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| by Nze Okee Igboegbunam Onenulu-Ozo |
Clutching a copy of “INVEST IN NIGERIA 2010,” a Newsdesk Communications Ltd publication (in partnership with the Nigeria High Commission London), and reading from its 10th page entry by Patrick Abuka, the Managing Partner of Abuka & Partners. It was titled “The legal framework for foreign direct investment in Nigeria.” In it, Mr. Abuka patriotically highlighted the legal requirements for doing business in Nigeria. He did the right thing in assuring would-be and prospective investors that “Nigeria is a dominant business hub and, with large sea and international standard airports, the gateway to the continent of Africa.” In a beautiful format, he reeled out the basics, from statutory to the ordinary and was very generous as he advertised a Nigeria that “provides attractive opportunities for progressive prosperity for investors.”
And in playing down the derisory of the Nigeria contradiction, he wrote: “Nevertheless, there are challenges, especially in the areas of infrastructure, such as inadequate power supply, poor road networks, transport systems, and some political risk.” Though I may be a firm believer in the potentiality of Nigeria to become Africa’s economic vista yet, the wobbly juxtaposition of her endowments with its unpleasant performance is discombobulating.
From that read, I picked the “challenges” as the not-spoken-well aspect of Nigeria socio-economic technocracy. Evidently, the social, political and economic agraphon of Nigeria’s under-development is the less tinkering on its challenges, not the mouthing and exhibiting of divisive tendencies that has become problematic and overkill. I am musing over how one can tell a potential suitor the defects inherent in his bride-to-be and expect him to lead procession. Even with or without any promissory, the information is bound to give him some faculties. With all its merits, the irony of self flagellation, immolation and pitiful excuses are what investors need to hear –they are what will make them to keep their money safe and away from Nigeria forever!
So putting our mouths where the words need speaking, we may ask Nigeria’s policy makers who packaged the beautiful publication in the light of its “Forewords” thus:
- In realizing the Nigeria potentials, where lies the fulcrum of development?
- Becoming a global player, can it be without a sustainably prioritized master plan?
- As a country that is building valuable relationships in a global competition, what evidences do we showcase with timeliness beside our one-step-forward, two-steps-backward lingo?
The unfortunate thing with Nigerian economics is that of argot implantation and the inability of watchers to call danger danger. Quite disturbing is the equanimity of government in making molehills of its monumental failures to provide basic framework beyond non-sequitur verbosity such that our advisers are confusing Contract Inducement (‘payment-is-easy-and-ready’) with Investment Inducement (be-convinced-and-stake-your-capital). The government publication (‘Invest in Nigeria’) is about INVESTMENT. It purveyed our true potentials without buying the outsider-trust, without showing the convincing and commensurate evidences that we are ready to play –not just for the changing sake, but with the inward transformations needed to become a responsive and responsible nation.
Since we are not alone in having the resources we swank, Nigeria needs a lot more than ordinary publication to assuage many years of huge distrust, qualified outrage, terrifying abuses, non-conformity to international standard and genuine fear of an atmosphere of unrest. Nigerians it is who shall make the concrete persuasions –with themselves as sureties for impending outsider investors.
And since the trust and goodwill Nigeria needs is better simulated by her people, who become the human collateral deserving the confidence, the Nigerians reserving of this service are more in the Diaspora. It is not for nothing that the Federal Government created the office on Diaspora with a Senior Special Assistant to the President. Similarly, states are harnessing the expertise contribution of their people in the Diaspora. The appointment needs pass the “Assisting” to become direct voting involvement of the individual up-to-voting-age members of the Nigeria Republic.
So as Nigerians are voting in this General Election, the issue of Diaspora contribution becomes the Bunsen burner for most Nigerians outside the country. In the light of globalization and pressing urgency for our country to get it right this time, Nigerian Diasporas who form the swivel of steady cash and information flow to their fatherland should join in deciding who the leaders of their government become in the next Elections.
Diaspora representation is changing lots of things for nations and affording them the dedicated leeway to methods that were hitherto unknown to their home management. Need I say that myopic, bigoted hamstrung leaders are being relieved off through germane efforts of Diaspora inclination? This is right as a future direction: In the world of today, new jobs are being created and they are located in SE Asia (away from Europe and America), especially in India, Vietnam, China and many other lower cost oversea locations, where many Africans, nay Nigerians are set to chart new course of endeavors.
For many skilled Nigerians back home, the dream of economic prosperity that comes with sound education, served employment in a number of skilled, high-income jobs has been dashed (or seem to be dashed), postponed or abandoned since the 1983 declaration of “Austerity Measures” and the attendant military adventurisms (its wallop on Nigerian economy) especially the trepidation that followed the annulment of June12 1993 Presidential Election.
Again, the international shift in work force needs (cheap labor) towards the Asia-Pacific has created some wider chances where Africans now compete with other Asians in a compelling search for livelihood, even in an increasing European and American expatriate’s presence. The story is still much the same for African green card-seekers who throng to US; for those in UK, Canada and Australia, seeking jobs and new business opportunities. No proposition can defeat the argument that they gain better experiences in adroit ways of doing things.
Honestly, it can be temporary ‘brain-drain’ or initiative flight for the home government, yet their engagements as recorded by the crop of Nigerian doctors, nurses, computer experts, etc are yielding positive results in terms of human development, project assistance, program direction, monetary remittances, etcetera to the homeland.
The Swell of Nigeria Diaspora (Western Hemisphere as a stout angle)
It is projected that more than 17million Nigerians now live abroad. A recent US Census data show that as much as 87,000 US residents are people born in Nigeria. If we add children born to them, the figure will jump to about 300,000 or more. Of the professionals, an estimated 100,000 are medical doctors and scientists (see Soludo, Charles C. “The Political Economy of Sustainable Democracy in Nigeria, Democracy Day Lecture,” Adgozo Ltd Press Division Onitsha, 2005). The Association of Nigerian Physicians numbers more than 2,500 doctors in the US and Canada and most of the Western Hemisphere. It would be hard to find a foreign university without a Nigerian in one of its faculties (Salih and Williams, “The Us and Nigeria: Thinking beyond Oil,” Daily Times of Nigeria, November 2003). Nigerians rank among top professionals and it cannot be an international player without staked inputs from this cream de la cream. Beyond rhetoric, a Nigerian is the corporate head of an investment bank in America, Credit Suisse First Boston. Another has just been appointed into the US Cancer Advisory Board.
In the US city of Chicago, Nigeria Diaspora vote galvanized the unseating of Senator Carol Mosley-Brown [D-Illinois] in protest over her perceived alliances with the then authoritarian regime of Gen Sani Abacha. In the Republic of Ireland, a Nigerian ex-asylum seeker Rotimi Adebari made history when he was elected as the first ever Blackman to the Mayoral of Portlaois Town in 2007. He is an Intercultural Studies expert.
