LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM DONALD TRUMP THAT PRESIDENT BUHARI MUST IMBIBE.

Hate him or love him, you cannot deny the fact that Donald Trump has exhibited strong leadership qualities within the short period he assumed office as President of the United States. He may have played to the gallery during the campaigns and told gullible Americans what they wanted to hear in order to get their votes but the moment he assumed office, he left no one in doubt that he meant business. Whether his actions so far will bring progress to the American people at the end of the day is a matter of conjecture but no one can deny the fact that Trump came into office prepared and with a game plan to execute. 

Donald Trump began the process of setting up his cabinet as soon as he won the election. He did not wait for handover notes and whatnots from his predecessor before moving into action. Even in the face of opposition and protests against his victory, he never lost sight of the fact that he had a job to do and he must get himself ready for it. Barely hours of being sworn in as President, he sent his first list of nominees to Congress for approval. 

Buhari, on the other hand, was not only slow but lackadaisical towards setting up a cabinet when he assumed office. While his spin doctors made excuses for him that he was taking his time to select “saints” to form his cabinet, Buhari himself revealed his true state of mind in far away France when he told a bewildered world in an interview with France 24TV that ministers only make a lot of noise and technocrats and civil servants are the ones who carry out the day to day running of governance. Impliedly, he was not keen in appointing ministers and if he had his way, may do without them.

It is therefore not surprising that even until this moment, he is yet to make many key appointments and the Minister of State for Labour who lost his life almost a year ago is yet to be replaced. 

Among the hallmarks of good leadership are precision and the ability to design and articulate roadmaps to get to desired destinations. You may not agree with his ways and means but you can tell what Donald Trump’s foreign and economic policies are even in the infancy of his administration. The same cannot be said of President Buhari even after almost two years in office. For a start, he has no economic team in the real sense of it and one cannot pinpoint those charged with the execution of his economic policies. Again, the flip-flops in policy direction that has characterised his administration apparently suggest the absence of an articulated plan for leadership before he assumed office.

During the campaigns, Trump’s promise to intervene to prevent jobs from leaving America was seen by many as a mere campaign promise. That particular promise was targeted at the air-conditioner manufacturer Carrier, whose move to other countries was making Americans to lose jobs.  But Trump quickly swung into action after the election and announced a high-profile deal with Carrier to keep jobs in Indiana! Since then, other companies have announced expansions of jobs in the U.S. owing to the action taken by Trump. That is the sense of urgency, and creativity in leadership that we have not seen Buhari exhibit, especially on the economic front since he came to power in 2015.

Donald Trump’s constant use of Twitter to talk about his plans and direction of his government is another commendable attitude that must be recommended to President Buhari. With this, the American people can literally follow their President and know what he is up to and what position he has taken on any issue. Whether they agree or disagree with him is a different issue entirely.

In contrast, Nigerians are often in the dark on Buhari’s views on topical issues. They are left to read his famous body language and indulge in debates on whether the many spokesmen who speak for him are speaking his mind or not.

It may not be via Twitter or any other social medium for that matter, but President Buhari must devise a means of reaching out to the people he leads. There cannot be effective leadership where the leaders and the led are not on the same page in terms of focus and direction.  

                                                    -By Jerry Uzezi Edo. Originally published in  http://www.opinionnigeria.com/leadership-lessons-from-trump-that-president-buhari-must-imbibe-                                          

HOW TO REGISTER A CHURCH IN NIGERIA WITH THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (C.A.C.)

The Corporate Affairs Commission (C.A.C.) is the government agency responsible for the registration of churches in Nigeria.

To register a church, you have the option of engaging a lawyer to do it on your behalf or you do it yourself. This article is a do-it-yourself article meant to guide non-lawyers in the registration of churches.  Even if you decide to engage a lawyer to register a church, the information here will be useful to you in dealing with your lawyer.

PROCEDURE:

A. NAME APPROVAL/RESERVATION.

The first thing you need to do is to get an approval of the name of the church you intend to register. It is the C.A.C. (Corporate Affairs Commission) that approves the name of any church that you intend to register.

