I met Tayo Aderinokun sometime around September 1990 as I sought a move from the old First Bank to a more nimble “new generation” bank. Two older family friends strongly recommended the upcoming Guaranty Trust Bank and I submitted my CV through them. I saw Tayo and Fola Adeola at the Victoria-Island offices of First Marina Trust Ltd, a finance company managed by Tayo. The meeting was short, and my first impressions might not have been excellent. Both were in their early and mid-thirties, their smart shirts gleaming and they were smoking! I collected my employment letter some days later and resumed on November 1, 1990 with 83 others, at a hired training school while construction of the bank premises continued for another few months.
It became immediately clear that “Fola and Tayo” knew where they were going! Fola was the visionary, grand strategist and motivator; “Uncle T” as we soon started calling him was less communicative; but more practical and grounded; and had a nose for money! While Fola pushed the dreams, Tayo set the boundaries, and often led implementation. It was a classic “CEO/COO” team and probably one of the most effective and complementary leadership teams one could ever experience. Tayo was a consummate professional and stickler for excellence. He was extremely focused, along with the inspirational Fola, on building a world-class, successful African bank and they succeeded probably beyond their expectations. Guaranty Trust was their life and they put their considerable wits, energies, resources, and maybe their blood into making it work. “The Plaza” at Adeyemo Alakija, Victoria-Island was an iconic representation of their vision. It resembled a London, New York or Paris bank, and the bank’s service delivery; people; professionalism; corporate governance; and branding aspired to global standards. Most importantly, they achieved exceptional financial results! Tayo was in his elements during the “Monthly Profitability Report” (MPR) review meetings and investors in the bank were the better for it.
When Tayo took over as CEO in 2002, some may have doubted he could sustain the phenomenal performance recorded under Fola’s leadership. Tayo lacked Fola’s charisma and people skills; was shy and quiet; and had an insular, less communicative approach. But as GTBank’s performance since then testifies, Tayo was a first class manager; very driven and with uncanny instincts about market direction. He was strategically disciplined, to the bank’s benefit, when trouble befell the industry! Uncle T had a good and generous spirit…and some eccentricities! He worked hard and played hard-privately off course. He loved the TGIFs, whisky, and his cigarettes. He enjoyed life’s pleasures and had impeccable taste! His table was always clean and sparkling, such that the uninitiated may have imagined he was idle. He kept a box on his table containing hundreds of sharpened pencils. He had his temper too, and God help you if you got on Tayo’s wrong side! He tended to have a narrow circle of friends and could be indifferent about those excluded from that inner circle. Yet, beyond the tough bank CEO, he was a gentle, kind and humble spirit who could have sang Tuface song-“If to say na just me!”
A few personal encounters shed some light on the real, inner Tayo-one day I walked into his office for some approval. He was happy with me-with Tayo it was easy to tell. I had just helped resolve a protracted Apapa property development to which the bank was exposed. He caught me glancing at a Citibank School of Banking brochure on his table and handed it over, asking if I was interested in any of the programmes. That was how I attended my first overseas course in New York in April 1995; we had one difficult female customer, who had stretched our patience to the limit but inexplicably always came out of Tayo’s office with some more forbearance. I later found out her strategy-she simply burst into tears and Tayo embarrassed and confused would grant her prayers and quickly usher her out of his office; on one occasion, we had just concluded a meeting where a “born again” customer had tried to evangelise him. Tayo told me he admired the humility of the Pastor behind the evangelical wave, but wasn’t convinced this was the “real thing”. He mentioned a friend who caught in spiritual fervour had donated a generator leased to him by the bank to his Church. We had the unpleasant task of retrieving the generator from the Church! It struck me that Tayo knew the “real thing”, and may have been fervently devout had he encountered it. Uncle T took a chieftaincy title in Owu, Abeokuta in 2009.
