Unarguably, the burgeoning conversation in the Republic revolves around who occupies Aso Rock in 2019, and the need to resolve the lingering ‘national question’, loosely referred to as true federalism or restructuring. The latter issue, which predates the subsisting Republic, will be the focus of this piece.
While the President dismissed the agitations for restructuring in his New Year speech, his party appears to be saying another thing in line with the agitation from the political society. The report of the Nasir el-Rufai Committee on restructuring says it all.
On this note, it is safe to conclude that the inconsistency between the party and the presidency is a clear case of working at cross purposes. Before we delve into the crux of the matter, historicizing how we got here would not be out of place.
THE FEDERAL ARRANGEMENT AS IT WERE IN NIGERIA
Federalism is an institutional mechanism adopted in governing societies that are culturally plural. Since Nigeria fell into this category, the introduction of federal system became necessary when the Richard Constitution of 1946 was drafted by the British. Experts on federalism, such as Simeon and Conway, posit that federally-structured polities “seek to maintain the unity of the larger state, while giving recognition and empowerment to the minorities”.
Also, “it is predicated on devolving autonomy to the minorities, and on recognizing and protecting them in the large society and polity”. As against the El Dorado that is being painted today of the First Republic, unity was a rarity as a result of majoritarian hegemony that brought about cultural exclusion.
Nnoli and Coleman have extensively elaborated on this in their works – Ethnic Politics in Nigeria and Background to Nationalism. Recognition and empowerment to the minorities was also lacking. For this reason, the demand for separate political entity from the marginalized groups assumed centre stage. However, in the area of fiscal autonomy, the situation was better both in colonial Nigeria and the First Republic. Preponderance of the centre over the regions was not witnessed.
This engendered healthy economic competition as each region focused on what it had comparative advantage on. The North focused on groundnut, tin, and columbite. The West did well with cocoa, while the East produced palm kernel. Given the degree of autonomy, inter-governmental relations between the centre and the regions was horizontal, not vertical and contentious as we have it today.
Revenue allocation during this period was based on the principle of derivation, which was introduced by the colonial government – Philips Commission of 1951 – and was maintained by the independent government. Fifty percent of revenue from sale of natural resources went to the regions of origin. If 50% was going to the regions at some point, why is it now 13% to the oil-producing states? Nothing explains this better than “military federalism”.
MILITARY FEDERALISM
Military interregnum and the Civil War badly affected the practice of federalism in Nigeria. First, it started with Ironsi’s unification Decree No 34, which abolished the autonomy of the regions in a misguided attempt to forge a greater national unity. While Gowon returned the country to the old order of federalism, he introduced the command structure of military in governing the federation.
He introduced Decree No 27 of 1967, which limited the legislative and executive powers of the newly created states during the Civil War to residual matters. Decree No 51 and 38 of 1969 and 1971 vested the monopoly of oil wealth and distribution in the federal military government. This move effectively introduced centrist federalism, which has been variously described by experts as unitary, command, quasi, or militarist federalism. Instead of reviewing the centrist clauses, which would have given full autonomy to the federating units, subsequent institutional designs – 1979, 1989, 1995, and 1999 – all maintained the status quo such that the 68 items have been placed in the exclusive legislative list.
In the absence of a mutually acceptable constitutional arrangement that would have engendered a workable political society, the resultant effect has been protracted armed conflict in the Delta region and agitations for political inclusion from both the hegemons who felt excluded and the minority groups. All of this make up the national question.
THE WAY FORWARD
The President feels that the problem is more with the process than the structure. This position of his, which is common with the oligarchs, has created some disquiet and dissonance in the polity; and rightly so.
Protagonists of restructuring feel the current structure of governance is essentially faulty. In his view, Ahmed Joda suggested that the 109 senatorial districts be converted to federating units. According to him, this would contain agitations and reduce the incurable cost of governance.
He’s right in the area of reducing the cost of governance. But as brilliant as his view is, implementing it without giving the newly created federating units autonomy will still not solve the problem. It’s like the current order where the central government exercises too tight a control on the states. Again, how this would solve the problem of local hegemons lording over the minorities is still missing.
Emeka Anyaoku’s prescription insists on a return to the regional order of the First Republic, because the current structure of governance cannot advance economic development. He feels the 36 states should be collapsed, and turned into six geopolitical zones. While the economics of his argument is sound like Joda’s, how this will solve the problem of ethnic rivalry experienced in the First Republic is also missing.
The issue of majoritarian hegemony, which led to agitation for separate political entity by the minority groups, is likely to become an issue. On his part, the literary icon, Professor Wole Soyinka came up with the concept of “reconfiguring”. What that means, as far as I understand it, is best known to him. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who suddenly became a federalist, has also called for stronger state governments.
Most Nigerians perceive his call for restructuring as a political strategy ahead of 2019 since the demand from the political society is in that direction. If not, why did he not push for restructuring as Vice President?
No matter what side of the divide one belongs to, it’s an incontrovertible fact that the current order of federalism, which the President has defended, cannot guarantee political stability, which is essential for economic development. Given our pluralistic nature, addressing the lingering national question with the aim of bringing about an enduring governance structure is a sine qua non. Responsibilities have to be devolved to the federating units in line with the principle of federalism.
The el-Rufai Committee on restructuring has made the right move. But considering how the APC government has failed Nigerians who trusted it with their lives, can it be trusted?
