DESMOPEDIA-BLOG: The Pythons From Doden Barracks

DESMOPEDIA-BLOG: The Pythons From Doden Barracks: ... An Allegory of the Nigerian Ordeal By Desmond O. Agwunobi A smart Professor friend of mine once asked, "where is Nigeria?&quo...

DESMOPEDIA-BLOG: The Pythons From Doden Barracks

DESMOPEDIA-BLOG: The Pythons From Doden Barracks: ... An Allegory of the Nigerian Ordeal By Desmond O. Agwunobi A smart Professor friend of mine once asked, "where is Nigeria?&quo...

The Pythons From Doden Barracks

...An Allegory of the Nigerian Ordeal

By Desmond O. Agwunobi

A smart Professor friend of mine once asked, "where is Nigeria?" In order to understand where Nigeria is, I responded by painting an allegorical picture of what happened to Nigeria. Check it out below:

Several pythons that danced from the Doden Barracks to Aso Rock for several years left the socio-economic & political ecosystems of Nigeria in ruins. Those pythons continued their catastrophic dancing from the Northern Savannah to the Rain & Mangrove forests of the South. The sad story is that as they danced, their audience clapped in rhythm as they sang... As they danced, they swallowed the resources meant for the sustenance of other species of organisms and their progeny. Unfortunately, as some organisms were trying to escape the ravaged ecosystem, they became economic migrants and were eaten up by the torrid sands of the Sahara desert, others were swallowed by the raging tempest of the Mediterranean sea; while the survived ones were sold as cheap as $400 at Libya.

The pathetic aspect is that the supposedly ecological successions that took place in the Nigerian socio-economic and political ecosystem were nothing else but same pythons and their descendants masquerading as harmless creatures, claiming to be on a mission to restore an ecosystem whose integrity has been long compromised "beyond repair". Oh...from where would that ameliorative glimmer of hope come from to assuage this perturbed ecosystem?

As 2019 is fast approaching, it is time for the other intelligent organisms to come together and synergistically chase these pythons out of the system. More importantly,  let the eagles arise and defeat these pythons. Let the young eagles take over the ecosystem of Nigeria; because when the eagles are in charge, Nigeria will soar and rise to take her place in the comity of nations.

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Nigeria's Most Cerebral Senate President

By Desmond O. Agwunobi

The most scholastic Senate President that has ever existed in the political and intellectual landscape of Nigeria is Dr.Chuba Wilberforce Okadigbo. He was a great orator, activist, philosopher, publisher and traditionalist who displayed great mastery of political intrigues. Okadigbo brought panache and dignity to the office of Senate President. His verbosity combined seamlessly with his Igbo cultural inclinations, gave the office of Senate President the kind of elegance that was lacking in the previous Enwerem senate. He was colourful, flamboyant and sometimes controversial in his activist life. A native of Anambra State, Okadigbo was born on December 17, 1941. He was often referred to as Oyi of Oyi – a traditional title in reference to his local government council area known as Oyi. Okadigbo was married to Margery and they have children although he had other kids before then.


Dr. Chuba Okadigbo

Okadigbo had his first degree from Blackenburge College of Technology in Germany (1963), Master’s degree in Philosophy from the Karl Marx University, Leipzig, Germany (1967), another Master’s degree and PhD in Philosophy from the Catholic University of America, Washington DC in 1972 and 1975 respectively. Thereafter, he became Assistant Professor, later Adjunct Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of the District of Columbia; Adjunct Assistant Professor of Politics the Catholic University of America, and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Politics Howard University. He accomplished all these from 1973 to 1975. Between 1975 and 1978, he became Director-General Centre for Interdisciplinary and Political Studies, and a lecturer in Philosophy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He also became a Professor of Philosophy, Bigard Memorial Senior Seminary [Roman Catholic Mission] in Enugu State.

Okadigbo was President Shehu Shagari’s political adviser between 1979 and 1983. He was a key negotiator for Nigeria’s government led at the time by Shagari in securing the return of Biafra’s leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. At the dawn of the fourth republic, Okadigbo successfully contested and won the election into the National Assembly to represent Anambra North Senatorial District. He became President of the Nigerian Senate, after the impeachment of Evan Enwerem. However, he was later falsely charged of corruption in the year 2000 and was impeached, officially demoting him from Senate President to a Senator. He decamped to the all Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in 2002 to become Muhammadu Buhari’s running mate in the 2003 presidential elections.