The C.A.C. will not approve the name if it is the same or similar to the name of another church that is already registered or reserved for registration.

To get the name approval/reservation, go to any C.A.C. office to buy Form “CAC IT NAME” otherwise known as “Availability Check/Reservation of Name” Form.

Note: There is a C.A.C. office in every state capital in Nigeria. Lagos has 3 branches of C.A.C. at Ikeja, Yaba and Lagos Island while the corporate headquarters is in Abuja.)

Note also that to buy this form or any other form or payment you intend to make to the C.A.C., must be done through the bank. This practice started with the coming of the Buhari administration that enforced the TSA (Treasury Single Account) in financial transactions involving Federal Government agencies.

In this case, all you do is go to any commercial bank, pick a teller and fill it indicating that the payment is made in favour of C.A.C. for “Name Reservation.” Write the name of the church you intend to register as the payer of the money.

You can also do the transaction online via www.remita.net. (Remita is a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) licensed e-payment platform through which payment are made to Federal Government agencies as part of the implementation of the TSA.)

If you make the payment at the bank, you will be given a printout evidencing the transaction and this printout together with the customer copy of the teller is what you will take to any C.A.C. office to get the Form “CAC IT NAME” (Availability Check/Reservation of Name) Form.

When you get this form, fill it immediately.  (Here is a sample of this form

FORM CAC IT

 

On the form you are allowed to fill 3 different names of the church you intend to register in order of preference.

Also on the form is a column you are asked to fill the principal aims and objective of the association i.e. the church. Fill this column indicating the aims and objectives of the church for instance: “Preaching the Gospel to the world,” “evangelizing and winning souls for Christ,” “teaching and baptizing people in the name of the God,” etc.  

Once you are through, sign and date the form and submit it to them at the C.A.C. After a week, go back to the C.A.C. for the result. One of the three names will be approved and reserved for you or all three names will be rejected (denied.)  

As mentioned above, the name of your church would not be approved if it is the same or similar to the name of an already registered church. In the event that all three names you submitted are denied approval, you have to think of other names to use. In that case, you get another form “CAC IT NAME,” fill in the new names you have and submit it again.

If and when a name you submitted is approved by the C.A.C., the name is automatically reserved for you for 60 days. The implication of this is that for the next 60 days, no other person can be given the approval to register a church with that name or a name that is similar to it. However, if after 60 days you could not complete the process of the registration, that name can be approved for another person that applied for it.

B. PUBLICATION.

After getting the name of the church approved and reserved, the next thing you will do is to put up a newspaper publication. The publication will be in two newspapers informing the general public that your church has applied to the C.A.C. for registration and a certain number of persons whose names appear in the advert are the proposed trustees of the church and if any member of the general public has any reason why the church should not be registered, such a person should forward his or her objection(s) to the C.A.C. within 28 days.

Trustees' public notice advert in newspaper.

A sample of this newspaper publication is as shown here.

A note on Trustees.

The trustees are in practical terms, the directors or administrators of the church. They are the people who apply for the registration of the church. That is why at the end of the day, if the registration is successful, the full name of the church will be something like this, “INCORPORATED TRUSTEES OF ………CHURCH.” It is a body that has juristic personality and can sue and be sued in a law court.

By law, only one or two persons can be registered as trustees but in practice, this is hardly done. Usually it is between 3 to 10 persons. (Ten is the maximum.) Very often as we have seen in Nigeria, the founder of the church, his wife and one or two other trusted elder in the church are appointed as trustees of the church for the purpose of the registration of the church.

Be informed also that after the church is registered, new trustees can be added and any of the registered trustees can be removed as well especially if the trustee dies or leaves the church.

For somebody to qualify to be a trustee, he or she must be of age (that is above 18); must be resident in Nigeria; must be of sound mind; must not be a convicted felon or someone who had been declared bankrupt by a court.

You are expected to hold a general meeting of the church wherein the trustees are elected by at least two-thirds of those present.

C. PREPARATION AND FILING OF THE REGISTRATION FORM.

As soon as the 28 days mentioned in the newspaper publication elapses and no objection is sent by anyone to the CAC, you can then begin the last lap of the registration process which involves buying the required form, filling it and submitting it to the C.A.C. together with the required documents and payment of the filing fees of N30,000 (Thirty thousand Naira.)

