Buhari: How We Intend to Fund N6 Trillion Budget

President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Nigerians that by blocking all leakages in revenue generation and eliminating waste, the country will generate enough revenue from internal sources to finance the N6 trillion budget he submitted to the National Assembly last week.

The president spoke in an interview with Mansur Liman of the BBC Hausa service on Christmas eve.

The president said: “As a government, we inherited N1.5 trillion domestic debt and when foreign debt is added, we have about N2.2 trillion. Everybody knows Nigeria is not a poor country, we are rich, and we have human resources. The problem was that the leadership did not take seriously, curbing corrupt tendencies.

“Apart from highlighting our debt profile, we have also shown the changes we have made in the Customs Service. For instance, how much we are making from the Customs Service, how much from petroleum, that is NNPC; how much we are making from the ports.
“There have been lots of leakages in these sectors. If we block these leakages, we would make much more money to run the country despite the fall in the price of oil.”

The president said he believed that once those who are at the helms of affairs in revenue generating institutions shun corruption those working under them would follow suit.

He said: “It is generally believed that a fish begins to rot from the head; once the head is rotten, the whole body is also rotten. We have tried to remove all the heads of the organisations, and most of the lieutenants have been changed.

“A lot is happening in this government that people do not appear to understand; many permanent secretaries of ministries have been changed; we used to have 42 ministers, now we have 36 because the constitution requires that each state of the federation must have a minister. Also, we used to have 42 ministries, now we have 24.”

He explained that his budget was premised on the need to restore peace, build infrastructure and create jobs.

He said: “Remember during the campaigns, we said Nigeria is facing three things and nobody disputed that assertion. Firstly, there was widespread insecurity – a war in the north-east, while the country’s oil was being stolen at random in the south; secondly, there is massive unemployment, 62 per cent of the nation’s population are youths from the age of 35 years downward and most of them are unemployed, including those who went to school and those who did not, that is a serious problem.

“Therefore, it is necessary to restore peace and create employment. That is why we are returning to agriculture and mineral resources.
“Thirdly, bribery and corruption was basically suffocating the country. If we don’t kill these monsters, this country would go down. That is why those who stole monies meant for arms procurement and shared it among themselves are being arrested and are being shown documents so that they would be asked to refund the money or face prosecution.

“We would use those documents to prove what they stole, collect all the assets acquired from the proceeds and then jail them.”
On his plan to pay poor and vulnerable Nigerians N5,000 monthly, the president admitted that it might not be possible for everyone eligible for the stipend to get it.

However, he said the federal government would collaborate with the states and local governments to implement it.

According to him, at the local government level, almost everyone knows one another.

“It would be easy to identify those to give who would go into trading and how to get it back. It would be like a cooperative and we all know how it operates.

“Also, state governments would identify those who have the capacity to employ more people and all we need to do is to empower them. Our people already know how to go about implementing these modalities to create employment for the citizens,” he added.

On the marching order he gave to the military to end the Boko Haram insurgency by December 31 and the likelihood of not meeting that deadline, Buhari said: “I want people to understand that after I settled down and got a good grasp of what the country was going through, we removed all the service chiefs and appointed new ones.

“We also undertook an investigation and found out how the monies meant for arms procurement were diverted and shared by officials in the last administration.

“They sent the boys to the war front without arms and ammunition, leading some of them to mutiny after which they were arrested and detained.

“We have been able to raise money and fund the war. Go and ask the people of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, how many of their local governments were under the control of insurgents? And how many are currently still under the insurgents.

“May be we would not win the war completely by the end of the month, but the insurgents have now resorted to putting on explosive vests on young children, mostly girls aged 15 and below and then sending them to markets, mosques and churches to detonate.

“Boko Haram itself knows that the era of them taking over communities and local governments is over. If people would be fair to us, they would know that the Nigerian Army has basically met the deadline and are winning the war.

“You cannot find any significant number of Boko Haram members in Adamawa and Yobe, only may be in about three local governments of Borno, in the area around our borders with Chad Republic. They are not in a position to threaten Nigeria now, so we have won.”

North Will Vote Out Buhari, APC in 2019 — Iwuanyanwu

A one-time Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) aspirant for the the national chairmanship position, Chief Chyna Iwuanyanwu has claimed that the north will vote out the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its present political office holders in 2019.

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Chief Chyna Iwuanyanwu

He said that the PDP will win back all the elective positions by restoring the principle of zoning it failed to adhere to in the previous two general elections.

