our fellow masses, let us network and form a vanguard of opposition against corruption and greed of our political leaders. We cannot be killing ourselves while those who plundered our resources to build empires for themselves and their families outside their countries are left to enjoy such loots. This current act of South Africans is a distraction from the genuine struggle against poverty, hunger and disease. It is a misdirected attack and should not be encouraged in any land.  

If Tambo Mbeki and other regional leaders have ostracized Mugabe, spoken against his misrule, perhaps true democracy would have been enthroned in Zimbabwe thereby preventing this senseless act. Our leaders must be strong in condemning corruption and sit tight leaders. They must be more responsive and sensitive to the plight of immigrants in their countries. They should stop paying lip service to internal security. They must provide their citizens with the basic necessities of life to prevent hunger, disease and poverty, which are the trade marks of African communities. It is in the restoration of human dignity that we can experience the most needed peace. We demand this, and nothing less from all world political leaders. This is a moral debt they owe the people, which must be paid and very soon too.

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | July 13, 2008

INTRODUCTION.

Kiiza, 2005 in unpacking democracy and the role of parties said “democracy is a term derived from two Greek words – demos (or people) and kratos (rule)”. Since the key components are people and rule, it will ultimately involve a system in which the people of a given constituency, come together as specified by their electoral laws, to vote and elect some people to rule over them for some specified period. This must be in consonance with the constitution. In a multi-party system, democracy offers alternative choices to the citizenry.  

The choices in a true democracy are informed by the parties’ manifestoes, credibility of the candidates, their contributions to the welfare of the people and the upliftment of society. Unfortunately, in most democracies in Africa, the people hardly elect their leaders because the money bags hijack the electioneering process, fraudulently manipulate the electoral system and select those they want as leaders over the majority.

However, whatever happens at the end of the day, some set of people would emerge at both the Executive and legislative levels. Logically, all the political parties cannot form the central government. Therefore, the party with the majority of vote counts will be given the mandate to form the central government while the rest would constitute the minority groups or the opposition.  

Democracies in most parts of the world rest on a tripod as propounded by traditional political scientists like John Locke, Jean-Jacquie Rousseau and Montesquieu:v  Executivev  Legislaturev  Judiciary

However, Kiiza, (2005) disagrees with this categorization. He opines that “A modern state has five arms, not three, the fourth being the army and the fifth, the civil service (or bureaucracy). Neither national defense (which is the duty of the military) nor public administration (which is done by the civil service) is really performed by the three traditional arms of government. It deliberately forges tight party-military relations to perpetuate the incumbent regime in power”. 

The Executive has the President, the Governors and the Local Government Chairmen and their cabinets. Once they are sworn in, they are supposed to implement policies that will improve the welfare of the people. Amenities are to be evenly distributed without prejudice to how the people voted. At the level of the Executive, few of those who lost in the elections could be brought in to form the government of national unity instead of the-winner-takes-all mentality as witnessed in the present administration in Nigeria. Such ministers or commissioners are appointed at pleasure and are expected to support the government in power. 

The legislature makes laws for the good of the citizenry. At the National level, the Senate is known as the upper Chamber and the House of Representatives as the lower chamber. They perform oversight functions to ensure that money appropriated by the Executive is spent on the projects the appropriation was made. The party with the majority in the House chooses the majority leader and occupies most of the top positions in the House Committees, while those in the minority also have their parallel organ like the Minority leader. It is at the level of the legislature that the opposition’s role is profound because the members in the two houses represent different constituencies.   

At this level, debates are often time fierce and competitive because of the divergent interests between the majority and the minority parties. The minority groups carry out their activities in line with the provisions of the constitution. This aids the House at generating many other policy options from several perspectives. This is followed by intense lobbying to get most views and bills through. It is a legitimate legal system that helps to moderate the action of the majority party, ensures that the interests of the common people are protected at all times, that the party in government rule responsibly and that the state apparatuses of coercive agencies are not negatively used to turn the country into a Gestapo state.

These minority parties that do not form the central government constitute what is termed “the opposition” in parliament. The Leader of the opposition is normally the leader of the largest party outside the ruling party, which is usually the second largest party in the Senate or House of Representatives or House of Commons in Britain. This position is unique to the extent that in Britain he or she is normally viewed as an alternative Prime Minister and is a member of the Privy Council (Wikipedia). The term “His Majesty’s opposition” was first used by, Sir John Cam Hobhouse, a British MP in 1826 (Mackenzie, 1959). Since then, it has taken an acceptable norm in most parts of the world.

However, in some instances, those at the helm of political affairs at the Executive level will usually appoint judicial officers, members of Boards and parastatals that will use the paraphernalia of officialdom to perpetuate acts inimical to the interests of the common man and at times use them to subvert the constitution they swore to protect. Without a strong opposition, the rulers will soon assume a deafening dictatorship.  Therefore, it is an imperative for the government in power that a healthy opposition is consciously encouraged to act as a check to emerging authoritarianism, which may breed anarchy and societal dysfunction like we have today in Zimbabwe.

Responsible opposition is the bedrock of sustainable democracy and opposition parties must be encouraged, granted access to information and the media.  The political party in power should know that within the population lays a huge silent majority, who did not vote for them but should have their views passed to the government. These views must be propagated and the only way this can be possible is through the opposition. Therefore, the executive must be tolerant, no matter how bitter the views expressed are. The Executive must show patience and understanding in order to maintain the symbiotic relationship that should exist between it and all other opposing voices.

The intolerance of the government of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo reached its crescendo when OBJ himself referred to Reverend Yakubu Pam, a shepherd over God’s sheep and the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Plateau State as “a big fool”; “Reverend my foot”, depicted Prof. Sam Aluko as senile, one of his Ministers who referred to the Senators as fools advised labour unions to form their own party if they cannot accept the policy options of the government in power. No matter the stupidity in the suggestions of others outside government, government officials must show respect and learn to tolerate other people’s views. Mahatma Gandhi opines that, “intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit” (cf. UNDP, 2002).  

The Opposition must be allowed to thrive in order to act as check to the excesses of the Executive without which absolutism, tyranny and authouritarianism will emerge. For instance, King Louis IV reigned as king of France from 936 to 954. At a point, he declared: L’etat c’est moi! i.e. I am the state! (Kiiza, 2005).  In 1993, the judiciary was the tool used by enemies of democracy to annul June 12 elections. This could not have been possible without the tacit approval and support by the military ruler General Ibrahim Babangida (IBB) and his Armed Forces Ruling Council.  But for the massive opposition, he would have been there for some more years. The opposition by the progressives, labour unions, CSOs, National Democratic Coalition of Nigeria (NADECO) made IBB to step aside on August 26 1993. Late General Abacha who took over from Chief Earnest Sonekan cunningly got the political parties to endorse him as the “only man who the cap fitted”. He would have transformed into a civilian president in October but for the unforeseen hands of death that stopped his ambition. We witnessed the manipulation of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo on the third term issue. But for the hues and cries of the progressives in the National assembly, the opposition, civil societies, the media and the Unions; he would have succeeded. Momentarily, the world is witnessing a bad dream in democracy in Zimbabwe where security agents are hounding the opposition in order to break their will.  This must not be allowed in any modern society. 

Democratic governance has moved away from the concept of Her Majesty’s loyal opposition to that of responsible or constructive opposition (Bagbin, 2007). This to me, means that whereas the opposition has the responsibility of ensuring that a stable and united nation exists; it must not be compromised to the level of making the polity a one party state, which breeds tyranny, autocracy and misrule.  

The Role of the Opposition.

1.     As the voice of the voiceless.

There is a huge majority who cannot be heard for so many reasons. These people rely on the opposition to speak on their behalf and bring to the fore their expectations.

2.     Provide viable policy alternatives and options to the ruling government.  

The opposition should not only criticize but provide viable policy alternatives and options. For example, during the first Republic, the Federal government and some regions imposed fees in schools under their control, the Western region implemented free health and education at all levels. To prove that this was attainable, Chief Obafemi Awolowo in his book, the voice of wisdom, wrote extensively on the topics on pages 47-48; 102-103 showing how the programs can be funded.

The marooned reforms in the energy sector might have been avoided if the opposition pressed for the Independent Power Project (IPP) as alternatives to the decayed power structures early in the life of the last administration. Also, the opposition in the last legislature failed woefully in putting pressure on their colleagues in the National Assembly in the area of oversight functions as they got submerged in the political waters for selfish reasons.

3.     Ensure the survival of the democracy through responsible opposition.

The opposition, civil societies and labour unions should not just oppose the ruling party as a way of pulling down the government. True democracy has no better alternative and should not be killed. It is only in true democracy that the people can own the processes of governance. Criticisms must be done with moderation and not done in such a way as to ruin the survival of democracy. For every criticism, the opposition must proffer better, workable and viable options. It should abhor violence as a way of protesting against the wrongs perpetrated by the government of the day.