The first thing to do here is to buy Trustees Incorporation Form from the C.A.C. The payment can be done online via Remita website or go to the bank to pay for it as you did when you bought the Form CAC IT NAME. However, this form costs N1,000 (One thousand Naira.)

When you have paid in the bank, take your teller and printout to the C.A.C. to get the form. A sample of this form is available on this blog for your perusal.

This form is detailed and must be typed using a manual or electric typewriter and not to be filled with hand.

In it, you will fill details about the church you intend to register, it’s main aims and objectives, the number of trustees, etc.

There is a column where the passport photographs of each of the trustees are to be attached as well as their names, addresses and occupation.

Furthermore, there is a column where an impression of the common seal of the church is made. (The common seal is an iron seal having the approved name of the church on it. You can get this done in an artist/sign writer’s shop for as low as five thousand naira.)

When you finish with this form, include with it the following items

1.    Photocopies of means of identification of each trustee. (The means of identification should either be an international passport, driver’s licence, National Identity Card or Voter’s Card.)

2.    Two copies of the constitution of the church. (You can download a sample of a church constitution as required to be prepared by the CAC on this blog.

3.    Minutes of the general meeting where the trustees were elected and the special clause adopted. (This should be done on a letter-headed paper of the church. The Special Clause should be copied from the Trustees Incorporation Form into the minutes)

4.    Trustee Declaration Form which is an oath (an affidavit) that each of the trustees swears to before a Commissioner for Oaths in a High Court affirming that he or she agreed to act as a trustee of the proposed church.

Having done the above, you can then take the form and all the above mentioned documents together with a copy of the two newspapers the publication was made to the CAC to vet and assess. If anything is not properly done or something you are to provide is not provided, you will be asked to do so.

Once you are certified to have done all the needful, you will be asked to go to the bank to pay N30,000 (Thirty thousand Naira) as filing fees for the registration of the church.

Again, this can be done online via Remita or the bank. Thereafter, go back to the C.A.C. with your teller and printout as well as all the assessed documents and leave them with them.

The process is filing for the registration completed and all things equal, the certificate of registration will be out in two to three weeks.

SAMPLE CONSTITUTION FOR CHURCH REGISTRATION IN NIGERIA

PREAMBLE:

We, the members of ARMY OF ZION CHURCH, a religious, not-for-profit and non-political organization do firmly and solemnly resolve to provide for ourselves a constitution and to be governed by the provisions therein contained.

ARTICLE 1: NAME:

The name of the Organization shall be ARMY OF ZION CHURCH (hereinafter referred to as the “Church.”)

ARTICLE 2: ADDRESS

The Address of the Church shall be situate in Nigeria

ARTICLE 3: AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aims and objectives of the Church are:

1. To preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ

2. To establish churches and Christian centres.

3. To engage in evangelism and win souls for Christ

4. To establish Bible schools and other institutions for the training of ministers and evangelists.

5. To do such other lawful things that are incidental to the attainment of the objectives of the

    Church.

ARTICLE 4: TRUSTEES

A.    The Trustees of ARMY OF ZION CHURCH for the purpose of the Companies and Allied Matters Act No. 1 of 1990 shall be elected at a General Meeting by two-thirds (2/3) majority of members present and charged with the responsibility of selecting the Trustees.

B.     Such Trustees (Hereinafter referred to as, “The Trustees’’) shall be Three (3) in number and shall be known as “THE REGISTERED TRUSTEES OF ARMY OF CHURCH.”

C.     A Trustee may hold office for life but shall cease to hold office if he:

1. Resigns his office
2. Ceases to be a member of the registered Trustees of ARMY OF ZION CHURCH.
3. Becomes insane
4. Is officially declared bankrupt
5. Is convicted of a criminal offence involving dishonesty by a Court of competent jurisdiction
6. Is recommended for removal from office by a majority of the Board of Trustees or two-thirds majority votes of members present at any General Meeting of the ARMY OF ZION CHURCH.
7. Ceases to reside in Nigeria

D. Upon a vacancy occurring in the number of Trustees a General Meeting shall be held to

     appoint another eligible member of the Church to fill such vacancy with at least two-thirds of

     the members in attendance at the General Meeting to form quorum.