When I informed Tayo I was going into consultancy and teaching at Lagos Business School, he went surprisingly passionate, affirming his intent to retire into education-managing a secondary school and later built Day Waterman College in Abeokuta in fulfilment of that vision. Unfortunately he retired to the heavens! I saw Uncle T for the last time on January 4, 2011 with his wife at an ex-colleague’s 50th birthday party, his usual reserved and quiet presence. My condolences to Fola; his wife Funlola and children; his friends particularly my “egbons”-Jimi Agbaje, Akin Akintoye, Bode Agusto, Sola Adeeyo, Akin Kekere-Ekun; his brother Kayode and family; his colleagues at GTBank and First Marina; and my friend, Salamatu. May his soul rest in peace.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Women, Sex and Power
There is an epidemic of sex scandals consuming men of power around the world. The roll call appears to be a “who is who” in global politics, sports and finance! Tiger Woods kicked off the parade; Since then a variety of names have followed-Chelsea and England football captain, John Terry; former California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger; respected Manchester and Welsh footballer, Ryan Giggs; The most recent “victims” are the biggest-International Monetary Fund Managing Director, Dominique Straus-Khan (DSK) and US Congressman, Anthony Weiner. DSK, who a few months ago was one of the most powerful men in the world, seemingly destined to be the next President of France, was in the twinkle of a lustful hotel-room eye transformed into a common New York criminal, in handcuffs and detained in a notorious prison. Today he stays in more luxurious surroundings in a Manhattan apartment paid for by his loyal wife, but it’s a prison all the same!
What is it that makes men (whoever is without sin, should cast the first stone!!!) endanger everything-reputation, family, wealth and career etc. when faced with a beautiful (or sometimes not-so-beautiful) woman and the prospect of illicit sex? Why would recently-married Congressman Weiner, a popular New York Congressman whose pregnant spouse is aide to US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and widely considered a future Mayor of New York, send compromising pictures on Twitter to women he had never met? Why was he willing to take that risk? Why would former New York Governor, Elliot Spitzer, knowing he had made powerful enemies fighting organised crime, securities fraudsters, big multinationals who abused the environment, mortgage lenders etc endanger his political career by dealing with a prostitution service? What was he thinking? Was he thinking? Do men lose capacity for thinking when such actions are taken? Is this a case of temporary insanity?
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Austrian-American former body-builder, model, actor, celebrity, businessman and politician who was Mr Universe at 20 in 1967 and Mr Olympia seven times; a Hollywood icon; Republican Governor of California married for over twenty-five years to Maria Shriver, niece of ex-President John. F Kennedy has just being discovered to have fathered a child fourteen years ago with the family’s Guatemalan housekeeper, and kept this from his wife until very recently. Is it just our nature as men? John Terry caused uproar in Chelsea and England when it emerged that he had dated the girlfriend of his teammate in both club and country, Wayne Bridge causing England manager, Frank Capello to strip him of the England captaincy for a while. Ryan Giggs case(s) are more scandalous, apparently! The fellow had apparently maintained an eight-year affair with his brother’s girlfriend and later wife!!! Giggs has also made an inadvertent contribution to British law with his now subverted “super-injunction” preventing revelation of another affair with Imogen Thomas.
David Blunkett lost his place as Home Secretary under Tony Blair because of an affair with Kimberly Fortier, an American Publisher who later decided to return to her husband; Tiger Woods lost his reputation and marriage (and a lot of money!) because of revelations about his sex life; President Bill Clinton was almost impeached because of his affair with Monica Lewinsky; David Beckham had his turn in the scandal tabloids; and even the dreaded General Abacha’s death is rumoured to have a connection with Indian “apples”!!! Who will save the male race from this affliction of testosterone??? The problem seems to go back to the end (actually beginning) of time as anyone familiar with the Bible can attest. Maybe Adam would not have eaten the “forbidden fruit” but for Eve’s prodding; King David paid a high price for the attractions of Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba; Samson met his waterloo in Delilah; Abraham had his time with the maidservant with serious, generational and historical consequences; and Jacob had to work for fourteen years just to get married to Rachael!!! Perhaps the matter is spiritual? Certainly it seems to be the surest route (as all the Biblical and current examples suggest) through which destinies are altered or destroyed! Ask Dominique Strauss-Khan whose hopes of becoming French President can only be resurrected by God Almighty himself!!!