4.     Pursue through legal means, legislation on freedom of information bill.

Information is power. It is in the interest of the opposition to see to the emergence of an unfettered press. It should do everything possible to ensure that the journalists are not gagged. It should fight for the freedom of the press through the passage of the freedom of information bill. Though it is their right to have access to the State own media, they should not solely rely on the State’s media in order to reach out to the people. It should strive to have its own electronic and print media. However, such platform must not be used to subvert the tenets of democracy or undermine the security of the nation and the Government.

5.     Mobilization of the people in a peaceful manner to resist obnoxious laws and perpetuation in power.

At times the Executive might take actions that are inimical to the interest of the people. Government may also refuse to listen to the suggestions and alternative views from the opposition. The opposition should mobilize themselves and the masses for peaceful protests. To do this and to exercise necessary controls, the leadership should be involved and be at the forefront.  Professor Wole Soyinka, late Dr. Beko Kuti, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Femi Falana, late Chuba Okadigbo, General M. Buhari took to the streets in various parts of the country at one time or the other from 1999-2005. In America, Martin Luther King Junior and others used this instrument to turn things around for the black people. Government at such times should provide adequate security so that such protests are not hijacked. The use of tear gas and bullets by the security agencies should be discouraged.

6.     Protection of national interests.

The opposition should not be involved in things that will truncate democracy, undermine national interests, security, sovereignty, national integrity, constitution and unity of the country because if the opposition carries out any activities that will eventually give room for the disintegration of the country, the nation would have been taken  back several decades. If this happened, the citizenry shall be the end losers.

7.     Shaping policy agenda.

 The opposition should conduct civic education, public enlightenment, propagation of ideologies that would impact positively on the welfare of the masses, fighting corruption single handedly or in alliance with other progressives through the media and road shows etc. A good example of this was the coming together of some elders and civil society organizations under aegis of the Pro-National Conference Organizations (PRONACO) led Pa Anthony Enahoro and Professor Wole Soyinka to fashion out an alternative constitution to that of the government in power.

At other times, the opposition persistently called for sovereign national conference and the restructuring of the country as a way of addressing the imbalance in the polity. In the south-south, the Governors have been agitating for resource control as a way of addressing the problems in the Niger Delta. All these are ways of trying to put pressure on the government to effect changes that will ultimately change the status quo.

8.     Reliance on the Judiciary.

The opposition should work assiduously towards the enthronement of effective separation of powers of the political system, which is the hallmark of true democracy. The courts should be used to check the excesses of the Executive. In the 60s, people resorted to the destruction of lives and properties to protest electoral fraud. However, considering the recent reversals of some of the results of the April 2007 elections polls in Nigeria, the judiciary has reinvented itself, charted a new course and proven to be a reliable and last hope of the common man if it chooses to. It is in this light we commend both the opposition and the government for using the judiciary to settle these electoral scores. 

9.     Canvass for free and fair elections and electoral reforms.

10.    Addressing the inadequacies of the government.  

Reaching out to the masses to point out the flaws and the inadequacies of government should be a common phenomenon. The government in power should not be made to be too complacent or too comfortable to forget to perform the duties for which they were elected.

11.   Act as alternative government in power.

The opposition should see itself as a credible alternative to the government in power. It should have a structure in place in the semblance of a cabinet with very strong research units that will generate viable policy options. This will enable it contribute meaningful from an empirical base and provide alternative blue prints to that of the government in power.

12.   Building networks.

Building of networks with CSOs, labour unions and other pressure groups to fight corruption, abuse of office, violation of human rights and intended overt or covert means of perpetuating extension of term not in tandem with the constitution and the will of the people.

13.    Greater coordination of efforts.

The Conference for Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) is a coalition of political parties that are in opposition to the PDP led government. They have played their roles well but I believe they need more coordinated efforts in order to achieve the objectives of what an opposition stands for. For instance, at the inception of the Yar’Adua administration, while some favoured a government of national unity, others opposed it. So far, they must be credited with the push for actualizing their goals without violence, which characterized the field of politics before 1999.

14.    Demand for accountability of the government in power.

The opposition at all times must demand from the Executive, the account of how much it has received from the federation account and what it has paid out. The Houses of Assemblies must be pressured to perform their oversight functions. While demand is made of the Executive arm, the representatives of the people also must be made to account for their constituency allowances and projects executed; how many bills were proposed and signed etc. By the same token, the State Governors and Local Government Chairmen must be made to account for their revenue receipts and expenditure.

The role(s) of civil society and labour unions. 

The opposition has its roots in all facets of the society and not just limited to the few people in the National or States Houses of Assembly who act as representatives of various strata of the political divide.

The civil society organizations are non governmental organizations that operate outside governmental structures. They are very important in the building and development of enduring democratic process. 

1)     Focus and agenda setting.

Any organization going into the field of advocacy for the interest of the masses must have its focus and proper agenda setting on what it wants to do and achieve on behalf of the people.

2)     Legitimacy.

Ensure that the organization is legitimized through the proper registration with appropriate government agencies, e.g. the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). We have an experience of an umbrella organization for a coalition not registered and therefore not known to law. This can be very embarrassing and frustrating if there is the need to recourse to the law courts for judicial intervention.

3)     Advocacy.

The CSO’s and labour Unions use advocacy as a potent tool to canvass their ideals, civil rights and grass root mobilization. We owe a duty of care to the silent voiceless majority whose voices must be heard through us in order to make their lives better. This was aptly demonstrated when the CSOs and labour unions formed the Labour and Civil society Coalition (LASCO) to stand in the gap for the silent majority against incessant hike in fuel prices, the sales of our national assets in a dubious and questionable manner to a few fronts of those in power from 1999-2005. 

Today, the truth is gradually coming to light. We have seen and heard the scandals in the power sector, the Federal capital Development Authority (FCDA) land revocation and reallocation scams, the reversal of the sales of the refineries and the steel industries. Without this form of pressure, the government in power can become a hydra headed behemoth of unimaginable proportion that will wreak so much havoc on the governed as it is in Zimbabwe now.

4)     Broad based coalition.

 Form a broad based coalition to synergize and organize grass roots education, massive enlightenment campaigns for good governance, transparency and accountability through road shows, workshops and seminars. This is important because sweeping clean demands the strength of the bunch of brooms. For instance, the Publish What You Pay (PWYP); a coalition of several Civil Society Organizations and the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC); Trade Union Congress (TUC)/Nigerian Labour Congress NLC and their affiliates, human and civil rights organizations and other interest groups did quite a lot to get the NEITI bill passed at the twilight of the last administration. For the first time in the history of any nation, Nigeria carried out a financial, process and physical audits of the oil and gas sector from 1999-2004. That of 1999-2005 report is being waited. 

5)     Mobilization of the Masses. 

The CSOs and the Unions must be good mobilizers of the masses in order to effectively use them during mass actions.  The country witnessed several mass mobilizations of market women, artisans and drivers, professional associations by Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) etc; against the Obasanjo administration because of petroleum price increases. The actions were successful because of the belief and confidence in the leadership of those at the forefront of the struggle. Most of the time, government had to reverse itself on several issues.

  6)     Specialization. 

The era of One-man-CSO in the hand bag, canvassing the cure for several societal ills is gone. CSOs should be organized to concentrate in one service area and those behind the formation should strive to be knowledgeable in that field. It is in so doing that we can harness the benefits and synergy to adequately advocate for any meaningful change. I say this because you can only give what you have. You cannot give what you do not have.

7)     Capacity building.

Civil society organizers and unionists must strive at all times to update their knowledge because those in government have hired personnel that do extensive research to back up their claims. For instance, when the last administration confronted Nigerians with plat template as a basis for fuel price increases, labour unions presented empirical data on what obtains in other oil producing nations and the need for the Government to do certain basic things before contemplating any further increase. Before the first increase, basic pay for some level of civil servants was less than $100 per month. While comparing Nigeria with Europe, labour also demanded for welfare and social safety nets parity to cushion the effect of any increase as it is obtainable in Europe.

8)     Effective coordination of efforts.

 CSOs and labour unions should strive to be more co-coordinated. Several CSOs have crisis of succession, leadership tussle and lack of proper structures. These will act as a distraction and must not be allowed to happen.  

 9)     Partnerships.

 The opposition should endeavour to build partnerships with professional groups like: NBA, Nurses and Midwives Association, NMA, Artisans, Teachers’ Associations etc. This will make joint actions more successful should the need to stage a peaceful protest arise. 

10)   Structured internal democracy.

 Civil Society organizations have since become the platform for teaching the norms and values in politics. They have been the breeding grounds and the grooming of future political leaders. However, many of our CSOs are dependent on donor nations and therefore tailor their advocacies towards the needs, aspirations and objectives of such donors. Compounding this challenge is lack of deep democratization of some of these CSOs. Some, just like the political parties are enmeshed in leadership and succession struggles. 

 It has been noted that CSOs “with structured democracy articulates democratic values the most in their members own members, spread these norms most effectively across the larger polity, committed over a longer period to the promotion of democracy, bridge ethnic divide more effectively than do non-democratic groups, less inclined towards opportunism in seeking donor assistance, more interest focus and accountable” (Kew, 2005). Closely associated with this, is the need to ensure credibility and transparency in the activities of CSOs.

11)   Lobbying.