Economically, the Diasporas have boosted Nigeria financially through regular remittances to their families and relations –for developmental projects, medical cares, school fees, and for many other social reasons. Studies like the one conducted by the Reserve Bank of Chicago, estimated that these family remittances are in the “equivalence to more than $13billion, more than six times the annual flow of foreign aid to Nigeria.” The study indicated “an average of $6,000 a year, or 12% of household income” (The U.S. and Nigeria Great decision, 2003 The Guardian, November 4, 2003).
There are volunteer schemes regularly embarked by different community-based organizations. For instance, Anambra State Association USA (ASA-USA) has initiated many think-home projects especially in the areas of Education and Primary Health Care. The Medical Mission Committee of this group has toured virtually all the towns in Anambra State Nigeria, providing medical assistance in both managerial expertise and pharmaceutical inventory worth millions of United States dollars, to succor the drug-dearth establishments in the state. Local medical units benefit developmentally from these visits in terms of knowledge and technical know-how.
The former students of Anglican Girls' Grammar School, Awkunanaw (AGGS), Enugu "AGGS OLD GIRLS' ENUGU" are raising funds to sponsor their new project, "Library Project" in the school. Enugu USA Medical Mission Finance Committee is doing the same, to benefit Enugu people at home. It is therefore trite to state that a nation seeking to improve its economic fortune should not exclude (by way of disenfranchisement) the bulk of her people who are closer to the international better ways of doing things.
In South East Asia, the Nigerian Diaspora Chapter (Urah-Singapore), initiated lots of programs to assist Governments & NGOs in the area of primary healthcare delivery in consultation with the Federal Ministry of Health. Targeted at local communities, the program focuses on the education, prevention, treatment and management of various ailments including Malaria, HIV/AIDS, Cholera , Diabetes, Hypertension, Stroke, etc. The campaign is schemed in a flexible all-year round time to suited its numerous volunteers.
In 2008, as part of this initiative dubbed, "Give-Back" Urah-Singapore kick-started its Diaspora Screening & Public Enlightenment Program on Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) with lots of Nigerian overseas-based volunteer experts. These experts did both Screening & Training of local Medical personnel in five (5) centres within Lagos and Abuja.
As one tours democracies in the same independence grid with Nigeria –Malaysia and Singapore for instance, one is sure to be boggled by their developmental strides. In fact, minds bleed for the swagger government officials who have visited these places yet go back home without good reports, without upbraiding the Nigerian system for changes.
The unabated worsening economic situation in Nigeria; unimproved service delivery system is a-crying for her Diasporas and their opinions which are hitherto, not simulated into the governing framework. And without constitutional amendments to empower Diaspora voting in the next Elections, it will amount to great letdown on Nigeria, seeing that the various parties still lack developmental ideologies. As the General Elections enter into days to wind up, the ugly-gawky parallax of the presidential hopefuls who sought the people’s mandate (without issue-based campaigns) makes for serious further reflections.
Points that inform reflection:
- One cannot help but fold hands watching the manner of recycling of obsolete ideas because most of the aspirants did not give Nigerians clues as to what they will do in Aso Rock, if elected.
- There seem to be a no-policy mandate in the electioneering process. Diasporas have seen it and can fill this vacuum.
- The seeming lack of interest, more than the passing remarks in social forums –Twitter, Facebook and news media rejoinders, belittling their great input to the campaign process (and direction of it) is because they are not part of the final voting process.
- Meeting with the Diaspora in the US, Canada or United Kingdom smacks illicit consultations. (Please, picture the irony).
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Image source: emnnews.com |
Is Nigeria truly on the match again?
A tickle to the lost on our nation if the Diaspora are kept out again in the future
Fancy the voting process going on in Nigeria without any inputs from the likes of[1] Prof Chinua Achebe –foremost African writer, author of Africa’s bible du jour, Things Fall Apart.
[2] Hakeem Olajuwon –retired Nigerian American professional basketball player. An indefatigable sportsman, the first player in NBA history to accumulate both 2, 000 blocked shots and 2, 000 steals in a career.
[3] Mrs. Ngozi Okojo-Iweala, Managing Director of World Bank
[4] Mrs. Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili, Vice-President of the Africa Region, World Bank Group
[5] Philips Emeagwali -winner of 1999 Gordon Bell Prize for super-computing
[6] Aloysius Anaebonam (holds about 13 Patents in health related fields)
[7] Kunle Olukotun (holds about 5 Patents in computer processors)
[8] Austin Arinze Obiefuna - winner of the 2008 UNION Karel Styblo Prize for exceptional work in the fight against tuberculosis
[9] Cyprian Emeka Uzoh -an IBM Corporate Fellow (holds over 170 patents worldwide)
[10] Ifeanyi Charles Ume –a mechatronics advisor (holds about 5 Med-Engineering Patents)
[11] Chiwetelu Umeadi Ejiofor, OBE –Stage and Screen actor who has received numerous awards and nominations, among which are the 2006 British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) Rising Star, three Golden Globe Awards' nominations, and the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his role as Othello (W. Shakespeare’s play, Othello, the Moor of Venice).
[12] Emeka Nchekwube – Winner of multiple "Top Doc" awards. He is considered one of the leading brains and spine surgeons in Northern California (holds about 2 Chemical Patents)
[13] Brino Gilbert -won two medals at the May 2003 edition of the Invention and New Product Exposition (INPEX) in the United States in Aerospace/Aeronautics category and a silver medal in the manufacturing category. He also got a trophy for being the African Continent’s best.
[14] Olu Ogunsakin –a world acclaimed policing expert; Senior Advisor to the City of London Police and consultant on policing to the Home Office in the United States of America.
[15] Louis Obyo Obyo Nelson -Molecular and Computational Chemistry Professor who found the cure for Diabetes from a commonly occurring herb, Vernonia Amygdalina also known as Bitter leaf (onugbu in Igbo), His patent covers the processing, extraction, isolation, purification, concentration and recrystalization of bitter leaf and administering it to treat hyperglycemia in diabetic patients.
[16] Sanya Ojikutu -famed cartoonist who invented an electronic, music-hearing device: ShareBuds Ms 2-in1 Stereo Earphones that "makes it possible for two people to listen to music simultaneously." Currently, her invention is on Apple list of products.
[17] Chimamanda Adichie – 2008 MacArthur Fellow, winner of the 2007 Orange Prize for fiction. She won the 2005 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for 'Best First Book.'
[18] Mrs. Olufunmilayo Falusi Olopade recently appointed by President Barak Obama to the US Cancer Advisory Board. She is a Walter L. Palmer Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine & Human Genetics, Associate Dean for Global Health and seen as an authority on cancer risk assessment, prevention, and individualized treatment based on risk factors and quality of life.
Assuming that YOU my esteemed reader in Nigeria has any genuine reasons to be outside the shores of Nigeria during election processes (say on an international research grant or medical checks), you too will be excluded and just be an onlooker who at best will join the sulkers whose opinions are considered too alien for input by the chroniclers of Nigeria Constitution.