The circumstances surrounding Okadigbo’s death in September 25, 2003, a day after campaigning in Kano State, was highly controversial. It was reported on the Voice of America (VOA) Hausa Service that Okadigbo may have died from the impact of an “offensive liquid” which the Nigerian police poured on ANPP leaders dignitaries at the Kano rally.

Herein lies the true legacy of an erudite orator – Okadigbo’s pragmatic philosophy of Handshake across the Niger. Okadigbo achieved most of his ambitions with an erudite mind and powerful political connections. Perhaps, he could have even achieved more with just a little more discipline. Whatever the case may be, Chuba Okadigbo’s imprints on the sands of Nigeria’s politics cannot be ignored.

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WHICH PUBLIC SERVICE IS IN NEED OF A REDESIGN IN NIGERIA?

By Desmond O. Agwunobi

One of the hallmarks of developed economies of the world is an efficient and effective public service. It is no rocket science to observe that the extent to which a nation is developed is a function of the magnitude of the effectiveness and efficiency of its public service. This accounts for the corelation that exists between under-developed countries and dysfunctional public service. Of course, Nigeria, with its vast potential as one of the top developing nations, is not an exception. The quality of her public servant and the services they provide for the nation leaves much to be desired. When a country sacrifices meritocracy at the altar of mediocrity, it is only going to be natural for her to manifest perpetual under-development.

It is quite obvious that virtually all public service in Nigeria is in need of a redesign but that of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) is something else. Falling victim of a police case in Nigeria is an encounter better to be imagined than experienced. It is worthy of note that the level of dysfunctionality in the Nigeria Police Force is on a monumental proportion. A state of emergency should be declared on the NPF owing to the magnitude of its dysfunctional operations. Thus, it is desperately and drastically in need of a redesign.

By whatever standard, the Nigerian Police Force has failed in its assigned role of serving and protecting Nigerians. Recently, there was social media meltdown with respect to the activities of an aspect of NPF known as the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). The trending hash tag on twitter was #EndSars. The level of horrendous cruelty, savagery and extra-judicial killings going on in SARS has long reached an alarming proportion. This is the natural product of a public service system that has long tolerated the culture of impunity and corruption. No wonder the score sheet of the World Internal Security and Police Index International rated the Nigeria Police Force as the worst police force in the world.

If a redesign of NPF is not carried out and the status quo continues, the hope of Nigeria becoming one of the great developed nations of the world will only remain at the realms of probabilistic conjecture. Hence, all the reports on police reform carried out by various organizations and civil society panel which have been left on the shelves should be dusted and judiciously implemented.

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Reflection on Nigeria's 2014 Economy

by Desmond Onyeka Agwunobi

Below is an article I wrote towards the end of 2014 during the administration of Dr. Goodluck Ebere Jonathan. Subsequently, that administration ended the following year by May, 2015. The article is now like a throwback and a reflection of Nigeria's 2014 economy. It was equally an economic prognosis of Nigeria. The article was then submitted to Rennaissanceafrica Company Limited and it was regarded as one of the best because it accurately pictured the Nigerian economic situation. It analysed where we were and the way forward for Nigeria.

Way back when things were not as bad as they are now, it was Dr. Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala that was the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy. According to Forbes website, she helped Nigeria's economy grow an average of 6% (per annum) over three years and thus, becoming the largest economy in Africa. She was credited with developing reform programs that helped improve governmental transparency and stabilizing the economy.

Although due to high political sentiment and propaganda, many Nigerians could not appreciate her work then. But I am sure that seeing the extent our economy has gone bad today, many would be appreciating and desiring the good old days when Dr. Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was the Coordinating Minister of the Economy. Read and reflect on the article below:
 

DIVERSIFYING THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY: AN IMMINENT IMPERATIVE
December 19, 2014

By Desmond O. Agwunobi

                                           

It is no longer news that the crude oil price has dropped below Nigeria’s budget benchmark for the third time. Consequently, another downward review of the 2015 budget is on the way. Within a couple of weeks, the Federal Government has changed its benchmark twice from $78 to $73 and lately to $65. The fact that the United States of America – the major consumer of our product backed out a couple of months ago has not really helped matters. Nigeria is a mono product based economy. And that is why the issue of economic diversification is timely and a subject for serious deliberation.