Aside Boko Haram where the government appears to have recorded piece meal success, which seems to be eroding with the Haramists launching offensive attacks, the government has not delivered on the campaign promises that endeared it to most Nigerians. How sure are we that it will implement the outcome of the el-Rufai Committee report if voted back to power in 2019; especially when the President thinks restructuring is not the issue – a view shared by most oligarchs? This makes it hard to deny that the report of the committee is only targeted at winning the 2019 general election, after which it would be abandoned like the Ken Nnamani Electoral Committee report.
It is also important to note that while some have applauded the el-Rufai Committee report, some of its recommendations are just not feasible given the current economic situation. Take for instance the issue of state police. While that would help in dealing with crimes at the sub-national levels, the economic reality is that most state governors cannot afford it. The issue of non-payment of civil servant salaries explains it all.
Another thing is, we must not continue to rely on the demanding process of constitutional review to make the practice of federalism work. At some point, we can also utilize the power of judicial review as Lagos State did last year in a matter with the Federal Government over who controls inland waterways, which it won.
Lastly, while we restructure either through constitutional engineering or judicial review, we also need to take seriously the important issue of state building. This is so because federalism does not work on its own. It has to be grafted to the institution of the state. That is why no matter how good the structure of federalism, it needs a strong state to function effectively.
Therefore, if the state is weak the possibility of the architecture of federalism functioning effectively can hardly be reconciled. My prescription for building a strong state is in line with the one provided by Francis Fukuyama, which focuses on creating new government institutions and strengthening existing ones. Nigeria needs this for its federal democracy to work. Let the restructuring debate continue.
Ihembe is a political scientist with research interest in political development. He can be reached on 08023688848
Nasir el-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, says the All Progressives Congress (APC) has scientific evidence to show that it will win the 2019 general election.
Speaking on Channels television’s Sunday politics, el-Rufai expressed confidence that his party would not only win the presidential poll but will also add to the 24 states currently in its grip.
This is coming amid scathing criticism, from several quarters, of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s performance in office.
“I do not have any doubt in my mind that we are going to win the next elections; not only in the centre but we are going to retain our present 24 states, and even more,” el-rufai said.
“We are not saying this foolishly; this is scientific. We are monitoring the pulse of Nigerians — not the pulse of a section of Nigerians — and I am confident that we are going to win the 2019 elections.
“We know the pulse of the nation, we know where we are losing support, we know where we are gaining support; I have no doubt in my mind that we are going to win the 2019 elections.
“There are two pulses of Nigerians – there is the pulse of the Nigerian elites which is the noise that you hear in the media, the social media and so on. Then there is the pulse of the people.
“If you remember how many people came out to welcome President Buhari in Kano, then you will know that there are two Nigerias.”
The most recent, and perhaps the most significant jab that has been aimed at the Buhari presidency, came from former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, who accused the President of nepotism, insensitivity and buck passing. But el-Rufai waved Obasanjo’s statement aside, saying “it is too long and I am very busy”.
“You know President Obasanjo is a Nigerian, he’s a patriot and he is entitled to his opinion just like every other Nigerian,” el-Rufai said.
“We are moving on, we are planning to deliver on our promises and when the time comes we will be ready for the 2019 elections with whoever and whatever party that exists. There are 73 parties in Nigeria; we are going to face them and I’m confident as I said.”
Describing himself as a Buhari loyalist “till death do us part”, el-Rufai said his support for the President was not for any personal gain but in the overall interest of the country.
“I believe that it is in the overall interest of our party and the stability of Nigeria [for Buhari to seek re-election],” he said.
“It is not because I stand to gain or lose anything. But it is because in everything I’ve done since I got into public service, for me the interest of Nigeria comes first.
“God has given me everything through the instrumentality of this country — I don’t need anything as a person but what I need is to see a country that is making progress, that is stable, and leave a legacy for our children to build on it.”
I agree with former President Olusegun Obasanjo that Nigeria needs to be rescued from the “misgovernance guillotine” of the APC and the PDP.
Obasanjo expressed his desire for the deracination of these bands of misfortune in his latest missive.
He said: “We need a Coalition for Nigeria, CN. Such a movement at this juncture needs not be a political party but one to which all well-meaning Nigerians can belong. That movement must be a coalition for democracy, good governance, social and economic well-being and progress. Coalition to salvage and redeem our country. You can count me with such a movement.”
A few weeks ago, Oby Ezekwesili launched the Red-Card Movement, a group or “Third Force” forged with the bounden aim of shoving the APC out of the dais of power and keeping the PDP in the abyss of oblivion. It is clear that Obasanjo is in spirit with Ezekwesili’s movement.
I agree with Ezekwesili that the APC and the PDP deserve the red card, but I do not believe that a “movement of big egos” will solve Nigeria’s leadership problem.
As a matter of fact, all the key figures of the movement once held political office in the country; Nigeria’s problems 18 years ago are still alive today. If the sponsors of this group had possessed the Midas touch to turn the country into a terrain of gold, citizens would not have been in a state of loss and confusion today. The country and its leadership is the way it is because of the past mistakes and failures of members of this elitist movement. What tonic can these people administer to anaemic Nigeria?
As of now, the ‘Obasanjo-Ezekwesili’ movement does not have an alternative to the status quo. And since the group has elected to be a pressure group and not a political party, it is safe to say it may support a candidate from any political party other than the APC and the PDP.
I will not to go into the charade that a few other political parties are, but a young candidate of a party in the Osun local government election could not participate in the exercise because his party tactlessly failed to submit his name to INEC. How do you define incompetence?