He said: “Most of the Northern elites who are elite, who belong to the aristo­cratic class, they are scared about the despotism that is going on now, but they just wanted power to come to the north. Power has come to the North but this isn’t the power they are look­ing for!”

President Muhammadu Buhari, who said he believes he will provide Nigeria with good leadership in an interview with the BBC, said Nigeria is a rich country and has no business being poor. However, he observed that the main challenge the country had been facing was that of leadership which will be addressed by him.

Politics; You're a Disgrace to our Social Pride - Ekiti Youths Blast Gov Fayose

Nigeria - Youths under the aegis of Ekiti Kete Youth Forum, EKYF, have governor Ayodele Fayose as a social disgrace to the common pride of the people of the state due to his unwholesome behavior.

In a statement issued its Director of Publicity, Tope Idowu, the group condemned Fayose’s idea of mocking the sensibility of Ekiti people, by taking the advantage of their status and celebrate poverty for them like Christmas instead of eradicating it, under the deceit of “Stomach infrastructure.”

“It is unheard of that Governor Fayose, instead of facing serious governance, has rather become common in the market as a seller of pepper, meat, fish, palm oil and so on. An act which has not only denigrated the highly esteemed office, but also deceitful as it aims at distracting the people from noticing his criminal tendencies towards serious governance.

“Since Fayose resumed office as the Governor of Ekiti on16 October, 2014, Ekiti has always been in the news for wrong reasons, due to series of shameful and uncultured acts being exhibited by Mr. Fayose on a daily basis, as he has also neglected his responsibility as a governor of a state and unofficially assumed the responsibility of the spokesperson of the opposition party (People’s Democratic Party) in the country.

“We are not unaware of what can least be called the highest level of irresponsibility on the part of the Governor, the idea of importing Sex Workers from Canada, South Africa and Ghana everyday for all night-party in the government house and these girls path everyday with thousands of U.S dollars, while the workers go home every month without being paid their due entitlements,” the statement said.

“We also lament the high level of unemployment of youths in Ekiti State, as it is most unfortunate that Mr. Fayose has not created any meaningful job opportunity for youths in the state since he became the Governor. Rather, he derives pleasure engaging them in immoralities and mobilize them as praise singers and social media propagandists by giving them peanuts, thus subjecting them to financial slavery and moral relegation, while his sons are flexing exotic cars which they bought with the commonwealth of Ekiti people,” it stated.

The youths also condemned the inability of Fayose to meet up with his obligations as the governor by paying the arrears and the salaries of the workers, even after getting bailout from the federal government.

They said the fact that Ekiti State is only a civil service, and that the civil servants were not being duly paid and businesses not moving, “yet Mr. Governor is less concerned about their welfare, this has informed our strongly condemning his idea of imposing heavy tax on the governed even with their small scale businesses, the tipper drivers and meat sellers who are struggling to feed their families.

“After critical rumination over these reasons, we are of great concern over the humiliation and shame that the style of leadership of Mr. Ayodele Fayose has brought upon the people of Ekiti within his short time in office, we hereby pray that as a matter of urgency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission wades into the financial situation of Ekiti State, and conducts a financial auditing from the 16th October, 2014 till present the present month, and asks questions on how the fund Ekiti State government got from the federal government as bailout was appropriated or misappropriated.

“We also call on the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to conduct a serious search on the Mr. Fayose, and his personal business associates. As we are not unaware that Mr. Fayose most times acts under the influence of hard substances (drugs) and his involvement in illicit business transactions. We pray that quick medical attention is granted to Mr. Fayose, as we are of strong believe that he is psychologically unstable, thus requires psychiatric attention,” they said.

ASCSN hails planned recruitment of 500,000 teachers

Friday Olokor

The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria has commended the Federal Government for the N6.08tn 2016 budget, describing the planned recruitment of 500,000 teachers as timely.

The organisation, however, advised the Federal Government to implement the content of the budget for the benefit of Nigerians.

“On the whole, we are happy that instead of talking about austerity measures, the government has decided to put more money in the economy, a scenario that has the potential of bringing more resources to the poorest of Nigerians which would also impact positively on major economic variables,” ASCSN emphasised.

A statement issued by the National President of ASCSN, Mr. Bobboi Kaigama, and its Secretary-General, Alade Lawal, said the planned recruitment of 500,000 unemployed graduates and holders of the National Certificate of Education as teachers “would curb the escalating rate of unemployment in the country.”

“We also commend Mr. President for his decision to ensure that all the federal ministries, departments and agencies are captured and brought under the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System because this will not only reduce the burden of manual preparation of payroll but also curb cases of corruption in the system,” the union said.

