THE United States Congress has certified the Electoral College victory of Joe Biden, US president-elect, in the early hours of Wednesday.
The certification, which was presided over by Mike Pence, incumbent vice president, is a constitutional requirement by Congress in the United States electoral law to recognise the country’s incoming president and vice president.
The certification finalises the 2020 US electoral process and ensures that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be inaugurated on January 20, despite Trump’s weeks-long efforts to overturn the vote, including urging his supporters to converge on the Capitol on Wednesday, resulting in violence inside and outside the building.
The US Constitution requires Congress to count the votes of the Electoral College submitted by the states.
The Congress was to certify Biden’s 306 Electoral College votes. Trump, who has rejected the outcome of the election claiming the process was marred by voter fraud, polled 232 Electoral College votes.
Though a faction of Republican senators and House members had intended to object to Wednesday’s count of electors from key states that had given Biden the win, they were unable to present evidence of substantial fraud that would overturn the vote in any state.
The contested states were Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Courts have repeatedly dismissed dozens of Trump’s legal claims.
Instead, the House and the Senate, which reconvened on Wednesday night, voted to reject objections to Arizona’s vote. The Senate voted 93-6 to reject the objection to Arizona’s vote. The House voted 303 to 121 to dismiss the objection to Arizona.
A second objection to Pennsylvania’s vote pushed the process into the early hours of Thursday morning, with only 7 Senators approving it and 92 voting against. In the House, it was rejected 282 to 138, paving the way for the final certification.
On Wednesday, shortly before the certification exercise, Trump had made inciting comments to thousands of supporters outside the White House.
“If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” Trump had said.
Following his comments, his supporters thronged to the Capitol Hill and breached the facility with utter disdain to peace and order.
It took the intervention of security operatives to restore relative normalcy to the city.
A woman was reportedly shot dead while three other people died from medical emergencies.
The police said they recovered two pipe bombs from the Republican and Democratic Party offices near the Capitol, while about 52 people were arrested.
Republicans decried the mob action, and Democrats blamed Trump for inciting it.
“Today was ugly,” said Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican, said. “This building has been desecrated. Blood has been spilled in the hallways.”
Former President Barack Obama said in a tweet that violence at the Capitol was “incited by a sitting president who has continued to baselessly lie about the outcome of a lawful election.”
Former presidents George W Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter also denounced the storming of the Capitol.
World leaders react
The Capitol Hill invasion has attracted wide condemnation for the Trump administration all over the globe with many calling for an orderly and peaceful transfer of power.
“Disgraceful scenes in U.S. Congress,” UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted. “The United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power.”
Disgraceful scenes in U.S. Congress. The United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power.
Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland, tweeted that the “scenes from the Capitol are utterly horrifying.”
The scenes from the Capitol are utterly horrifying. Solidarity with those in 🇺🇸 on the side of democracy and the peaceful and constitutional transfer of power. Shame on those who have incited this attack on democracy.
Micheál Martin, the prime minister of Ireland, tweeted that he was watching the developments in the U.S. “with great concern and dismay.”
The Irish people have a deep connection with the United States of America, built up over many generations. I know that many, like me, will be watching the scenes unfolding in Washington DC with great concern and dismay. 🇮🇪 🇺🇸
Meanwhile, in a statement on Thursday, Trump promised an orderly transfer of power to Biden even though he disagrees with the outcome of the polls.
“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th,” he said.
STAFF of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) on Thursday embarked on a nationwide strike, citing poor welfare conditions.
Their strike has temporarily put on hold the nationwide National Identity Numbers (NIN) registration recently ordered by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The NCC had asked all telecoms companies to disconnect the SIM cards of all persons who had not linked their NINs to their phone lines by the end of January.
According to a report, NIMC staff also decried the lack of protective kits at their offices, saying they could get infected with COVID-19 as they attended to hundreds of residents daily.
In a notice of strike action signed by Lucky Michael, president of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), NIMC branch, and Odia Victor, secretary, the group hinted that the strike action was necessary to drive home their demands due to lack of personal protective equipment, irregularities in the promotion and poor funding provided for its members.
“Consequent upon the just concluded congress of the above-mentioned association that took place on January 6, 2020, the unit executive directs all members of grade level 12 and below in the head office and state offices to report to their respective duty posts tomorrow January 7, 2020, and do nothing.
“All members at the local government offices and special centres are advised to stay away from their various centres as a task force and implementation committees would be on parade to ensure total compliance with the directive,” a section of the notice stated.
The ICIR reached out to NIMC’s spokesperson, Kayode Adegoke, asking him the reasons for the strike action embarked on by NIMC, but he requested more time before he could speak on the issue.
“I can’t speak on this issue right now, just give me time and I will respond to you in due course,” he said.
About 42 million Nigerians currently have a NIN as of September 2020. However, the agency has been tasked with this assignment since its establishment in 2007.
Staff members of the NIMC were enjoined by the executives of ASCSN to participate in the strike action until their grievances were addressed.
“The congress agreed that the NIMC staff salary structure approved by the Federal Government vide presidential assent be implemented in the personnel appropriation of the 2021 annual budget effective January 2021.
“That the lopsided and irregular promotion done in 2017 and 2020 be reviewed, regularised and gazetted in accordance with public service rules,” the notice concluded.
ABDULLAHI Umar Ganduje, Kano State governor, says his administration can no longer afford the payment of N30,000 minimum wage to the state’s civil servants owing to the country’s recession occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Salihu Tanko-Yakasai, special adviser to the governor on media, who confirmed this to newsmen on Wednesday, said the state was unable to continue paying N30,000 because what it was currently getting had reduced.
“Yes, the state government has stopped the payment of N30,000 minimum wage to its workers with immediate effect,” he said.
“The state government has reverted to the initial minimum wage due to the recession.
“What we are getting now as a government has reduced, and we can’t afford to pay the N30,000 minimum wage.”
President Muhammadu Buhari had in 2019 signed the N30,000 minimum wage bill into law following its passage by the National Assembly.
The ICIR understands that about seven states out of the nation’s thirty-six states, which include Kwara, Ekiti, Imo, Gombe, Kogi, Zamfara and Ebonyi, are yet to implement the wage law.
In November 2020, The ICIR had also reported how Nigeria slipped into its second recession under the Buhari-led administration in five years.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s economic growth contracted by -3.62 percent in the third quarter of 2020.
It means the second consecutive quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decline since the recession of 2016. The cumulative GDP for the first nine months of 2020, therefore, stood at -2.48 percent.
The last time Nigeria recorded such cumulative GDP was in 1987, when GDP declined by 10.8 percent.
The 2020 economic recession was predicted across the world as a fallout of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected all of the strongest nations of the world.
Reacting, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), in an open letter to the president, demanded a cut in the cost of governance.