Why do these issues seem positively correlated with men of exceptional strength (sportsmen), power (politicians and Kings) and riches? On the other hand, accounts of divorce proceedings in our customary courts suggest that similar scandals reach into the lower classes of society, except that you are not likely to sell many newspapers reporting the affair between an unknown bricklayer and his colleague’s street hawker wife!!! Cases like that of DSK illustrate the complexity of sexual relationships. Was there consent? What is consent? How is consent communicated-explicitly, implicitly or a blend of both? Does consent have social or cultural contexts or is it an objective verifiable transaction? Can consent first given (or assumed to be given) be withdrawn (or claimed to be withdrawn)? Would DSK have been arrested for his “crime” in France, Italy or Nigeria? Is there a political dimension to these things? Is sex emerging as the ultimate weapon of political competition? Can you discount targeting by political opponents from the cases of DSK, Weiner, Clinton and Abacha?
And then the role of technology-with Face book, Twitter, YouTube, Camera Phones and DNA, the scope and consequences of “temporary insanity” appears gravely elevated. Hmmm.
What is it that makes men (whoever is without sin, should cast the first stone!!!) endanger everything-reputation, family, wealth and career etc. when faced with a beautiful (or sometimes not-so-beautiful) woman and the prospect of illicit sex? Why would recently-married Congressman Weiner, a popular New York Congressman whose pregnant spouse is aide to US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and widely considered a future Mayor of New York, send compromising pictures on Twitter to women he had never met? Why was he willing to take that risk? Why would former New York Governor, Elliot Spitzer, knowing he had made powerful enemies fighting organised crime, securities fraudsters, big multinationals who abused the environment, mortgage lenders etc endanger his political career by dealing with a prostitution service? What was he thinking? Was he thinking? Do men lose capacity for thinking when such actions are taken? Is this a case of temporary insanity?
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Austrian-American former body-builder, model, actor, celebrity, businessman and politician who was Mr Universe at 20 in 1967 and Mr Olympia seven times; a Hollywood icon; Republican Governor of California married for over twenty-five years to Maria Shriver, niece of ex-President John. F Kennedy has just being discovered to have fathered a child fourteen years ago with the family’s Guatemalan housekeeper, and kept this from his wife until very recently. Is it just our nature as men? John Terry caused uproar in Chelsea and England when it emerged that he had dated the girlfriend of his teammate in both club and country, Wayne Bridge causing England manager, Frank Capello to strip him of the England captaincy for a while. Ryan Giggs case(s) are more scandalous, apparently! The fellow had apparently maintained an eight-year affair with his brother’s girlfriend and later wife!!! Giggs has also made an inadvertent contribution to British law with his now subverted “super-injunction” preventing revelation of another affair with Imogen Thomas.
David Blunkett lost his place as Home Secretary under Tony Blair because of an affair with Kimberly Fortier, an American Publisher who later decided to return to her husband; Tiger Woods lost his reputation and marriage (and a lot of money!) because of revelations about his sex life; President Bill Clinton was almost impeached because of his affair with Monica Lewinsky; David Beckham had his turn in the scandal tabloids; and even the dreaded General Abacha’s death is rumoured to have a connection with Indian “apples”!!! Who will save the male race from this affliction of testosterone??? The problem seems to go back to the end (actually beginning) of time as anyone familiar with the Bible can attest. Maybe Adam would not have eaten the “forbidden fruit” but for Eve’s prodding; King David paid a high price for the attractions of Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba; Samson met his waterloo in Delilah; Abraham had his time with the maidservant with serious, generational and historical consequences; and Jacob had to work for fourteen years just to get married to Rachael!!! Perhaps the matter is spiritual? Certainly it seems to be the surest route (as all the Biblical and current examples suggest) through which destinies are altered or destroyed! Ask Dominique Strauss-Khan whose hopes of becoming French President can only be resurrected by God Almighty himself!!!
Why do these issues seem positively correlated with men of exceptional strength (sportsmen), power (politicians and Kings) and riches? On the other hand, accounts of divorce proceedings in our customary courts suggest that similar scandals reach into the lower classes of society, except that you are not likely to sell many newspapers reporting the affair between an unknown bricklayer and his colleague’s street hawker wife!!! Cases like that of DSK illustrate the complexity of sexual relationships. Was there consent? What is consent? How is consent communicated-explicitly, implicitly or a blend of both? Does consent have social or cultural contexts or is it an objective verifiable transaction? Can consent first given (or assumed to be given) be withdrawn (or claimed to be withdrawn)? Would DSK have been arrested for his “crime” in France, Italy or Nigeria? Is there a political dimension to these things? Is sex emerging as the ultimate weapon of political competition? Can you discount targeting by political opponents from the cases of DSK, Weiner, Clinton and Abacha?