The era where “government knows best” should be gone with wrong practices. If our people who understand the paradigm shift –who have the right technical know-how, the right information on the best way of doing things are excluded, how do we expect changes to come into the polity service wise, research wise? Can newer ideas ever creep into Aguda House and NASS when all we hear is appropriations without due oversights, without concretization? Nigerians if they are honest and earnest about change should seek other pedestal to make the changes–the recycled politicians who are intent on collecting allowances cannot initiate the desired changes. We need to look sideways. The Diaspora is it.
Tracing the History of Diaspora Voting in world politics
The first known use of external ballot vote may have been the one put in place in the time of the Roman emperor Augustus (63 BC - AD 14). The emperor was credited with the idea. He was said to have conceived a new kind of suffrage for voting by the members of the local senate in his 28 new colonies. The senators used it to cast votes for candidates for the city offices of Rome. Afterwards, the ballots were dispatched under seal to Rome for the day of the elections. World War I or World War II made introduction of oversea voting “an acknowledgement of their active participation in” in the wars.
The earliest known modern use of external voting took place in 1862, in Wisconsin USA after a number of US states enacted provisions to allow absentee voting by soldiers fighting in the Union army during the Civil War. After some political contentions (from 1942 and in1944) between the Republicans and the Democrats, “overseas postal vote was gradually extended to cover non-military personnel serving abroad (in 1955) and all US citizens abroad (in 1968).” By 1975 in the United State, external voting has become enacted (“and the registration provision became mandatory for states”) to assuage the demands of citizens residing overseas.
1890 - New Zealand enfranchised all military personnel, not only soldiers over the stipulated voting age of 21 but all those in service during the war.
1902 - Australia (“under operating arrangements which made its use outside Australia practically impossible”)
1918 - United Kingdom (UK), Absentee voting for military, conducted by proxy. By 1945, “Postal voting for military personnel, merchant seamen and others working overseas on matters of national importance took place in the UK. By the 1980s, enactment for general enfranchisement of British citizens living overseas and extension of a maximum period of overseas residence from five years to 25 have been effected.
1915 - Canada Postal voting for men in military service was agreed at federal level. Before the federal election, which followed in 1917, the military franchise was extended. In fact by 1916, the province of British Columbia, allowed military personnel overseas to vote in referendums on women’s suffrage and on the introduction of the prohibition of alcohol. Canada introduced proxy voting on behalf of prisoners of war by their closest relatives for the 1945 general election, and extended postal voting to military families in 1955.
1924 -France introduced external voting to take care of the French administrators posted to the occupied Rhineland who were enabled to vote by post. World War II (1939–45) produced further momentum and by 1946, postal voting by military personnel was possible and proxy voting for servicemen also. By 1951 in France, it had become possible for voters in a certain range of categories, including those on government or military service or professional businesses away from home. Fearing fraud in the operation of external voting provisions France abolished postal voting in 1975 allowing proxies to be registered in any electoral district. “Since 1982, proxies may only be registered in electoral districts with which the elector has a connection according to a list specified in the electoral law.”
In 1975 Gabon and Guinea (Conakry) adopted the systems that allowed personal voting in embassies and consulates for presidential elections and referendums. This is the case for many former French colonies.
From 1950 to 1951 India enacted its election legislations, enfranchising its service men but first excluded the proxy voting. Post or proxy voting is available for its service personnel and electors in government service outside India.
In 1953 Indonesia made laws for its first democratic general elections and introduced external voting in Indonesian embassies abroad. This system persisted through the years of authoritarian regimes and remained in use in today’s democratic experience.
Based on available information, other countries that have introduced forms of Diaspora voting include Colombia -1961; Spain -1978; Argentina -1993; Austria -1990; Switzerland -1989, Namibia -1989 and South Africa 1994, etc. “The General Framework Agreement for Peace signed at Dayton in 1995 led to the most complex use of external voting thus far attempted in the 1996 elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
In Africa, while Egypt was contemplating introducing External Voting for her Diaspora, embassies of Angola make decisions on the material readiness for the elections. Once satisfied that the conditions are met, their citizens in any particular country of residence form one electoral district to elect three representatives. In 1993, Eritrea in transition allowed External Voting for its referendum on Independence.
Noteworthy is the roles played by political parties and political actors who reasoned the advantages external influence can play due more for their articulation and people friendly manifestos. For instance, in Honduras a provision that had long been stalled was activated by a party, which saw political advantage in doing so. Parties with outside support also lobby their communities within the country.
In the case of Cook Islands, political party competition led to parties flying voters from overseas back for voting. This led to creating a separate electoral district for the Islanders resident overseas but was abolished in 2004 when political support for the overseas seat waned.
For more detailed information, read THE HISTORY AND POLITICS OF DIASPORA VOTING IN HOME COUNTRY ELECTIONS by Andy Sundberg, based on information from Andrew Ellis and other sources in: ”Voting from Abroad”: The International IDEA Handbook, 2007.
Nigeria: Can a nation foreclose the doors of her development? But the 21st century Nigerian Constitution is still way back in 20th century if it has forgotten Nigerians abroad. I remember that many Nigeria intellectuals do visit outside Nigeria not for leisure but to keep tabs with developments in their respective research engagements. The major advantages of Diaspora votes hinge on its capacity to swing opinions and become a call to synergy as well as the groundswell agent of change.
Nigeria should not be a stand alone in the committee of internationalized electoral processes. Many developing nations have long adopted Diaspora voting. It is hard to deny that the catalytic changes sweeping America after G.W. Bush’s administration is not the resultant mounting (passionate) voices of overseas and military voting, from supporters that have over the years formed a strong pressure for change in the view points of many an American on who or what constitutes an American “enemy.”
The bending streams of exchange government gets while touring outside the nation cannot be or continue to become a ceremonial norm. Rather, the flow should be engineered into the Constitution. An amendment will reinstate calls for a Nigerian international forum or summit involving broader range of participants for relevant and deepening discussions, further creating a new sense of diversity as a key element and impetus of a healthy election /community network.
A world voter survey research from 1902 to date indicates lack of development in Nigeria on this. View https://www.overseasvotefoundation.org/initiatives-summit2008-proceedings Go to “Diaspora Voting Rights in 214 Countries of the World.” Notice the set of excels sheets of three tables (M111). The first entry (“Voting from abroad”) identifies 115 countries where Diasporas can vote today and listed in the order in which Diaspora voting was introduced with Australia leading, the list ends with Yemen. African countries in this list are:
Algeria, no 12 (in 1976); Zimbabwe no 21 (1980); Sudan no 27 (1986); Cape Verde no 34 (1991); Mali no 40 (1992); Guinea no 44 (1993); Senegal no 47 (1993); Namibia no 50 (1994); South Africa no 51 (1994); Cote d’Ivoire 55 (1995); Botswana no 58 (1997); Chad no 64 (2001); Rwanda no 71 (2003); Mozambique no 77 (2004); Tunisia no 80 (2004); Ghana no 84 (2008). Other African countries listed are Rep of Benin, Guinea Bissau, Djibouti, Gabon, Central African Rep; Equatorial Guinea; Gibraltar; Lesotho; Mauritius; Sao Tome & Principe; Niger and Togo.