SERAP charged the government to implement a bold transparency and accountability policy as a way of responding to the economic recession.
“This economic crisis provides an opportunity to prioritise access of poor and vulnerable Nigerians to basic socio-economic rights, and to genuinely re-commit to the fight against corruption. The country cannot afford to get back to business as usual,” the letter read in part.
Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president of Nigeria and candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) while commenting on the economic recession, said the proposed 2021 budget was no longer sustainable.
Atiku added that Nigeria should not continue to spend ‘lavishly’ because the country was financially broke already.
“Firstly, the proposed 2021 budget presented to the National Assembly on Tuesday, October 8, 2020, is no longer tenable. Nigeria neither has the resources, nor the need to implement such a luxury heavy budget. The nation is broke, but not broken. However, if we continue to spend lavishly, even when we do not earn commensurately, we would go from being a broke nation to being a broken nation,” Atiku said this, among other recommendations.
Meanwhile, the federal government announced in November, 2020, that it was proposing the exemption of minimum wage earners from paying the personal income tax as a way of reducing the impact of the economic recession on Nigerians.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Nigerian Presidency on social media.
“In order to reduce the impact of inflation on Nigerians, the Buhari administration, is, through the 2020 Finance Bill, proposing the exemption of minimum wage earners from Personal Income Tax,” it said.
The Nigerian economy relies on crude oil for 75 percent of its revenue and 90 percent of foreign exchange. However, oil prices have slumped by over 40 percent in the last six years, resulting in revenue shortfall and foreign exchange decline. Covid-19 has further shrunk the country’s revenue, increasing the economy’s risk status.
In order to reduce the impact of inflation on Nigerians, the @MBuhari administration, is, through the 2020 Finance Bill, proposing the exemption of minimum wage earners from Personal Income Tax. #FinanceBill2020
OPUKABU Primary School located in Patani Local Government Area of Delta State share similarities with an abandoned poultry farm.
The roofs are leaking, the seats in the classrooms are broken, the playground is mosquito-infested and swampy, fit only for swine, and there is no water supply, hence students engage in open defecation.
Amidst this deplorable condition, over 700 pupils receive instruction. Opukabu Primary School is only the distance of a football field away from the Delta State boundary in Patani, where one of the abandoned Gateway Monument projects is located.
The Gateway Monument at the Patani boundary of Delta State is a mass of unpainted concrete and ironwork.
The “Welcome to Delta State” signboard hangs on atop the ironwork, but road leading to the projects is overtaken by bush and dirt.
As specified in the contract document, the gateway is to be partly adorned with tiles, and be painted, while royal palm trees are to be planted on both sides of the monument for two kilometres. But the gateway construction is a far cry from the project specification.
Similarly, residents of Ugbenu, a community that shares a boundary with Ologbo in Delta State, drink from their river due to the absence of portable water.
Movement is also a nightmare in the community when it rains because there are no motor-able roads. The gateway located in Ugbenu has also been overtaken by bush.
Picture of gateway project at Ologbo hurried painted following the investigation, by Iteveh Ekpokpobe. Photo shot on October 4, 2020 at 06:50am.
In the same vein, the Gateway Monument sited at Alifikede entrance point has been abandoned, just as the people of Alifikede community have been left to their fate by the state government. The project is only a mass of concrete and metal. It is not painted as stipulated in the contract document. Neither are there royal palm trees lining a two kilometre stretch of the road.
The last of the four projects seems to be the worst. It is sited at Asaba Head Bridge entrance. This Gateway Monument, approved for construction three years ago, is a caricature of what it should be. It has just three uncompleted concrete poles and work scaffolds can be seen hugging each of the three concrete poles.
Located between the police checkpoint and the overhead bridge, the project cannot be recognised by any passer-by for what it was intended to be.
According to the project specification, “by the design, the wings of the monuments are to spread across the road, with the centre median bearing the monuments.”
Details of project approval documents
In a memo dated 20th June, 2017, the Delta State Governor Senator Ifeanyi Okowa approved for construction of Gateway Monuments for four entry points into the state, which are the Niger Overhead Bridge, Asaba-Alifikede Entrance Point, Patani Entrance Point and Ologbo Boundary Point.
Copies of the memo approving the projects.
Copies of the memo approving the projects.
The contract was awarded to ZCI Concrete Industry at a cost of N123,059,370 only (One Hundred And Twenty Three Million, Fifty-Nine Thousand, Three Hundred And Seventy Naira) only.
The ZCI Concrete Industry was incorporated in Oshimili South, DeltaState with registration number DE26413 according to details available in NG.Check.com.
It was registered on the 12th of March, 2013, and its current status is unknown. The company’s registered address is KM 10, Benin- Onitsha Express Way Asaba, Oshimili South, Delta State.
In the aforementioned memo signed by the Executive Assistant to the Governor on Beautification, Chief Grace Aghoghovbia, the contract details indicate that each of the 4 Gateway Monuments cost 30 million naira.
A further breakdown shows that construction of each Gateway Monument was pegged at N24 million, while planting of royal palms along the road for a stretch of two kilometres would cost N6 million.
What happened to the funds?
Although all the funds have been released in 2017, as confirmed by a source in the Accountant General’s Office, three years after, the contract is still designated as on-going and at a completion stage of about 60 per cent.
In the same vein, the royal palms approved for planting on both sides of the road (a two kilometre stretch) for the four Gateways are nowhere to be seen.
Picture of gateway project at Head Bridge, Asaba, taken August 19, 2020 at 1.14pm by Iteveh Ekpokpobe.
A source in the office of the Executive Assistant on Beautification alleged that the non-completion of the four projects may be due to the fact that 30 per cent of the contract sum was deducted at the office of the Accountant General of the State.
When contacted, the former Accountant-General of Delta State, Mr. Cyril Agbeye, under whose tenure the project was approved, declined comments.
The same message was sent to him on October 7, 2020 via WhatsApp. “I have your contact my friend. What is the issue?,” he responded.
The reporter asked him to respond to the accusation of 30 percent deduction on payment for the gateway project which caused the delay in execution.
He read the questions, but that was the last time the reporter heard from him. He was contacted again on October 12, 2020 via whatsapp but did not reply.
Subsequently, calls placed on his cell phone number were not answered.
If the allegation of 30 per cent deduction is true, then over N36 million was deducted by the office of the Accountant General. This also means that the completion of the projects pegged at N123 million would be unachievable, since 24 million naira was the actual sum proposed for planting of the royal palms.
The incumbent Accountant General of the state, Mrs Joy Enwa, when contacted by our reporter also refused to comment on the matter. Text and whatsapp messages sent to her were ignored.
The message was read on whatsapp. The blue lines on WhatsApp indicates that he read the message. Subsequently, calls placed to her cell phone were not answered.
Faulty procurement plan
That the project execution is poor can also be attributed to the fact that the procurement process was faulty, even though key government officials have refused to talk about the contract.