 Building bridges of strong ties through the process of lobbying among all the groups that can progress the course of CSOs is Sequa non to the development of an enduring democracy. In a democracy, the National and States’ Houses of Assembly constitute a fertile ground for such activities. This is necessary because apart from making of good laws for good governance, the Assemblies can ensure transparency, due process and accountability in governance through diligent oversight functions. Lobbying activities should be carried to the floor of the Judicial Commission, Nigerian Judicial Council and all other relevant organs in the judicial processes for the enthroning of effective judicial systems that would make it impossible for a reminiscence of June 12 1993. 

Challenges.

•  The Executive, like we have seen in so many countries loot their treasuries and use such loots to oppress the opposition, CSO’s, labour unions. At times, they share the loot to willing hands who will aid them in perpetrating electoral fraud during elections.
•  Poverty.
•  Illiteracy.
•  Restriction of the opposition from the use of the state media.
•  Using security agencies to hound opposition groups.
•  Lack of ideologies different from that of the party in power.
•  Recycling of political jobbers.
•  Incoherent and weak party structures.
•  Greed and fight over party offices.
•  Carpet crossing.
•  Hijacking of political structures.
•  In most African countries, the government in power uses the incumbency factor to rig elections and ensure that all other arms of governance are littered with party loyalists.
•  Corruption.
•  Indiscipline.
•  Transparency and accountability issues.
•  Infiltration of the ranks of opposition, civil society organizations and labour unions by the Executive 

Youths and modern day governance

Youths from time immemorial have been at the vanguard of changes for the prosperity of nations. In the holy books, majority of the prophets were youths. In Nigeria, during the pre-independence struggle, youths served as the vanguard for change. In the 30s-50s, several youths’ organizations were formed to challenge the older generations at elections and the colonial masters. The Lagos Youth Movement (LYM) was formed in 1934 by H. 0. Davies, Dr J. C. Vaughan, Dr Kofo Abayomi, Ernest Ikoli, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Obafemi Awolowo which later transformed into the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM) in 1936 (Wikipedia). Unbelievably, in 1938 the NYM was said to have contested against older parties and won three seats in Lagos.

 The youths of old played a very major role in bringing into the country western education. Their agitation led to the creation of a campus of the University of London, which later metamorphosed into the University of Ibadan in 1948. The youths were at the vanguard for the fierce struggle against colonialism, which led to Nigeria’s independence. From our Independence up till about the 80s, we saw positive vibrancy in youth organizations as in the Ali-must-go and wide spread students’ strikes of 1978. These were in reaction to the re-introduction of school fees in tertiary institutions. The May 23, 1986 ABU episode was to protest against the arbitrary dismissal of the student leaders.

Wole Soyinka and six others formed the National association of seadogs in 1952 (Pirates confraternity) as a means of solidarity with the less privileged to fight against class distinction, oppression and the dehumanization of man. Irrespective of the confraternal activities, Soyinka became an icon, bacon of hope and light to his generation. In his thirties, he had written The Lion and the Jewel. The politicians of old like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Nanmdi Azikwe, Sadauna of Sokoto, Chief S. L. Akintola, Alhaji Aminu Kano, Chief Sam Mbakwe, Mbadiwe etc; occupied various sensitive and high profile offices in government or within their parties in their thirties or early forties. 

Sadly, what we identify with our youths of today is the formation of all kinds of deadly cults, which they use as instruments of terror to destroy those who are opposed to their beliefs, against female folks, lecturers and fellow students instead of confronting the agents of government that have made life worthless for the average youth.  

Challenges

• Emigration of our youths to other lands in search of greener pastures.
• Decay in educational and social infrastructure.
• High unemployment rate.
• Laziness.
• Poverty.
• Cultism.
• Lack of definitive agenda and non-value added militancy.
• GRQ (Get-Rich-Quick) complex.
• Moral bankruptcy  

Intervention.

• Reorientation of youths.
• Vocational studies and multiple skilling.
• Introspect to identify your strength and weakness to know who you are.
• Reinvent yourself.
• Functional and effective educational system.
• Cultural rebirth.
• Job creation: Massive diversification from oil based economy to farming and agro allied industries.
• Networking.
• Advocacy and enlightenment.
• Volunteerism.
• Positive roles of parents.
• Positive roles by teachers.
• Moral rebirth and massive enlightenment by religious organizations.
• Intervention by all strata of society.
• Infrastructural development: schools, energy, health etc 

For the youths to contribute meaningfully to the development of a nation, they need to ask themselves the following questions:

1. What do the youths of today want?
2.  What ideologies do the youths want to propagate?
3. What are the youths doing to actualize the propagated ideologies in terms of:

• Structures
• Planning
• Process
• Evaluation 
• Feedback.

 TIPS TO ASSIST THE YOUTHS REDISCOVER THEMSELVES

• Do the analysis of where you are now (job, marriage, vocation, school etc.); where you are supposed to be and where you ultimately want to be. Measure the difference in terms of achievements and gaps. If on the negative balance, not to worry. Go into your quiet time and diagnose why the gap exists and take steps to fill the gap.
• Draw short and long term plans to assist your growth and ensure you draw up measures to evaluate your success on monthly, quarterly or yearly basis.
• Identify your strengths and weaknesses. Build on your strengths and make conscious efforts to develop area of weaknesses into strength.
• Always plan and attach timelines ahead for all events.
• Appraise the type of the company you keep. If you congregate with failures and pessimists you are likely to fail. The type of company you keep will largely depend on the level of your achievements. If you are always in the company of criminals, be ready to share in their woes if security agencies come after them.
• Cultivate positive values. What you are ashamed to do in the open, do not do it in secret.
• Be an optimist and see opportunities in all challenges. Believe that all things are possible and that you can always be the best in all endeavour.
• Believe in your faith and your capabilities. Remember, because nothing is impossible.
• Don’t be afraid of failing, failure is a part of the learning process. Use the experience of failure to plan your next strategy. Strive not to make the same mistake twice.
• When you fail, do not be afraid to take the next step. If you fall, make concerted efforts to get up and progress beyond where you are.
• Be upright and loyal in all things.
• Find time to meditate.
• Never dwell in guilt trips. Learn to forgive yourself and others that have offended you. Your yesterday is in the cemetary, dead and buried 
• If a student, are you reading to please your parents or you are in love with your study? You need to be a square peg in a square hole.
• Never stop to ask questions on what you do not understand.
• Be passionate with whatever course of study you have willingly signed into.
• Let go of the failures of yesterday and reverse them for a successful tomorrow.
• Do not blame people for your failure. You are likely to be the major cause. Take responsibility for your drawbacks. Analyse the cause(s) of the drawbacks and address them.
• Live and relate well with people.
• Respect for lawful authorities and elders.
• Think smart, walk smart, work smart and relate smartly. These are just some tips to appraise yourselves to know if you are in the right place or vocation. If not, it is not too late. Re-invent yourself now and turn things around for yourself, your family, community, and the world. Remember that the youths are the carriers of the seed of the future of any nation. Our Government must deliberately put them in their plans so that our tomorrow can be better than today. I shall end this lecture by asking you all this morning, as youths, what are you doing to put your names on the positive side of history? So that at the end of time, an epitaph on your tomb might read; here lays a great man/woman, a patriot, who in his/her lifetime changed world for good through………….     In the United States, we have extensively read how the youths like Martin Luther King and others led the struggle against racial discrimination, oppression and poverty. Though he was cut down in his prime, he is forever in the psyche and hearts of the people. He is being celebrated all over the world years after his demise. To you I ask, what would you be remembered for long after you have left mother earth? Thank and God bless you.

References:

Awolowo, O (1999); Voice of Wisdom , Oluseyi Press, Ibadan, p.47-48; 102-103

Bagbin, A. S. K et al (2007); the role, rights and responsibilities of theOpposition, 53^rd Commonwealth Parliamentary conference, New delhi, India Dahl, R., A., 1971: Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition, (New Haven: Yale University Press

http://www.kuenselonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=9250

Kenneth Mackenzie, The English Parliament, (Harmondsworth: Pelican Books, 1959), p. 116.Kew, D (2005); The Role of Civil Society Groups in Strengthening Governance and Capacity: Avenues for Support, Boston.

Kiiza, J (2005); The Role of Opposition Parties in a Democracy, Arusha, Tanzania 

Ogbeifun, L. B. (2008); Labour Crises in the Education Sector: Challenges to Development in Education: at the Conference of the Nigerian Institute of Management (Chattered), Jos.

UNDP [United Nations Development Program], 2002: Human Development Report 2002: Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented World, (New York: Oxford University Press). 

Excerpts from the workshop by Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, in co-operation with the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago and the Citizens’ Agenda Network (2005) – Government and Opposition – roles, Rights and Responsibilities, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 25-27 July 2005�

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | March 8, 2008

A leader without a good successor is deemed to be a failure irrespective of his/her achievements. Having a prodigal son as a successor is a bad dream because he would destroy any legacy left behind. If this happened, the essence of bequeathing good structures to future rulers would have been defeated. I am a firm believer in the “systems’ continuity concept” especially if the system is fluid, efficient, effective, transparent and ensures accountability. But I abhor a system that exploits the masses for the good of a few. I detest a non transparent leadership. I would be stupid not to reverse unwholesome policies that were built on unfairness, injustice and selfishness.  

When Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (OBJ) became the President of Nigeria in 1999, the oil and gas sector was a shame to the entire nation. There were shortages of petroleum products across the country. Nigerians queued endlessly to buy petroleum products at gas stations,  illegal bunkering was a thriving business, stealing of crude was at its peak, the downstream sector was worse than those of other countries at war and the spate of vandalism of petroleum products’ pipelines was horrifying. This prompted the Government to begin the oil and Gas reforms. One cannot but agree that he did well to have had the initiative to clean up the stable but just like most laudable projects in the past, the reforms were eaten up by the Nigerian disease (corruption, greed, selfishness and poor implementation).  

As the President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) our Central Working Committee and the National Executive Council had commended Obasanjo for deeming it fit to address the decay in the oil and gas sector through series of reforms but went ahead to plead caution, human face and the need to follow due process in the implementation process. The emergence of OGIC (Oil and Gas Reforms Implementation Committee) inaugurated to critically look at the oil and gas sector and re-structure it for efficiency was an aspect we thought would be used to address the deficiencies in the sector. We expected that the spring board for the reforms that will catalyze the activities for the good of all was here. It never was.  

Rather than stick to long term plans, the Government started on what it perceived as the quick wins relying on the “tions”; (deregulation, privatization and liberalization). No matter the alternatives proffered, the mantra of the tions was too attractive to ignore. The implementation soon fired up at top gear and in rapid sequence.

The real agenda of the Government soon crystallized as the implementation process of the reforms especially in the deregulation and privatization of the downstream operations were fraught with sharp practices, imminent transfer of public monopoly to a three man private monopoly. There were uncomfortable under-currents, lack of respect for due process, breach of agreements and the take or leave it attitude of the Government.  

Tried as we did to call attention of Nigerians to the evil designs, the spin doctors and the cohorts of the ruling class called us anti progressives who were out to sabotage the well intentioned privatization programme. We came out several times to explain to Nigerians that we were not averse to the reforms but that we were against the implementation process, which was ill conceived and manipulated to benefit only a handful of those close to the corridors of power. We opined that the sales if allowed to stand will further pauperize Nigerians.  We fore saw the skewing of the final results of the privatization exercise against the interest of the masses, which if not checked would lead to an unprecedented resistance and revolution in no distant time. It was a time bomb waiting to explode. The government kept surging ahead like a moving train ready to crush any folks that crossed its rail tracks. But for the intervention of the Yar’Adua administration, the strike that ushered in his tenure in 2007, would have spelt doom for the country.  

Deregulation 

If the deregulation was genuinely done, it would have bred multiplicity of players, efficient pricing mechanisms, decentralization of the structures of buying and selling, products availability and allowing the consumer who is the king a platform for alternative choices. Unfortunately, the government’s deregulation targeted only price reform. This left the turf with the same players and restricted consumer choices.  

We had suggested that for deregulation to succeed, certain interventions in the sector would be necessary. We canvassed the need to review the waiting period of vessels, transhipment process, which transfers huge cost to consumers because of demurrage, refurbishing of Atlas Cove facilities among other things, strengthening of the naira and the provision of social safety nets to cushion the effects of possible fuel price increases on the masses. We called for the sanction of those that were involved in the failed turn around maintenance (TAM) contracts; Niger Delta crises to be holistically addressed without which the country cannot have a peaceful oil and gas sector; optimal functioning of the refineries to provide home based production for appropriate benchmarks, and the provision of power that will galvanize the manufacturing sector into existence, etc; (www.pengassan.org).  

The government kept surging ahead like a moving train ready to crush any folks that crossed its rail tracks. It was unwilling to address the structural reforms that will on the long run support the price reform. The President and his wise men and women were unwilling to do any of the above because the perpetrators were political heavyweights. We did ask at that point why a government of due process would claim to have spent so much money on the refineries and the energy sector without any appreciable improvement, yet no panel set up to probe the failed contracts or sanction the contractors. No answer till date.  The only attempt made by the last House of Representatives to ask questions on the TAM projects ended abruptly when some of the key players threatened to spill the beans.

When government realised that we were unrelenting, it decidedly agreed to one of the suggestions. It directed the release of funds for the refurbishing of the refineries, which worked optimally from 2005 to February 2006 when the Chanomi Creek pipeline was blown off. 

However, barely five months into the life of the Yar’Adua’s administration, the issues were given prominence. Thisday newspaper of Wednesday, October 3, 2007 in its front page wrote “To prevent further heavy financial losses due to demurrage – as well as put an end to incessant fuel crisis in the country – the Federal Government has directed the Energy Ministry to ensure that all facilities for receiving and offloading petroleum products were fully restored”.  This was one of the positions we canvassed, which was consigned to the dustbin of history by OBJ and his economic team. This is a welcome development and it shows that the government is going back to the basics. The major gain of this if implemented, is that reduction in demurrage charges will also reduce the charges passed on to the consumer. I firmly believe that the masses should not be made to pay for the inefficiency of any government system.  

The great sales and the reversals 

Steel Sector 

The government decided to sell 80% equity of Delta Steel to an Indian firm that bided as Global Infrastructure Holdings Ltd at $30million instead of the $31million dollars offered by BUA Nigeria Limited; a Nigerian firm. The Indian firm also went ahead to win the concession rights to complete, commission and operate Ajaokuta steel plant. The House of Representatives in probing the sales opined that due process was not followed and consequently ordered the handover of Delta steel Company (DSC) to the initial preferred bidder, BUA International, thereby reversing its sale to Global Infrastructures (GIH) by Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) (Front page of Vanguard Newspapers, Wednesday, January 16 2008).    

Refineries 

As at 1999, the refineries had become a national embarrassment. Like any other subserviced engine, the refineries, which were neglected for decades were in a sorry state. When we appraised the operations of the refineries, we found that the government and its cronies deliberately rendered the refineries prostate. In order to forestall the sales to the same people that plotted the demise of the refineries, we had no option than to suggest the 51%-49% core investor/government participation (NLNG structural model). This was to remove the hands of government and political office holders from the affairs of the refineries in order to bring them back to life. We resisted the wholesale privatization of the refineries because we know that the workers are efficient. This was confirmed at the start up of Eleme Petrochemical Limited after it was sold to Indorama.    

The Presidency started the privatization with the giving away of Eleme Petrochemical Company Limited to Indorama. The Unions alleged that the asset was under priced and that as at 1999, EPCL assets were said to be worth $11.8billion but sold to the company at $250million minus the liabilities and with 30% down payment even after the 180days grace period. Government was to pay the liabilities of EPCL. Instead of 49%-51% equity stake as contemplated, 75% stake was ceded to Indorama.  

Investigation is currently on going to determine the true owners of Indorama. There is the speculation that two former Heads of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and one ex-governor of Rivers’ State are the true beneficiaries. More revealing is the fact that the same NNPC staff; branded as dead woods by government were used by Indorama to revive the plant. Up till now, there are NNPC staff working in EPCL as secondees. This again vindicated our stand that we have a work force in the downstream sector that can make the refineries and petrochemical companies work if only the invisible hands were severed. Let us hope that the truth will come to light soon. 

At the inception of the branding of the refineries as scrap, the Unions also found out that government’s overbearing influence in the affairs of the refineries and the refusal to adequately fund NNPC and empower its management were largely responsible for the inability of the NNPC to run the refineries optimally. For instance, the Managing Directors of the Refineries have less than $35,000 (5Million Naira) approval limit when the Managing Directors of less complex plants have between $1-2millions approval limits. In addition, any approval in excess of $35,000 is processed through the Headquarters. The approval for TAM needs Mr. President’s approval because he is the Board Chairman and the Minister of Petroleum. Therefore the decision to replace any faulty parts and determine what constitutes a priority rested on a superior authority outside the confines of the refineries. This delay in administrative process was and is still a major challenge. Under this bureaucratic stricture, no company can optimally perform and achieve the desired level of efficiency expected of the refineries. 

In order to reverse this malaise, the Unions agreed to the aforementioned NLNG partnering model in terms of ownership structure. In this model, though Nigeria through the NNPC has 49% equity stake, three other companies share the remaining 51%, government does not dictate the modus of operation and NLNG truly runs like a commercial entity because the management has free hand.  

Furthermore, at a every forum we also made it known that except the Niger Delta issues were addressed, any privatization done would be meaningless. The Chanomi creek pipeline was dynamited in 2004, repaired in 2005 and barely a year after the repair work was completed, the same pipeline was destroyed in February 2006. This time, the locals refused to allow any repair work until certain conditions were met. It took two years for that line to be made available for crude transportation. For those years, there was no crude to service Warri and Kaduna refineries. The effect was importation of petroleum products.  

Rather than seek genuine solutions that will ensure that the refineries work in the best interest of Nigeria, OBJ on the eve of his exit from Aso Rock sold the refineries under very questionable circumstances. The Civil Society Organizations, Labour Unions and the National Assembly condemned the sales and rose in the defence of rule of law and due process. At the end, the Yar’Adua administration reversed the sales. This again vindicated our stand that only policies driven by good intentions following strict adherence to the rule of law would stand the test of time.  The last has not been heard of the privatization saga as the Senate decided on March 6^th 2008 to review the privatization of the country’s major assets. 