For me, I do not think the Red-Card Movement is a people’s movement. It is self-serving and peopled by big egos on a relevance chase. If not, why is it so concerned about the presidency? Nigeria’s problem is structural. It needs “de-cluttering”. Until the present structure is re-worked, every president is doomed to fail. And the answer to Nigeria’s structural problem is in the recommendations of the APC restructuring committee.
I believe this movement will do Nigerians a great favour if it puts pressure on the government to have the recommendations implemented.
Fredrick is a journalist. You can reach him on Twitter: @Fredrick Nwabufo, Facebook: Fredrick Nwabufo.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it has recovered a total of N29.77billion stolen by Nigerian civil servants across different Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) between 2006 and 2017.
According to a record of recoveries made available by the commission on its official website, these recoveries include farmland, plots of land, uncompleted and completed buildings and cash.
Out of the total amount, N3.08 billion was recovered in cash while N3 billion has been returned to the MDAs from where they were embezzled.
According to the document, one recovered farmland, a 10-hectare of land located in Kuje Area Council of Abuja was valued at N50million, while N415 million worth of plots of land, N1.4billion worth of uncompleted and N1.3billion worth of completed buildings were also recovered.
In all, the ICPC recovered 62 plots of land within the years in review — located in Abuja, Nasarawa, Osun and Rivers states — six completed buildings in Abuja, Lagos and Akwa Ibom states, and five uncompleted buildings in Abuja, Kaduna and Akwa Ibom states.
Nineteen vehicles were also recovered – 14 of these were for the Subsidy Re-investment and Employment Programme (SURE-P), which government officials went away with after the dissolution of SURE-P.
Government agencies and ministries from where monies were stolen and recovered include the Federal Revenue Inland Service (FIRS), Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Federal Ministry of Interior.
The document also shows the gross abuse of the Universal Basic Education fund by officials of state governments and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), as well as those at the Headquarters of the fund, UBEC, Abuja.
The Federal Government established UBEC in 2004 as an interventionist agency to provide funds and infrastructure for the basic education development in the country. But despite Nigeria having the highest number of out of school children in the world — 10.5million as of 2017 — ICPC recovery revealed how, between 2006 and 2011, a total of N296.4million was stolen by officials of the states’ UBE.
The states are Niger, Lagos, Borno, Abia, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Bauchi, Imo, Ogun, Kogi and Taraba.
Others are Plateau, Kano, Delta, Enugu, Osun and Ebonyi. Out of all these states, 23 officials of Borno State Universal Basic Education were involved, while seven officials of UBEC headquarters were also involved in separate stealing of the public fund.
The commission made its biggest recovery in 2015 with the recovery of N1.03billion, followed by 2015 during which it recovered N869.5milllion.
A total of 92 cases are still ongoing at different stages and at different courts across the country.
However, one curious aspect of the ICPC’s document is that no ‘high-profile’ name in the Nigerian public sector featured on the list.
The North East Zonal chapter of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) says it will not accept the idea of cattle colony being proposed by the Federal Government as an alternative to open grazing, which has led to several violent clashes in the country.
Mafindi Danburam, Chairman of north-east zone of MACBAN, made this known during an interview with The Punch.
Danburam condemned the anti-open grazing law that had just been introduced in Taraba State, after Benue State passed a similar law, adding that MACBAN had challenged the new Act in court and the case was being handled by Justice Josephine Tuktur of the Taraba State High Court.
“As the Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria in the North-East, who is also the immediate past Chairman of the group in Taraba State, I want to tell you that we do not accept the open grazing prohibition law being implemented in Taraba State,” Danburam said.
“We don’t need it, we don’t want it and that is why we are challenging the law in a court of competent jurisdiction — the state High Court.
“The case is before her lordship, the Chief Judge of Taraba State, Justice Josephine Tuktur. So, we won’t do anything before the outcome of the case in court.”
Danburam accused the Taraba State Government of insincerity in the formulation, articulation and the proposed enforcement of the new anti-open grazing law.
The new law states that the state government will establish model ranches, which would serve as an example for the herders to copy in setting up their own ranches. But Danbarum pointed out that the same government had tightened land acquisition procedures in the state, wondering how herders were expected to acquire land to be used for ranches.
“Another aspect of concern in the law is that it prohibits selling of land to a typical herder until the Governor gives approval. Okay, how many of us have Certificate of Occupancy in Taraba State?” Danbarum queried.
“We are practising traditional method of land ownership in Taraba State and if my wife or parent is sick and I need to sell my land to take them to the hospital, does that mean that I have to get the Governor’s approval?
“Okay, the Governor is the custodian of all lands in the state. We have over 20 grazing reserves in the state. Let him establish the pilot ranches in these grazing reserves and allocate them to typical herders in the bush, so that those of us in the town, who have the money, can buy land and establish our ranches.
“Until government recognises that this sector is also contributing to the economy of the state and they begin to give us subsidy, ranching will not work.”
Danbarum said that although MACBAN boycotted the public hearing that was held before the Act was passed, the Muslim Council of Taraba State presented the association’s position.
He noted that Miyetti Allah supported the anti-open grazing law in Benue State, but “the only area where there are issues is the implementation, because they started implementation like a decree”.
“They woke up one day and announced that ‘by tomorrow, nobody should rear cattle’. That was not the best approach, and that was why the Fulani in Benue reacted by fighting back,” Danbarum said.
On whether the Miyetti Allah will accept the idea of cattle colony as an alternative to open grazing, Danbarum said nobody could force the herdsmen to change their culture.