1. The Trustees shall apply in a prescribed manner to the Corporate Affairs Commission for the certificate of registration of the Church under the Part C of the Companies and Allied

Matters Act No 1 of 1990.

      2.  If such certificate is granted, the Trustees shall have the power to accept and hold in trust

           all land belonging to the ARMY OF ZION CHURCH and to acquire 

           land on behalf of ARMY OF ZION CHURCH and subject to such

           conditions as the Commission may impose

ARTICLE 5: COMMON SEAL

A.    The Trustees shall have a Common seal.

B.     Such Common seal will be kept in the custody of the Secretary who shall produce it when required for use by the Trustees.

C.     All documents to be executed by the Trustees shall be signed by such number of them and sealed with the Common seal.

ARTICLE 6: MEETINGS

For effective administration of the Church there shall be the following meetings:

1.      The Annual General Meeting shall be the supreme body of the Church.

2.      The Annual General Meeting shall hold in the month of July every year at a place decided by the Board of Trustees.

3.      The agenda of the Annual General Meeting shall be prepared by the Executive Council.

4.      All Executive officers shall present reports of their activities at each Annual General Meeting.

5.      The Chairman may summon an emergency executive or general meeting of the Church when necessary to deal with urgent matters arising.

ARTICLE 7: QUORUM.

For every meeting of the Church, a quorum shall be deemed to have been formed when two-thirds (2/3) of members are present.

ARTICLE 8: GOVERNING BODY.

Composition: The Executive Council shall consist of all Executive Officers of the Church.

The Executive Officers shall include:

(a) The Chairman (b) Vice Chairman (c) General Secretary (d) Treasurer.

ARTICLE 9: SOURCES OF INCOME

The sources of income for the Church shall include:

1. Willful donations, offerings and tithes by members of the Church.

2. Donations from individuals and charitable organizations from all over the world.

ARTICLE 10: DISBURSEMENT AND APPLICATION OF FUNDS

The Church’s fund shall be strictly and solely used for the pursuit of the aims and objectives for which the Church is set up.

ARTICLE 11: KEEPING OF ACCOUNT.

The Church shall have an account with any bank in Nigeria. The Church shall ensure the accurate keeping of records of all income and expenditure.

ARTICLE 12: APPOINTMENT OF AUDITOR(S)

A.    Independent, qualified and licenced Auditor shall be appointed at the Annual General Meeting to audit the financial records of the Church annually and submit an audited report to the Annual General Meeting of the Association.

B.     The audited financial statements (balance sheet and income and expenditure account) duly certified by independent auditors shall be annexed to the annual returns and filed with the Corporate Affairs Commission.

ARTICLE 12: AMENDMENT OF CONSTITUTION

The Church shall have the power to add, amend, delete or reverse any regulation in the Constitution subject to the approval of at least two-thirds of the entire member of the Church at the Annual General Meeting. And any amendment so made shall be forwarded to the Registrar of the Corporate Affairs Commission for approval

.

ARTICLE 14: SPECIAL CLAUSE

1.      THE INCOME AND PROPERTY OF ARMY OF ZION CHURCH whensoever derived shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the objectives of ARMY OF ZION CHURCH as set forth in the RULES AND REGULATION/CONSTITUTION of ARMY OF ZION CHURCH and no portion thereof shall be paid or transferred directly or indirectly, by way of dividend, bonus or otherwise howsoever by way of profit, to the members of the ARMY OF ZION CHURCH.