Politics 

In all the states of the Federation, most of the winners were accused by the other parties of rigging the elections. The annulments so far witnessed from the election tribunals cut across party lines. Since most of the cases are in the appellate court one cannot be too sure of the outcome but from the look of things, not less than 20% of the states will likely conduct governorship elections and all the states will conduct one form of election into the lower or higher houses.  The election tribunals have annulled and therefore reversed the victories of the following governors: Alhaji Ibrahim Idris (Kogi), Nasamu Dakingari (Kebbi), Omehia (Rivers), M. Nyako (Adamawa), Sullivan Chime, (Enugu) and Theodore Orji (Abia).  Of the above, the Election Appeal Tribunals have ruled that Alhaji Ibrahim Idris (Kogi) and M. Nyako of adamawa should vacate their seats and make way for new elections in 90 days.

Others are in the appeal court. If the parameters used in reaching the final decision at the appeal courts in Kogi and Adamawa are anything to go by, then more governors, some speakers of States’ Houses of Assemblies, some members of the National Assembly should start doing their homework on how to go back to the field for fresh elections.  Of all the governors, it seems to me that only Governors Peter Obi of Anambra State and Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State are sure of keeping their seats till the next election because the Supreme Court, which is the oracle of the judiciary has delivered final judgements in their favour.  

With these reversals, five scenarios are likely to play out at the end of the day.  

First, INEC would not want to be so rubbished again on point of technicalities, thus it is expected to strictly adhere to the rules and allow all eligible candidates to go to the field for trials. It will strive to produce a re-run election results that will be credible. If this happens, many of the incumbents who will only depend on their popularity and money may not return to their beats because the masses are wiser and the judiciary is watching.  

Secondly, the opposition and the aggrieved will team up against the incumbents whose elections were annulled to produce new office holders. Some may take it with a pinch of salt while others may whip up ethnicity sentiments, which are the usual antics of bad-loser-politicians. If this path is taken, it will be costly and catastrophic for our democracy.  

Thirdly, the incumbents may resort to the power of incumbency by using coercion and indulge in rigging. The masses and the opposition in some states will vehemently resist this. This might lead to severe agitations, breakdown of law and order, and bloodshed. Except we handle this with care, it may prove fatal to our nascent democracy. The impact would be socially, economically and politically expensive. 

Fourthly, the call for Professor Maurice Iwu to resign will be deafening in the next few weeks. If I were, I will honourably throw in the towel. This is a more honourable thing to do and the way it is done elsewhere where integrity matters. As a respected academician, he has a constituency waiting to utilise his skills. He is unlike the political jobbers who after losing battles at the election fields have no where to return. So, why hang on to a job that has attracted so much outcry against his actions and done so much damage to his credibility? 

Fifthly, when politicians lose or cheat at elections they set the masses against each other using tribe or religion as the reasons for their losses. We are likely to see this play out in some states. 

Any politician or religious bigot promoting or calling for violence in the name of tribe or religion must not be allowed to have his/her way this time. Let us tell them in clear terms that 2011 is around the corner for another trial and thus should wait to try again. Where they refuse our wise counsel and still want to ginger the rest of us to foment trouble, we must insist that they and their children should take the frontline positions before any one can follow. Enough of the attitude of lose, psyche us into destroying ourselves and our shanties, take the next available flight out of the country and return to lord it over us when the ashes of war settle. For once, the masses of this nation should let the elites know that they are powerless without the masses.   

OTHER SECTORS 

No sector has been spared of the reversals. The controversies surrounding the sales of AP shares, ALSCON, NAFCON, NITEL, NICON Insurance and the two hundred million shares in Transcorp to OBJ holdings and the PENTASCOPE deal also vindicated our stand that the Privatization process did not follow the laid down guidelines in the Privatization of the enterprises in question. It is an incontrovertible fact that because of the frosty relationship between the President and Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the overall decisions in most of these cases were taken at the whim of OBJ. This cannot be due process. The Nitel sale was revisited and partially reversed on Friday 15^th February. This led to the temporary suspension of Transcorp by security exchange on Monday 18^th February 2008 because of ownership tussle. However, it would seem that government and Transcorp have found the middle course to allow another core investor into the business.  

Estate 

The green area in the high brow of Abuja allotted to top government officials including President Yar’Adua has also been reversed. This is worthy of mention because the President is the second Head of Nigerian Government to have relinquished what one may tag State property after General Murtala Mohammed of blessed memory.

The revelations from the Senate committee looking into the affairs of Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) confirms that due process was not followed in the allocation of houses, retrenchment of public officers and the private/public partner initiative during the tenure of El-rufai. For instance, there is ample evidence to prove that several workers were victimized and thrown into the unemployment market because on their roles in the strike action that was embarked upon by the Health  workers in the FCDA. Many people were thrown out of their homes and allocated to friends of those at the helms of power. The then Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Productivity Dr (Mrs) Timiebi Koripamo-Agarry was representing Nigeria abroad when her things were thrown out of her house. For daring to seek redress in the court of law, she was retired but recently recalled by the new administration. For sure, I foresee so many reversals and litigations coming in the next few months.

Education

The past government had scrapped the national diploma education and did a pseudo privatization of the unity schools. These have also been reversed

Health

The Local Government (LG) health centres to be built by the Federal Government with direct debit from LG accounts have also been reversed because of breaches to the autonomy clauses in the constitution.

While these reversals are desirable in view of the serious breaches to lay down privatization procedures and the lopsidedness of the sales, the Government must do more than just reversals. It must do the proper thing to reposition these enterprises by ensuring that they run like typical commercialized entities. The pre-1999 rot of the steel and petroleum sectors and the queuing for petroleum products is simply unacceptable. The reforms in the oil and gas sector are unavoidable, a must and should not be jettisoned. PENGASSAN and NUPENG went on a 2 day strike in June 1993 to canvass for an autonomous Petroleum Inspectorate Commission among others. We were wiser 15 years ago and what we fought for that time, OGIC has recommended in 2008. this is cheering but step taken must follow laid down rules and procedures. The people of this nation must own the process, not the other way round. This is the only way we can have confidence in the system.

If the last government had taken time to set its agenda on the respect for the rule of law and genuine counsel, followed due process, which it sermonized; we would have been out of the woods. It would have taken credit for revitalizing the ailing concerns and spared itself the can of worms being spewed now for public consumption.

The polity, education, energy and health sectors are in dire need of genuine reforms. Every effort must be channelled towards a proper restructuring of these important sectors for the betterment of Nigeria. If this administration can systematically follow the present process to a logical conclusion, which though looks tortuous and long; it will save itself the embarrassment of witnessing the unprecedented reversals witnessed in the last few months.

On the whole, the reversals should not just end the matter. All major actors in the privatization and election scams should be thoroughly and fairly investigated. Those found culpable at the end of the day should be sanctioned to serve as a deterrent to other government officials.

Weep not OBJ because I foresee President Yar’Adua arriving at the same conclusions as you in some of the cases. You should count yourself lucky for having a worthy successor who is building on former structures you built rather than destroy the legacies handed over to him. Take pride as the beginner of the reforms especially the OGIC, after all, the teacher prays for his/her students to be better materials.

The only difference between both of you is the approach and implementation, doing it right, being more democratic, ensuring that the process is more people friendly, ensuring that due process and the rule of law are followed in the reformation processes and that the assets to be privatized will attract the right prize for the benefit of the nation. At the end, Nigeria should be the true beneficiary. It is in this, would President Yar’Adua peacefully rest in retirement without watching his administration’s programmes and policies suffer the great reversals we currently witness.

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | October 12, 2008

The United States of America is so many things to so many people. It is said in Nigeria that when a big masquerade is on the dancing floor, one cannot see all his sides if one stood transfixed in a particular position.  The only way one can have the total picture is to change position with each change in his dancing rhythm. This analogy fits the present American State because while the economy rages at home, she is leading other allies in Afghanistan, Iraq and on peacekeeping missions across the globe. If one stood to analyze the American State from one fixed thought or view of a race track, then one will misunderstand what America stands for in the history of the world. She is a huge phenomenon that only the deep with third eyes and well honed analytical minds can understand.

America has been described as God’s own country, the land flowing with milk and honey, the largest democracy in the world, the primogenitor of free market economy, the policeman of the world, the voice of the voiceless, the largest capitalist market but yet the highest debtor nation on earth; and she is a home to so many immigrants that are seeking shelters from the harsh socio-economic and political persecutions of their countries. Paradoxically and in spite of her greatness and impeccable crime bursting acumen, ethical values and transparency, America is witnessing a huge economic meltdown. This has sent jitters round the economic spines of other nations.