And then the role of technology-with Face book, Twitter, YouTube, Camera Phones and DNA, the scope and consequences of “temporary insanity” appears gravely elevated. Hmmm.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
The South West Agenda
The most significant consequence of the 2011 elections was the national power shift in favour of President Jonathan’s new coalition with its centre of gravity in the South-South, South-East and North-Central, “strong” support in the South-West and “sufficient” support in the North-West and North-East. The other critical outcome is the return of the South-West to opposition, “progressive” politics in the tradition of the Action Group (AG), Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Alliance for Democracy (AD), this time under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). The South-West electorate decisively rejected “mainstream” politics as advocated by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South-West faction as their forbears had rejected “Demo” politics in the first republic and National Party of Nigeria (NPN), National Republican Convention (NRC) and PDP until the 2003 hijacking of the West by Obasanjo and Bode George.
Apart from disillusionment with the PDP and Obasanjo, South-West voters were voting, in my view, for a federal framework that allows the region develop at its own (implicitly faster) pace and the type of social democratic policies and social investment that represents the political and governance heritage in the region. It will be misleading however to assume that the 2011 elections represents a permanent and irreversible rejection of PDP and other political alternatives. Having recovered their sovereignty, our people will in future exercise it against any incumbents that fail to meet the (high) expectations of voters. Given the fact that all the states in the South-West are under the ACN, with the exception of Ondo State which is under a Labour Party government that may also be considered “progressive” (and which actually took power from the PDP with some support from the ACN leadership), there is also a widespread expectation within the region that the party and its governors will cooperate to spread the type of development witnessed in Lagos State across the entire South-West.
How can the high expectations of South-West voters be met? What policies should be implemented across the region? What should be the South-West agenda? The philosophical and constitutional anchor will obviously have to be true federalism! South-West citizens and voters will expect their leaders, governors and legislators to lead the campaign for a return to real federalism in Nigeria. This includes fiscal federalism that will encompass a review of the revenue allocation system in favour of states and local governments; and retention of value-added and other tax revenues in states of collection. It should also include substantial devolution of powers to subsidiary levels of government. We also need to carefully re-consider the matter of state police. As this will require constitutional amendment, an interim measure stipulating re-deployment of all police men and officers below the level of Commissioner of Police to their states of origin should be advocated. State governors should also request full operational control of state police commands except in electoral, constitutional and political matters and matters involving threats to the territorial integrity of the federation.
Beyond federalism, I would advocate a developmental strategy for the South-West based on five pillars-power and infrastructure; education, science and technology; agriculture and industrialisation; services; and security and law and order. Regarding power and infrastructure, the governors should seek self-sufficiency in power generation through private power providers and a role in power distribution, as well as dedicated Independent Power Plants (IPPs) in all industrial clusters and tertiary educational institutions. The most important infrastructural requirement is for a modern, integrated, multi-modal transport network throughout the region, including development of rural roads; leveraging water and rail transport opportunities; modernising the regional road network; and collaborating with the private sector and the federal government in pursuance of these objectives.
For fifty years, the focus of South-West educational philosophy has been access, through the mantra of free education. While this should be retained, increased emphasis must be placed on quality considering the state of our educational system. I suggest focus on upgrading infrastructure; science and technical education; economics, management and entrepreneurship; ethics and standards; and teacher re-training and welfare. The states may also consider jointly establishing a world-class multi-campus university as recently suggested by one of the governors; and ensuring broadband coverage of all universities and schools. A policy framework that links agriculture to manufacturing through extending the agriculture value chain to storage, processing and manufacturing; providing farming and industrial estates; power and infrastructure support; and loan and incentives schemes may also be worthwhile. Land reforms to deal with the consent requirements of the Land Use Act may help both agricultural and commercial development, as well as development of a mortgage sub-sector.