2.      PROVIDED that nothing herein shall prevent the payment in good faith, of reasonable and proper remuneration to any officer or servant of the ARMY OF ZION CHURH in return for any service actually rendered to the ARMY OF ZION CHURCH but so that no member of the Council of Management or Governing Body shall be appointed to any salaried office of ARMY OF ZION CHURCH or any office of ARMY OF ZION CHURCH paid by fees and that no remuneration or other benefits in money or monies shall be given by ARMY OF ZION CHURCH to any member of such Council or Governing Body except repayment of out of pocket expenses or reasonable and proper rents for premises demised or let to the ARMY OF ZION CHURCH provided that the provision last aforesaid shall not apply to any payment of any company to a member of ARMY OF ZION CHURCH maybe a company in which such member shall not hold more than hundredth part of the capital, and such member shall not be bound to account for any share of profits he may receive in respect of any such payment.

3.       NO ADDITION, alteration, or amendment shall be made to or in the RULES AND REGULATIONS/CONSTITUTION for the time being in force, unless the same have been previously submitted to and approved by the Registrar-General.

4.       If in the event of a winding up or dissolution of the ARMY OF ZION CHURCH if there remains after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities, any property whatsoever, the same shall not be paid to or distributed among the members of the ARMY OF ZION CHURCH but shall be given or transferred to some other institution or institutions, having objects similar to the objects  of ARMY OF ZION CHURCH, and the body or bodies shall be prohibited from distributing, its or their income and property amongst its or their members to an extent at least as great as imposed on ARMY OF ZION CHURCH under or by virtue of the SPECIAL CLAUSE hereof , such institution or institutions to be determined by the members of ARMY OF ZION CHURCH  at or before the time of dissolution. And if effect cannot be given to the aforesaid provisions, then the remaining property shall be transferred to some charitable object.

Dated this 10^th day of December 2016.

----------------------------------------------                                          ------------------------------------------------

            CHAIRMAN                                                                                  SECRETARY

GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA: TIME TO QUIT THE BLAME GAME.*

As a people, we are adept at passing the buck and blaming others for our failures. We hardly own up to our misdeeds or take responsibility for our actions and inactions. We see the faults always in our stars and never in ourselves. “He,” “she,” “they” or “them” caused it and never “I,” “me,” “we” or “us” that caused it. When it is convenient, we even blame God, the ancestors, the elemental beings and any other thing but ourselves.

Not surprisingly, our leaders have taken this buck-passing attitude into governance and it is a ready defence for their inactivity, lack of vision and misdeeds in office.   

In the early 60s after we gained Independence, our leaders blamed the colonialists for every hindrance or misfortune we encountered in the daunting task of national building. Even problems that they caused by sheer recklessness and incompetence were blamed on colonial rule and the colonialists. We accused the colonialists of sowing the seed of disunity among our geo-political and ethnic groups. We accused them of planting corruption in our polity, and blamed them for failing to lay a good foundation for good governance, mass literacy, the development of science and technology, etc.

In the mid-60s when the military intervened in our politics, the new military leaders found it convenient to pass the buck and put the blame of our numerous social-economic problems on the ousted civilian regime. Naturally, we joined the chorus and blamed the politicians for entrenching, corruption, nepotism, divisiveness and all the other negatives.

By the time the civilians returned in 1999, it was payback time as they in turn blamed all our woes on years of military adventure into politics. It didn’t matter to the politicians that they actively participated and indeed were co-travelers with the military in the governance of the nation.

It is against this background that we can situate the penchant of the Buhari administration in passing the buck and blaming previous administrations for the myriads of social-economic problems bedeviling the country. It does not seem to matter to this regime that the bulk of its members were active and key participants in the regimes it loves to blame for our current economic woes.

The expectation of the citizenry from this administration is understandably huge and the pressure on it to perform is to say the least, stifling. It does seem that deflecting the pressure by putting the blame on previous administrations is an inevitable survival strategy for this administration.

It must be pointed out that treasury looting and maladministration have been the hallmark of governance in Nigeria since the 70s or perhaps beyond. It certainly did not start with the last administration. Ask any Nigerian President or Head of State alive about the state of the economy he inherited. It is the same tale of woes, of looted treasury and hopelessness that they would recant. President Obasanjo for instance, was clear on this when he reminded President Buhari recently that the national treasury was in a worse state when he took over as President in 1999 than how it was in 2015 when Buhari took over as President.