While praising the government for its resolve to compile the list of the poorest Nigerians in order to implement its cash transfer programme, the association stressed the need for the policy to be transparent, inclusive and without discrimination.

“We must equally express joy in the decision of government to make good its promise to provide a meal per day for primary school pupils. We, however, frowned on the decision of the government that fuel subsidy would not be removed “for now” because the impression had been created that it might be removed later, more-so that no provision was made for fuel subsidy in the budget estimate,” ASCSN stressed.

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Boko Haram attacks Maiduguri with female suicide bombers

Kayode Idowu

The terrorist sect, Boko Haram has left people in troubled Maiduguri anxious and frightened after unleashing female suicide bombers on the Borno State capital.

Over 60 persons have been killed in attacks by the insurgents in the last 24 hours on the town.

Many of the attacks were from female suicide bombers smuggled by the insurgents into the town after confrontations with the military believed to be a decoy.

A member of youth vigilance group who spoke anonymously to our correspondent, noted that the armed confrontations of the sect with the military was nothing but diversionary as the main plan was to smuggling female suicide bombers into the troubled town.

He said there were diversionary attacks at Alidawari and Jiddari Polo areas on Sunday evening.

He explained at Alidawari, the military engaged the terrorists in an attack where four corpses were initially seen on Sunday night.

He, however, said that nine other corpses were found in surrounding bushes on Monday morning.

He said most of those killed are believed to be residents of the area fleeing the troubled spot but were felled by strayed bullets.

The source said the insurgents struck again on Sunday at about 7:30pm at Jiddari Polo, during which they attacked a local beer parlour which they burnt down after killing two persons.

He said they moved from the beer parlour to a house which they razed and killed its residents, an entire family.

They left the house with the car of the owner of the razed building, but were pushed back by the military during which nine persons were killed in the attack where RPGs were deployed.

He said, “In what I believe was the main purpose of their (insurgents) siege on Maiduguri, a female suicide bomber killed two persons when she detonated a bomb strapped on her.”

He also said there was another attack on Sunday at Isari village behind the Maiduguri NNPC Mega Filling Station where two female suicide bombers that pretended they were fleeing from insurgency attacks detonated bombs which killed 19 persons.

He said, “Two female suicide bombers ran into households in Isari as if they were fleeing from attacks in part of the town, detonated bombs that killed nineteen other persons.”

He lamented that the attacks extended to Monday morning with two female suicide bombers approaching a group of men warming up themselves from a bonfire set at the residence of a local chief (Bulama).

He said, “About 40 persons were killed by two female suicide bombers who ran into them at Sulemanti ward within Polo area at the residence of the Bulama beside a mosque warming up themselves with fire they set up.”

In a statement by the Media Coordinator of Operation Lafiya Dole, Col. Mustapha Anka, the military said it had intercepted and destroyed 10 suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers on the outskirts of Maiduguri.

The statement read in part, “Contrary to earlier  media reports  and rumours flying around, two Boko Haram terrorists suspected suicide bombers earlier  intercepted by vigilant troops disclosed their colleagues intent to enter the city with the  aim of detonating bombs in selected public places.

“Consequently, the troops laid ambush on the terrorists suspected routes along Damboa road and eliminated them. The suicide bombers were intercepted in three different locations approaching the city; Ajiri area towards Damboa road, High Court axis and the Eye Hospital Area.

“The Explosive Ordinance Device team have been mobilised and they are combing the general area as well as clearing the debris.  Normalcy has been restored to the general area and the public are please advised to go about their normal businesses and social activities. However, it is important to maintain more vigilance and security consciousness.”

Our correspondents could however report that there is growing apprehension among the people of the town that female suicide bombers may be on the prowl.

The security screening has been heightened at all checkpoints in the town and at public institutions.

CROSS RIVER CONVERSATION 9 THE ROLE OF THE ORGANIZED PRIVATE SECTOR IN ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN CROSS RIVER STATE

Against the backdrop of the recent passing of the Cross River State Sustainable Development Goals Agency Bill 2015 by the Cross River State House of Assembly and anticipation of signing it into law by the Governor of Cross River State Sen. Prof. Ben Ayade, I will like to take a critical look at the role of the Organized Private Sector is expected to play in achieving Sustainable Development Goals in the state.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was launched at the 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States which took place from the 25th to the 27th of September, 2015. The Sustainable Development Goals SDGs are envisioned to replace the Millenium Development Goals MDGs, as these wind-down at the end of 2015.

