The government played a very key role in attracting foreign investments. We built the infrastructures and provided well-planned industrial estates, equity participation in industries, fiscal incentives and export promotion. Most importantly, we established good labour relations and sound macroeconomic policies-the fundamental that enable private enterprises to operate successfully- Lee Kuen Yew, Former Prime Minister of Singapore The leadership challenge is clear. It will be impossible, in the words of JANE NELSON to; achieve the Sustainable Development Goals without accelerating and scaling private sector engagement and collective action by business, government, and civil society. Action by individual companies is necessary but…
Author: JEROME-MARIO UTOMI
It is general knowledge that President Muhammadu Buhari, precisely on Friday 30th February 2020 approved the suspension of the Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme, and Professor Charles Dokubo, with a promise to set up a caretaker committee to run the affairs of the agency. As expected, this development has elicited reactions from stakeholders and the public at large, While some hail the action of the president others view it with scepticism. The boundaries between these two spheres have been shifted back and forth for some days and in some cases been a source of tension. Indeed, this sort of feelings is…
Fear is the most powerful enemy of reason. Both fear and reason are essential to human survival, but the relationship between them is unbalanced. The reason may sometimes dissipate fear, but fear frequently shuts down reason-AL-Gore, Former Vice President of the United States There is no better way to appreciate the validity of the above expression than reflecting on the latest push by the members of the National Assembly to pass a bill sponsored by Honourable Odebumi Olusegun, of Ogo-Oluwa/Surulere federal constituency (APC, Oyo), – a bill that recently passed second reading. Going by reports, the bill, known as “Bill…
Prior to the re-emergence of democracy in Nigeria in May 1999, political pundits specifically blamed the socioeconomic and political instability on the military. Specifically, while many at that time roundly accused the military of intolerance, immature, corrupt, and seriousness, unpatriotic and tribalistic, some were of the view that until the plundering and debilitating hands of the military are removed from governance, and replaced with democracy-that guarantees rule of law- and ensures decision will be tested, studied, reviewed, and examined through the processes of government that are designed to formulate and implement such policies, the nation’s infrastructures, education, health, and power…
The mission of any government should be to promote creativity and to understand that the continuous humiliation, degradation, and criticism stifle creativity- Mohammaed bin Rashid AL Maktoum. There are clear thinkers, muddled thinkers and people that fall in between. Clear thinks -are the ones that can cull everything down into the right points-are very hard to find. But if you get yourself a team of clear thinkers, the possibilities are endless. These are men who see tomorrow, trailblazers and high-level executives, but most often misunderstood by some fellow countrymen still stuck in the old normal of yesterday. Without any shadow…
Leaders tell but never teach until they practice what they preach-Featherstone In recent months, while Nigerians were still waiting for the commencement of governance from the government that promised to positively change the tone of leadership in Nigeria, the Senate against all known logic proposed purchase of operational vehicles with the estimated current price of the chosen vehicle placed at N50 million, and will require about N5.550 billion to get enough quantity for its members- a development that raised unprecedented dust on the nation’s political and economic space. That was season one. Before the dust raised by that unpalatable episode…
The recent statement by the presidency cautioning citizens from protesting against the worsening insecurity and Mr. President’s refusal to remove the Service Chiefs, which the vast majority of Nigerians believe have overstayed without achieving meaningful results, have not only elicited worry but brings to mind the fact that there is something deeply troubling about the present Federal Government in relation to finding solution to the present security challenge in the country. Understandably, it is human nature to avoid confrontation, coupled with the fact that people feel awkward when they are corrected by their bad behaviors or action by others. What,…
From the content of Hernando De Soto’s book; The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else, a book about the transformation of dead capital into live capital through the institution of formal property rights, capitalism is in crisis outside the West not because international globalization is failing but because developing and former communist nations have been unable to ‘globalise’ capital within their own countries-as most people in those nations view capitalism as a private club, a discriminatory system that benefits only the West and the elites who live inside the bell jars of poor countries. Similarly, leadership in Nigeria…
From the approach, the Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ), a Pan African non-governmental, non-religious, non-political and non-profit civil society organization, utilizes internationally and locally identified strategies, partners with relevant stakeholders within and outside Nigeria, to promote activities geared towards peacebuilding, advocacy for human rights, good governance and gender mainstreaming, sustainable environmental management and peaceful and safer society, two sets of separate but similar opinions are deducible First, it may not be an overstatement to conclude that Buzz Hargrove, a man that fought to create a more humane Canada, had the group in mind when he declared that ordinary people can never expect to achieve political…
‘The goal of government should be to improve the life chances of the citizens-German Sociologist, Ralf Dahrendorf The unprecedented spate of unrelenting demolition of the so-called shanties and illegal structures in Asaba, the Delta State Capital by the staff/agents of the Delta state Capital Development Agency, without adequate notice or plans of resettlement and compensation, has again made it evident that having knowledge of history and ability which goes beyond academic skills to generate ideas and translate those ideas into action are important in leadership. Apart from the facts that ‘events have a way of repeating itself”, such knowledge is…