“You see, we know the plan of the Federal Government and I tell you that anything that infringes on our rights, we will go to court,” he said. “Open grazing is our culture and you cannot wake up one day and stop me from practising my culture. Cattle colony is not our culture. We have our culture and tradition and we want to maintain it.”
The Federal University, Oye Ekiti, has been accredited to offer post-graduate studies, barely seven years after the institution was established.
According to Oyeyimika Koyejo-Fasakin, Acting Registrar of the University, interested candidates can now apply for Masters and Doctorate programmes into eight different programmes in Agriculture, Social Science and Arts.
The courses are Agricultural Economics, Animal Science, Crop Science and Soil science in the department of Agriculture.
Others are English Language and English Literature, Theatre Arts, Sociology, and Demographics and Social Statistics.
Kayode Soremekun, Vice Chancellor of the university, said that with the introduction of postgraduate studies, the schoool had realised of one of the goals he set for himself when he was appointed in 2016.
He promised that the University will ensure that students in the postgraduate school are not delayed unnecessarily beyond the time they ought to complete their programmes.
“We intend to take the sting out of the postgraduate school. By this, I mean we will not delay students unduly beyond the stipulated time for the programmes and we will not compromise on quality,” Soremekun said.
Soremekun, VC, Federal University, Oye Ekiti
“The introduction of this programme is a fulfillment of the pledge of the Federal Government, which is to provide access to education to all those who seek it so that Nigeria will be a better place.
“The cost in time and resources are not prohibitive, as we are determined to provide access to quality postgraduate education for our students.”
Soremekun commended Rasaki Bakare, Dean of the Postgraduate School of the University, for the “energy and drive” with which he runs the affairs of the college.
“Now, since we have opened our doors to postgraduate students, we will ensure that they receive the best teaching and research support to excel,” Soremekun said.
Awarded at over N400 million in 2009, what was supposed to be a radioactive waste management facility at Nigeria’s Nuclear Technology Centre never came to life.
Instead, a building overgrown with scrubs lies east of the gamma irradiation facility. Waste management plants and equipment comprise various devices and machines used for treating, converting, disposing and processing wastes from various sources.
The construction of low/medium radioactive waste management facility was awarded at the contract sum of N401.4 million to Commerce General Limited and so far, N312 million has been paid to the contractor, the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) said in response to a Freedom of Information request made over a month ago.
The project, according to NAEC, was 78 percent complete and has “only suffered delays.”
“The project was not abandoned. It only suffered delays due to factors outside the control of the commission,” the agency said.
The delays, NAEC said, include; “inadequate funding of capital projects generally, over the years, modification of the original design, as recommended by IAEA experts, which has resulted into changes in the BOQ figures and this development is being discussed with the contractor,” and also, “no outstanding Interim Payment Certificate on the project.”
A staff of the NTC, who was privy to the contract and execution since 2009, said the project had been used to embezzle money from government since the time of award.
“It is true that they changed the plan of the plant but they’ve never done anything meaningful there since they mounted these blocks,” he said.
“The contractor is not qualified and along the line, he got stuck in the project and we’ve not seen or heard about him for many years now.”
Efforts to reach the management of Commerce Nigeria Limited were unsuccessful as the company has no website or any visible record.
Its recorded address at Plot 3, Railway Avenue, Kachia Road, Kakuri, Kaduna South, Kaduna, does not exist, this paper found out during a visit there.
“We’ve never heard of that place,” several residents of Kachia told this reporter after attempts were made to locate the company.
In Nigeria, it is not uncommon for ‘brief case’ contractors, most times in connivance with the awarding entity, to register a company for the sole purpose of bidding for contracts and making quick money.
As alleged by staff of the centre, this may be the case as even the figures quoted in FOI response by NAEC are contradictory.
Supposed waste management plant overgrown by bushes
While the commission said the project was 78 percent complete, a visit to the facility told a different story: an expanse of land overgrown with weeds and a construction no way near half-way complete which, in no way, justified the commission’s claim of paying almost 80 percent of the total contract sum to the contractor.
If the contract was awarded at N401. 4 million and N312 million had been paid so far, the balance should be about N89 million. But NAEC quoted N329 million.
‘Abandoned’ nuclear instrumentation laboratory
One of the components of the masterplan of the centre is the nuclear instrumentation laboratory which is supposed to serve as workshop for students, researchers and others in the nuclear field.
The project was awarded at the cost of N829.6 million to Trois Associate Limited in 2012 and it is 68% complete, NAEC’s response to an FOI stated.
The nuclear instrumentation laboratory overgrown with weeds
Again, NAEC claimed that the project was not abandoned and was delayed due to paucity of funds.
“For instance, there was no provision for the project in year 2016 and only about 11% of the capital has been released so far in the current year (2017),” the response noted.
When this paper first visited the centre in September, there was no contractor on site. In fact, there was no way a contractor would have reached the building as anyone who dared would have to clear about 100 metres of weeds and trees surrounding the laboratory building.
“The contract has been on hold due to non-payment of funds,” the contractor handling the project, Gbenga Ogunsola, told this paper when contacted in October.
“We demobilised in 2015 March because our outstanding valuation was not honoured by the commission. It was due payment that was just paid last month.”
He said the project is about 75 percent complete as against the 68 percent quoted by NAEC and that he is already on site after a recent release of fund.
Mr. Ogunsola would not state the amount recently released but there seems to be more to worry about.