I never thought this could happen at this age in America because of her grip on almost all global financial institutions like the IMF and the World Bank. Several questions are begging for answers. What happened to the lenses and periscopes of these institutions that have served as the Central Bank and the clearing houses of the World for so long? Were they so busy concentrating on the poor nations that they forgot that corruption, mismanagement and transparency issues transcend the poor/rich borders? What has suddenly happened to America that predicted in 2005 that Nigeria will disintegrate in less than 15 years but yet so incompetent in forseeing the signs and symptoms of her economic meldown ahead of time? Who would have imagined that Lehman Brothers, AIG; WaMU and Merrill Lynch would come crashing like a pack of cards one after the other? America is at her worst economic crossroads since 1929. This is the naked truth.

In order to address the economic downturn without progressing towards a real recession, the government rallied round her financial institutions by proposing a $700 billion package to save them from further degeneration and total collapse. The economic brouhaha has globalized its destructive capacity and tendency to bring down the high and mighty and it is now running a borderless course. Not even the homeland of Thatcher, the mother of modern day privatization and liberalization policies has been spared. The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown proposed a bailout out package that involves hundreds of billion pounds and in some areas suggesting outright nationalization. These were people that believe that privatization holds the ace to economic Eldorado. More than 95% of the crashing financial institutions are private concerns. What an irony? Are we now returning to government owned institutions’ model? Or is it a case of modified public-partnership initiative?  The big lesson here is that no matter the institution, be it private or public, once the individuals in that organization are not playing according to the rules, honest, transparent, objective and have uttmost respect for the shareholders, the bubble will surely burst.

In the past, we hear government bureaucrats tell us that government has no business in business. The “tion” concepts as in privatization, liberalization, deregulation and lately globalization took the centre stage of governments’ reasoning and actions. The Nigerian Government from 1999-2007 followed the IMF prescribed pills by aggressively pushing us through self destructive liberalization and privatization policies, which to date have seen the actors and directors in frightening scams. The reasons for the privatization, deregulation and liberalization policies were hinged on government being a bad manager of resources. But we were quick to say that these policies were crafted without giving considerations to some peculiar drawbacks in the third world. We have often opined that while privatization, deregulation and liberalization in theory may mean the same thing globally, the outcomes are different in various parts of the world because of differences in orientation, values, attitudes, culture, beliefs and the social safety nets available to cushion the effects on the people.  

We have also argued that the government has a duty to ensure that markets run according to prescribed rules. Government cannot allow the market to run wild like a rabid dog and don’t expect the people to be in danger of facing the deadly outcome of such exposure. We cannot allow market forces to solely determine the operations of the market in the absolute and expect not to have an absolutely corrupt and degenerative market system, which will ultimately make the people slaves of the same markets they created. This is akin to the right to live and the freedom of expression, which are guarranteed by all natural laws, justice and constitutions. Even at that, such rights are not absolute. The American Government simplistically and sheepishly followed the “no intervention in the market system mantra” to get the US into this financial crises, which has caused slipped discs in the spinal columns of other economies.  

Apart from the mismanagement of the financial sector by all the stakeholders, one other major causative factor for the economic crisis is the multiplicity of wars involving the United States in some parts of the world. It is estimated that the US is likely to be spending about $5 billion every month on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This does not include the money budgeted for reconstruction efforts in Iraq, which cannot be below a double digit billion. One can better imagine how many people facing death because of ravaging hunger and diseases accross the globe this funds would have saved.

Engaging in the wars in Irag and Afghanistan tend to have worsen the economic woes of America. I strongly oppose all acts of terrorism, solving problems through the use violence and shall continue to oppose it. I believe that dialogue holds the ace for any peaceful co-existence of the human race. Therefore, terrorism should have no place in any human society. Terrorism must not be allowed to thrive no matter the reasons for embarking on it. However, embarking on a large scale war like that of Iraq must be seriously weighed, objectively considered and the balance tilted in favour of a short term end before taking the final plunge. The reason(s) for embarking on such a large scale war must be beyond reasonable doubts because precious human lives are lost in the process. In addition, the post war health syndrome is even more agonizing for the future generations. So, caution is the word.

Up till now, one is at a loss on the real reason(s) for waging the war in Iraq. The non discovery of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq as canvassed by the Bush administration before the strikes on Iraq makes the whole exercise as worrisome as the outcome of the war itself. In the process, Saddam Hussein, labelled as the godfather of terrorists was pursued, caught and killed.

One would have thought that as soon as Saddam died, Iraq would witness perfect peace and cessation of all terrorist acts in the Middle East. This was not to be. This theory failed to obey all rules of objective reasoning. Many more deadly Saddams in droves have been created by the war and Osama Biladen who plotted the strikes on the Twin Towers is still alive. He has kept the world guessing on his tactics, systems, network, abode and the act of terrorism itself. This is a paradox and very serious contradiction to good reasoning and intervention.

Irrespective of the minuses, one good thing the American President did in the case of the economic meltdown was to be bold and humble enough to accept the fact that there was an impending catastrophe. He had to appeal to his Congress men and women to assist him in bailing America out of the market failure. Following this appeal, the financial bailout as proposed by President George Bush and passed by the legislature showed that the legislators generally put America’s interest first. Before the bailout bill was passed, there was a bi-partisanship commitment to taking American financial sector out of the woods. As a way of healing the wounds and buying the confidence of the people, the government is to have direct investments in banks, guaranteeing their debts and insuring all deposits (CNNmoney.com) but in Nigeria, the government in the last eight years watched helplessly as manufacturing firms collapsed at a dizzying pace. It went ahead to sell every government owned enterprises at sight, folded its arms and became the undertaker overseeing the burial of the manufacturing and other service sectors. This collapse has churned out hundreds of thousands of youths and workers into the unemployment market without qualms. Many of those so retrenched are yet to have their end of service benefits paid.

It will be shallow thinking to believe that because we are very far from the economic meltdown in the US, Britain, Germany and other countries and therefore not likely to be victims. First, the largest buyer of Nigeria’s crude is the United States. If her economy becomes so battered and decides to tap more of her crude resources and import less from us; then our own economy would be seriously affected. If this lasts for a longer period, then there will be reduced direct foreign investments. Secondly, our foreign reserves are held in trust for us by banks outside Nigeria. Thirdly, we are a consumer nation that imports virtually every technologically based item. So, if the manufacturing companies overseas collapse, it means that we are likely to have fewer of those imported goods. One can better imagine the outcome, if cement, sugar, rice suddenly stop flowing into Nigeria. Lastly, the American companies doing business in Nigeria may decide to withdraw huge sums from their investement to support their home office and we all know what effect that will have on our economy.

Since we do not have ready alternatives for these goods in the interim, the citizens will buy the scarce commodities at costlier prices. Already, the Asian markets and other economies are tumbling. The reason is simple. Almost every nation depends on America for one form of export or another. America is the nerve centre of most economies and when there is a crack in the American market, there shall be holes in almost all other economies around the world. China’s exportation of machinery, electronics and audiovisual equipment alone to the United States (in billion U.S. dollars) from January to November 2001 was $16.428 billion (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200201/01/eng20020101_87880.shtml). Imports from Japan by the US were put at $145.5 billion in 2007 (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/4142.htm). In Sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria is the United States’ largest trading partner because of the high level of petroleum imports from Nigeria, which supply 11% of U.S. oil imports–nearly 46% of Nigeria’s daily oil production. Nigeria is the fifth-largest exporter of oil to the United States (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2836.htm). America imports about 70% of Platinum from South Africa. In 2007, the African Growth and Opportunity Act’s (AGOA) website showed that from January - June 2007, the US bought $4.4 billion worth of South African goods.

The above trade profiles between two economic powers in the Asian region and the two largest markets in Sub-Saharan Africa show that the United States has a grip on the first line commodities of all the continents. What the above means is that when the financial markets sneeze in America, the trading partners catch cold and shiver because any break in the export chain to America over a long period of time will affect their trade balance, the internal dynamics of markets and their budgets.  

The happenings in the financial sector in America today has led or may ultimately lead to:

• Erosion of the middle class
• Massive job losses and accentuated unemployment
• Decreased consumer spending
• Killing of the manufacturing sector
• Decreased capacity utilization
• Increased cost of available goods
• Hyperinflation
• Recession

One thing that is sure is that when the wave flattens, the American Government will fish out and prosecute the human elements whose judgements, actions or inactions led her to where she is today. When ENRON collapsed, those who were found to be connected to the reasons for the failure were quizzed, docked and jailed. This is what should happen as a way of restoring the peoples’ confidence in the financial sector. But when UNILEVER was caught in sharp practices in Nigeria, no punitive action was taken against the culprits. Many banks have collapsed in Nigeria and the wiz kids that ran the banks aground are walking the streets as queens, kings and in some cases are the movers and shakers of our society. Some of the Managing Directors that led the banks to their death knell are now occupying positions of authority where they decide the fate of other Nigerians while the depositors still brood over their losses. This reduces investors’ confidence and must not be allowed. 

Some of the reasons for the collapse of the financial institutions include:

• Criminal borrowing.
• Incompetent practices.
• Weak regulations.
• Lack of transparency.
• Corruption.
• Bad debts
• Unrestricted mortgage activities and lending to those with bad credit history.
• Decreased consumer spending as a result of massive job losses.
• Questionable greed, break neck expansion craze and stiff competition by corporate bodies.
• Lack of proactive strategy by the executive, legislature and the financial experts to deal with the symptoms at an earlier stage.