The Hon. Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly Rt. Honorable John Gaul Lebo and the Chairman of the House Committee on International Development and Sustainable Development Goals Hon. Peter Odey attended the UN General Assembly and were part of the launching of the Sustainable Development Goals which afforded them the opportunity to learn more about the opportunities this provides the state and thus key in maximally to the initiative.

These and many other actions have made Cross River State a premier state in the domestication of the Sustainable Development Goals globally. Cross River State had earlier been celebrated as a leading state in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals and has taken the lead again in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The success of this will require the contribution of all stakeholders including the Organized Private Sector in the state. This will be the focus of this treatise.

The Sustainable Development Goals will be operative from 2016 to 2030 and is made up of;

• A universal set of 17 proposed sustainable development goals (SDGs) with 169 associated targets;
• A new framework for the sustainable financing of development, which is one of the most critical means of implementation for the emerging global development agenda; and
• A new universal climate agreement, with specific climate actions.

The General Assembly and Sustainable Development Goals Launch had in attendance heads of Governments and Private Businesses around the world, the civil society, UN delegates, members of the press and many others. The three days featured a mixture of plenary meetings and “interactive dialogues” on the main themes of the SDGs – including ending poverty, tackling inequality and combating climate change.

Below is a lineup of the 17 goals:

1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

Progress on sustainable development will be contingent on:

• Robust and high quality inclusive growth accompanied by job generation, with benefits shared widely across society;
• Effective domestic and global governance mechanisms that support corporate and environment sustainability and climate action;
• The ability of Governments to better leverage the strengths and resources of the private sector for sustainable development; and
• Augmenting multilateral frameworks to harness finance; trade; and science and technology.

How can we promote private sector partnership required to achieve these goals?

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaking at a United Nations forum said “Governments must take the lead in living up to their pledges. At the same time, I am counting on the private sector to drive success. Now is the time to mobilize the global business community as never before. The case is clear. Realizing the Sustainable Development Goals will improve the environment for doing business and building markets. Trillions of dollars in public and private funds are to be redirected towards the SDGs, creating huge opportunities for responsible companies to deliver solutions.”

He added “The SDGs are unprecedented in their ambition – but the fundamental ways that business can contribute remain unchanged, first, companies need to do business responsibly and then pursue new opportunities. In short, companies must not make our world’s problems worse before they try to make them better.”

Ban Ki-moon’s speech is instructive and shows clearly the critical role of the private sector in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals globally.

Goals 7, 8 and 9, are all tied to private sector inputs. These are capped and cemented by goal 17 which calls for; strengthening the means of implementation and revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development. This partnership is at the very core of the role of the private sector.

Specifically, there is need for an urgent transition to sustainable development approaches, supported by global cooperation at an unprecedented scale in technology development and diffusion, which allows switching for adoption of low-carbon sustainable technologies and employment of greener energy alternatives. The private sector’s role in pursuing these low carbon paths is critical.

The Organized Private Sector must also seek to mobilize a much larger and more varied set of financial resources for the purpose of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Of course, national and state governments will continue to have a primary responsibility for financing and managing their own development but that will not be enough.

The United Nations recently launched a new tool – the SDG compass to make it easy for every business in the world to look at the SDGs, to align their strategies, to master and manage the things that are going to help contribute to those SDGs and to be transparent about the progress made. This was communicated by Peter Bagger, President and CEO of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

The guide outlines five steps for companies to maximize their contribution to the global goals – understanding the SDGs, defining priorities, setting goals, then integrating, reporting and communicating on them.

As Cross River State leads other states in Nigeria in designing policies and structures for the effective implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in the country, I will like to appreciate the Hon. Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly Rt. Hon. John Gaul Lebo for showing leadership in the process. The Hon. Speaker communicating on the need for Cross River State to internalize the SDGs said:

“CRS must design its own model and concept of the SDG around the philosophy and value chain of the 17 goals and 169 targets. In designing the CRS Model of SDG, the following key steps will be crucially fundamental.