Though few of the countries here have restrictions, the basic truth is that Nigeria of all nations is not there. And with the exception of Chad’s “The elector must be enrolled in the consular registry six months before the beginning of the electoral process,” no other African country is listed with special remarks.
The second excel lists the 9 countries where Diaspora voting is currently being planned. The third excel lists the 90 countries that do not yet allow Diaspora voting (this is where to find Nigeria). This data comes from the IDEA Handbook and from other sources.
Since it is often said that no one scatters meal, caring not where it falls; people go were their interests belong (recognized). As can be seen from my numbered list here, Nigerians in the Diaspora make a bunch of intellectuals to boost, enhance and boast with as in the case of India, the Philippines and countries in Eastern Europe were the various states give priority to the articulations sieved from abroad.
The quality of information we glean from various Diaspora meetings is more than encouraging. Particular cases are, the World Igbo Congress (WIC) of 2004 in USA, the 2010 Chinua Achebe Colloquium at Brown University Rhodes Island, The Alliance of Yoruba Organizations and Clubs, USA (IPARAPO EGBE OMO YORUBA, ‘Agbajo owo la fi nsoya’). It is instructive and indicates level of enthusiasm engendered in the minds of the Diaspora. The story is similar for other Nigerian international organizations not mentioned here.
Nail these aspirations home to become an advocate of Diaspora participation. You may wish to view the pdf on “Diaspora Represented in Their Home Country Parliaments” in the web page mentioned above. That will tell you the extent of developments going on in the world while Nigeria chooses to fixate.
Country | Ranking
| First Year of Diaspora Voting Adoption |
World Ranking | Rank in Africa |
Algeria | 12 | 1 | 1976 |
Zimbabwe | 21 | 2 | 1980 |
Sudan | 27 | 3 | 1986 |
Cape Verde | 34 | 4 | 1991 |
Mali | 40 | 5 | 1992 |
Guinea | 44 | 6 | 1993 |
Senegal | 47 | 7 | 1993 |
Namibia | 50 | 8 | 1994 |
South Africa | 51 | 9 | 1994 |
Cote d’Ivoire | 55 | 10 | 1995 |
Botswana | 58 | 11 | 1997 |
Chad | 64 | 12 | 2001 |
Rwanda | 71 | 13 | 2003 |
Mozambique | 77 | 14 | 2004 |
Tunisia | 80 | 15 | 2004 |
Ghana | 84 | 16 | 2008 |
World ranking of African countries that have adopted Diaspora Voting
Discerning needs for Diaspora Contribution (beckoning FDI)
If we first recognize that any economy where the government controls the distribution or localization of the factors of production is [essentially] a socialized system –a system that will remain stranger to competition except in the sense of competitive crying injustice, marginalization, subjugation, nepotism, neglect, political gerrymandering, coupes, counter-coupes, economic short-changing, etc, we will be quick to change the system which the political economy of the entire Africa that has been neck-deep in murkiness to warrant any world class development.
If we agree that Nigeria Diaspora with its wealth of resources is better placed to streamline synergic think-tank toward arresting the challenges mocking her development, we’ll start repositioning Nigeria to get positive international attention knowing who and what need refocusing, for maximizing our Foreign Exchange earnings.
To make for optimum cross-breeding of ideas, the Nigerian Economic Institute, Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission, Nigeria Export Promotion Council, Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines & Agriculture and other agencies that brain storm on economic models (that are supposed to propel the country into middle and high-income economy) should use the newly created Diaspora Office to organize international economic conferences with the target of stimulating per capita income.
Conversely, the Diaspora can build light-bulb convocations to educate Nigerians on the eco-social imbalance sustained in current practices of government controlling most aspects of the economy namely;
Governance:
Nigeria may be praised for adopting an electronic voting system, which in essence is a means of eliminating the horrors associated with our elections –multiple registrations, multiple voting, manipulation of election results and brigandage of ballot snatching, etc yet, there will be greater danger of total disenchantment (if at the end of April the story becomes the same) than the chanting snafu over the postponement of Saturday 3rd April 2011 Parliamentary Elections.
What government gained in swift adoption of the recent Electoral Reform may be lost in the lack of enough testing grounds to its tamper-proofing. There already discordant tunes going by some reports that still feature the old stories –the case of Anambra Central Senatorial District being may not be isolated. Option A4 system of June 1993 succeeded because it was severally tested with localized elections before the main elections. The use of DDCM (as presently acquired) ought to be tested in By-Elections before its national application, for obvious reasons. Even as we look on INEC as it is overcoming the initial hiccups that led to the earlier postponement, the rest of the elections, as scheduled will validate or invalidate the resolve of government agency to rise to its bidding.
But Government’s dirigisme dominance –has it really worked for Nigeria? Our government controls power (generating, transmitting & distributing); communications (controls telecomm, IT while being a major competitor); transportation (determines which part of the country to favor with good road constructions and networking –traffic and road usage notwithstanding. Rail construction for economy diversification is not a quick option); labor (use Federal character to stifle productivity); education (use different standards for different areas yet expecting same inputs, quality-wise), etcetera. Piece all the government controls together and you are face-to-face with reasons why Nigeria is going downward the slope of competitive index.
The Diaspora need become the constant reminder of the slipping opportunities and common rent we are paying to hopelessness. Ghana was a country much given to hopelessness like Nigeria until she said yes. Today, she is the toast of global diversification of investments. Tunisians that revolted against the government of Ben Ali were having the best growing economy in Africa. Egypt and Libya are heavens compared to Nigeria yet, the idea of cabalism repulsed the masses to action. Non-performance ought to bring the Diaspora to bring actionable changes.
In general, Diaspora can provide the answer to institutional excesses by basing all contract awards and valuations on the international benchmarks, like the Long Run Incremental Costs (LRIC) Principles of Implementation and Best Practice (PIB). In the area of specialist technical requirements, regulations as in the area of telecommunication where operators are subjected to specific obligations such as the requirement to produce a Reference Intercontinental Offer (RIO) and the obligation to have cost-oriented tariffs (except for mobile operators) before being designated as having Significant Market Power (SMP) should apply.
According to this regulation, an operator is presumed to have SMP if it has more than 25% of a telecommunications market in the geographic area in which it is allowed to operate. This will ensure capacity operation and delivery of contract at when due since it will not only make for huge financial muscle necessitating local company mergers, local communities will benefit from the huge capital investments.
A methodology such as the use of LRIC approach, when duly applied, is valid for the assessment of cost oriented quantities, more so, as such regulatory remedy has become absolutely necessary, to deal with issues relating to Market Power (MP) nepotism of despotic simulations [unilateral contract awards]. This method can be applied across board, in areas requiring tariffs [job order/supplies, pre-qualification payments, evaluation and contract certificate generation, etc] and be used within the government's broad financial regulatory environment. The method as obtained in Europe is particularly suited to Nigeria because it can provide the confidence that contractors' charges are properly cost-oriented, once gazetted with the information / methodologies used to prepare the LRIC data, and the resultant processes.
