NEWS
How Nigeria Let Self, Africa, Black Race, World Down — Obasanjo
Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has voiced that the most populous black nation on earth, Nigeria, let herself, Africa, the black race, and indeed the whole down by not making the right choices on those to put into leadership positions.
Obasanjo, who spoke virtually, on Monday at the public presentation of the book titled ‘Reclaiming the Jewel of Africa,’ authored by former Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, who also served as Minister of Finance, Olusegun Aganga.
The former president, who delivered the keynote on the occasion expressed concern that selfishness, religious and ethnic jingoism, among other vices have combined to blindfold the citizenry from making appropriate choices on those to lead them, hence the ship of state has been drifting since independence, in 1960.
The event attracted several dignitaries including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who unveiled the book.
President Tinubu was represented by his Special Adviser on Monetary Policy, Olawale Edun.
In his address, Obasanjo declared that, “Over the last 63 years, we have not lived up to expectations.
“We have disappointed ourselves; we have disappointed Africa; we have disappointed the black race; and we have disappointed the world.”
On the book, he pointed out that “what Segun (Aganga) has tried to identify, itemise and recommend in his book is the way forward.
“But the beginning of charting a new course for ourselves is to admit our failure because we have not always put the round peg in the round hole.
“We are carried along by ego and emotion of self, selfishness and self-centeredness, ethnic and religious jingoism, with total lack of understanding of the world we live in and gross misunderstanding of what development entails and how to move fast and continuously on the trajectory of development.”
He also pinpointed two major issues that underpinning the snail pace in all-round development.
“These are peace and security, which we cannot achieve without justice, equity and inclusive society. And telling ourselves the truth, we have not done well on these scores in the recent past—in the last decade and a half.
“I will also point at the issue of education, where over 20 million children that should be in school are not in school. We do not need an oracle to tell us the consequences of that for tomorrow,” Obasanjo stated.
According to him, skill acquisition, empowerment and employment of youth would seem not to be getting enough attention or underappreciated.
In his words, “We do not need to look far for the remote causes of banditry, Boko Haram, kidnapping and other organised crimes.
“We are living dangerously on a keg of gunpowder, driving more people into poverty through good policies poorly and thoughtlessly implemented or bad policy and no policy at all.”
The event witnessed a large turnout of past and current senior government officials, including former President Goodluck Jonathan, who like Obasanjo spoke virtually.
It appears that Air Peace’s foray into profitable global routes would continue to attract warfare from numerous sources.
Recall that in what seemed like price war, many international airlines tweaked their flight rates to Nigeria southward, following the entry of Air Peace into the global arena, particularly the United Kingdom and the United States routes.
Now, barely three months after Air Peace commenced the Lagos-London route, the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (UKCAA) has formally reported the airline to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for violation of some aviation safety regulations.
It was gathered that two mandatory occurrence reports on Air Peace had been sent to the UKCAA, which in turn forwarded the complaints to the NCAA.
The UKCAA’s covering letter conveying the complaint to the NCAA was entitled, ‘United Kingdom SAFA Ramp Inspection Report with reference number: CAA-UK, -2024-0217’ and ‘NATS Management System Safety Report.’
In a swift reaction, the NCAA has formally demanded explanations and clarifications from Air Peace over the complaints.
The letter, dated May 14, 2024, with reference number: NCAA/DOLTS/APL/Vol.11/03624 was titled, “United Kingdom SAFA Ramp Inspection Report.
General Manager of Operations, NCAA, Capt. O.O. Lawani, signed the letter to Air Peace.
According to the letter, the NCAA averred that the UKCAA had called its attention to the no operational approval of Electronic Flight Bag functions affecting the safe operation of the aircraft, while adding that the captain of the flight admitted that an Electronic Flight Bag was being used for navigational purposes.
The NCAA also pointed out that UKCAA stated in its letter that there was “no mounting device for the use of EFB, no charging points or battery for backup.”
Biztellers reports that Air Peace recently commenced operation to London Gatwick from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos under the Bilateral Air Services Agreement, which Nigeria has with the UK.
Air Peace is yet to make its position on the matter public.
Nigeria’s Folashade Adekeye has emerged as the Chairperson, Forum of the Directors of Oil & Gas Training & Vocational Education Institutes of the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO).
Biztellers reports that Adekeye, the Director, NNPC Academy, took over from Abdelkader Guenone, the Managing Director of the Algerian Petroleum Institute (API), during the second meeting of the Forum, in Abuja, at the weekend.
At the moment, Adekeye heads the NNPC’s oil and gas training arm, brings into the role over 30 years of experience, and is expected to work with her colleagues from APPO Member Countries in order to foster more collaboration towards addressing the challenges of competences, skill gaps, infrastructure, and poor funding in the organization’s training institutions.
Earlier in his keynote address at the opening ceremony of the meeting, the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd., Mele Kyari, represented by Inuwa Danladi, Executive Vice President (Business Services), emphasized the importance of a standardized educational and training approach to meet the changing demands of the oil and gas industry.
Also in his keynote address, APPO’s Secretary General, Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, charged the Member Countries to work towards further enhancing collaborative efforts to establish Oil & Gas Centres of Excellence across the African continent.
Dr. Ibrahim, also from Nigeria, said having good knowledge of the Forum’s challenges would enable APPO Member Countries to make recommendations and provide solutions in areas such as Oil & Gas project funding, technology adoption, and the formation of Africa Energy Bank.
He concluded that such collaboration by all member countries will guarantee Africa’s energy accessibility, affordability and sustainability, which overall, will strengthen her economies and bring prosperity to its citizens.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the governors of Nigeria’s 36 states and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nyesom Wike over failure to account for Federal allocations dating back to 1999.
It was gathered that action followed reports that the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursed N1.123 trillion to the federal, state, and local governments for March 2024.
They shared N1.208 trillion in April, which saw the states collect N398.689 billion in March, after they collected N403.403 billion in April.
In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/666/2024 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court, Abuja, the SERAP is asking the court to “direct and compel the governors and Mr Wike to publish spending details of the FAAC allocations collected by their states and the FCT since 1999 including the list and locations of projects executed with the money.”
The SERAP also asked the court to “compel the governors and Mr Wike to invite the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC] and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission [ICPC] to probe any allegations of corruption linked to the allocations and to monitor how the money is spent.”
In the suit, the SERAP argued that, “Nigerians ought to know in what manner public funds including FAAC allocations, are spent by the governors and FCT minister.”
According to the SERAP, “Opacity in the spending of the FAAC allocations collected by the governors and Mr Wike would continue to have negative impacts on the fundamental interests of the citizens.”
According to the SERAP, “trillions of FAAC allocations received by Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT have allegedly gone down the drain. The resulting human costs directly threaten the human rights of socially and economically vulnerable Nigerians.
“Without the information on the spending details of the FAAC allocations, Nigerians cannot follow the actions of their states and the FCT and they cannot properly fulfill their responsibilities as citizens.
“Directing and compelling the governors and FCT minister to provide the information sought and widely publish the spending details of the FAAC allocations collected by them would serve legitimate public interests.
“The failure by the governors and the FCT ministers to account for the spending of the FAAC allocations collected by them is entirely inconsistent and incompatible with the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and the country’s international anti-corruption obligations.”
The suit filed on behalf of the SERAP by its lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi and Andrew Nwankwo.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
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