Right from the moment Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index(CPI), a flagship research product which measures the glimpse of perceived corruption in the public sector of surveyed countries, released its 2019 report, different comments that will safely qualify as intra, inter, cross, trans and counter comments have been made by Nigerians. Out of the 180 countries that were surveyed worldwide, the result saw Nigeria slip from 144th to 146th on the pecking order fell by 26 points, a minus of one when compared to its score in 2018 and now ranked 32 out of 49 countries in the sub-region. The latest report shows…
Sixteen years ago, precisely on Friday, December 3, 2004, at the Sheraton Hotels and Towers, Ikeja, Lagos, I listened with real curiosity to the current Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Professor Charles Dokubo, then a staff of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs(NIIA), speak passionately to underline his position and express the depth of his conviction, at a one-day workshop organized by a civil society organization. The workshop had as theme; Expanding Access to Effective Remedy for Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the Niger Delta. On that day, at that time and in that place, among other things, Dr.…
There was a veiled agreement among participants at a recent gathering in Obiaruku, Delta state, South-South, Nigeria, that as a nation; if achieving a people-purposed leadership forms part of our aim as a nation, if accelerating economic development is our goal, if social and cultural development is our dreams, if promoting peace, support industries and improve energy sector forms our objective, and if we must escape building a country that future historians will not characterize as a geographical entity reputed for loss of jobs or qualifies as a state where citizens daily slide into poverty and unexpected illness, then, we must…
For the well foresighted Nigerians and the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), that are conversant with the excruciating environmental pains and socioeconomic deprivations the coastal dwellers in the Niger Delta region, South-South, Nigeria, daily contend with, it will not be an overstatement to characterize as historic and the greatest victory of this period, the reported emergence of a private bill, currently before the Delta state house of Assembly, with potentials to change this time-honoured narrative. The bill which was sponsored by Comrade Sheriff Mulade, National Coordinator, Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ), among other provisions, seeks for the creation of The Coastal Area Development Agency (CADA)-…
For so many centuries, the war was considered lawful violence so far it meets with these three conditions; ‘waged by the lawful public authority in defense of the common good, waged for a just cause, and waged with the right intention, not vengefully nor to inflict harm’. Today, the argument does not hold water and faces a number of embarrassing facts. In fact, the emphasis is shifting. Strategic insights from religious and global communities have brought about structural changes in such concept and gradual displacements of this long-held view about the war. While those with religious inclinations argues that warfare can…
Prophecy, as defined by Thomas Aquinas, is; the certain foretelling of a future event by a person supernaturally informed of it and supernaturally moved to announce it. This, he added, comes in two ways; prophesy of foreknowledge and prophesy of denunciation’. While the prophecy of foreknowledge according to him, deal with what is certain to come, prophesy of denunciation tells what is to come if the present situation is not changed; both acting as information and warning respectively. Similarly, in a presidential democracy, monitoring unelected officials, implementing public policies, should be the chief concern of leaders. By overseeing this process, Kenneth Lowande, Professor…
It is pedestrian knowledge that socioeconomic problems which are the product of human actions and reactions are not static. They change with time and place. What is a social or political problem in one society may be the norm in another. And what is rejected or frowned at today, maybe accepted tomorrow? Of course, there are important limits to human relations, knowledge, awareness, and technological state, economic and financial resource availability, social and cultural exposures. Globally also, the inability to manage such differences and changing times by nations has at different times and places led to an obstacle in international relationships; misconceptions on politics,…
It’s been argued for a very long time that some knowledge of history is useful to the scientist, the economist or the student of literature or philosophy on the grounds that no science or art is static. This argument by strategic thinkers has its background on the premise that historical science begins with a reaction to the imagined happenings of the past. History, however, is the reconstruction of the past; by and for those who are living in the life of those who are dead. It is a tool of all discipline and the key to wisdom. People who ignore…
To know about the road ahead, ask those coming back-Chinese proverbs. Each time I read African historians’ account on how civilization and development got to Africa, and compare same with that of many Europeans scholars, I often marvel at the fundamental differences, To the European authors, Africa was a dark continent lit only by the flashes of foreign penetration and has contributed nothing to world civilization. But to African historians, civilization means an improvement in culture. And Africans have had a remarkable improvement in their culture and civilization before the coming of the Europeans. Politically, such a description of Africa as a dark continent…
Every citizen of a modern nation is a subject of the state. And once a state is formed, the citizens formulate ethical principles or virtues to be pursued, vices to be avoided and values to be cherished-for the good conduct of the citizens. These values are in most cases not put in a codified form but transmitted from one generation to the next via a well formulated/structured process called education. Without a shadow of the doubt, this thought may have informed the decision of past administrations like their counterparts in other countries, to formulate the National Policy on Education anchored…