If we escaped the impact of these hiccups in America and still want to pursue our dream of becoming one of the top twenty economies in 2020, which by our current state of preparedness looks unlikely; our policy planners should do everything possible to:

• Develop the real sector.
• Develop the power sector to ensure the development of our technological base and the revamping of the manufacturing sector.
• Develop the steel sector beyond lip service.
• Strengthen and pump in more money into research and development activities.
• Build more less complex refineries to enhance the capacity of Nigeria to becoming a net exporter of white products.
• Commence the next phase of banking recapitalization.
• Diversify our economic base with much emphasis on agro allied activities.
• Viciously tackle the issue of corruption and fish out those involved in failure of any financial institution for sanctions.
• Proactively put strategies in place towards forestalling market failures at the symptomatic stage before the signs of imminent collapse become obvious.
• Tighter regulations and controls.

POLITICS

In the political sphere, the current campaigns and sanity that produced McCain and Obama is a beauty to behold. The primaries though rigorous were transparent. At the end of the primaries, the parties adopted those endorsed by the people. This is at variance with the political norm in the Nigerian politics of 2007 where most of those who won the primaries were substituted by their parties. Some of these cases are still in court. Political leaders in emerging democracies should take time to reflect on the fall out of the Bush bailout law and the American political journey so far. Some of the lessons to be learned are:

1. Loyalty: Soon after the primaries of their parties, all those who lost out joined the trail to ensure victories for their candidates. None of those who lost out in the primaries resigned to join the other party or to start a new party as we do here.
2. The people are the system owners in a political system: The over eighteen months’ primaries ceded the powers to choose the front runners to the people and not the selection syndrome at the whim of party leaders as witnessed in emerging democracies.
3. Freedom of expression: When Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers’ State and Senator Ararume of Imo state went to court to seek redress over their being short changed by the action of their parties and got judgement in their favour, their party labelled them rebels and went ahead to expel them. In the case of Ararume, the People democratic Party (PDP) even urged its supporters to vote for the opposing party. This should not be so. Let us learn to respect the judgement of the courts. Our internal democracy should be reengineered to be tolerant of people’s views.
4. Think the Country first: When it was time to think America during the great drops in the financial sector, the congress came together to brainstorm and spoke in unison. Obama and MaCain signed a joint statement supporting the move of the President and had to break their campaigns to participate in the debates. They had to put their party divide aside to face the challenges of the moment.
5. Respect for the wish of the people: The Politicians were cautious in their quest to see President Bush’s bill through. They ensured that the citizens of America were not short changed in the process. The Congress men and women took into cognisance the feelings and opinions of their constituents. Why? The politicians knew that doing otherwise would mean not returning in the mid-term elections. This is the kernel of the matter. Our electoral system should be such that allows the people to determine the cause of governance.  Our political parties should allow the dynamics of people guided democracy to prevail.
6. Tolerance and right to one’s opinion: The Republicans that voted massively against the bailout proposal when it was first presented were not called derogatory names. Those that voted against it were not labelled saboteurs by the Republican Party because they voted according to their convictions and what their constituents wanted. They also did not vote for the bill because a Republican President presented it. They wanted strict checks, balances and the protection of the tax payers’ money and rights.
7. The Legislature is the conscience of the masses and so shall it be, no matter the political divide. If the Legislature truly performs its oversight functions as it should be, society might have been saved from the excesses of the capitalists and unpleasant consequences of uncaring executive officials.
8. Society must rise at every point in time to challenge executive lawlessnesss, enslaving capitalist systems, lack of transparency in management of financial concerns and corruptive tendencies. Failure to do this will perpetually put us at the mercy of poverty, hunger and disease.

For the entire world, especially the white race, time has come to respect the black man. Obama has shown that the black man does not have a black brain and that he/she can be very intelligent, forthright, transparent, honest, decent, trustworthy and objective. In the two debates so far, Obama has shown more intellectual ingenuity, respect and knowledge of how to make America a friend to all than McCain.

The concern of every American should be how to put food on the table of the American people and not the colour of who becomes the next president. People need food to have the stamina to lead others; people need food to enrich the brain and thinking faculties in order to teach others; People need food to pay attention to the teacher in order to become productive citizens and people need food to have the strength to fight a war. The Democrats have shown that to prevent the revolution of the belly, which could lead to mass revolt and revolution, the country needs a people friendly economy and a strong character to take the tough decisions that will make food available and affordable to the citizenry. This centres on a reinvention of America’s vibrant economy and Obama has proven that he understands the mechanics of how to turn the American economy around to put food on the table of every American.

To the Americans, this is the time to tell each other that they deserve the best candidate in the White House irrespective of race, sex, creed, colour or religion. They should tell the world that the White House was not built to symbolize the white race.  The founding fathers who designed the white house could not have inferred that it would be occupied by whites only. White stands for transparency, truth, character, peace and openness. These are great attributes, which must be displayed as Americans vote come November 2008. Americans should carefully weigh the options that will bail their economy out of the doldrums. If this oncoming election is mismanaged, it is goodbye to America’s leadership in the market of the greats.

In this political campaign, some Republicans have openly endorsed Obama and vise versa. In my beloved country, such people would have been expelled or suspended while the unlucky ones would have kissed the dust, courtesy of political hit squads. The American politicians have displayed rare acts of tolerance, respect for the rule of law and maturity, believing that there is another tomorrow where equal chance awaits the best candidates for political/executive offices. This should be applauded by the entire world.

To us in Nigeria, let us begin to appreciate that the little acts of patience, tolerance, transparency, nationalism and patriotism add up to make a country great. Let our strategic planners use the lessons from the failure of the American economic system to build for us a future economy that will ensure that every Nigeria can afford three square meals a day, have access to education, health care, shelter and any political/executive positions irrespective of their backgrounds.

Our politicians should emulate the rare display of understanding that the people matter in the decision making process in things that affect their lives. This is necessary to return our country to the path of true democracy. It is in the above that we can truly be said to be an emerging society that has respect for the rule of law and natural justice.

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | May 8, 2008

During my primary school days, we were taught one subject called “Civics”. It taught us the way government works, the social responsibilities of government, the citizens and society. We were told that democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people. I am sure our founding fathers that designed the course content of civics, realized that the primary school should be the building block of an ideal society. In trying to marry the contents of civics and democratic tenets, we were made to see leadership and governance as a shared responsibility between the leaders and the followers. We had the opportunity at that early age to know that as citizens, we have certain rights, which no government can breach though not absolute.

Age 0-12 represents the formative years where real education of character, behavior, attitude and mind sharpening towards the building of a virile and enlightened society takes place. The children of this age bracket develop the skills of leadership and interaction through the formation of playgroups. They mimic the actions of their parents by making fire using tins as pots and weeds as vegetables. They play the roles of pupils and teachers using volunteers for each role. They know who among them fits in as Pastors, Imams and the congregation during such role plays. They practice the art of trading using sand as commodity and stones as money. All these actions were learned using their skills of observation on the activities of various segments of the society.

Today, these attributes of our educational system have been cocooned to the negative side of education and history. There is a total reversal of our value system because of the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of our leaders. I am not referring to the moral uprightness and intellectual sagacity conferred by the formal school or religious systems, after all; Mugabe who is a bad dream in the realm of leadership holds more than six degrees from world acclaimed universities. Mugabe understands the definition and the content of civic education and democracy to mean total allegiance by the people to the government even when they are dying of poverty, hunger and disease. It is a system that guarantees food, education and good health for only the Mugabes. Every other person should toil day and night and go to bed with empty stomach. Any complainant against this inequality automatically goes to prison or sent into exile. He believes it is a system that owes no allegiance or responsibility to any man, dead or alive. His concept of democracy is a government of Robert, by Gabriel and for Mugabe.

Our forefathers lived with the monarchial system in which the king exercised control over the activities of his kingdom. With colonization and civilization, our ethos, cultures and traditional belief systems were destroyed and made to adapt to the political structures of our colonial masters. In the abandoned system, ascension to any throne was guided by the strict adherence to the culture and constitution of the people. The chief priest as an oracle of the gods consulted the gods for who would rightly ascend the throne in the midst of other contenders to the throne from other ruling houses. In some, it was passed from father to son. Any subversion of the process was punished by the gods. The repercussion of such breaches was swift and often disastrous and the judgment was very timely. This instilled so much fear in the people that nobody wanted to encounter the wrath of the gods. Therefore the passage of kingship stools from one generation to the other obeyed the rules of succession. In that system, succession planning and mentoring were key aspects of the learning process.