Although the project was awarded at an agreed amount of N829.6 million, the N265.2 million balance would not be enough to conclude the construction.
“Definitely no,” Mr. Ogunsola said when asked if the balance would be enough to complete the project.
“We intend to present a case for review to the commission. We are still working on that. We are not going to review the whole thing, we’ll just review the outstanding work. I’m looking at between 25 to 30% review but I’m not sure yet.”
However, apart from clearing of the surrounding bushes, there were no further works on the site when this reporter visited in December, four weeks after receiving the FOI response from NAEC.
A FAILED VISION
Emmanuel Emovon, a professor and the then Minister of Science and Technology, while receiving former military leader, Ibrahim Babangida, at the foundation ceremony of the nuclear facility in 1988, envisaged that the centre should be a “sanctuary to the scientific and technological community where members can retire to occasionally for more positive thinking about the physical.”
To make that vision a reality, the Goodluck Jonathan government in 2012 made budgetary provision for the construction of a recreational and educational facility.
The sports facility now used by farmers
The contract was awarded to Silhouttes AB + Turnkey at N274.5 million and an initial payment of N214.2 million was made, leaving a balance of N60.3 million.
Like others, construction of the sports facility was done halfway and like in other cases, NAEC said it was delayed due to paucity of funds.
“The project was not abandoned,” in response to an inquiry.
“It only suffered delays due to inadequate funding of capital projects generally over the years. For instance, there was no provision for the project in year 2016 and only about 11% of the capital has been released so far in the current year (2017). The contractor has just been mobilised back to the site and further works on the project have commenced,” it stated.
Meanwhile, staff of the NTC said they were familiar with the management’s “deceptive” move of mobilising contractors back to site whenever they sniff a probe.
“It’s a game and they understand the game very well. They mobilised the same contractors back to site immediately the present administration came on board in anticipation of what may come up but since there were no signs of probe everything ended that way,” a staff said.
The staff added that the “fire brigade approach” of mobilising contractors back to site was only to douse tension raised by this reporter’s probe. “They will soon abandon the project again when everything dies down,” she said.
The contractor handling the project, Munachi Okorocha, declined to speak with PREMIUM TIMES without permission from NAEC.
“Speak to NAEC and let them tell me to speak to you,” Mr. Okorocha said in a phone conversation.
Okorocha became agitated when reminded him that the project was being funded by public funds and, as such, he had a duty to answer questions relating to it.
“I’m a private man, I’m not a public man,” he said angrily and hung up.
Okorocha’s reluctance to speak about the project may not be unconnected to the current state of the sports centre which, in recent times, has been turned into a farm and grazing field for farmers and cattle herders respectively. Contrary to the claim that contractors have been mobilised, in December when this reporter visited, the site was still abandoned just as it was in previous visits.
The only visible change were two heaps of sand delivered at the site. There was no one working there.
Herders grazing within the centre
COMPLETED – BUT LOCKED – WAREHOUSE
One of the completed projects at the centre, the warehouse, has been under lock since 2009 when it was completed, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.
According to findings, the facility was supposed to be a warehouse for people to bring in their produce for irradiation and store same before transporting it out of the centre.
However, none of these lines of activity has ever happened at the centre.
“There was a time, it was thought that the Gamma Irradiation Facility could be commercialised,” said Sunday Thomas, Director-General of SHETSCO.
One of the things that was required was a warehouse whereby people who needed to bring their goods for irradiation will have a warehouse for storage.
“Just before they (NAEC) left the Ministry of Science and Technology to the Presidency, there was one man who went to the President and said the Gamma facility could be commercialised. The President asked the then Minister of Science and Tech to look into the possibility.
“The Minister then set up a committee and part of the recommendation of that committee is that it could be commercialised but one of the first things to do is to build a warehouse. Before the report of that committee could be fully implemented, the management of the centre had gone to NAEC and NAEC had left the Ministry. I wouldn’t know why they didn’t follow up.”
However, despite the availability of the Gamma facility and the warehouse, the Chairman of NAEC, Simon Mallam, said the non-availability of funds has delayed the commercialisation of the facility.
“That is why we have the warehouse,” he said.
Built and locked up, NTC’s warehouse
“We bring products in, irradiate them and take them out from the other side. But funds have not been forthcoming for us to do that the way we wanted. Since 2015, we have not seen any capital expenditure. So, this is the hard reality.”
Mr. Mallam said the facility cannot irradiate up to a tonne of produce in its present condition.
A nuclear technology expert and former director of SHETSCO, Charles Adesanmi, noted that the Gamma facility can still be used for commercial purposes but needs to be upgraded for maximum output.
“The Gamma facility there is already old,” he said.
“The cobalt-60 that is being used there has a half-life of about five (years). So, every five years, it deteriorates by half. It means that by 2015, it had gone down to a quarter of what it used to be.”
BREACH OF STANDARD
If the fundamental safety principles instituted by the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, is anything to go by, the NTC will exist as many entities but a standard nuclear centre.
Nigeria joined IAEA, an international body for cooperation in the nuclear field in promoting safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies, in 1964.
The IAEA safety standards, was enshrined to ensure protection of people and the environment against radiation risks, safety of facilities and activities that give rise to radiation risks. The world body recognised this to include, safety of nuclear installations, radiation safety, the safety of radioactive waste management and safety in the transport of radioactive material.
The world body listed some fundamentals which must be observed by member states in section 3.30 of the safety standard.