Mechanized Agriculture and Cash crop production:
Nigeria needs to optimize production of her cash crops like Cocoa, Palm oil, Groundnut, Rubber, Cotton, Gum Arabic, etc. Her livestock and fisheries too. Higher yield planting through R&D translate to high income. Improve production results from good agronomic practices and distinctive plantation management. Where production increases, poor storage facilities debilitate efforts to gain inroads to international markets. These foods thus find the only alternative –local market. It nevertheless was an advantage in a situation of global food crisis that followed the downturn in America (the Central Bank of Nigeria may have defended the Naira enough to avert this). But we are talking of increasing foreign exchange, not over stuffing the local market. In an environment like this, it is impossible to boost our foreign exchange earnings and reduce over-dependent on oil. Current problems include;
- Poor Storage Facilities lead to food wastages and loss of over 40% of produce,
- Poor soil management,
- Haulage problems, etc.
Nigeria cannot afford to lose its premiership position in Palm Oil production to her sub-Saharan neighbors with her overwhelming natural advantages. In the early 1960s, Nigeria's palm oil production accounted for 43% of the world production, nowadays it an abysmal 7% of total global output. What went wrong is her over-dependence on crude oil. Cameroon for instance, is cashing in on Nigeria’s slide and may have beaten Nigeria as the choice of divestment in palm plantation by S/East Asian palm growers that are seeking newer grounds for expansion. February 2005 HighBeam Research report showed willingness by this block to invest in Nigeria. This was later corroborated by Bode Kalejaiye, Nigeria's African Investment Development Agency chairman. (Visit http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-797073691.html)
As the world is crying “climate change” –biodiversity, desert encroachment, deforestation etc, increase in Palm Oil production for instance, is a surefire production of renewable energy, which can guarantee reduction of green horse emission.
Healthcare:
The old maxim says that health is wealth. Average life expectancy of the ordinary Nigerian has been lower than that of Ghana, her twin brother in Africa. Compare the figures according to the United Nations Population Division, “Demographic indicators.”
Table A (Nigeria)
Year | Life expectancy at birth | Rank | Percent Change | Date of Information |
2003 | 51.01 | 192 |
| 2003 est. |
2004 | 46.74 | 205 | -8.37 % | 2004 est. |
2005 | 46.74 | 206 | 0.00 % | 2005 est. |
2006 | 47.08 | 206 | 0.73 % | 2006 est. |
2007 | 47.44 | 203 | 0.76 % | 2007 est. |
2008 | 46.53 | 208 | -1.92 % | 2008 est. |
2009 | 46.94 | 210 | 0.88 % | 2009 est. |
2010 | 47.24 | 218 | 0.64 % | 2010 est. |
2011 | 47.56 | 219 | 0.68 % | 2011 est. |
Table B (Ghana)
Year | Life expectancy at birth | Rank | Percent Change | Date of Information |
2003 | 56.53 | 179 |
| 2003 est. |
2004 | 56 | 181 | -0.94 % | 2004 est. |
2005 | 58.47 | 181 | 4.41 % | 2005 est. |
2006 | 58.87 | 181 | 0.68 % | 2006 est. |
2007 | 59.12 | 176 | 0.42 % | 2007 est. |
2008 | 59.49 | 178 | 0.63 % | 2008 est. |
2009 | 59.85 | 182 | 0.61 % | 2009 est. |
2010 | 60.55 | 185 | 1.17 % | 2010 est. |
2011 | 61 | 185 | 0.74 % | 2011 est. |
Current healthcare perception
- Nigeria has one of the highest rates of infant mortality in the world.
- High rate of teenage pregnancy especially in the northern Nigeria
- Ranks among the world’s highest in high-risk behaviors, with the rate of HIV infection being third largest (behind India and South Africa).
- Prevalence of bad nutrition habits: About 82% of our food intake is acidic: junk foods and no foods are becoming staple diets.
- Terrifying epidemics including cholera, guinea worm, polio, meningitis and dysentery
- Malaria, Yellow fever and typhoid statistics is on the rise
- Livestock diseases like trypanosomiasis (from tsetse fly)
- Children communicable diseases like chicken pox and measles are steady on the rise.
Area of Diaspora contribution needs:
Up-scaling our health management to reduce mortality and morbidity rates. Massive campaigns against unhealthy practices, safe sex and provision of condoms to reduce the tides of unwanted pregnancies and STDs; Adding value to the life of ordinary Nigerians through provision of affordable healthcare services/training of different cadres of healthcare providers; building more general and specialist hospitals; forming alliances with safety networks (Rotary Clubs, etc), volunteering schemes in alliance with voluntary agencies to reduce road carnage; Empowerment / increase supports for NGOs fighting child labor, teenage marriage, human trafficking, slavery and other inhuman behaviors rearing. Provision of motorized boreholes to stem the tide of infected water supply. Proper waste management
Education:
Education in Nigeria is supposed to be prioritized to grow, draw and retain talents. Innovations in the sciences and technology need be seen as fresh value-added approaches that hinge on societal well-being. Students’ faculties thus, should be activated to the yearning needs of their community first and larger society later. This is where local patronage can immediately react to break-through in research and development.
Adult literacy campaigns [e.g., Sandwich / Preliminary programs of the various Universities]; provision of technical supports to colleges and universities, creating liaisons for technical and specialist schools like the Institute of Petroleum, Metallurgical Training Institute, Institute of Policy Information, Institute of Oceanography, etc.
The perception is still that Nigeria holds a less enviable record of “being one of the worse places in the world to be a schoolchild.” Industrial unrest, teachers’ strikes and government misplaced priority has led to exodus of youths to other lands in search of better education and quality life. Thousands of youths have left Nigeria for places UK, USA, Australia and even places in Asia with less enviable educational records than Nigeria, just to make it better.
To make Nigeria university environment the true ivory tower, government need show better commitment to fostering discipline. There is onerous task that beckons on Nigeria and it is the fight against terrorism and religious fundamentalism. Pre-University programs should be more harmonized and broadened with courses on social responsibility, critical thinking and discipline –courses with capacity of instilling superior knowledge against becoming religious extremists, social miscreants, political stooges or cult hirelings.
The Diaspora’s initiative therefore, is to press the Federal Ministry of Education (and compel the various state governments in Nigeria) to actualize the UNESCO benchmark by spending 15% of their Gross Domestic Products on Education.
The government which is supposed to be responsible seems to be unaware of illicit plundering of its efforts by the largely unscrupulous staffers. Go through Nigeria, Lagos to Kaduna, East to West, books clearly marked “Property of the Government of Nigeria,” “Not for sale,” are boldly displayed in market stalls instead of government and college libraries. No arrests, no convictions, no deterrents –shame is it?
Transport:
Transport-wise, Nigerian government is yet to scratch the ground to close it. Agreed that cost of road construction depend heavy on the terrain yet most of the Nigerian landscape is plain land. Even if we argue we have plateau and swampy areas, we have not shown reasons why our road network is one of the poorest.