The Director General, Delta State Bureau for Public Procurement, Dr. Duke Okezi, said he was not in office when the contract was approved hence he could not speak about it.
Picture of gateway project at Patani, taken on September 18, 2020 at 11.54am by Iteveh Ekpokpobe.
However, as contained in the contract approval memo signed by Aghoghovbia, it is obvious that ZCI Concrete Industry was awarded all four projects without following any procurement process.
In the memo, the governor’s aide wrote, “the company, ZCI Concrete Industry has proposed to beautify four strategic main entrances with monuments, featuring the Delta State map, the new logo and cultural touch to give Deltans as well as visitors a special feel as they enter the state.”
ZCI was hand-picked by Aghoghovbia whose office awarded the contract. Following series of inquiries by our reporter, the project in Ologbo was hurriedly painted four weeks ago.
Meanwhile, all efforts to reach the contractor proved abortive. Calls placed across as well as text messages were neither answered nor responded to.
Condemning the procurement process, Mr Kehinde Taiga, of the state branch of Committee for Defense of Human Rights (CDHR), said the contract should be reviewed with the contractor called to order and prosecuted according to the Procurement laws of the state which recommends three to five years jail term for defaulting on procurement agreements.
Mr Taiga said the procurement process was obviously done to serve political interest based on contribution to election.
“This is a contract that is supposed to add colour to the state. It is sad that the majority of contracts issued by the state government are fraudulently done, hence projects are abandoned or done shabbily.” He added.
Disrespect for Due Process Our Bane – CSO
Also, a Civil Society Organisation, Publish What You Pay (PWYP), frowned at the irregularities shrouding project execution and financing in the state.
The Coordinator of the organisation, Faith Nwadishi, said the issue of corruption and lack of respect for due process or laws has become endemic in the governance processes, adding that development would remain stunted in this regard.
According to her, “These are issues we have been shouting ourselves hoarse about. The issue of corruption and lack of respect for due process or laws in the country has become endemic in the governance processes”.
Grace Aghoghovbi refuses to comment on the project
Aghoghovbia, who awarded the beautification contract, declined comment. She did not answer her call and responded to messages.
However, in a case of mistaken identity, she called the reporter back asking if he was from her community since she included his name in a list of those to benefit from a government empowerment programme.
When our reporter eventually introduced himself, she promised to call back but never did, “Are you from Oviri Olomu? When we were giving names from Oviri Olomu for a list, I included your name. I will have to ask the admin to remove it,” she said
When asked why she did not respond to the earlier inquiry she said, “I wouldn’t have seen the text because I am abroad. Let me call you back. I will call you back. Is it possible for you to send the message via Whatsapp?” That was the last time she communicated with our reporter. All messages sent to her via WhatsApp were read but not replied to.
However, the Chief Press Secretary, CPS, to the Governor, Mr. Olise Ifejika, told the reporter that the lady in charge of the project was indisposed as she was in the United Kingdom for medical attention.
“I have told you about her state. If you ask anybody who knows her, that is the truth. She left this country early February. She is going blind even now. Even that surgery, they have not been able to do it. At the time it should have been done before Covid-19 came in. She is still in the United Kingdom.”
Speaking on the projects, Olise said out of four, three were on-going, adding that there must be a reason for the delay. “I think it is one thing at a time. It cannot be that it won’t be done. This government is transparent enough.”
A civil engineer with over five years in the construction industry, Engineer Terry Ighoro said the cost per project is pegged at N2,904,000 with minimal profit even with the current dollar rate.
In total, the sum of N11,616,000 million will cover for the four projects.
In his quotation, Engineer Ighoro stated that while N350, 000 could construct each of the wing rails with a total of N700,000, the Delta State map and design by artist goes for N300,000.
“Fifty bags of cement can cover each of the projects at N3000 per bag totaling N150, 000. Fifty 12mm rods at N3000 per rod including transportation is N150,000. Granite gravel, a trailer load is N250,000 although a trailer load will be too much for each of the projects.”
“Two trailer loads of sharp sand at N50,000, At most, two tankers load of water at N10,000 per truck totals N20,000. For the painting, N100,000 can cover for both buckets of paint and labour. Four cartons of tiles for the base at 5,000 per carton totals N20,000. Goodbye and welcome to Delta State signpost mounted on the wing rails at N75,000 each totals N150,000. Overall Labour and supervision is pegged at N400,000 while Miscellaneous is pegged at N264, 000.”
Ighoro said the project duration was not supposed to exceed six months if the funds were available.
* This investigation is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR).
PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s supporters on Wednesday unleashed mayhem at the Capitol Hill as US legislators prepared to certify Joe Biden as president.
The violence happened after weeks of incitement by Trump who lost to Biden at the presidential election in November 2020.
The protesters engaged the US police in fisticuffs with a view to stopping Vice President Mike Pence and legislators from certifying Biden as president.
In the US tradition, the vice-president has the ceremonial responsibility to open the presidential election results’ envelopes and certify whoever won at the Electoral College stage.
The Electoral College met on December 14 to certify Biden as winner of the presidential election after he had won popular votes and battle states in November.
Weeks after losing the US presidential election to Biden, Trump has made unfounded claims about winning the election, inciting his band of supporters into rejecting the election result that did not favour him and encouraging them to fight for him. Trump has repeatedly claimed that he was rigged out by the Democratic Party even after Biden’s win was certified by the Electoral College in line with the US constitution.
He has also asked for recounts in several key states, including the hitherto Republican-dominated Georgia, but Republican election officials in the state have rejected Trump’s absurd claims.
Several courts have thrown out Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud, including the Supreme Court where he has some of his appointees.
Trump has called for violence since he lost the election. On Tuesday, one Will Chamberlain tweeted, “Republican confirmed Justice Barrett, which they had the clear, lawful right to do, and in response Chuck Schumer said ‘Everything is on the table now.’ If that’s the case, why shouldn’t Republican legislators go to the wall for the president.” In response, Trump replied, Get smart Republicans. Fight.”
Trump severally encouraged his supporters to demonstrate on January 6 in Washington DC— the day the joint House and Senate would certify Biden as president.
On January 1 this year, Trump had tweeted, “The Big Protest Rally in Washington D.C, will take place at 11.00 AM on January 6th. Locational details to follow. StopTheSteal.”
Trump supporters did not observe the curfew imposed at 6pm in Washington D.C.
Trump, in response to the protest, tweeted, “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly& unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever.”
The outgoing US president also criticised his vice president for failing to do his bidding, which was to overturn the presidential election. Pence has no constitutional right to do so, according to experts.
“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country and our constitution, giving states a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth,” Trump further tweeted,
The 2020 US election has polarised the world’s biggest democracy as Trump refuses to accept the reality of his failure.