The regional strategy for services should be focused on areas of clear comparative advantage-financial services (ensuring Lagos becomes an international financial centre in line with FSS 2020); tourism (establishing an integrated regional tourism strategy and calendar) leveraging the many festivals and ceremonies; mountains and hills; rivers and waterways; cultural endowments; palaces and historical landmarks in the region; global outsourcing (focused on professional services and call centres); music and film; as well as sports development and export. Success in all the identified priority areas rests on one final pillar-security and law and order. As Lagos State has done in the last few years, all the states in the South-West must endeavour to make the region a (relatively) crime-free zone so that economic and social activities may thrive and in order that the region can fulfil its potential as the fastest developing economic region in Africa!
Apart from disillusionment with the PDP and Obasanjo, South-West voters were voting, in my view, for a federal framework that allows the region develop at its own (implicitly faster) pace and the type of social democratic policies and social investment that represents the political and governance heritage in the region. It will be misleading however to assume that the 2011 elections represents a permanent and irreversible rejection of PDP and other political alternatives. Having recovered their sovereignty, our people will in future exercise it against any incumbents that fail to meet the (high) expectations of voters. Given the fact that all the states in the South-West are under the ACN, with the exception of Ondo State which is under a Labour Party government that may also be considered “progressive” (and which actually took power from the PDP with some support from the ACN leadership), there is also a widespread expectation within the region that the party and its governors will cooperate to spread the type of development witnessed in Lagos State across the entire South-West.
How can the high expectations of South-West voters be met? What policies should be implemented across the region? What should be the South-West agenda? The philosophical and constitutional anchor will obviously have to be true federalism! South-West citizens and voters will expect their leaders, governors and legislators to lead the campaign for a return to real federalism in Nigeria. This includes fiscal federalism that will encompass a review of the revenue allocation system in favour of states and local governments; and retention of value-added and other tax revenues in states of collection. It should also include substantial devolution of powers to subsidiary levels of government. We also need to carefully re-consider the matter of state police. As this will require constitutional amendment, an interim measure stipulating re-deployment of all police men and officers below the level of Commissioner of Police to their states of origin should be advocated. State governors should also request full operational control of state police commands except in electoral, constitutional and political matters and matters involving threats to the territorial integrity of the federation.
Beyond federalism, I would advocate a developmental strategy for the South-West based on five pillars-power and infrastructure; education, science and technology; agriculture and industrialisation; services; and security and law and order. Regarding power and infrastructure, the governors should seek self-sufficiency in power generation through private power providers and a role in power distribution, as well as dedicated Independent Power Plants (IPPs) in all industrial clusters and tertiary educational institutions. The most important infrastructural requirement is for a modern, integrated, multi-modal transport network throughout the region, including development of rural roads; leveraging water and rail transport opportunities; modernising the regional road network; and collaborating with the private sector and the federal government in pursuance of these objectives.
For fifty years, the focus of South-West educational philosophy has been access, through the mantra of free education. While this should be retained, increased emphasis must be placed on quality considering the state of our educational system. I suggest focus on upgrading infrastructure; science and technical education; economics, management and entrepreneurship; ethics and standards; and teacher re-training and welfare. The states may also consider jointly establishing a world-class multi-campus university as recently suggested by one of the governors; and ensuring broadband coverage of all universities and schools. A policy framework that links agriculture to manufacturing through extending the agriculture value chain to storage, processing and manufacturing; providing farming and industrial estates; power and infrastructure support; and loan and incentives schemes may also be worthwhile. Land reforms to deal with the consent requirements of the Land Use Act may help both agricultural and commercial development, as well as development of a mortgage sub-sector.
The regional strategy for services should be focused on areas of clear comparative advantage-financial services (ensuring Lagos becomes an international financial centre in line with FSS 2020); tourism (establishing an integrated regional tourism strategy and calendar) leveraging the many festivals and ceremonies; mountains and hills; rivers and waterways; cultural endowments; palaces and historical landmarks in the region; global outsourcing (focused on professional services and call centres); music and film; as well as sports development and export. Success in all the identified priority areas rests on one final pillar-security and law and order. As Lagos State has done in the last few years, all the states in the South-West must endeavour to make the region a (relatively) crime-free zone so that economic and social activities may thrive and in order that the region can fulfil its potential as the fastest developing economic region in Africa!
