Nigeria Needs $100bn for Infrastructure

From Kunle Aderinokun in Abuja

The Federal Government has said massive investments in critical infrastructure such as power, transportation as well as the development of the Niger Delta region and agricultural sector has been estimated to contribute about 25 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP).
But such investments, the government said, will in the next six years gulp over $100 billion - or N12 trillion, nearly twice the size of the nation’s external reserves and almost five times the size of the 2008 budget.
In a presentation entitled “A framework for Pricing Public Goods: Objectives and Characteristics”, at the Nigeria Economic Summit in Abuja, yesterday, Finance Minister, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, said over the next six years, Nigeria would need to invest over N12 trillion in four key sectors, namely power, railways, roads and oil and gas.
Usman explained that for power, the nation would need between $18 and $20 billion for necessary investments in six years with about $10 billion for railways. He added that, roads and oil and gas would gulp $14 billion and $60 billion in investments respectively within the same period.
He however said the government could not meet the financing requirements alone, thus, asking for increased collaboration between the public and private sectors.
To him, the private sector was a “more preferred” method of financing infrastructure provision.
Usman noted that, increased private sector provision in Nigeria required effective and efficient pricing mechanisms, especially as it relates to cost recovery and reasonable rate of return.
The finance minister stressed that closing the infrastructure gap and improving the quality of public services remained the major components of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s Seven-Point Agenda.
Speaking at the dinner organised for the summit on Wednesday night, the Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Mallam Tanimu Yakubu, said concerted efforts were being geared towards the maintenance, upgrade and expansion concurrently of critical infrastructure.
An appropriate framework has been developed to attract private sector participation and investment in infrastructure development, he said.
He said the administration had identified as priority areas for domestic and potential inward investment “power generation, distribution and supply; transportation including roads, railways and inland waterways; telecommunications especially laying of fibre-optic throughout state capitals and other commercial cities in the country and; investment in national gas grid for supply and distribution for power generation, petrochemicals and fertilisers”.
Yakubu estimated that the success of the administration’s ability to fulfil the objective of investment in the power sector, would fetch the economy an additional 5 per cent growth.
He explained that as part of its strategies, the administration had planned to increase the utilisation of existing energy capacities and also widen the nation’s energy mix.
“In this respect, the administration has set itself short, medium and long-term targets for power generation under its critical infrastructure agenda. In the short-term, power generation is expected to be in the region of 4000 MW (2009), 6000MW (2010) and 10,000MW (2011),” he said.
Noting that the administration’s medium-term objective was about 18,000MW, he stated that to fund the project, a $5.37 billion from excess crude proceeds account was agreed with the state governments.
Yakubu, who said the administration recognised the benefits of adequately utilising the nation’s large gas reserves, said: “We now have a National Gas Master Plan incorporating domestic gas supply obligation, appropriate pricing framework, national gas grid and gas fiscal reform.
“We also have in our sight the building of three Central Progress Facilities to be established in the Niger Delta to process gas and transmit this across the nation. We are also striving to establish regional processing hubs across the nation and facilitating the establishing of gas-based industries, power plants and export project alongside. The construction of the national gas grid will resuscitate our ailing industries al over the country.”
This, he said, would add not less than 3 per cent to the GDP in the short run.
Similarly, the presidential adviser said bold proposal on road concessioning and aggressive road sector development as well as maintenance programme which is expected to cover an estimated 5700 kilometres, has been estimated to contributed an additional 4 per cent to the growth of the GDP.
He lamented that currently, the GDP suffers a loss of 4 per cent due to unmotorable conditions of the country’s road.
Also, Yakubu posited that the Federal Government’s railway strategy would add at least 3 per cent growth to the GDP in the short-run.
“The Western, Eastern and Central Railway networks are to be rehabilitated and concessioned too. The infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) is expected to commence work in due course,” he explained.
Yakubu added that the government’s proposal to strengthen the telecommunications sector would deepen teledensity and facilitate the use of internet in health, education and business to spur further growth in information technology.
In the agricultural sector, the adviser said the administration was resolutely pursuing a policy of sustained support for small-scale farmers, developing medium and large-scale and piloting the implementation of the warehouse receipt system in the food security agenda, which is capable of adding 5 per cent to the GDP.
Achieving the administration’s security targets by enforcing the laws of the country and guaranteeing the security to life and property in the Niger Delta, Yakubu said, would add 3-4 per cent to the GDP.
According to him, “a regional transformation in accordance with the Niger Delta Development Master Plan is expected to be achieved through timely and adequate funding and collaboration between the Federal and the state governments mainstreaming small business development initiatives, enforcing local content policy in the oil and gas sector as a way of widening local production.
“The development of a regional grid alongside an effective international transport system that connects the Niger Delta with other parts of the country is also in the pipeline.”

Chinese Firm to Set Up Power Plant in Nigeria

From Paul Ibe in Shanghai, China

The Federal Government’s determination to increase the nation’s energy capacity received a major boost in far away Shanghai, China where Shenzhen Energy Group pledged to invest a $300 million power plant in the country.
The commitment of the Chinese energy firm came on a day Engr. Mustafa Bello, Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) urged investors to take advantage of Nigeria’s favourable business climate.
Ms. Cissy Jiang, representative of the Shenzhen Energy Group, disclosed the plans of the Chinese firm at the 7th Nigeria-China Business and Investment Forum (NCBIF), which got underway yesterday at the Purple Mountain Hotel, Shanghai, China.
Jiang said the energy group decided to capitalise on the government’s investment-friendly incentives to expand its operations into Nigeria and by so doing, hopes to add to a sizeable number of Chinese companies in Nigeria.
She explained that a number of Chinese investors such as Chief Jacob Woods, Deputy President of China Africa Business Council (CABC), had given testimonials on the benefits of investing in Nigeria, and that when weighed against the risks, Nigeria presents a much more favourable investment climate than its competitors.