It suffices to say that governance is about problem solving and not problem elucidation or analysis. It is about the formation and execution of policies geared towards improving the lives of the governed. Leaders at all time owe the governed the duty to inspire confidence in them of their ability to find solution to their common problems. Even when things are patently bad, it is still the lot of good leadership to instill confidence in the populace and assure it of an imminent, bright future. But when leaders begin to create the impression that they are overwhelmed by the problems they were elected to solve and there is little they can do because so much damage had been done by previous administrations then they cannot instill confidence in the governed of their ability to lead and solve their problems. 

*This piece was originally published on 8/01/17 in Pointblank News (www.pointblanknews.com/pbn/articles-opinions/governance-nigeria-

2015 ELECTIONS: THE CHANGE WE REALLY NEED.

We are in the middle of electioneering campaign and facts appear to be no more sacred. Propaganda and outright lies are being peddled as facts in the public space and the unwary albeit the gullible are buying into them with all religiousness.
Of the two main political parties, the All Progressives Party (APC) is clearly ahead in the propaganda war while its main rival, the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) tags along. The APC propaganda machinery is so well honed and working at optimal level at the moment. It is clearly on the offensive while the PDP is on the defensive.
Preoccupied with sharing the spoils of power, the ruling PDP perhaps paid little or no attention to the media offensive orchestrated against it by the APC in the months leading to the elections. PDP trusted in its achievements under President Jonathan in the past six years believing that flaunting those achievements before the electorate was all that it needed to convince the electorates to vote for the party in the election.
Sadly, the APC does not believe the President achieved ANYTHING in the past six years. The thrust of its campaign is to discredit whatever the PDP lay claims to as the achievement of President Jonathan in the past six years. And in fairness to them, they have succeeded in pooh-poohing whatever achievement the ruling party can lay claim to in power. They have succeeded in bombarding the media space with the CHANGE message and it is really stifling for the PDP. The insecurity in the northern parts of the country occasioned by the raging insurgency becomes the benchmark for rubbishing the achievements of President Jonathan.
While they press on with the smear campaign against the PDP on the one hand, the APC on the other hand is promising us a near state of Paradise where there will be jobs for all the youths, introduction of a social security system, elimination of insurgency within few weeks, stoppage of kidnapping and other acts of criminality and the economy to be put on track as quickly as possible. What is more, their Presidential flag bearer, Mohammadu Buhari performed wonders while he was military head of state and is going to perform such wonders again. He fought corruption to a standstill; built refineries as a Minister; stopped insurgency, blah, blah, blah and the logical conclusion is that he did it before; he will do it again.
But remind APC apologists that Buhari truncated our democracy via a coup d’état; enacted retroactive laws while in office; gagged the press and suppressed freedom of speech; etc, they are quick to tell you that Buhari has since metamorphosed to a democrat or they deliberately distort historical facts to disprove your assertion and portray the retired general as an angel who is only a victim of political blackmail.
Of course, the APC is aware that a substantial number of the eligible voters in this election were not yet born or still toddlers when Buhari was Head of State. They did not witness firsthand the regime of Muhammadu Buhari and be in a position to judge for themselves. Propaganda and brainwashing therefore recommend themselves as tools to be used in capturing the votes of young Nigerians. Frustrated by the social-economic environment of the Nigeria nation, our youths naturally yearn for a change and what could be better than a change that would usher into office a man who fought corruption to a standstill, built refineries, stopped insurgency and performed other miracles while he was Head of State?
Obviously, the promoters of the Buhari enterprise are merely taking advantage of the frustration and seemingly hopelessness that many Nigerians especially the youths now face in the Nigerian state to waggle themselves to power.  They have not shown us the blueprint Buhari intends to implement to perform the economic miracle he is promising especially in the face of dwindling oil revenues. Are we to take Buhari serious when he declared on national television that he would stabilize the world’s oil market as his strategy to manage the economy?
Buhari’s sponsors also know that his anti-corruption reputation is built on sand and would quickly fall when subjected to scrutiny. Buhari as military head of state set up military tribunals headed by military men to try politicians for corruption. Within weeks, trials were concluded and jail sentences ranging from 50 to 300 years were handed to the accused persons by the tribunals. So inglorious were these tribunals that the Nigerian Bar Association staged a boycott of the tribunals as an expression of its disapproval of them.
Interestingly, while Buhari hounded southern governors into prison, he shielded northern governors particularly those of Hausa-Fulani extraction from trial. A notorious case is that of the then governor of Niger State, Awwal Ibrahim who was reportedly arrested at Heathrow Airport in London with huge sums of money in different currencies. He was never tried by Buhari neither was Shehu Shagari the President and leader of the NPN put on trial. These are the antecedents and credentials of the man APC is telling us will come as a civilian president and “wipe out corruption” in Nigeria.
The Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) that Buhari headed under Abacha was also a citadel of corruption. While Buhari himself might not have enriched himself, his cronies and those who worked under him did so handsomely. How Buhari will control the amalgam of visibly corrupt politicians that abound in APC when he comes to power and be able to “wipe out” corruption remains to be seen.
For now, the die is cast. Nigerians would have to choose between two difficult options: Buhari and Jonathan.  The Buhari option appears attractive to the populace at least for the sake of change. But discerning minds know it is nothing but an illusion and one that has the potentials to drive the nation backwards. Truth is the Nigerian state is a faulty vehicle with terribly bad engine and electrical system. Merely changing the driver is not going to help. The system needs an overhaul and the National Conference made very salient recommendations that can overhaul this country for good.
Sadly the APC never supported the Confab and has never pretended to be interested in implementing its recommendation. They want us to believe that if we change the driver this dangerously faulty vehicle called Nigeria will take us to destination. Unfortunately, we cannot run away from the truth staring us in the face that the country needs a system format. And that is the change we desperately need and not the change from one ruling cabal to another as envisaged by the APC.