“The most harmful consequences arising from facilities and activities have come from the loss of control over a nuclear reactor core, nuclear chain reaction, radioactive source or other source of radiation. Consequently, to ensure that the likelihood of an accident having harmful consequences is extremely low, measures have to be taken; to prevent the occurrence of failures or abnormal conditions (including breaches of security) that could lead to such a loss of control; To prevent the escalation of any such failures or abnormal conditions that do occur; to prevent the loss of, or the loss of control over, a radioactive source or other source of radiation.”
As presented in the first part of this story, PREMIUM TIMES investigation has revealed that the centre has violated the core of safety principles expected at the centre and thus, risk withdrawal of its license.
Investigations also revealed that most of these breaches would have been avoided had contracts awarded been fully implemented.
For instance, the management of the centre has failed in providing adequate security for the centre even as the country is going through a tumultuous time in security.
Also worrisome is the mismanagement of the Gamma Irradiation Facility, the non-existence of a waste management facility to properly dispose nuclear wastes and others abandoned within the centre.
The IAEA could not provide a report of Nigeria’s performance in nuclear safety upon inquiry by this reporter.
However, the regulatory body in an email response by its Press and Public Information Officer, Jeffrey Donovan, noted that the sole responsibility of decommissioning a nuclear centre lies with the national authorities responsible for nuclear safety and nuclear security, in this case, the Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Agency, NNRA.
The response states, “The IAEA’s role is to assist its Member States in fulfilling their responsibilities on nuclear safety and nuclear security. The IAEA does this in a number of ways, including through its safety standards. In addition, upon the request of a Member State, the IAEA conducts peer-review missions to review Member State activities against IAEA safety standards in a number of areas, including the nuclear regulatory framework, operational safety, or nuclear security. At the end of these missions, the IAEA-led team typically issues a report to the host Government that includes recommendations and suggestions for improvements.”
The IAEA did not also state if it had recommended decommissioning to the country due to the poor state of the facility.
WHO RUNS THE NTC
As evident in this investigation, one of the major problems which accounts for the sorry state of the centre is the dichotomy of management.
While the full budget of the centre goes to NAEC, the initiator, SHETSCO, shares in the burden of maintaining the centre, thus, the NTC stands hanging in terms of management. Mr. Mallam traced this problem to improper handover.
“The NTC was formerly under SHETSCO but when NAEC was activated, the Minister made a memo to the president on the transfer of some nuclear related establishments under the supervision of NAEC which President Obasanjo approved. The NTC was one of them. The staff in SHETSCO working at the NTC were supposed to automatically transfer to NAEC.
“However, the implementation of that decision has had some challenges because there were attempts to do a full handover by the Ministry of Science and Technology which was by then supervising the two agencies but there were some difficulties in fully implementing that decision. So, some parts of it remain under SHETSCO, the Gamma Irradiation Facility came under NAEC others like the power house, security, and others are been run by SHETSCO. So, that has created difficulty in having some synergy and we have a committee to solve that.”
He assured this reporter that the dichotomy would soon be a thing of the past.
“Under President Jonathan, a Presidential Technical Committee was set up chaired by the Head of Service to look at the management framework of the atomic energy sector completely in the country and submit a report,” Mr Mallam continued.
“Unfortunately, that committee worked and for whatever reason, the report has not been finalised. But we are working with the Present Head of Service to see how the report can be finalised. So, most of the issues as to the implementation of that decision were supposed to be addressed by the committee.”
MORE HARDSHIP FOR STAFF
Amidst the non-availability of tools to work with, staff of the centre have expressed their grievances over their redundancy.
Some of them who confided in this reporter said they come to work to do nothing daily as the machines are no longer working.
Don’t be deceived, most of these machines are not working
Bisi (not real name) said the situation was better when the centre was solely run by SHETSCO.
“It’s not only about salary but I also have to think about my career,” Ms. Bisi said.
“Even though my salary is being paid regularly but I’ve not been doing anything for years now. Nothing is working here and we can’t continue to keep quiet. We come here every day just to talk and while away time. Nothing is functioning here.”
Another staff, Emeka (not real name) said he was unhappy at being idle and urged the government to merge the nuclear centres into one entity.
“It’s better that the place is left to be managed by one entity. If there is any fault now, you will see that there will be shift of blame. So, let everything that happens here be on one person. We don’t want SHETSO, NAEC joint management again. We want just one. We want to work.”
But the situation is outside NAEC’s control, according to Mr. Mallam.
“If you’ve not been able to secure funds, irrespective of who is managing it, you will not be able to do anything,” he said.
“For instance, if a facility develops some fault and to fix that somebody gives you about 800 Euros bill, you have to plan that in the budget before you could get it repaired. But what we have challenged our staff to do is that there are some of those things they can work on themselves. So, it’s not a question of people go there and no work but the challenges of fund and we are working to get appropriate funding. With the support we are gradually getting from the government, we are likely going to solve some of those problems within the next one year.”
Speaking at the South-west Sensitization Programme on National Science, Technology and Innovation Roadmap, the Minister of Science & Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, said the Federal Government’s National Science, Technology and Innovation Roadmap will save the country about $11 billion in five years.
The federal government in August approved the 13-year National Science, Technology and Innovation Road Map starting from 2017 to 2030.
Mr. Onu said the roadmap would enhance the nation’s emerging post-crude oil economy, catalyse economic growth and boost competitiveness of the nation’s raw material endowment.