A former managing director of the defunct Finbank Plc, Okey Nwosu, has been jailed for three years by a Lagos court.
Nwosu was jailed alongside three past Finbank directors, Dayo Famoroti, Danjuma Ocholi and Agnes Ebubedike, for stealing N18 billion belonging to the bank and its customers.
Justice Lateefat Okunnu handed down the sentence on Tuesday after finding Nwosu and the former directors guilty of stealing and illegal conversion in a 26-count charge brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice Okunnu also ordered the four convicted individuals to refund the amount stolen from the bank.
While Nwosu and Famoroti were jailed for three years, Ocholi was sentenced to 12 months in prison. However, Ebubedike was sentenced to six months of community service.
How it started
In 2009, the then Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Lamido Sanusi Lamido, wrote to the EFCC, asking the anti-graft agency to prosecute Nwosu for allegedly stealing N18billion. Sanusi had also asked the agency to take legal actions against Erastus Akingbola, former MD of the defunct Intercontinental Bank, for allegedly stealing N47.1bn, and Francis Atuche, former MD of the defunct Bank PHB, for allegedly stealing N25.7 billion. After several years of delay by courts and lawyers, the Supreme Court, in 2016, ordered Nwosu and the three directors to face trial at the Lagos court.
The four individuals had, after the commencement of the trial at the Lagos court, rushed to the Court of Appeal to contest the jurisdiction of the court to handle the case.
An appeal court in Lagos had ruled that the Lagos High Court lacked the jurisdiction to handle the case and subsequently freed the accused persons brought to the court by the EFCC.
The case was later stalled for three and a half years before it was re-started in September 2020. On the other hand, Akingbola has been in and out of the courts since 2009, and was re-arraigned by the EFCC in 2019 on N179 billion fraud charges.
After several years without success, Atuche was re-arraigned by the EFCC on N125 billion fraud charges in 2017. His case is still in court. In January 2020, he bought Ibrahim Babangida’s Lagos house with a view to starting a firm known as Hubmart Shoes.
AFTER weeks of acrimony and opposition, Abayomi Fasina, a professor of soil sciences at the Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE), has been appointed the new vice-chancellor(VC) of the institution.
Fasina, who is also the deputy vice-chancellor in charge of administration at the university, will become the 3rd substantive VC, succeeding the outgoing VC, Kayode Soremekun.
His appointment was announced by Mohammed Lawan Yahuza, the institution’s pro-chancellor and chairman of Council, in Abuja on Wednesday.
“Today, Wednesday, January 6, 2020, brings to an end a very long and tortuous process of getting a new VC for FUOYE,” he said.
He noted that though the process started last year, there were mistakes that were made but were corrected before the final process.
The pro-chancellor further noted that the appointment of a new VC had brought with it rancour and acrimony to the campus and outside it, advising all these to stop by this appointment.
He called on other applicants to sheath their swords and join the new VC to build the university.
The Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), was one of the nine federal universities established by the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration in 2011.
Chinedu Ostadinma Nebo was appointed as the pioneer VC, while its outgoing VC was appointed by President Buhari in 2016.
The institution currently has two campuses at both Oye-Ekiti and Ikole-Ekiti and eight faculties with 57 departments.
NIGERIA’S economic growth rate is expected to kickstart 2021 by 1.1 percent after a turbulent contraction of 4.1 percent in 2020.
This was disclosed in the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects 2021 report entitled ‘Global economy to expand by four per cent in 2021, vaccine deployment and investment key to sustaining the recovery.’
Though Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) dropped last year, the report projected the economy would likely resume at 1.1 per cent in 2021 and edge up to 1.8 per cent in 2022.
“Activity is nevertheless anticipated to be dampened by low oil prices, OPEC quotas, falling public investment due to weak government revenues, constrained private investment due to firm failures, and subdued foreign investor confidence,” the report said.
“Private consumption prospects will be weighed down by lost incomes and higher precautionary saving among non-poor households, as well as lower remittances and the depletion of savings among poor and unemployed households amid inadequate social safety nets,” the report further said.
It also highlighted that the Sub-Saharan Africa region contracted by an estimated 3.7 percent in 2020 as COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns disrupted economic activities.
As a result, per capita income shrank by 6.1 per cent in 2020, setting average living standards back by at least a decade in a quarter of Sub-Saharan African economies.
The worst-hit countries had large domestic outbreaks and were heavily dependent on travel, tourism and commodity exports, particularly oil.
“In Nigeria and South Africa, output fell sharply last year. In South Africa, economic activity was on weak footing before COVID-19, the output is estimated to have fallen by 7.8 per cent last year,” the report revealed.
An expectation of weak growth momentum reflected the lingering effects of the pandemic and the likelihood that some mitigation measures would be needed to remain in place.
“The global economy is expected to expand four per cent in 2021, assuming an initial COVID-19 vaccine rollout becomes widespread throughout the year,” it stated.
“A recovery, however, will likely be subdued, unless policymakers move decisively to tame the pandemic and implement investment-enhancing reforms.”
Although the global economy was growing again after a 4.3 percent contraction in 2020, the World Bank said the pandemic had caused a heavy toll of deaths and illness, plunged millions into poverty, and may depress economic activity and incomes for a prolonged period.
THE Anambra State government in 2018 awarded contracts for the construction of 600-bed capacity hostel blocks and fencing of some secondary schools.
The government said it was to guarantee the security of teachers and students as well as provide conducive environment for teaching and learning.
The World Bank project is under the supervision of the State Education Programme Investment Project (SEPIP) and had a one-year completion period.
However, two years after, most of the contracts are yet to be completed despite a huge amount of money released; and the delay is causing many of the schools to limit admission intake due to inadequate hostel.
For every 1 naira spent on contract, 60 Kobo was lost
A World Bank’s Country Procurement Assessment Report 1999, shows that out of every ₦1 spent by the Nigerian Government, 60 Kobo was lost to underhand practices.
According to the report, an average of $10 billion was lost annually to irregular practices in the award and execution of public contracts through inflation of contract costs, lack of procurement plans, poor budgeting processes, poor project prioritisation, lack of competition, and other kinds of manipulations of the procurement and contract award processes.
In response to this, the Nigerian government initiated a series of public financial management reforms between 2003 and 2007, which led to the enactment of the Public Procurement Act (PPA), in 2007.
The Act provides for the harmonisation of existing government policies and practices on public procurement, and ensuring probity, accountability and transparency in procurement process; the attainment of competitiveness, professionalism in public sector procurement system by ensuring the application of fair, competitive, transparent, value for money, standard practices for procurement and disposal of public assets.
In 2007, state governors in Nigeria resolved to enact State Fiscal Responsibility Act while donor agencies in 2010 supported them in the quest to identify factors militating against the enactment of the procurement laws.
Though the Anambra State government was among states that passed the Public procurement bill, the non-existence of a board to drive it has hampered the implementation.