Why is Nigeria as a nation sweating over the global dwindling of the price of crude oil? It is simply because her economy is crude oil driven. It is no rocket science to know that Nigeria’s economy is mono product based. No wonder it is subject to the vagaries of volatility. The oil price, which accounts for more than 70 percent of government revenue and 95 percent of foreign-exchange income, has fallen by 37 percent in 2014. With the current trend, the projection of experts is that crude oil price would still fall to $50 per barrel over the coming months as market forces shake out the weakest producers, hence the need to diversify the economy.

Should the current fall in crude prices continue over a longer period, years of austerity would be inevitable for Nigeria. Over the years, the leadership of the country has shown a lack of fiscal discipline. It has been from one story of corruption and administrative profligacy to another. They have been largely prodigal and wasteful.

For well over a decade, Nigeria has benefited from oil boom as oil prices have consistently been above the budgeted price. Enough should have been saved to cushion the effects of the current slide in oil price. More importantly, the government should have channeled the profits to other vital sectors of the economy. By now, other sectors should have generated substantial foreign exchange equivalent or even more to that of crude oil. Currently, the masses especially those occupying the lower echelon of the economic ladder are seriously paying for the years of administrative profligacy and prodigality of its leadership. The gap between the rich and the poor is still wide indicating under-development. Hence, the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer.

The failure of government to use oil funds to transform other sectors of the economy has led to lack of sustainable overall economic development and this leaves the country in a greater state of foreign dependence. One of the sectors that have felt the negative impacts of crude oil discovery is agriculture. Agriculture was the main foreign exchange earners for Nigeria before the advent of petroleum. Agriculture has suffered total neglect and patronage by government. A World Bank report in the 1950s indicates that Nigeria had tremendous agricultural potential – enough to produce crops for itself and for export. However, with a rapidly declining agricultural industry, Nigeria imports many of the crops it used to export such as cocoa, palm oil and groundnuts.

Furthermore, the issue of pollution has taken a toll on our environment. Oil exploration and production activities had produced polluted creeks, rivers, land and other water bodies. This resulted in the destruction of aquatic life in the region, erosion, deforestation and destroyed farmland in this agricultural region. Indeed, activities associated with oil exploration activities have compromised the integrity of our ecosystem and made it unsuitable for agricultural and other economic activities to flourish.

The huge revenue realized from oil windfall made the government of Nigeria to loose focus. Efforts and attention is concentrated on oil industry. The non-oil industry such as solid minerals, agriculture, tourism, aviation and many more has been underutilized. Their full capacity for contribution to the national coffers has not been developed.

However, it is imperative for Nigeria to find ways to diversify her economy. This should no longer be just an official mantra. With the current reality in the global oil market, Nigeria must start to ‘walk the talk’. The non-oil sector that has dominated the structure of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) should start to contribute similar proportion to revenue base of the country. It is time to locally transform our crude oil and natural gas by adding values to create products like Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), fertilizers, electricity, petrochemical products, plastic products, among others. This will create a lot jobs for the economy and boost the integration of oil and gas sector with the rest of the economy.

But there is something crucial. The issue of corruption has to be addressed. Corruption renders every economic policy ineffective and useless. I once said on the electronic media (Television) that if corruption is eradicated in Nigeria, every economic policy will work. The economy is on downward spiral because of the cumulative effects of the corrupt practices of past administrations. Corruption leads to underdevelopment. No wonder my favourite lecturer in the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) always says: “while the developed countries are busy developing development, Nigeria is busy developing underdevelopment”. In order to checkmate corruption, the government has to revamp the anti-graft agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). Appropriate punitive measures have to be dished out to individuals guilty of corrupt practices no matter how highly placed. The Judiciary should live up to expectation; all prosecutorial misconduct to shield corrupt individuals in high places should be abhorred.

Economic diversification is vital to Nigeria’s long-term economic growth. Her mono product economy is facing serious challenge in sustaining growth because of swings in prices of crude oil at the international market. A successful diversification plan requires strong political will on the part of the leadership to execute firm political commitment, consistent public policies and substantial financial resources. The government has to create enabling economic environment for the participation of the private sector. Entrepreneurship and the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) have to be encouraged.

In conclusion, nobody knows exactly whether the current trend in oil price is a new long term trend or simply, short term volatility. Whatever it turns out to be, it is a message for the government of Nigeria to reset and rebalance the economy.

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