Malaysia [1957 Independence from Britain, just 3-yrs ahead of Nigeria] has one of the best road networks in the world. The country is “served by a network of 94,500 kilometers (58,721 miles) of primary and secondary roads.” More than 67% of this number are paved which includes special highways round the major cities of Kuala Lumpur (commercial capital), Putrajaya (administrative capital), Johor Baru, Cyberjaya, Pinang, etc, with stretches of tunnels and viaducts.
Theses highways have complete uninterrupted road fenders (to ward off intrusions), well-marked safety inscriptions including cat eyes (for night guidance), telephone exchange points per km of distance (for emergencies). There are travelers’ convenience stops, fully built with toilets, shopping centers and energy refill stations. In fact, it is said that you cannot miss your way around Kuala Lumpur. It will be happy to note that most of these roads were built as entrepreneurship schemes. Government provide the level fields (as always is the case), individual companies build, operate toll plazas and transfer at stipulated dates.
Nigerian government with her systemic controls is trudging while her citizens are dying in road carnage nation-wide. Over bloated contracts is part of the problems of road construction in Nigeria. Without established benchmarks, it is an open cheque for any contractor to milk public coffers by delaying, reviewing and re-reviewing such that it takes over 12-years to finish a road like The Dualisation of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway while major traffic roads like Onitsha-Owerri Road has suffered for over 20-years, as a result of political non patronage. This again is where these excesses can be checked by application of Long Run Incremental Costs (LRIC) Principles of Implementation and Best Practice (PIB) approach (see Governance, above) .
Even rail system which our erstwhile colo-masters thought as a means of evacuating agricultural products is now novel to many a Nigerian child. This a country with ply-able rail tracks from Maiduguri to Enugu and from Lagos to Kaura Namoda up to the 2nd Republic. It is a serious aberration. Today, politicians only think of roads and road rehabilitation when burials of dead relations are taking place or, when the parliamentarians start to pick up the exercise oversight function on awarded contracts. Admittedly awful this has formed part of the check mechanisms since according to convention; most of the roads have been actually awarded and appropriated for. Burial ceremonies will draw attention to the state of disrepair, etc.
Thus, Nigeria need people to stand in for external money that will ensue with her reviewing her transport policy to link up the country with super highways and fast rail services, through our airports and along our coastal waterways. This will move heavy traffic off our roads, reduce freight and cut back on road carnage that has become a daily toll on Nigeria highways.
Industrialization:
Nigeria should be lifted out from the low-income trap. Nigeria produces next to nothing for export. We are privy to the facts that tooth picks, cotton buds, wood-finishing, etc are still imported into Nigeria spite of Sapele and Adamawa. Oil Palm is tottering in spite of Igbariam Farm Settlement [Anambra] and the Presco Estates in Niger Delta. Presco’s Obaretin Estate in Edo State has a total land concession of 7,000 hectares.
Cowan Estate [Delta] has 2, 780 with an additional 3,000 hectares (adjacent to the old estate for its expansion program) while Ologbo Estate, 15 km from Obaretin has 6, 000 hectares.
If we are serious about being economically self-sufficient, we simply have to make attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) a top priority by growing our domestic economy a blistering 10% a year for the next 15-years. If it achieved an 8.29% economic growth with epileptic power generation, nothing short of 10% will be next target with improved energy supply. Given the kind of competition for foreign direct investment (FDI), Nigeria a former competitor to the Asian Tigers have long lost the edge to countries like South Africa, Angola, Botswana and Ghana.
To reclaim the lost position, Nigeria’s economic policy advisers need to raise planning that will step up industrialization: Car manufacturers, food processors, engineering firms, phone companies, etc need to be attracted in their hundreds.
As suggested by a Diaspora friend in one of the social networks, our commerce and industry ministers should be given stringent targets. For instance, they should be told to increase FDI by a certain percentage or be sacked. This drive has become necessary because we lack enough local capital for required indigenous investments in the industrial sector.
While noting an increase in the present administration’s commitment to “maximizing the economic benefits of the oil and gas industry by implementing the Nigerian Content Act to make for the usage of made in Nigeria products and services in the industry” as indicated by the recent use by ExxonMobil of made-in-Nigeria steel pipes in their operations, it will be tact to avoid capital depletion by continuous use of foreign materials in projects where our home-made may even be an advantage.
As is the case of responsible governments, Diaspora initiative must also include improving on our Land Use/soil management policies, to stem the kind of environmental damage occasioned by crude oil extractive industries in the Niger Delta region.
Solid mineral production:
Broadening exploitation and market bases for Nigeria’s solid minerals should be seen as the sine qua non for FDI receipt. Over the years, crude oil production has induced general laziness on Nigeria economy. Just as over-dependency on it is bringing heavy tolls in the area of Agriculture and cash crop production, further neglects on solid mineral exploration and exploitation will further push Nigeria down the low-income trap.
Since Nigeria was afflicted with the Dutch Disease of mono-product dependency, it has played as a low key developer of her solid mineral endowments, loosing tracks of the importance of her more than 34 different categories of minerals including, aluminum, barites, bauxite, bitumen, coal, feldspar, gold, gypsum, iron-ore, lead, lithium, silver, tantalite, tin, zinc, etc. The Ministry of Solid Minerals Development needs to establish unit throughputs across the major states where the products are found.
The Diaspora needs to involve known international experts to remove the clay footings in the works of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development which caters for solid mineral development. Originally, the ministry which was created in 1985 was charged with the responsibilities of
i. To formulate policy
ii. Providing information and knowledge to enhance investment in the sector
iii. Regulating operations in the solid minerals sector
iv. Generating appropriate revenue for the government.
Even as the ministry should be one of the biggest and most buoyant the department of solid minerals should be given a stringent vertical target achievement of say $20bn annually, from the sale of solid minerals. This will wake the sleeping giant.
Power Generation:
Power Generation has become a national embarrassment with billions of Dollars sunk into it without results. What is required is comprehensive power needs of the various component sectors of our economy. To start with, every state government should be task with producing a bi-monthly graphic details of power consumption. This data when collated will serve for a unified more coherent power policy than what is obtained, to enable energy service points determine the nature of wattage needed and make for commensurate engineering of the needs. Furthermore, there is now the need for a comprehensive program on the generation of hydro, solar, wind and gas-powered electricity more than before. AT&P Sapele (a division of UACN PLC) was used to generate its own energy which it constantly deployed to its operation in its vast lumbering business, also serving as buffer for energy savings in the area. We need to tell ourselves truth; what stopped the then Delta and Edo state governments from entering into partnership with UACN, to optimize energy supplies within Edo/Delta -misplaced priority, lack of political will or lack of foresight?
Federal government should as a developmental requirement task the states to attract foreign grants and investors so as to dam the rivers within it and generate power as appropriate. With it they can opt out of the national grid to reduce load.
Resource control:
No one can dispute the fact that resource control was the basis upon which our federation was agreed. It formed the major point in the pre-Independence discussions of 1957. Until we come back to implement it as agreed, the Niger Delta crisis may not go away. It is nobody’s surprises that the region’s militants have a popular phrase: “The government keeps telling us their plans are in the pipeline. We keep blowing the pipelines up in the hope that we will find them one day!”