Agenda for Jonathan
President Goodluck Jonathan will take the oath of office as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the second time on Sunday May 29, 2011, the first being on May 6, 2010 after the death of late President Umaru Yar’adua. This time will however be different-President Jonathan has won the office on his own merit and in his own right and now has the mandate and legitimacy to “transform Nigeria”. When Jonathan became Acting President early last year, I wrote “Memo to Goodluck Jonathan” in which I counseled a limited agenda, centered on electoral reform; power; Niger-Delta and anti-corruption. This time, Jonathan must design a comprehensive programme for impacting all aspects of national life over the next four years.
The president has some immediate priorities even in this time of transition-getting critical legislation enacted into law BEFORE the inauguration, in particular the 2011 appropriation; the sovereign wealth fund; petroleum industry and the freedom of information bills. He must also ensure continued implementation of the power sector road map even through transition. The objective must be to ensure completion of the privatization of ALL PHCN unbundled entities slated for privatization within the next three months! The president must also mandate the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and National Council on Privatization to complete concessioning of the transmission entity within the same period. Unfortunately given the post-election violence in Northern Nigeria, Jonathan will also have to design an agenda for national reconciliation to heal the deep wounds inflicted by the senseless carnage. It seems to me that he will have to isolate those extremist elements who seem intent on dividing our people, and draw a consensus across the country around moderate positions.
Beyond the immediate, Jonathan’s core objectives in my view should centre around power and infrastructure; human capital and social sector investments; deepening economic reforms and improved fiscal and macroeconomic management; and corruption and national values. In respect of power, I believe the president already has a robust strategy embedded in the power sector road map he launched in 2010. The focus now must be to remove all obstacles to the swift execution of that programme, especially labour and geo-regional obstructions and ensure that by December 2011, Nigeria has a power sector that is private sector-controlled. Beyond privatizing the PHCN entities, a strategy for turning over the ongoing National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) to the private sector must be designed. The Yar’adua/Jonathan era has seen a lot of budgetary allocation to road infrastructure, but perhaps execution (and value-for-money) has lagged. President Jonathan must now ensure that we see tangible evidence of the budget spend in terms of vast improvements in our national road network.
The government must focus ALL its attention on social sector reforms-education; health; poverty and unemployment. The president seems to have shown some passion for education reform. In line with the trend suggested in the 2011 appropriation, we need to continue to increase investments in education and science and technology to redress the education sector disaster the nation is marching inexorably towards. Clearly we need better educational infrastructure; more emphasis on quality; better trained and motivated teachers; leveraging science and technology; and improved ethics and standards in our educational sector. The government must also seek consensus around reform of the Almajirai educational system in the North. The key health sector challenges in my view are two-fold-sector reform to ensure we have the right structures and institutional mechanisms in place and sustainable financing. The president needs a team of financial, insurance and health sector experts to review the current sub-optimal health insurance system and come up with a comprehensive reform that will ensure universal health coverage in a sustainable framework. It is clear that we have a national emergency as regards poverty and unemployment. The report of the Dangote Committee on Job Creation already provides a “roadmap” for dealing with the jobs issue, but we need a similar “Marshall Plan” for poverty alleviation, social welfare and rural development.
The agenda in respect of economic management must focus on achieving diversification from oil, focusing in my view on agriculture, solid minerals; manufacturing, transportation and tourism. Critical in achieving these are power, security, and policy reforms in these sectors. The problems of Niger-Delta militancy, Boko Haram insurrection and general state of crime and insecurity MUST be laid to rest. We also need a competition and anti-trust law to ensure what we get is a free market, not a free jungle; and continued regulatory and investment climate reforms. In the fiscal side, it would be a giant step forward if the Sovereign Wealth Fund Bill is signed into law to institutionalize better fiscal frameworks. I will also advocate an amendment to the fiscal responsibility act to compel the federal (and states?) government to devote at least seventy percent of budget to capital expenditure by 2015, with the law mandating progression to that minimum on a year-to-year basis. We also need reform of the public services, compliance with procurement regulations; and a true anti-corruption war.