1) The state must present and analyze its END POINT REPORT of the CR-MDGs.
2) The State must admit areas of failures in the MDG implementation scheme and learn from these.
3) The state must admit and identify some unfinished business in the MDGs and carry it forward.
4) The House must domesticate the 17 goals as part of the state development agenda and internalize or mainstream them.
5) The State must identify further sustainable development agenda that is peculiar to our peculiar domestic need assessment.
6) The House must urgently develop various strategic institutional Infrastructure and regulatory framework for the 17 goals.
7) The State must Continue to build the Sector Wide Approach Strategy already passed by the 7th Assembly, which is now adapted to the SDGs.
8) The State must identify quick wins from the 17 goals of the SDGs and install a Success Strategy for the CR SDGs.
9) The State must utilized the CR COUNTERPART FUND ACCOUNT LAW to finance the CR SDGs.
10) A strong Accountability framework, Monitoring & Evaluation, Legislative Oversight and Institutional capacity are also required.

If we can focus on these core issues, then we can be assured that we have instituted a Solution Architecture for CR-SDGs.”

The Governor of Cross River State Hon. Prof. Benedict Ayade has also shown commitment to the success of the initiative in the state by creating the Ministry of Sustainable Development Goals and Social Welfare with a commissioner and also appointing a core development consultant in the person of Hon. Nkoyo Toyo as Lead Special Advisor on SDGs.

As the Cross River State Sustainable Development Goals Agency Bill 2015 is signed into law by the Executive Governor, there is need for the Organized Private Sector in the state to take leadership and partner the government through this agency and the Ministry to ensure the success of the Sustainable Development Goals project.

The Ministry of Sustainable Development and Social Welfare and the leadership of the new agency must quickly create a platform for effective engagement of the Government Stakeholders, the Organized Private Sector, the Civil Society and Donor Agencies to engage on the effective implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in Cross River State.

Just as Cross River State was a leading state in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, the state must maintain this leading position in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and do more to achieve better results in the years to come. The Organized Private Sector under the leadership of Mrs. Thelma Bello, the President of Calabar Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture CALCIMA, must be seen as a key partner if this must be achieved.

As we look forward to seeing this synergy yield result in the state, we wish all stakeholders the best as they work to achieve the outlined goals in the next 15 years.

Best Regards.
Emmanuel Etim is a development consultant based in Nigeria

Pat Utomi Prize for Students’ Debate on Public Policy 2016

Pat Utomi Prize for Students’ Debate on Public Policy 2016 is designed to be an annual debate festival that shall revive and stimulate the fast eroding culture of students’ debates in campuses on government policies, programs and public affairs in Nigeria. Each year, interested students from tertiary institutions in Nigeria shall participate in preliminaries to qualify for the grand finale scheduled to hold every 6th February alongside Prof Patrick Utomi’s birthday commemoration and annual lecture.

During the first quarter of Nigeria’s independence, tertiary institutions were known for great lectures and intellectually stimulating debates among students on different government policies and programs. Our tertiary institutions were known as a source for providing alternate and qualitative views on public affairs which government and social institutions considered in framing policy and program directions. It is therefore no wonder that in 1976, Prof Pat Utomi as a 19 year old 300 level student of the University of Nsukka, in then Old Anambra State of Nigeria, wrote to and invited the late Amb. Joe Garba who was then Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs to come for a debate in his Campus with students on Nigeria’s Foreign Policy. Indeed Amb. Joe Garba honoured the invitation and flew all the way from Lagos to the University of Nsukka to debate and interact with students! What gave Prof Pat Utomi the confidence to invite the then serving Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria to his school for a debate was because it was an integral part of school and students activities to engage in robust debate on national issues. Today, that culture has been replaced with music and dance competitions, beauty pageants and lotteries. There is indeed a great need to resuscitate that culture of debating and intellectual exchanges among our students to spur a new culture of intellectualism among next generation students and leaders.

Prizes

Star Prize – N750,000.  Second Prize – N500,000. Third Prize – N250,000

Modality

Phase 1

Students in legally registered  higher institutions in Nigeria who are interested shall record a 2 minutes video and submit for screening and selection. 16 highest scoring applicants shall be selected for the next phase.

Phase 2

The 16 selected debaters shall converge in Abuja for a 1 day preliminary debate on 14 January, 2016. After the preliminary debate, 4 Debaters shall emerge to proceed to the grand finale.

Grand Finale

The last round of the debate between 4 finalists shall happen on 6th February, 2016 during the CVL Annual Lecture and commemoration of Prof Pat Utomi’s birthday in Lagos, Nigeria.

How To Participate

Step One
Record a 2 minutes video of yourself speaking on the topic “Should skills acquisition be mandatory for tertiary institutions?”

Step Two
Upload your video to your YouTube account

Step Three
Complete the Online Submission Form

Deadline for Submissions

January 8, 2016.

Eligibility

Undergraduates of legally registered tertiary institutions in Nigeria, below 27 years of age.

Youths wake up