*First published on the 18^th of January, 2015 in Pointblanknew.com.

http://pointblanknews.com/pbn/articles-opinions/2015-elections-change-really-need/

SUPER MINISTER: CAN FASHOLA TURN STONES TO BREAD?*

In my opinion, Babatunde Raji Fashola’s appointment as the minister in charge of the ministries of Power, Works & Housing is a make or mar assignment for him. If he succeeds, his image as a performer would soar beyond limits and his electoral value come 2019 and beyond would skyrocket. Above all, the nation would be better for it in terms of the provision of basic infrastructure and developmental growth. On the flip side, if he fails, he would be demystified as a person and perhaps slip into political oblivion.  In the event of the latter happening, Nigeria would be the worse for it and my prayer like that of most patriots is that he succeeds so that the nation can equally succeed.

Sadly, the reality on ground makes me not to have much faith in my prayer for him to succeed. To be frank with you, I do not envy Fashola at this moment. Those who say he is highly favoured by the Buhari administration or regard him as a “lucky” guy to have been given such a “juicy” portfolio do not seem to be conscious of the magnitude of the load he has been asked to carry on his shoulders. Yes, he is a super minister but he has a super task to perform. It seems to me that the challenge of translating the bulk of APC’s electoral promises to reality now rests squarely on Fashola and the President appears to have faith in his ability to do so. 

But would you blame the President? Fashola is a man most people believe performed excellently in Lagos State as a governor and stands head and shoulders above many of his colleagues. Even the Western media that is ever critical of African leaders, joined the bandwagon in eulogizing his achievements. To many international analysts, Fashola is an isolated case of exemplary leadership on the Continent of Africa. One therefore cannot fault President Buhari in assigning these key yet knotty ministries to a man who is apparently tested and trusted.

My worry however is that Fashola’s achievement in Lagos that recommends him for this sort of onerous assignment may have been a bit exaggerated. It is not unlikely that some level of political and media propaganda have gone in over the years to shore up the image of the Fashola brand to what it is today. If that is correct, then Fashola may have been placed at a very high pedestal that so much will be expected from him by the Nigerian public. This indeed will make his job tougher. Mind you, one is not saying Fashola did not perform well as a governor but whether the loud applause is equal to the performance is a different thing entirely. But the President seems to be on the affirmative on this hence he entrusted so much responsibility on him in his administration.

