Tag Archives: Restructuring

Leaders re-echo calls for true federalism at Awolowo lecture

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Nigeria’s pressing challenges require urgent solutions. And the panacea could come a little sooner if the current federal system is readjusted to fit the prescription of the late elder statesman and founder of the defunct Action Group (AG), Chief Obafemi Awolowo. This was the consensus of prominent leaders at the 2017 Obafemi Awolowo Memorial Lecture and his 108th posthumous birthday event in Lagos yesterday.

The eminent Nigerians included former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd); Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II; Obi of Onitsha, HRM Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Ugochukwu Achebe; former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; Governors, Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun); Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos) as well as Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and Chief Olusegun Osoba, both erstwhile governors of Delta and Ogun states.

Also present were The Guardian’s Publisher, Lady Maiden Alex-Ibru; former Minister of Defence, Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd); Chief J.K. Randle, Chief Ayo Adebanjo and National Coordinator, Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Otunba Gani Adams.

The speakers noted: “If Nigeria had embraced the political advice of Awolowo on how a multi-ethnic country like ours should be run, we would have been walking side by side with some of the Western nations like Japan, United Kingdom, America and others today.”

Anyaoku particularly expressed sadness at what he described as the prevalent poverty rate and disrespect for the judiciary by the Federal Government over the years.

His words: “The founding fathers would be disappointed to find out that instead of having viable federating units, we have weaker and non-viable ones with an all-powerful government at the centre which stifles competition and growth.

“They would also be disappointed in the way that the Federal Government disrespects the judiciary and disobeys court orders. Our fathers would be disappointed in the direction the country is heading to.”

Anyaoku, who is also the chairman, Selection Committee, Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership, therefore called on those in government to review their stance on the restructuring of the country.

Gowon lauded Awolowo’s sagacity, saying he was a great Nigerian who gave all to keep the nation united, especially during the civil war.The Ooni of Ife, who also condemned the current federal structure, however, challenged all on stewardship. He stressed that it was good for one to be remembered for service.

Aregbesola however, differed, saying the critical deficiency of the country was the concept of money.He noted: “A nation that does not care about how its income is distributed to the class of workers cannot be said to be serious. This is responsible for the great poverty in our country and until income is predicated on production of good and services, we are going nowhere.”

But the guest lecturer, Prof. Banji Akintoye, faulted the governor, noting that the abandonment of the late sage’s prescription had done the nation a lot of evil. He stressed that true federalism remains the only way to go.

To Osoba, Awolowo left a great legacy that the country could not afford to overlook.Later yesterday, political associates and family members held a thanksgiving service at Our Saviour’s Anglican Church, Ikenne-Remo Ogun State to commemorate the day.

The Vicar Venerable Samuel Enike, who spoke on the theme, “Living for Christ”, noted that the free education policy initiated by the late Awolowo afforded countless Nigerians the opportunity to be educated.

Also yesterday, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said he was championing the restructuring of the country because the current system gives room for suspicion and makes the nation weak.

Atiku, who spoke at the annual public lecture of Prof. Ademola Popoola of the Faculty of Law, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile Ife, Osun State under the theme, “Constitutional and political framework for reconstructing Nigeria for true federalism and national integration,” termed the current structure a “unitary federalism.”

 

Source: The Guardian

Restructuring Should Begin With The National Assembly

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President Macky Sall of Senegal is one African leader after my heart. A few weeks into his presidency, the man took one look at the balance sheet and decided that the interest of the country would be better served by a single-chamber parliament and simply abrogated the upper house. He was convinced and, the people of Senegal agreed with him, that the unwieldy two-chamber parliament he inherited was a drain on the economy. His action must have conserved much-needed funds for the country.

 

The call for a review of Nigeria’s National Assembly assumed a new dimension in the last few years following the realisation that the parliament has become a drain on the economy. It all started when former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and now Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II revealed that nearly a quarter of the federal budget goes into servicing the false lifestyle of federal lawmakers. The lawmakers did not help the situation by involving themselves in unwholesome practices such as bribe-taking, extortion and forging or falsifying official documents and budget proposals for the purpose of corrupt enrichment.

 

Unlikely voices have joined the call of late. Worried by the unacceptable level of corruption among lawmakers and as part of events to mark his 75th birthday, former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida echoed the position of The Guardian and supported an arrangement where legislative duties will be conducted on part-time basis as a cost-cutting measure and a way to break the cycle of corruption at the National Assembly. The former president revealed that the idea was high on the agenda of his government in 1989. His views echoed similar ones by Joe-Kyari Gadzama, SAN, in a recent presentation on the issue.

 

Chief Gadzama had argued that aside saving cost, part-time legislative work will enrich the democracy project at much lower cost because it is the only way to encourage professionals who do not wish to abandon their primary callings to the National Assembly. He even suggested the idea of reserving seats in the National Assembly for professionals, as practised in some developing democracies, who will also operate on part-time basis as other members.

 

Still as part of cost-cutting measures, there are those who believe Nigeria should operate a single-chamber National Assembly. In one of his major contributions to constitution making some three decades ago, President Olusegun Obasanjo made a robust case for a unicameral or, single-chamber legislature for Nigeria which he said best suited developing countries. In his words, bi-cameral or, double-chamber parliaments are generally unwieldy and wasteful for developing countries. Problem is that on two different occasions, President Obasanjo had the opportunity to grab the front-page and twice he demurred!

Honestly, it is still puzzling that President Obasanjo passed up the glory of the revolutionary idea. Who knows? Had he pushed for a single-chamber parliament instead of busying himself with wasting precious time and money of Nigerians in the attempt to stretch his tenure, President Obasanjo’s aspiration to the fatherhood of the nation would probably have been adequately vented. But, that is as far as it could get!