Radio Nigeria’s Correspondent Uche Ndeke visited some schools in Anambra state including; Government Technical College Nkpor Government Technical College Onitsha, Government Technical College Ihiala, Abbot Girls Secondary School, Community Secondary School Omor, Arch Bishop Herey Memorial Technical College Ogidi, Community Secondary School Ifite Ogwari, St. John Technical College Alor, Government Technical College Utuh, Nigeria Science and Technical College Nnewi, Government Technical College Umunze and Government Technical College Umuchu.
According to official records, some of the projects have reached 80 per cent completion while others range as low as between 40 to 50 percent completion.
This claim is however contrary to what the reporter met on ground in some schools where the hostel projects were still at DPC level and fencing not done at all, despite the fact that most of them had 2018 as their completion timeline.
Contracts awards and released funds
The contract for prototype hostel in GTC Nkpor, St. John Technical College, Alor and Arch Bishop Hereey Memorial Technical College, Ogidi, was awarded at the sum of ₦992,099,934.00 on October 10, 2018, to be completed in April 2020 to Teetag Nigeria Ltd. An initial sum of ₦297,629,980.20 was released to the contractor and another ₦48,588,662.53 was released in 2020.
Contract for hostel block still at foundation level at GTC Nkpor, no sign of fencing project was seen. Photo: Uche Ndeke
A contract for the construction of a prototype hostel was also awarded to Roadlight International Limited in 2018 for three schools-GTC, Utuh, GTC,Ihiala and Nigeria Science and Technical College, Nnewi to the tune of ₦992,099,934.00 and ₦458,869.540.50 also with the delivery date of April 2020.
The fencing contract of GTC Nkpor was awarded at ₦31,940,500.00 in February 2018 with ₦5,524,364.00 released and a completion date of December 2018.
The contract for the fencing of Community Secondary School Ifite Ogwari, was awarded at ₦77,111,297.5 while records show that ₦40,721,750.09 had been released to the contractor, completion date of 2018 December.
The fencing of Community Secondary School, Omor, was also approved at ₦17,060,455.00 with ₦24,079.894.00 released and with a December 2018 delivery date, while the fencing of Abbott Girls Secondary School, was awarded at the sum of ₦25,765,000 and ₦3,225,043.96 released, with a deadline of December 2018.
Community Secondary School Nnobi, got a fencing project at a cost of ₦34,250.000 and records show that ₦7,459,482.18 was released as mobilisation while another ₦4,567,221 was released in 2020 with a completion time of December 2018.
The investigation
It was found that most of the school authorities and management were not aware of the details of the contract, including amounts, and this made it difficult to monitor progress and quality of work.
This reporter found that though the contracts were awarded to firms with different names, some of these firms had shared the same contact address and phone numbers, putting a question mark on the credibility of the contract and approval process.
At St. John’s Technical College Alor, and Arch Bishop Hereey Memorial College Ogidi, our reporter saw roofed hostel blocks but uncompleted works despite the sums of ₦297,629,980 released in 2018 and ₦48,588,662.53 released to the contractor in 2020.
At Government Technical College Nkpor where contract was awarded for hostel block and fencing project, the hostel block remained on the foundation level, and there was no sight of any fence.
Mr. Ifeanyi Afuluukwe, a teacher in GTC Nkpor complained that land grabbers have started encroaching into the school portion due to the non-completion of the fencing project.
“The project has not been completed. It seems it has been abandoned. There was a time they worked on the hostel to the foundational level, since that time, they have not worked on it. That of the fence has been abandoned also. They came and worked on it for some time and left. Due to the fact that the school is not fenced, people have unhindered access to the school,” he said.
General Secretary of Arch Bishop Hereey Memorial College, Mr. Emmanuel Chukwuzubelu, and the manager, St. John’s Technical College Alor, Reverend Father Frances Unegbu, expressed satisfaction with the level and quality of work done so far, saying that the hostel blocks when completed would ease accommodation challenges, which had forced them to reject some applicants.
Bishop Hareey Memorial College, Ogidi, construction of hostel block. Photo: Uche Ndeke
He disclosed that the college rejected 922 students who sought admission because of limited space.
“It touched me seeing parents and their kids rolling on the floor to be admitted here, reporting us everywhere that we don’t want to take them. But, little did they know that it was because of logistics. Once the hostel is completed, we can be sure to absorb people like that.”
The contract for hostel blocks in GTC Ihiala, Nigeria Science and Technical College and GTC Utuh, was awarded to a firm that has received over ₦458 million out of the ₦992 million for the three projects. Investigation shows that the three hostel blocks were still at the foundation level, a situation that residents described as very unfortunate.
Pastor Mrs. Onyenesi Nwachukwu of the Nigeria Science and Technical College Nnewi, narrated how enthusiastic they were when the contractor began to clear land for the construction of the hostels but expressed regret that work has stopped.
“They started and we were very happy that soon, we will have a magnificent building as hostels that will accommodate many students. We need it earnestly. But unfortunately, after some time, the work just stopped. Since then, we’ve not seen the contractor or his representative. We need it desperately for the welfare of the students,” she stated.
Nwachukwu gave an indication why work might have stopped on the project.
She said: “I don’t know why the delay. But I remember the man coming here to mold blocks was complaining that he was being owed. He even threatened to carry the molded blocks away because he was not paid. Along the line, we started dragging with him that he would not carry anything away from the school compound without the knowledge of the people concerned.
Vice Principal Academics, GTC Ihiala, Mrs. Victoria Ezeokoli, said the importance of technical education could not be over emphasised hence the need for government to prevail on the firm to deliver the hostel project.
“It is at foundation level and nothing more. It is painful that when they came with a claim to execute the project, they made the teachers who farmed here to harvest their crops. They were in a hurry. They started the work and after the foundation, they left. The hostel project if completed would have been a very wonderful one.”
Nigeria Science Technical College Nnewi. Hostel block awarded in 2018 still at foundation level. Photo: Uche Ndeke
A teacher, Mrs. Ify Ukatu, recalled how they were made to harvest their farm crops prematurely when the contractor claimed that work would be completed in record time.
“I am not happy that they made us to lose our crops and did not complete the project. We also learnt that some teachers would have been living in the hostel with the students. I was hoping that one day, I would be among the beneficiaries, that my house rent would have been taken care of.”
Though fencing was done in some portions of Community Secondary School, Ifite Ogwari, the people said it was fenced with sub-standard materials causing the already done areas to collapse as confirmed by the Vice Principal, Mr. Benjamin Nnalue.
Community Secondary School Ifite Ogwari. Collapsed Fence done with substandard materials. Photo: Uche Ndeke
“I am not happy about the quality of work being done here. Well, we are just waiting for the contractor to say that he has finished the work before the school can raise an alarm. If you raise alarm now the contractor will say that you are too forward. The Principal had already alerted the contractor with regard to the dilapidated gate,” Nnalue said.