“This is the Road Map of all Road Maps. Other road maps have the life span of 3-5 years, but this road map of 13 years would outlive this present government and would also outlive my stay as the minister.
“If China with over one billion population could do it, Nigeria will. Our problem is not the population but to correct the mistakes our fathers made.
How well can we correct these mistakes? For experts in the field, the correction lies mainly with adequate funding of the sector.
“It is unfortunate that we keep talking about nuclear programme but the government is not spending on this,” Mr. Adesanmi Charles, a former DG of the nuclear centre said.
“Any programme that will gulp money, the government can propagate it but later turn their eye to it and nuclear technology is always expensive to run. They need to put more money. For example, nuclear technology can be used in power generation.
“We can ask our friends in other parts of the world to come and invest in nuclear technology but first, we must put our money down. It is business. We can get up to 5,000 megawatts from nuclear source in the next five years if we take deliberate steps. We can target.”
While experts continue to hope for better funding of the sector and the Minister continues to reel out the government’s plan, the centre lies abandoned by contractors and its own management.
This investigation is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, ICIR.
President Muhammadu Buhari has recalled how Nigeria used to export 100,000 barrels of refined crude oil every day during his regime as a military Head of State.
But Buhari also said it is a “disgraceful thing” that no refinery currently performs up to 50 percent capacity.
Femi Adesina, a presidential spokesman, quoted Buhari as saying this on Friday when he received a delegation of Eni, an international oil company, at the Aso Rock Villa.
“In my first coming, all our refineries were working. Port Harcourt used to refine 60,000 barrels per day, and it was later upgraded to 100,000 barrels. Kaduna and Warri were also working optimally, and we used to satisfy the demand of the local market.
“We equally exported 100,000 barrels of refined petrol. Now, no refinery is performing up to 50%. It is a disgraceful thing.”
Antonio Vella, Chief Upstream Officer of Eni, had earlier said that the oil company presented a technical proposal to the NNPC to rehabilitate the Port Harcourt refinery.
Vella also said that a feasibility study has been completed on the construction of a new refinery with the capacity of producing up to 150,000 barrels of petrol per day.
“Site selection has been completed, and 50 new graduates have already arrived in Italy for a training that will last seven months,” Vella told Buhari.
“There are other upstream initiatives, and a deep water project, with estimated expenditure of $13 billion.”
Vella also informed the President of Eni’s plans to increase the power generation capacity of its plant in Delta State from 500 MW to 1,000 MW, a project that is expected to cost about $750 million.
Abubakar Malami, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, says Abdulrasheed Maina is a patriotic Nigerian whose main objective is to provide information that would benefit the nation.
Therefore, Malami said he would “meet hundreds of Mainas again” if it would help protect the national interest.
He also said the information he got from Maina during their meeting in Dubai, “turned out to be substantially and factually correct”.
Maina is the former Chairman of the Pension Reforms Task Team (PRTT) who fled the country after he was sacked from the civil service and was later declared wanted by the Police and the EFCC for allegedly embezzling billions of pension funds.
Speaking during an interview with The Interview Magazine, Malami insisted that he did the right thing by deciding to meet with Maina even though he was already officially a fugitive.
“If hundreds of Mainas that believe they had information to offer as far as the protection of the national interest is concerned, I will meet them and I will do so again,” Malami said.
Malami, however, explained that his meeting with Maina was witnessed by Babagana Monguno, National Security Adviser, as well as Maina’s wife. He also said that he got clearance from Lawal Daura, Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), before agreeing to the meeting.
“The NSA and I met with him at the reception of the Emirate Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi. He came along with his wife. We were not aware that he was in the company of his wife,” Malami narrated.
“So we discussed. The discussion happened to be very meaningful, particularly from the point of national interest. It was a time that Maina intimated us to the fact that there exists a cartel, a syndicate within the pension scheme.
“The truth of the matter is that what was being paid as pension on a monthly basis was around N5bn or so. But the actual figure required for pension settlement per month was within the range of N1.3bn. The implication of what he was saying was that around N3.7bn or so went into personal pockets. He confided in me that there was an attempt on his life, when he had fallen out of favor with the syndicate.
“Back home, I looked at the information. I shared it within the government circle. We took advantage of the information provided by him and it turned out to be substantially and factually correct as it relates to a pensions syndicate, and also as it relates to ghost pensioners within the pension scheme. And it turned out to be beneficial as it reduced the pension wage by a sizable degree, that is N5bn to N1.3bn accordingly.
“So that is what happened. But one thing I want to put across clearly is the fact that our discussions with Maina were without any strings attached. He simply came to me as a patriotic Nigerian desirous of providing information that could be beneficial to the government.”
Malami agreed that his meeting with Maina was without the knowledge and consent of President Muhammadu Buhari, but that “much later, after we returned back home, I took Mr. President into confidence about the information”.
He also said that the information provided by Maina had led to the arrest of 14 suspected pension fraudsters, two of whom have already been convicted, while 12 other cases are at various levels of prosecution.
Nevertheless, Malami reiterated that he was not responsible for Maina’s secret reinstatement into the civil service, adding that “as far as the office of the Attorney General was concerned … the reinstatement of Maina, as at today, was a work in progress and no conclusion has been arrived at”.
About five years ago, in late January and early February 2013, The Guardian carried my three-part column titled “Struggling for seats in a sinking boat.” When, recently, I examined the first part of that series (the one that appeared on January 31, 2013), I was struck by the freshness of what I wrote. For a moment I thought I was commenting on the current situation.