For now, it remains to be seen how Fashola will be able to discharge this enormous duty imposed on him to give the nation steady power supply, fix our bad roads and put in place a credible national housing policy that will ensure shelter for all.

Even the most avid fan of Fashola would readily agree that fixing Nigeria is a different ball game from fixing Lagos. Fashola was practically the CEO while in Lagos. He took decisions and saw to their executions without waiting for approval from any authority. As a cabinet minister, it will not be so. He will need to sell his ideas to the President and pray that he buys them. That may not be an easy task against the background of contending interests jostling for the President’s attention and approval. And where he succeeds in getting the President to buy his ideas, he would still hope and pray he gets the right allocation for their execution. It goes without saying that in the absence of adequate funding, Fashola cannot put up a credible performance. 

And talking about funding, Fashola had a healthy financial chest to work with in Lagos. With an enviable internally generated revenue base, an equally hefty federal allocation and a frequent recourse to borrowing, Lagos was rarely starved of fund to execute programmes. That is not likely to be the scenario Fashola will encounter as the Minister for Power, Works and Housing. With the price of crude oil still tumbling and a President who is already drumming about a nation that is broke, your bet is as good as mine that the right money for Fashola to perform will not be made available to him.

The power sector that he is going to oversee has been largely privatized but the distribution companies (DISCOs) are not financially healthy and indeed still tottering. The sector needs heavy financial investment if steady power supply must be achieved. Money is needed to improve on the distribution network to ensure the efficient transmission of power generated to the homes of Nigerians. As we speak, the transmission companies can only transmit about 5,000 megawatts (mw) to our homes owing to the poor state of the nation’s transmission network. Accordingly, even if the GENCOs (generating companies) can magically come up with 15,000 megawatts in the nearest future, this cannot rub on power supply in the country because we still do not have the right transmission network to wheel same to the homes of consumers for the much needed improvement in power supply. To make the distribution network more efficient will take time and heavy investment- two factors that seem to be in short supply at the moment.

Meanwhile, the operation of the DISCOs is further hampered by debt owed them by consumers that is in the region of N40 billion according to the operators of the DISCOs Ironically, the bulk of this debts is owed the DISCOs by Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and the military. Will Fashola be able to appeal to these agencies to pay their debts to the DISCOs or will it be business as usual where government agencies and the military see power as another national cake they don’t need to pay for to enjoy?   

In the area of housing, Fashola was often criticized for building houses for the rich while he was governor in Lagos State. What would be his policy as the Minister for Housing? Lagos State has more than a fair share of the rich in Nigeria so, Fashola could easily get away with building housing units for the rich to buy instead of building low cost housing units that are affordable to the masses. But will the same template work at the national level? Would he still adopt the mortgage policy he adopted in Lagos for Nigeria?

In the area of road construction where Fashola got so many accolades as a governor in Lagos, it remains to be seen if he can repeat that performance at the federal level? With the dwindling of revenue accruing to the Federal Government, will Fashola get adequate allocation to construct roads across the country as he did in Lagos? Will he experiment with concession of roads as he did in Lagos? A very strong advocate of taxation, will Fashola embark on the tolling of Federal highways across Nigeria to be able to generate money to maintain existing roads and construct new ones? And how would Nigerians react to all of this especially when Fashola’s party, the APC wants us to see it as a welfarist party?

Time will tell how all of this will pan out. Suffices to say that Fashola has a mean feat to perform as the Minister for Power, Works and Housing. In the euphoria of his appointment as Power minister by President Obasanjo, the late Bola Ige boasted that he would turn stones to bread in the power sector and ensure that Nigerians have stable power supply. Unfortunately, he was overwhelmed by the problems of the power sector. He just couldn’t make headway and President Obasanjo created a soft-landing for him as it were, by sending him to the Justice Ministry –where he actually ought to be in the first place. Will Fashola (a lawyer and Senior Advocate like Bola Ige) succeeds in turning stones to bread in the Power Ministry or he would be overwhelmed by the problems of the sector as it happened to Bola Ige? Your guess is as good as mine.

*Originally published on the 29th of November, 2015