Community Secondary School Omor, had a large expanse of land with the fencing contract of ₦17 million of which ₦13,079,894.00 had been paid to the contractor.
However, according to the Principal, Mrs. Christiana Obiora, the job was poorly done leading to almost a total collapse of the fence. She narrated how she confronted the contractor and also wrote to the State Ministry of Basic Education over the quality of work done and noted that the security of students and teachers is not guaranteed as motorcyclists now use the centre of the school as access road.
“The fencing project is not complete. It was in 2018 that the contractor came and told us that the contract was awarded to him. And they were given deadline to complete the project by December. So, he started and went half way in 2019. In 2020, he completed it. After three days of the completion, there was a heavy downpour in the night. That was when those places you saw fell. The report I made in 2018 when he started was first, there was poor quality of blocks and, second, that the foundation was not up to two feet.
“I called him and told him, he didn’t listen to me. That was when I made that report to the ministry. The ministry sent four persons who came and they condemned the trips of sand he heaped, insisting that the specification was white sand, by the end of 2019, he continued with the same sand. That fence fell in April and since then, he has not been around,” she said.
Abbott Girls Secondary School Ihiala, is said to be one of the oldest schools in the state but its structures and environment beg for urgent attention.
Apart from the leaking roofs in the examination hall and some classes, the girls live in dilapidated hostels and are said to be at high risk of sexual abuse as narrated by the principal, Mrs. Savena Chukwunedum who was also once a student of the revered college in the ‘60s.
Nothing is happening here in terms of fencing, she said, adding that when he resumed two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic, the fencing was barely 5% done; “I called him and he told me that I did not give him the job, that I should not disturb him.”
“There was a day some boys from outside jumped into the hostel to prey on female students. Thank God that our security and corps members were alert. I have been begging this man (Contractor) please, even if it is only a gate at the entrance so that we will know that the fencing project is going on”.
Cries fall on deaf ears
Mrs. Chukwunedum appealed to the government to always carry school management along when awarding contract for projects in their institutions.
While the hostel project at the GTC Onitsha, had been roofed, the fencing contract at Community Secondary School Nnobi remained unfinished as at the time our reporter visited.
Some teachers who did not agree to speak on tape said the terrain and erosion prone nature of the area may have discouraged continuation of work.
Fencing project stopped half way at Community Secondary School, Nnobi. Photo: Uche Ndeke
Photo: Uche Ndeke
The principal of GTC, Mr. Mathias Emesi was excited at the level of work and the impact it would have on the learning and teaching of the students, especially during the COVID-19 period when social distancing has become necessary.
A legal practitioner at Ayamelum Local Government Area, Mr. Joseph Aghanti, while reacting to the delay in completion and shoddy jobs done by some contractors said that it was very difficult for government to monitor projects particularly if agencies responsible connive with contractors.
“Sometimes you see connivance between contractors and the monitoring agencies of government and that is why when somebody fails to carry out a contract in accordance to specifications, government will not be bold enough to question the individual. And most times the benefiting communities don’t even know the amount and contract agreements to enable the leadership of the town monitor quality and pace of work. The local Governments should also have a committee that should monitor projects awarded by the state government in their areas”.
A member of the Anambra State Committee on Public Procurement Bureau, Prince Chris Azor, said the state before now had a public procurement law enacted in addition to a fiscal responsibility law but said it was not implemented.
According to him, between 2011 and 2020, the state was operating on ad-hoc basis setting up tenders board and committees that were awarding contracts, trying to do things on the basis of good intention but not actually making the procurement law operational.
“The public procurement law generally is a sunshine law. It beams its searchlight on the operations, on the people that are mandated to make it work and on the process. But it’s in the public procurement process where you have the highest level of corruption in terms of government business. If you get it right at the level of public procurement, you are almost coasting home to victory in terms of governance.”
Speaking on the school projects, Chairman, Anambra State House of Assembly Committee on Economic Planning, Sustainable Development Goals and Donor Agencies, Mr. Ebere Ejiofor, wondered why the supervising ministry and agencies would approve payments for contractors who had not put much work on ground.
Ejiofor who visited some projects on oversight function, said the legislature would not relent in making sure that money meant for public projects was properly utilised and work done according to laid down specifications.
“Look at the gate, it is falling off… Almost all the fence at the back is falling off. There is no strong base, the foundation is faulty, it is just like they brought block and put it on top of the sand and went their way. It seems that nobody is supervising this work. This is a poorly done job, very shoddy”.
“We have to write the commissioner for education, some of the contractors who is handling the poor projects for them to appear before the house committee on SDGs to explain to us why they allow this to happen, wasting the good intention of our Governor. I can’t understand how a government can spend millions of Naira on a project and nothing tangible was done”.
Commissioner for Basic Education in Anambra State, Professor Kate Omenugha, in an interview, said the projects were solely funded by the state government but that the government had an agreement with the World Bank to be reimbursed for work done.
She explained that World Bank under Disbursement Led Indicators reimbursed the state for money used for accreditation of some schools after confirmation. The reimbursement from World Bank was under a different project arrangement called Disbursement Led Indicators. So the state government decided to use it to embark on construction of hostel blocks and fencing of some schools.
She said after the reimbursement was made, the state decided to use the fund to build hostel blocks in technical colleges and fence some schools.
While agreeing that land grabbing was a challenge in some schools, Omenugha said the government decided to step down some projects in order to concentrate and finish others.
“The projects are not abandoned. I agree that some places like GTC Nkpor had a very bad road condition and materials could not be sent there, so the works are continuing now that the dry season has set in. There are some that were also stepped down but not abandoned so we can concentrate and finish others. The contractors did not collect money and run away, no”.
The commissioner said the government had set aside funds for the projects as work has reached completion stages in Umunze, Umuchu, Umueri, Aguleri, while Governor Obiano looks forward to commissioning them soon.
On the poor quality of the projects done in some of the schools, Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development, Mr. Mike Okonkwor, said though his ministry and its education counterpart were responsible for the supervision of projects, he would make effort to personally visit the said schools with a view to ascertaining what was on ground. Mr. Okonkwor however, stated emphatically that the government would not tolerate a situation where any contractor would collect money and go ahead to do a shoddy job.
Was due process followed in the award of the contracts?
Chairman, Governing Board for Public Procurement, Mr. Melie Njepu, said that the contract awards followed the public procurement law in the state and that if they did not, the council would not have approved them. He noted that when the contracts were bided for, they were sent to the procurement council for approval.
Njepu said the state government was never reckless even before the establishment of the Procurement Law as there was a tenders board in charge of contracts.
Response from contractors
The resident engineer to the contracting firm handling the fencing of Community Secondary School Omor, Mr. Onyeka Ibe said the topography of the area played out on the project and not the quality of work put in place.