With the year 2020 now with us, it is just a decade, that separates us from the attainment of 2030 sustainable agenda- a United Nation initiative and successor programme to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)- with a collection of 17 global goals formulated among other aims to promote and cater for people, peace, planet, and poverty. And has at its centre; partnership and collaboration, ecosystem thinking, co-creation and alignment of various intervention efforts by the public and private sectors and civil society. Accordingly, an Interesting sidelight without going into specific concepts or approaches that have recently reshaped the development conversation is a sudden renunciation of the underlying philosophy, and realization by…
At times, life is hard, as hard as crucible steel. It has its bleak and painful moments. Like the ever-flowing waters of the river, life has its moments of drought and its moments of floods. Like the ever-changing cycle of the season, life has the soothing warmth of the summers and the piercing chill of its winter. For a very long, I did not deemed it necessary to unravel what these words of wisdom by Martin Lurther King Junior connotes till the current travails of Donald Trump, who recently became only the third president in American history to be impeached by Congress following the lengthy…
Specifically, one event in recent weeks that probably did more than anything else to convince Nigerians to look differently at the out of ordered situation in the country is the Punch Newspaper’s front-page editorial publication titled, “Buhari Lawlessness: Our Stand, published on Wednesday 11th December 2019, where the News organization in furtherance of the responsibility which instrumentality of participatory democracy and election of leaders confer on it chronicled the failings, failures, and violations of human rights of Nigerians by the present administration. And as a symbolic demonstration of its protest against autocracy and military-style repression, declared that the PUNCH (all our print newspapers, The PUNCH, Saturday…
Apart from the revelation by economists that globally, governments are ‘resource-and bandwidth-constrained’, our mind eye using available data also observes that Nigeria’s income has been on the increase since independence. As the income increases so do expenditure. But as expenditure is increasing, so has budget deficit been on the increase as well. An unconstructive trend it seems, but such appalling episode is by no means unique to the public finance sector as recent happenings across the world also indicate that limited access to food, shortfalls in housing, extreme poverty, health challenges, infrastructural deficiency and environmental pollution have visibly added to the socioeconomic discourse the…
Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill-will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection-Martin Luther King Jnr. A significant portion of this piece has its root in a brief and informal meeting held with my friends on Sunday the 8th December 2019, in Lagos, to deliberate on issues of mutual importance. Though informal in context, necessary courtesy was observed, the conversation progressed as envisaged and we were able to within the first few minutes underline some of the basic concerns that brought us together. However, after this early in-road,…
Writing on the topic; The Questions Every Entrepreneur Must Answer, Amar Bhide, Professor at Harvard University, among other remarks, noted that formulating a sound strategy is more basic to an organization than resolving hiring issues, designing control systems, setting reporting relationship or defining the founder’s role. Ventures based on a good strategy can survive confusion and poor leadership, but sophisticated control systems and organizational structure cannot compensate for an unsound strategy. As an escape route, he advised entrepreneurs to always put their strategies to the following four tests; is the strategy well defined? Can the strategy generate sufficient profit and growth? Is…
Talking about the nation’s restructuring, it will amount to a pragmatic demonstration of naivety proceeding without first underlining the fact that the agitation has a historical foundation. Experienced political observers know that the challenge that fuels the agitation started shortly before the nation’s independence and rooted in the asymmetrical posturing /imbalance of the nation. To buttress this position, it is factually documented that the late Premier of the Western Region once described Nigeria as a ‘mere geographical expression’ and later threatened “we (Western Region) shall proclaim self- government and proceed to assert it”, a euphemism for secession, in the same vein,…
Each passing day brings yet more evidence that we are facing a national challenge. And glaringly, our incapacity as a nation to develop necessary strategies and tactics to tackle some of these political and socio-economic challenges have qualified the nation’s situation as a ‘social dynamite’. This should be a surprise to all Nigerians of goodwill because a strategy is ‘simply no more than a plan of action for maximizing one’s strength against the forces at work’. Yet, such a simple but vital instrument for development and nation-building is conspicuously missing in most- Ministries, Agencies, Commissions and Parastatals in a nation that…
Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried.-Winston Churchill, A Former Prime Minister of Britain. In the interest of participatory democracy, monitoring unelected officials, implementing public policies should be the chief concern of leaders in every democratic government. By overseeing this process, Kenneth Lowande, Professor at the University of Michigan argued that elected officials aim to prevent shirking, corruption, performance failures and policy drift in bureaucracy. Clear enough; yet, despite the widening of strides by pro-democracy advocates to advertise the virtues and attributes of democracy, the balance of power within the last decades…
The debate on the inter relatedness of equity, justice; peace and development is among the most presently discussed topic in the surface of the earth. The reason for this unending debate stems from the time-honoured believe that without equity and justice, there will be no peace. And without peace, no society, group or nation should contemplate development. Accordingly, for any programme/action to be typified as development-based/focussed, development practitioners believe that such programme progress should entail an all-encompassing improvement, a process that builds on itself and involve both individuals and social change. Requires growth and structural change, with some measures of distributive…