 

Aside its unadvertised role as job-placement agency, the best-known benefit of double-chamber parliament, which is suitable for and, desirable in comparatively rich and literate democracies, is that it allows for checks and balances! Here, the impression one gets is that the upper house, supposedly made up of level headed people is capable of checking the supposed excesses of their supposedly hot-headed juniors in the lower house. It is devoid of commonsense to even imagine that this perceived benefit applies to Nigeria.

 

Developing democracies have no need for double-chamber parliaments. Aside being financial sink holes, double-chamber parliaments are mere duplication of roles and functions. With two unwieldy, often-bickering and scandal-prone houses, Nigeria’s National Assembly with some four hundred and fifty mostly half-educated and mostly-lazy federal legislators is a major drawback. And, mind you, the grouse here is not with representation in terms of numbers. With a population estimated at one hundred and sixty million, the National Assembly may not be overpopulated.

 

Trouble has always been the unreasonable and unrealistic chunk of the federal budget that services the false life style of a disingenuous few in a vast plain of poor, struggling people. If self-regulation, a synonym for checks and balances is the main attraction of a double-chamber legislature, it could be better achieved through a less-costly, result-oriented and effective single-chamber assembly with a good mix of supposed cool headed and supposed hot headed members. To achieve this is to retain the present 350 federal constituencies with legislators working on part time basis. In any case, the present arrangement of observing a 181-day legislative year is part-time, anyway!

 

Aside baiting professionals to bring their expertise to the table, part-time legislative work will eliminate the do-or-die approach to election to the National Assembly which many see as an instant route to wealth. This is misplacement of priorities which in turn shuts out serious-minded people and thereby robs the National Assembly of the services of the best minds. Nigerians cannot continue to be represented by or, subsidise the false style, of poor quality lawmakers some of whom are stark illiterates anyway!

 

History beckons! As the Buhari/Osinbajo administration steadies itself, it may not be a bad idea to look toward progressive lawmakers in seeking ways to reform the National Assembly.

Strategies For Restructuring NNPC Revealed By New Boss

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The Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, has given a hint on the three-pronged strategy for the restructuring of the state-run oil firm, adding that this would entail the reorganisation of management personnel, a forensic audit of the firm’s accounts, and a review of its contracts with oil majors and other industry operators.

Kachikwu, who spoke to State House correspondents in Abuja after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, also said more workers might be relieved of their jobs.

Kachikwu said the restructuring going on at the NNPC would be from “A to Z”, meaning from top to the bottom.

“It is an A to Z restructuring. I have done the first three layers, which had to do with the GEDs (Group Executive Directors) and Group General Managers. We are going to have a lot more now – the DGMs (Deputy General Managers) and GMs (General Managers) – as this would take us to the next layer, which is the lower layer.

“The whole idea is to go back to being able to look at the appraisals, how well they have done on the job and if they have done very well, how do we elevate them to positions where they can offer more service.

“If they have not done well enough, and we can retrain them, we will, but if they have not done well enough and there is no possibility of retraining, we will let them go.

“At the end of the day, NNPC isn’t a public service, it is a corporation and it is going to be run like a company, generating money and profit for Nigerians, so that the whole concept of anything goes is going to stop and this is the first stage in that whole process,” he said.

He said his approach to restructuring NNPC was based on a three-pronged process, explaining that there was the people aspect, which is being handled now by “getting the right people in the right places”.

On the second pronged strategy, he said: “We are going to get a forensic audit done so that we know clearly, not the (limited) one done by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), but a proper forensic audit that will cover us all the way to 2014, 2015, and we will be able to say to you this is the state of the corporation and the economy.

“We are going to put processes and controls in place; we are going to do retraining and repositioning and then we are going to engage our (oil) majors and minors, all those who are active in the sector for us to work as a team trying to take Nigeria forward.

“The final stage will be the business stage, looking at all the existing contracts — are they good? Are they ok? Do they need to be redone? Look at the PSCs
(Production Sharing Contracts) and what do we do going forward? Look at the challenges posed by the reducing balancing sheet as a result of $50 or $40 per barrel for dark oil.

“What do we do to energise recovery and the income growth so that the government will have money to work with?

“It is a very intensive and calibrated work. A lot of us are not spending time sleeping, but over the next five to six months you will begin to see a new emergence in the NNPC, a new process of oil administration in the country and obviously giving fillip to Mr. President’s dream of taking the oil industry back to where it should be.”

He explained that a lot of things had been mishandled in the past and that things needed to be corrected.

He said his team was doing a lot of work on repositioning, restrategising and getting the right personnel in key places, and setting a culture for accountability and service delivery.

“I think that the new NNPC that you are going to see going forward will be a different institution all together,” he said.

When asked what would happen to the money in NNPC’s numerous accounts in view of the federal government’s directive that all ministries and agencies should operate a Treasure Single Account (TSA) with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), he said: “All that is being looked at because to run an oil company you need a lot of funds to do so.

“If you don’t, you will close down the corporation and the production system will close down. So we are looking at having merged the need for accountability and openness with the need to make sure that the industry also survives, you cannot throw away the baby with the bath water.”

Also, in furtherance of its reorganisation, NNPC yesterday released the names of 15 new GGMs who were promoted this week to run its subsidiaries and business units.

A statement by the corporation’s spokesman Ohi Alegbe said this followed the recent sack and retirement of key top officials of the corporation in a reorganisation exercise that kicked in with the appointment of Kachikwu as its new GMD.

NNPC said that its reorganisation into a lean, efficient and business-focused organisation commenced with the management’s approval of the retirement of 38 senior managers on Tuesday.

Read More: thisdaylive