“Initially, we used a pipe to do the gate, they complained and we pulled it down and use dangle iron to reconstruct it. We used pipe but the recommendation was angle so we later used it.”
On the quality of work done on the fence, Mr. Ibe said, the soil texture was clay which is used in rice cultivation, and it is waterlogged
Part of the fence at Community Secondary School Omor had collapsed with the project yet to be completed. Photo: Uche Ndeke
“That place is supposed to be a Bond wall; that is retaining wall but the specification they gave us was normal blinding and block wall. That was the problem we had there, it was supposed to be retaining wall, the entire place was too sloppy and water-logged.
We did retaining wall in some of the places that fell. Now we are trying to rectify the situation as work is ongoing,” the contractor explained.
When contacted by telephone, the contractor handling the fencing of Abbott Girls Secondary School Ihiala, Mr. Enon Horsh blamed the delay on lack of funding.
“We started work even before we were mobilised. We have submitted a bill since and they are yet to pay us. Once we are paid we will commence putting pillars and finish the work. This work is ‘pay as you go,” said Horsh.
Government may have had good intentions when it awarded these contracts in 2018 to provide a conducive atmosphere for teaching and learning.
However good intentions alone are not enough but following up on contracts, awarded with huge sums of money, to the point of completion.
This investigative report was supported by the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR).
ONE of the core mandates of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, is to train and educate the youths of the oil-rich region in Nigeria and curb hostilities as well as reduce poverty, but that has not been the case.
The experience of David Ariana (not real name) who partook in an NDDC youth training program in 2015, exemplifies the lack of seriousness, mismanagement, inefficiency, and corruption found in the exercise.
According to him, the NDDC never finished the training programmed but abandoned participants in the hotel where the event was held.
“Some persons were selected, about 180 persons. We were asked to go to Owerri for the program. We arrived at Owerri and we had the first session which was in the December period, then we closed the 19th of December 2015. We resumed by January, 2016. We were about to complete the program because we were preparing for the international exam. That was when they came with logistic issues and we were asked to go.
“We were like we can’t just go back like that, whatever the logistic issue is let them just fix it so we can write our exams and finish the course. But, they left us and they called the hotel management to give us information that when it is 12 o’clock that we are done for the day that we should pack everything and leave the hotel. So that’s how NDDC left us.”
He continued: “They gave us some kits, they gave us overall, they gave us boots, they gave us a bag, and so on. We’ve been able to go to NDDC on a series of occasions then trying to see if they can allow us to finish our programs. They’ve not agreed. The person that anchored the program, his name is Alex from Kalabari. We wanted to go to the media with some letters we drafted but we didn’t have the resources to pursue it. The overall is branded. It has NDDC on the back. Then fiber optic and telecommunication in the front.”
Ariana also spoke on how the incomplete program affected him.
“It affected a lot of us because it took our time. Time we would have used to invest in some other thing and the rest. And if I may say, this is one of the best human capacity projects NDDC would have carried out because the persons that came in were such persons that came outside the country. And you know that anything we do now is on fibre optic so it would have given a lot of people jobs. The thing really affected us. At that point, we weren’t asking for the start-up pack again. We are asking for us to have the certification so it can enable us to have a job in a telecommunication company”, he said.
Photos of the coverall and boots Ariana received during the training in 2015
“We just had to pick up and do other things. After when we’re back, we had a new MD then, who promised that everything will work out fine, that there’s a new project. We were also handed to the person in charge of youths who told us his office was not there and we met him there,” Ariana said.
“He told us because we met him in NDDC side Aba road. He said they are trying to create a new office for them. They were going to create a new office for him because of the way people are jam-packed there concerning youths and the rest. That immediately that is done he will call for us to see. We dropped our numbers. No information. Because you know militants go there and we didn’t want to associate ourselves with them, so, we decided to just let go.”
Recounting her sad experience, another trainee of the same program, Stephanie Gold (not real name) corroborated Ariana’s story.
“There were two programs that started in 2015. I remember that I’m one of the fibre optic and Telecommunication trainees who were abandoned by the NDDC. The training took place in Imo State – G-Towers hotel and City Global Hotel, along Port Harcourt-Owerri expressway. We started the training but after about one month or so, they abandoned us there. They were giving us hope that they will call us back but up till now, no information about it,” she lamented.
Gold said she missed so many opportunities because of the training. She said it was an interesting training; about methods of transmitting information from one place to the other with optical fibre, a skill anyone would like to have but not without the professional exam, she said.
“They stopped the training. The trainers were not there anymore. No transportation, no food, nothing was given to us. They just left us there without any information. So, we paid our fare and managed to stay there and go back to our various destinations,” Gold said.
Another female trainee of the same program, Victoria Asemota (not real name), said the exam was not written and none of the trainees were paid and so the training program was not completed. She said the training process affected her ability to secure a good job.
“I studied computer science and a professional certificate in fibre optic and telecommunication would have boosted my chances of securing good jobs. During that NDDC training, I was a serving youth corps member in Lagos and was shuttling between Lagos and Owerri for that training. I also didn’t like my place of primary assignment at the time and had sought to change it. I then went for an interview for an NYSC job where I was to be paid N40,000 and was asked to resume but because of that NDDC training, I was unable to go to the new place of primary assignment. That company then was also known to retain corps members after service but I lost all that opportunity because of that NDDC training that year”, Asemota said.
She said that some other trainees told her that the contractor said that the NDDC did not complete the funds for the training and so they could not continue.
Asemota, who said she is currently unemployed and has been in and out of jobs since the incomplete NDDC program, said it would have been better if the NDDC did not do the training at all.
“If they know that they were not going to complete the training, why start it in the first place? This is because I know a lot of people who left their jobs to undergo this training,” she stated.
Another trainee of the same NDDC program, Charles Bassey (not real name) said the NDDC had told the over 200 trainees that apart from writing the professional exam, they will get some funds after the training but none of the promises was fulfilled.
He said they had already finished the courses and were to write the professional exam when the program was aborted.
He said no reason was officially given to them for aborting the program but the contractor told them that they didn’t pay him. He said the organisers opened a general bank account for all the trainees with Access Bank in Owerri in which they were paid monthly allowances.
Bassey also believes the change in government from the Peoples Democratic Party’s to Al Progressive Congress, APC, affected the program. But the proof of this is yet to be seen.
Photos of some of the items Charles Bassey received during the training.
Behind the ID card given to the trainees was a mobile phone number.
A call to the above number traced it to a company, Green Data limited.
A LinkedIn search showed the company’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer is Alex Duke. Many of the trainees remember the training contractor only as Alex, making it likely that he is the one.
A basic Google search for the company, Greendata Limited, revealed that its head office is in Port Harcourt.