I also hope Jonathan will have time for legal and constitutional reforms to enthrone a true federal system, including devolution of powers to states and local governments; fiscal federalism; independent candidacy and diaspora voting; a fair and accurate census and voters register; reform of the land use act (to modify or remove the consent requirements), and introduction of commercial courts. Finally I believe the president must focus on national values and ethical re-orientation.
The president has some immediate priorities even in this time of transition-getting critical legislation enacted into law BEFORE the inauguration, in particular the 2011 appropriation; the sovereign wealth fund; petroleum industry and the freedom of information bills. He must also ensure continued implementation of the power sector road map even through transition. The objective must be to ensure completion of the privatization of ALL PHCN unbundled entities slated for privatization within the next three months! The president must also mandate the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and National Council on Privatization to complete concessioning of the transmission entity within the same period. Unfortunately given the post-election violence in Northern Nigeria, Jonathan will also have to design an agenda for national reconciliation to heal the deep wounds inflicted by the senseless carnage. It seems to me that he will have to isolate those extremist elements who seem intent on dividing our people, and draw a consensus across the country around moderate positions.
Beyond the immediate, Jonathan’s core objectives in my view should centre around power and infrastructure; human capital and social sector investments; deepening economic reforms and improved fiscal and macroeconomic management; and corruption and national values. In respect of power, I believe the president already has a robust strategy embedded in the power sector road map he launched in 2010. The focus now must be to remove all obstacles to the swift execution of that programme, especially labour and geo-regional obstructions and ensure that by December 2011, Nigeria has a power sector that is private sector-controlled. Beyond privatizing the PHCN entities, a strategy for turning over the ongoing National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) to the private sector must be designed. The Yar’adua/Jonathan era has seen a lot of budgetary allocation to road infrastructure, but perhaps execution (and value-for-money) has lagged. President Jonathan must now ensure that we see tangible evidence of the budget spend in terms of vast improvements in our national road network.
The government must focus ALL its attention on social sector reforms-education; health; poverty and unemployment. The president seems to have shown some passion for education reform. In line with the trend suggested in the 2011 appropriation, we need to continue to increase investments in education and science and technology to redress the education sector disaster the nation is marching inexorably towards. Clearly we need better educational infrastructure; more emphasis on quality; better trained and motivated teachers; leveraging science and technology; and improved ethics and standards in our educational sector. The government must also seek consensus around reform of the Almajirai educational system in the North. The key health sector challenges in my view are two-fold-sector reform to ensure we have the right structures and institutional mechanisms in place and sustainable financing. The president needs a team of financial, insurance and health sector experts to review the current sub-optimal health insurance system and come up with a comprehensive reform that will ensure universal health coverage in a sustainable framework. It is clear that we have a national emergency as regards poverty and unemployment. The report of the Dangote Committee on Job Creation already provides a “roadmap” for dealing with the jobs issue, but we need a similar “Marshall Plan” for poverty alleviation, social welfare and rural development.
The agenda in respect of economic management must focus on achieving diversification from oil, focusing in my view on agriculture, solid minerals; manufacturing, transportation and tourism. Critical in achieving these are power, security, and policy reforms in these sectors. The problems of Niger-Delta militancy, Boko Haram insurrection and general state of crime and insecurity MUST be laid to rest. We also need a competition and anti-trust law to ensure what we get is a free market, not a free jungle; and continued regulatory and investment climate reforms. In the fiscal side, it would be a giant step forward if the Sovereign Wealth Fund Bill is signed into law to institutionalize better fiscal frameworks. I will also advocate an amendment to the fiscal responsibility act to compel the federal (and states?) government to devote at least seventy percent of budget to capital expenditure by 2015, with the law mandating progression to that minimum on a year-to-year basis. We also need reform of the public services, compliance with procurement regulations; and a true anti-corruption war.
I also hope Jonathan will have time for legal and constitutional reforms to enthrone a true federal system, including devolution of powers to states and local governments; fiscal federalism; independent candidacy and diaspora voting; a fair and accurate census and voters register; reform of the land use act (to modify or remove the consent requirements), and introduction of commercial courts. Finally I believe the president must focus on national values and ethical re-orientation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)