Since the evolution of western political structures, the African continent has been riddled with sit tight leaders for several decades. This started with military dictatorships, counter coups, soldiers turned civilian presidents etc. Africa is witnessing the worst sit tight leaders in the political history of the continent. They dot the landscape of Africa, from the east to the west and from the north to the south but the man of the moment is President Robert Gabriel Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

Democracy in so many parts of Africa respects no constitution. It has no succession plan nor creates room for learning the curve. It has turned to a one man show business, where the mantle of leadership is passed from father to son. These sit tight leaders muscle their way to power. They stay on for decades without any plans to leave the corridors of power. They are so wise that they cannot entrust the country to the care of any other person so that the country will not collapse after their exit. If not, how can one explain a situation where one man rules a nation of millions of people for more than three decades, yet, no other person has what it takes to be a president or prime minister? They hang on to the reins of power with a do or die intent and of course, they get killed in their palaces when the people resist their tyrannical rule. When they are lucky to be alive during such rebellions, they run away to foreign lands to enjoy their loots. There they die and rot away without fanfare accorded to presidents.

Sit tight leaders begin as friends of the masses. These crops of leaders have the same modus of operation. They usually have very humble beginnings and use Marxism as their ideological base. They pretend to act as the mouth piece and volunteers on behalf of the rest of us. More than ninety percent of them started as freedom fighters. They fought in the trenches and jungles for decades against colonialism, apartheid, social injustice, inequality, repressive regimes, misrule of politicians or their colleagues in khaki uniform whom they accuse of corruption. They propagate and sermonize Marxist ideologies without end. Unfortunately they end up as super-jumbo-capitalists, amassing stupendous wealth that would last several generations.

They come with different reasons for venturing into the political arena. A few examples will suffice, since much has been written on these despots over time. Kamuzu Banda ruled Malawi from 1961-1974. After a humiliating defeat at the polls, he fled to South Africa where he finally died. Idi Amin seized power from Obote in 1971. He wreaked so much havoc on his people and left Uganda worst than he met her. When he was forcefully removed from office in 1979, he fled to Libya and later relocated to Saudi Arabia where he died in 2003. One of his wives pleaded with the Ugandan government to allow his corpse to be brought back to Uganda for final burial to no avail. Yoweri Museveni has been President of Uganda since 1986 and only God knows when he shall relinquish power. Mobutu Sese seko forcefully took power in 1971. He ruled Democratic Republic of Congo until he was ousted in 1997 by Laurent Kabila. He died in exile in Rabat, Morocco in 1997.

Once they hold the reins of power they work gradually to buy the conscience of the people. The first step is to promise a return to civilian rule in less than three years. This promise is never honoured. Once they get entrenched, they begin to unveil their real political agenda. They soon put in place legislations against what they perceived as immoral and anti-social behaviours. For instance, Kamuzu Banda banned kissing in public and wearing of clothes that would expose the laps of females in Malawi. He told his people he was trying to protect the dignity of female folks. Some rename their countries in their native dialects. We saw this happen in Rhodesia now known as Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Some pretend to promote African cultural awareness by wearing home made clothes. To endear themselves to the people, they would nationalize assets of the multinationals and give them at give away to their acolytes and fronts. We saw this under Dada Idi Amin of Uganda, Kamuzu Banda of Malawi and now the enfant terrible of African politics Robert Mugabe. All these in their estimation are done to build confidence in the people and portray themselves as true messiahs.

Haven achieved their objectives, they move to the next stage of consolidation. Their operations follow the same pattern

•  Formation of a broad based coalition and buying off perceived political enemies through political appointments,allocation of oil blocs, mining leases and juicy contracts. All these are done to set their opponents up for a kill.
•  Those offered appointments face trump up charges of sedition and corruption. They are made to face judges that have been bought over and ready to do the will of the payer. At end, they are sentenced to long term imprisonment or a bargain to go into exile.
• Redistribution of public assets to a few trusted allies.
• Appropriating more funds for security at the expense of the people’s welfare programmes
• Buying off the military top brass with shady economic interests, which gets them attached to the apron strings of the rulers for life.
• Buying off the top echelon of the judiciary. Those who refused their entreaties are dismissed, retired or killed.
• Identifying and sponsoring of selected leaders of civil society organizations to attack the views of political opponents and critics.
• Driving underground political opponents, critics, and journalists especially the foreign press.
• Formation of killer or death squads to hunt political opponents.
• Gradual prosecution and assassination of opponents and critics.
• Becoming increasingly inaccessible. They are only seen with those die-hard trusted friends and allies who are beneficiaries of the largesse of the spoils of office.
• Surrounding themselves and their acolytes with thousands of soldiers that could prosecute a civil war.
• Shutting down radio and television stations and the print media that are anti-repressive behaviours.
• Unleash terror on the same people they vowed to protect.
• Subverting the constitution they swore to defend
• Effecting constitutional changes that would accommodate tenure elongation.
• Hiring of willing foreign consultants on image laundering expedition.
• Destruction of the educational systems in order to make the masses less literate to ask questions about governance.
• Destruction of the socio-economic systems so that the people become poorer. Since the poor are perpetually working hard to make ends meet, they are oblivious of the goings on in their surroundings and too weak and afraid to demand their rights. Unfortunately, rulers have forgotten that when people are reduced to the level of mere animals, though the animalistic instincts may take time to overcome the human rational instincts, the revolution of a hungry bunch will only be the elixir needed for a rebellion that will sweep them off. Not too long ago, Kibaki had a taste of what it takes for the masses to demand a right unlawfully denied.

Zimbabwe under Mugabe has witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly. According to the legend of afro beat music, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, at the end of any military incursion, they leave behind sorrow, tears and blood (STB), which are also the trademarks of despots, tyrants and corruptive regimes. This exactly is where the rule of Mugabe has left Zimbabweans. More than a quarter of the population has fled the country because of the oppressive regime of Mugabe. Those who have no where to go are experiencing hell on earth. There is shortage of foreign exchange with Zimbabwean dollar exchanging at about 120,000 to one United States dollar, inflation is said to be at more than 100,000%, the land redistribution programme has brought calamity to this land locked country with the worst food shortages ever known in the history of Zimbabwe, more than 4,500 white farmers have had to leave the country to settle in other parts of the world, there are shortages in medical and food supplies, the once booming tourist industry has nose dived with massive deforestation and more than half of the wild life destroyed, unemployment rate is said to be in the region of 80%, life expectancy is in the average of 34-37 years, which is one of the lowest in the world, the school system which was the pride of Africa is becoming one of the worst in the world, the citizens have long abandoned the elitist food regime for no alternative at sight. It is sad that the food basket of the southern part of Africa has been led to a pitiable enclave. It is the saddest commentary that a president who cannot provide food for the populace has the affront to import guns that will be used to continue the reign of terror over innocent and harmless people. Thanks to those workers in South Africa who refused to offload the ship load of guns heading for Zimbabwe.

The panacea to bad governance is to know our rights as taught by civics. Wherever we are as Africans, we should demand of our leaders, good governance, selfless service, transparent and accountable leadership. Where these are lacking, we should institute a process of advocacy against all forms of misrule. Where this fails, we, the masses who are the victims of bad rulership, must not relent in protesting against political fraud, misapplication of public funds by public office holders, sit tight tendencies and such other behaviours that are antithetical to the development and sustenance of democracy. We must learn to isolate those whose source of wealth we cannot ascertain from religious and social gatherings. Society must desist from the praise singing disease, which is the tonic that gives false performance scores to political office holders. We may not be able to directly enthrone a leader in another country other than ours because of the sovereignty each nation enjoys but we as democrats and progressives without borders should stand up in defence of democracy by lending our voices to resent tyrants and sit tight leaders wherever they are in the world.

African leaders who believe in the self worth of man should stop any form of romance with sit tight leaders. Sit tight leaders should be expelled from the gathering of civilized people. Any nation found to be stashing money in their vaults for corrupt leaders in any part of Africa should be alienated by world leaders of civilized nations.

It is often said that the fly that has no wise advocate and counsel will be buried with the dead. Time is running out for his royal majesty, excellency, chief, dr and life president of Zimbabwe, Robert Gabriel Mugabe. The only window of grace open to him is to follow the footsteps of his elder brothers and go into exile now where he will live the rest of his life like Idi Amin, Mobutu Sese Seko, Kamuzu Banda etc. He might choose to remain adamant by holding on to the sharp end of the political sword that may spill his blood when drawn by the larger majority who are holding it at the other end. Mugabe is on the last quarter of the extra time in the game of politics. He has played his last joker with the last elections, which his own government declared in favour of the opposition. Zimbabweans have spoken boldly and widely through the ballot box. They have unanimously rejected everything Mugabe stands for. The opposition in Zimbabwe should not accept the power sharing formula or a re-run of election, which is usually the option B of election riggers and fraudsters as it happened in Kenya. Mugabe must respect the will of the people by honourably handing over to the winner of the election NOW. When the bell tolls, it serves as a call to a special occasion.This bell is calling to an end the rule of a man who though fought for the emancipation of his people from apartheid has only succeeded in leaving the same people in the wilderness without manna. He has successfully dumped them in the tunnel of poverty, helplessness, hunger, disease and hopelessness. In this tunnel, tomorrow is like a thousand years. The referee in this political chess game is watching his stop watch. The seconds are tickling by. Mugabe is racing against time and surely this is not a match he could possibly win. I pray he does not end up like the fly that must be buried with the dead.

Reference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwe#cite_ref-0

http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/1465:0/Robert_Mugabe.htm