Another search on the portal of the Corporate Affairs Commission showed the same address and that the company was registered in 2012.
Our correspondent contacted Duke, who admitted that such a youth program was carried out in 2015 but he said it was not abandoned.
“It’s not exactly true that the training was abandoned. The training went on as planned, everything about it was good. There were issues with funding and as we speak, the NDDC is sorting all of that out.”
He added: “By the way, the report on Wikipedia was falsified and instigated by one or two people we don’t know about. The entire program was successful; it’s just one or two challenges with funding that they are trying to sort out. The facts regarding the training are with the CID Directorate of the NDDC. If you go there, they will give you all the details regarding the training”, Duke said.
Our correspondent made attempts to locate the address listed on the company’s website, but could not find the given number.
When our correspondent enquired from a resident seen in one of the houses about the said company, it didn’t seem familiar to him. He said “there is no company around here.” He pointed at a place down the street suggesting a further search could help.
Google Map led our correspondent to premises after the manual attempt to locate 46 Circular Road, failed. There were no signposts to show it was a company.
When our correspondent asked Alex about the inability to find his office address, he threatened to sue if our correspondent published any false report about him.
Disturbing NDDC report
Any google search for the NDDC training programme brings out this Wikipedia report which appears to have been published in 2019.
The report highlights that the NDDC started a three-month twin certification program in December 2015, running into billions of naira that were abandoned two months into the training – The Fiber Optics/Telecoms (Owerri) and Oil Spill Management (Port Harcourt) Training for youths of the Niger Delta region.
The two programs were abandoned by the NDDC and its contractor Alex Duke (CEO of GreenData Limited) GreenData abandoned the 200 trainees in various hotels in Owerri. As of 2019, the programs were still not completed, the report said.
NDDC ignores request for comment
After several efforts, the NDDC is yet to answer the questions submitted to the Commission by our correspondent bothering on the training of Niger Delta youths particularly the Fiber Optic and Telecommunication training in 2015.
Our correspondent visited the NDDC office on Aba Road in Port Harcourt over seven times seeking a response on issues raised but the effort yielded no result.
On one of such visits, the contact of the NDDC spokesperson, Charles Odili, was shared with our correspondent by the staff who reached out to him for an interview. Odili initially didn’t pick his calls and when he did after text messages were sent to him, he told our correspondent that it was a wrong number.
But, our correspondent reached out to the same number through WhatsApp again which had his profile photo and he is yet to respond to the messages sent to him even though he has read them.
Offiong Ephraim, the NDDC Director of Youths, Sports and Women Affairs, who noted he is new to the directorate, said he could not comment on it as he did not have the details of the program.
“Every program is anchored by different directorates and it doesn’t mean because it was a youth program, it was anchored by the directorate,” Ephraim said adding that “the program would have probably been anchored by either commission and Industrial developmental youth programs or community and rural development doors programs for youths and then, of course, the youth directorate itself.”
When our correspondent enquired about the possibility of abandoned programs by the Commission, he dropped the call.
The NDDC Project Management Information System, PMIS, a public portal where details of all programs and projects carried out by the Commission ought to be made available did not capture any youth training program.
More dashed hopes
But it is not only the Fibre Optics trainees who have tales of woe to tell about NDDC training programmes. In 2019, the Commission also organised another training, an ICT skills acquisition scheme, which like the 2015 programme was also inconclusive.
“Our own training program was on ICT, organised in July 2019 in Rivers State. It was supposed to last for six months but it was compressed to about one month and out of the one month, the training did not formally end. The NDDC mostly communicated with us through a text message. We were not given good training and no starter pack as well. When we went to the NDDC to enquire, we were assaulted by a consultant there,” Victor Chukwu (not real name) from Ahoada, Rivers state said.
He continued: “They gave us laptops and due to the altercation, some people are yet to receive the receipt of the laptop they received during the training”.
For Saviour Oscar, the National President, South-South Youth Initiative, the NDDC is yet to impact the lives of Niger Delta youths through training programs.
“Some years ago we were invited by NDDC to Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt, for NDDC Youth summit which was organized by the then S.A to the MD, George Turner. In that summit, the intention was that youths from the nine states (Delta, Rivers, Ondo, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Abia) would be trained and also given start-up packages within the Niger Delta,” Oscar stated.
“Unfortunately, the target was not met. NDDC that was supposed to take care of lives and youths in the nine states had not given any impact ever since the establishment. It was after that the summit that everything ended. All the issues that were discussed or that were brought to the table none were executed. None was carried out. So ever since that meeting, there has never been any other program again that youths were invited to come and benefit from NDDC.
Way forward
Darlington Nwauju, the spokesperson of the Niger Delta Rights Advocates, said abandoned NDDC youth programs need to be audited. He said so many young people in the Niger Delta have been left stranded due to the inconclusive nature of most NDDC youth programs.
“It’s become a recurring decimal in that agency. Most of the programs are designed ab initio not to even impact on the people, not to impact on the individuals, who they claim they are to train or empower. Most of the programs are designed ab initio as a smokescreen, in order to justify the millions of naira that have gone into individual pockets,” he alleged.
Fyneface Dunamene, the Executive Director of Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre alleges that corruption is behind the failed NDDC training schemes. He said that the commission’s staff award contracts to themselves and then sell these to others and that in the end nobody can be held accountable for non-execution of contracts.
“We are also aware of a lot of capacity building programs that the NDDC has organized whereby they give these contracts to contractors that end up not being able to carry out the jobs. They give contracts to one person within the commission. The person sells the contract to the second person, the second person sells it to the third person. Before it gets to the actual person that will execute the contract, there is no more money again to carry out the project. And the project becomes inconclusive,” he said.
Dunamene, advocated that non-governmental organisations should be contracted to undertake skills acquisition schemes, reasoning that such programmes would not be abandoned if they are assigned to known non-governmental organizations with identified structures and capacity to execute such programs.
“Non-governmental organizations have the capacity to work with the youths, and they are well regulated by the EFCC, through the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering, SCUML, and the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, especially with the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020, that has been put in place. And every NGO also has the responsibility of maintaining their organizational integrity. So, it becomes easier to actualize youth development issues through NGOs, instead of companies,” he explains.
In March 2015, the Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC said it has trained “no less than 2,245 youths through its various training and empowerment programmes.” But the data available in the public domain – on the NDDC PMIS public portal – showed zero number of youth programs.
A request to the NDDC Directorate of Youth and Sports for current data on the number of youths trained by the NDDC did not elicit a response.
NDDC training of youths on capacity building
Our correspondent reached to some non-governmental organizations in the region on this and they also said that accessing such data from the NDDC remains one of the biggest challenges they face in trying to carry out their various interventions in the region.
One of such NGOs said the NDDC is not “really open with such data and it will be difficult to collate”.
* This report is done with support from The International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) and McArthur Foundation.