Let me reproduce just a paragraph from that article: “Nigeria is currently like a sinking boat: Boko Haram; corruption and political economy of class and state robbery; state delinquency (that is rapidly acquiring features of failed state); mass poverty and dispossession; armed robbery and kidnapping; gross social inequality; unpatriotic ruling classes; marginalization and anomie; violence, mass insecurity and kindred social maladies – are, in their combined effect, literally sinking the country. In the midst of all this, the rulers are fighting for the next presidency. That is what I have likened to ‘fighting for seats in a sinking boat’”.
At the time I wrote the January 2013 article, the fight for Nigeria’s presidency was raging at two levels: At one level was the struggle within the former ruling party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the party of President Goodluck Jonathan. The primary struggle in the party was between those who wanted the president to be presented by the party in the 2015 presidential election and those who did not want him as their candidate. The secondary questions included where the PDP’s presidential candidate, other than President Jonathan, should come from: the North or the South?
At another level is the struggle between PDP on the one hand and the other ruling-class parties – which were then in the opposition – on the other hand. In the vanguard of this opposition were two parties: the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) led by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the Congress of Progressive Change (CPC) led by General Muhammadu Buhari. These two opposition parties, together with fractions of two other smaller parties – the All Nigerian Peoples Parties (ANPP) and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) – were soon to merge and become a “mega” party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The struggle between the PDP and the APC in the period between the emergence of the latter in 2013 and the 2015 presidential election was – to put the matter mildly – a struggle of hate. I can say that in my own conscious political experience the bitterness was comparable only to that which, towards the end of the First Republic (1960-1966), characterized the struggle between the Nigerian National Alliance (NNA) and the United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA). The debate between the ruling PDP and its ruling class opponents was as violent as debates in words could become.
Beyond that would be what Mao Zedung called “politics by other means.” To both the PDP presidency and its APC opponents the 2015 presidential election could only be deemed free and fair if their candidates won! In other words, if either party won, then the election would be considered unfree and unfair by its opponent. And violence would erupt! That was what the two sides literally threatened. No nation, no people could be more threatened and blackmailed by its rulers!
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), like the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) of the Second Republic (1979-1983), was deliberately created to be the largest, the most powerful and the most national of the parties of Nigeria’s ruling classes. The party came into being after the deaths of General Abacha and Chief Abiola in mid-1998. Its status as the largest party of the ruling class was formally confirmed in the February 1999 presidential election. From 1999 to 2013, that is, until the emergence of the All Progressives Congress (APC), PDP maintained and renewed that position. Then, through a thunderous political wave which started in Nigeria’s ruling class almost immediately after Jonathan’s victory in the 2011 presidential election, PDP’s hegemony in the ruling class, and hence in the country, began to be seriously challenged.
For the first time since independence, political hegemony passed from one ruling class party to another – without a military coup d’etat or war! But that was not all. The displacement of the PDP by APC happened before the March 2015 presidential election! The election – whether it was free and fair, or not – only confirmed this displacement. I still wonder how a serious student of society and politics, let alone a Marxist, could have given the PDP the slightest chance of defeating the APC in the 2015 presidential election. How could the PDP win when, before the contest, this ruling party had lost dominance and hegemony in the political class as well as among the masses? And beyond this, how could a ruling party in 2015 Nigeria retain power through an election taking place at a time it had lost actual control of the strategic institutions of state including those that would conduct the elections?
The general elections took place and APC won overwhelmingly at all levels. It assumed formal office on May 29, 2015 having assumed real power immediately it was declared the winner of the contest two months earlier. At the time the 2015 elections took place APC appeared – in membership, leadership, antecedents and rhetorics – to be more progressive than the PDP.
Now, just before the elections I was gripped by two real fears. The first fear arose from the possibility of emergence of armed support (state and non-state) – for either the PDP or the APC or both – before, during or after the elections. The other fear arose from the real possibility, not just of ruling class-induced crisis in the Left, but of massive co-optation of segments of the country’s poplar-democratic movement by these two parties or forces within them. The first fear did not materialize – at least not overtly. But my second fear partially materialized: large segments of the Left and popular-democratic forces were actually coopted into the APC where they became political militants.
Putting aside the Civil War tragedies in both wings of the Nigerian Left, it may be proposed that this type of massive ideological – political cooptation in the Left had, before the 2015 general elections, taken place only on three occasions. The first time was in (1963-1965) when fractions of the Left, including those that were described as “extreme tendencies”, teamed up with the opposition United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA) to confront the ruling Nigerian National Alliance (NNA). The second occasion was in 1983 when fractions of the Left teamed up with either the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) or the radical wing of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) in opposition to the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN). And the third time was in 1993 when large segments of the Left went into the campaign of Chief Moshood Abiola, the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
The difference between these earlier political alliances/cooptations (1964, 1983 and 1993) and the last one (2015) was that in the former the ruling class formations so enlarged and enriched by the Left did not gain power; but in the latter the “lucky” ruling class formation – in this case, the APC – came to power. Taking a long view of history, three connected questions then stand before the Nigerian Left. One: Did the country make a progressive breakthrough in 2015? Two: Is the Nigerian Left, together with its popular-democratic affiliates, now weaker or stronger as the real opposition to the exploiting and oppressive social order we are committed to abolishing? Three: Is the time not appropriate for the Nigerian Left to start reviewing (not abandoning!) its inherited and resilient theory and strategy of “electoral collaboration?”
Madunagu, mathematician and journalist, writes from Calabar, Cross River State.