Government’s prevarication on Niger Delta issue does not augur well for our national development. In 1999 the World Bank’s director for Nigeria Mark Tomlinson blamed the government for neglecting the oil producing areas, he said, “the oil companies should not be saddled with the development of the delta because all of the country’s revenues are collected by the federal government” (The Guardian Lagos, January 19, 1999). What he meant is that since the government milks the cow, it must also ensure that the cow feeds well, remain healthy for it to continue lactating. At present, oil accounts for 50% of Nigeria’s GDP and 95% of foreign exchange earnings. Yet, little attention is given to the areas that produce oil.
The single excuse government officers give is usually ‘mismanagement of funds’ accruing from the Federation account to oil regions by people appointed from these areas to manage its development. From OMPADEC to NNDC, it is the same accusation. Yes, but the Federal Governments plausible lack of political will to force development of the area, to reproduce another politico-economic base like Abuja or Lagos is causing much hardship and frustration. Instead, money is being used to sustain the so-called amnesty, unwittingly supporting saboteurs to be running Nigeria aground.
Following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, about 11 lives were lost. American government is now considering legal option [to prefer manslaughter charges] against BP the company responsible. In our clime, Niger Delta that has known eco-degradation with soil depletion, loss of aquatic life, acid rain and the likes for more than 30-years of Shell operations receives thanks by the kind of neglect not seen before. There could be hundreds of attempts by government to assuage feelings but the political will to implement them has been clearly lacking. True federalism means control of resources by the source states.
As in the case taken by handful Nigeria Diaspora in Britain to protest against Shell, more efforts should be made to make our government more responsible to the citizenry and stop its hypocritical double-speak. Now, Nigeria as a major solid mineral prospect have greater reasons to introduce resource control, to allows states take charge of mineral deposits in their domain and while make compulsory contributions the national coffers.
Security
Security is a major constraint for Nigeria and constitute great impediment to attracting wider foreign investors. Investors naturally should be worried at the state of the security of their staff and infrastructure. Demand for personal policing and protection of foreign installations and facilities should be granted expeditious attention. The case of Malaysia will buttress this case. The government in Kuala Lumpur creates special unit with special insignia to man special public installations. In Singapore, Police alert is answered within five minutes of reception. Malaysia as of recent introduced a two-a-piece circuit policing in the cities. This has helped reduce incidence of crime in the tourist country. An atmosphere free of harassments will help boost the ability to haul goods and provide services up any time of the day.
Even as Nigeria needs a comprehensive review of her policing policy (giving police operatives up-scaled international training and more motivation with better gargets, better remuneration packages) –in fact, professionalizing the Nigeria Police Force, it is important to creatively divert the efforts of her teeming unemployed youths. Bombing and bomb scare is becoming part of daily psyche-tuning because hardship, political disaffection and economic frustration is compelling the youths to take up arms, some are championing adoption of judicial systems outside the constitution –kidnapping and banditry is on the upsurge. Nigeria cannot afford to be the home country of a Nigerian Diaspora acclaimed as one of the bests in international policing and yet be languishing in the odium of internal security!
Corruption and the problem of international confidence:
We may have anti-corruption agencies and organizations –the EFCC, ICPC, Police Service Commission; etc that prosecuted several public officers, created financial audit programs within some establishments, but the truth is that investors are still jittery at the level of its success. We know that many investors in the past complained of subtle and explicit demands from government officials.
Logjams and barriers occasioned by indiscriminate opening of businesses can be reviewed to ease up business registrations at Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). Computer enabled-software networks should be installed for validations of claims instead of the usual red tape of carrying files. With good Global Positioning System (GPS) mapping and installations, online verification can be made using post codes, Personal Identification Numbers of mobile phones, tax registrations/payments numbers, etc.
Even our internal affairs are conducted in the shabbiest manner; police brutality and extortions, military high handedness, rates and tax touts at motor parks –all are signs of a true decadent society. Civil servants refuse to attend to files unless their palms are greased.
Installation of multi-facet, Solar/battery-powered highway CCTV monitoring points, telephone booths, cell phone free SMS / video alerts inducements can help checkmate crimes of official malfeasance, rascality and many WAI-conflicts. Trust the Freedom of Information Bill.
Tourism Development/ Environment:
Nigeria is a good gift to the world in terms of eco-diversity especially eco-adventure and general outdoors experience. Yet, while we waste potentials and allow monuments to continue to lie derelict, cultures with less endowment are polishing their little scum of efforts to great advantage.
The human traffic to and fro Brazil and the Central America every year is in fact recourse to what is originally Nigerian. What the world go to behold at various international destinations world over have precursors [first original monuments and beautiful natural formations] here –from Eredo Rampart, Kano Old City Wall, Ogbunike Cave / Urunda Depression, Zuma Rock, Agulu Lake, Lokoja Confluence, Uguta Lake, Olumo Rock, Jos Plateau, Udi Hill, Adamawa Plateau, Aro Shrine, Ikom Monolith, Nok Culture, Ogoja Salt slate, Esie Soap Stone, Igboukwu artifacts, Bida Crafts, Awka Metal Foundry, to Osogbo festivals, Umuoji Promenade, Dubar Horse Racing, Argungu Fishing, Abuja National Carnivals, etc. Tinapa in Cross River State is a note to the success ahead.
We need a Nigerian experience anthropologically. Many of our forests, shrines and historical sites are pregnant with untold stories of our ancient capacities. To press traditions to advantage, protective laws can be made for sites home to certain species of animals with windy trails built into them to increase tours. The Diaspora on their own can muster the gumption to pursue government priority for anthropological expeditions and so give impetus to tourism development.
On Environment, it is important to state that Tourism is a product of a prescribed natural order and environmental balance, both enhanced by reflective human intensifications. Nigeria needs to refocus the 1980s’ War Against Indiscipline (WAI) initiatives to maintain order and balance in our outdoor experiences. The various areas that needs enforced legislation include the indiscriminate use and abuses in
- Noise pollution: Vehicular horn-blaring, use of sirens by unauthorized persons, location of industries within living quarters;
- Refuse dumping: Non sustainable waste management initiatives;
- Open Parks/Garages: Human and Non-mechanized vehicular traffic controls.
An instance of Diaspora initiative on environment: Anambra State indigenes resident in US (led by the late Ugo Anakwenze on an economic development mission) had a successful experience while helping the state government on waste management. Under the auspices of ASA-USA, Eagle Recycling & Disposal Corporation from Hollister California are helping the state disposal unit known as ANSEPA to manage Onitsha refuse dumps. We expect them to also encourage waste-to-energy conversion, recycling of re-usable items like paper and plastic in addition to carrying-on industrial separation of metals as part of modern integrated waste management approach.
Labor:
According to an Exclusive Analyst, Robert Besseling [BBC 4/9/2011], with a population of more than 154million people and 70% of unemployment, about 24million forms of employment is needed by Nigeria.
Nigeria needs to climb up the value chain. The simple logic that high income requires high productivity should make for seeking talents to innovate and research the needs of her economy. Therefore, importance should be attached to conceptualization of ideas. Think of Apple and its iPhone designs: It earns more than its manufacturers OEMs. Likewise, market forces has shown that is more profitable to sell oleo-chemicals and petrochemical products than crude oil or oil palm. This is a reason to say that innovation profiling should be encouraged better than just building ‘gifted schools.’
At the moment, Nigeria lacks a large pool of talented and high skilled workforce but what we have in abundance is cheap unskilled labor. While it is an uphill task engaging an IT executive with the required Matrix, it takes just 24-hours to hire anybody in the blue-collar category. Still, action needs to refocus the areas of the 3Ds –dirty, demanding & dangerous jobs because of exploitation and occupational hazards.
No Jobs, Job loss and survivability of small firms needs better inputs beyond the prevailing SME framework, since Small Businesses form the bulk of nation’s means of livelihood. That’s why it is even more important to drive government through SMEs. Again, because jobs provide hassle-free tax deduction systems thus, up-scaled SME administration can provide capital base for small firms.
We must also agree that investors need to protect their investments. Nigeria need pass the current trend of mix consulting services and vendor-based solutions. What obtains is that companies go to vendors for whole scale services with huge price tags. This trend portends danger and will worry many investors considering Nigeria’s current image. Internet fraud and unethical hacking is not any good news. So, investors would need an in-house assurance (security-wise). The people known to them –those with hands-on experience to actually secure the million dollar investments, can provide this assurance.
Calling for Inter-Continental Diaspora Initiatives
In the light of the importance of Diaspora direct participation in our national planning, I use this forum to call on all Nigerian Diasporas to action. The need for Diaspora National (and International) Committees is now. Federal Government of Nigeria need to cap its efforts by giving necessary impetus to the formation of these committees so we can excite germane discussions, throwing away the spiteful Nigerian brand of mischievousness within Diaspora ranks; re-branding Nigeria true and thus, assuage the compelling needs through unfettered discussions centering on the following:
- Investigate the entire constitutional provisions and provide convincing international positions to the definition of the Nigerian citizenry. Advising the National Assembly thus;
- The issue of dual citizenship as it affects the Nigerian Diasporas;
- Establish the true instruments of voter identification for purposes of Diaspora voter registration/voting proper;
- The rights of the children of the Nigerian Diasporas who have attained voting age;
- The roles/duties of the Electoral Officers –from Returning to Poll Clerks in an election;
- The roles of the Nigerian Mission in the host countries –High Commissions/Embassies or other appointed agents of the Electoral Commission;
- Provide suggestions for Funding Diaspora electoral process including absentee voting;
- Provide other progressive sundry suggestions for patriotic participation in all elections by all qualified Diasporas against any selective or pilot voting as may be the case of certain criteria of Nigerians. Other areas for brainstorming will include ballot fairness, voting exercise security and lessons learned from other developing countries that have adopted successful absentee ballot initiatives.
- Convene and conduct Integrity pact workshops in conjunction with Transparency In Nigeria (TIN) to ascertain level of progress made in the economy by incumbent administration in all sectors including Energy (oil/gas delivery), health/portable water, transport and housing, the guides of which should be based on the internationally known TI coordinating activities viz;
a. National integrity systems project
b. Publish what you pay / revenue transparency
c. Support to governmental anti-corruption entities
d. DFID Pro-poor (ICT) projects: Application of ICT to improving effectiveness, quality and transparency in public service delivery, with special reference to primary education
e. Project on Needs Assessment for ICPC’s Anti-Corruption units in Government Ministries, Parastatal and Extra-Ministerial Departments
f. Project on Advocacy visits to the two Houses of the National Assembly and selected State Houses of Assembly to promote the passing of certain bills that will aid the fight against corrupt, or the performance of neglected constitutional functions by the State Houses of Assembly in respect of public accountability
g. Report card project
h. Transparency and Integrity in Service Delivery in Africa Program (focus on education) (2008-2011)
i. Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre.
The experience of ASA USA (Anambra State Association –USA) and other Diaspora-think home Nigeria outfits does show the proofs that this rewarding activity will give future direction. In the area of Drug and Pharmaceutical products provision, ASA-USA has actually arrested shortage in quality drug provision and administration pan Anambra State. This may sound bogus but it is very true!
Chatelin, Gaillard, and Keller (Chatelin, Y., Jacques Gaillard, and A. S. Keller. 1997. "The Nigerian Scientific Community: The Colossus with Feet of Clay." Pp. 129-54 in Scientific Communities in the Developing World, edited by Jacques Gaillard, V.V. Krishna, and Roland Waast. Sage Publications) used a pancontinental bibliometric comparison to show that Nigerian scientists have the highest publication rate in Black Africa. When Africa is considered in total, they rank next to South Africa and Egypt. In agriculture and medicine, in particular, Nigerian scientists publish more than their South African and Egyptian counterparts. Infrastructurally, Nigeria boasts of more than 30 scientific research institutes, supported by a considerable number of technological incubation and engineering [End Page 1412] centers distributed across the country. Most of these agencies are under the power, supervision, and administration of the federal government. There is also a national academy of science, whose exact contribution to the development of science and technology is difficult to assess. Added to these resources are series of public policy documents on science and technology, which hardly see the light of implementation. By contrast, Biafran technological achievement occurred without a science policy and without a national academy of science. The steel-rolling mills that have been built since the end of the war did not exist for Biafra. Polytechnic schools now produce lower- and middle-level technical manpower. Compared to the situation in Biafra, the scientific and technological infrastructure in postwar Nigeria is indeed gigantic. Yet scientific activity in Biafra was known for its social relevance, whereas that of Nigeria draws only complaints.
Thank you for the deserved excursion. Now take a second look at our politicians who perambulate at Abuja; Ask yourself if they are not ashamed to sit in the positions of Zik, Awo, Balewa, Ahmadu Bello, Aminu Kano, Akintola, Okpara, Joseph Tarka, Waziri Ibrahim, If these Abuja jobbers were around in the 1st Republic, I tell you Nigeria would not even dream of the geniuses of Njoku Obi, Godien Ezekwe, Charles Okafor, Alvan Ikoku, Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Christopher Okigbo, Sanya Onabamiro, Adeoyo Lambo, Kayode Osuntokun, Pius Okigbo, Babs Fafunwa, Ayodele Awojobi, J.C. Menakaya, Chike Obi, etc who made their marks without being suppressed by starvation or the swagger of overbearing politics-without-respect.
So while thanking the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the leadership of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, for creating an office for a Senior Special Assistant on Diaspora Affairs, I urge concrete and expeditious legislative engineering that can afford the teeming Nigerians abroad corresponding opportunity in the direct socio-political development of their fatherland. It is my prayer that this General Election becomes the prayed Reference Point and resolve of Nigerians to engender transparency in their economic cum political experiences as a nation.
Long live Nigeria!