Jiang said contrary to the information being peddled in the international media, the reports from Chinese investors in Nigeria is that the nation’s security and security of investment was much improved, and as such, the company will be willing to partner with the Federal Government in its emergency intervention in the power sector.
In his presentation, Bello acknowledged the trail blazing efforts of the Xiguang Guandong Group in setting up a Free Trade Zone in Ogun State at a cost of $500 million and the Chinese investment in the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos.
He also advised Chinese investors to continue to partner with Nigeria in its development efforts, as the country remains the most attractive destination for foreign direct investment in sub-Saharan Africa, with a cumulative potential of over 300 million consumers.

He assured them that the NIPC would continue to deliver on its mandate of providing the necessary support to foreign investors, especially with the introduction of the one-stop investment centre (OSIC), which integrates over 36 government and private-sector organisations at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

Also present were Mr. Sina Agboluaje, Managing Director of Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), Mallam Lamis Dikko, Executive Director, Unity Bank, and the Financial Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Tukur Mani, who led the Nigerian delegation.

Others who made presentations yesterday were Mr. Lanre Fagbohun, Managing Director (Internal) of BankPHB, Mr. Femi Bakre of First Bank, Bola Ajibode of Stanbic IBTC and Alhaji Ibrahim Aliyu, Chairman of Urban Shelter Limited.
The 7th Nigeria-China Business and Investment Forum continues today, with visits to some Chinese industrial companies located in Shanghai.

By Michael Chika Umudu

GIRLS GO NAKED TO SHOWCASE BEADS 

She is a pretty young girl with a slim graceful figure. Her elegant movement attracted the attention of passersby as she jiggled across to the other side of the road. Her waist beads were well revealed between her skimpy top and skirt. Mindful of the attention she had generated in the ever-busy Ketu Bus-Stop, Lagos State, Nigeria, she quickly climbed a commercial bike popularly called okada, trying in the process to pull her top and miniskirt together as they went further apart between the beads. A male petty trader beside her shouted, “Wetin you dey hide? Why you no go naked make we see your ‘thing’ well well?” Vividly embarrassed she tapped the bike rider and said, “Please get me out of this place.”

The above ‘drama’ and similar ones are common scenes today in Nigerian cities as well as towns particularly where higher institutions are located, particularly in southern parts of the country. This re-emergence of beads has added a new dimension into the craze for Western oriented fashion among our ladies particularly young ones. This trend is more pronounced among female students, particularly those in higher institutions. In addition to waist adornment, ladies also use beads as necklace, for hair tie, and handbag decoration. Some also wear beads on their wrists as hand bangles, as well as using them as earrings. The popularity of beads today is enhanced by the cost of acquiring them. A survey conducted by this reporter shows that beads averagely cost between one hundred and fifty naira to two thousand naira, depending on the quality, size, length and quality of string used in making them.

Madam Grace Benson, the proprietor of a fashion shop with inscription “MAMA ONOME BEAUTY PALACE” at Balogun Stret, Lagos Island, Lagos, was busy attending to her clients when this reporter visited her shop. When she was asked how ladies patronize her beads she simply said, “Fine, as you can see beads are in vogue now, so we are selling well well.” When asked to comment on why young ladies go for beads, she said, “Beads make ladies look fine, beads bring out the natural beauty in women. It is good, not just because of beauty, but a way of introducing our culture into the modern fashion.” On the moral implications of the manner in which some ladies expose the sensitive parts of their bodies to show-off beads, she refused to comment, saying, “I am busy, you can see my customers are waiting for me, I have to attend to them.”

However, 62-year-old community leader and retired civil servant, Mr. Idowu Bakare, described the trend as unfortunate, “This shows the level of moral decadence in our society. I can’t imagine seeing these small girls going about almost naked in the name of displaying beads worn around exclusive areas of their bodies. I blame the parents because I can tolerate such in my house,” he said. “It is a curse for any one to link our culture to this madness. Various cultures in Nigeria used beads to dignify womanhood. No time did our culture led women naked in the name of displaying beads,” he added.

“When I put on beads I look more beautiful”, a student of Lagos State University, Funke Ekerin, said. When asked the fun she drives from the beads on her waist she simply replied, “It is in vogue now, ladies fancy waist beads much, and even men who want to be truthful will tell you that they admire ladies with beads on their waists.”

A teenage girl who simply identified herself as Cynthia, said, “A correct Chic cannot wear beads without wearing it on her waist; that is the one that makes us more beautiful.” On the moral implications, she said, “Well, if any man feels that it is seductive he should remove his eyes from it; after all, it is my body, nobody will tell me what I should do with it.”

By Michael Chika Umudu

Erosion washes down South-Eastern Nigeria

The future seems bleak for most communities in the south eastern Nigerian as gullies of different sizes now riddle the region. Each state in the region has its own share of the menace. This rainy season has raised more questions about the readiness of both the states and federal governments to tackle the monster as more erosions continued to eat-up the scarce land in the region.

In the heat of this year’s rainy season, many villages and towns became unreachable owing to the gullies. Some people could not enter their houses with vehicles particularly in the rural areas where flooding makes most roads impassable. In some cases, people lost their houses as well as economic trees to the gullies. The numbers of the displaced are in the increase making many people to become refugees in their own land.

The situation seems worse in Anambra State. From Nanka and Oko, both in Orumba North Local Government Area to Nneni in Idemmili Local Government Area as well as Ekwulumulli in Nnewi South Local Government Area the situation remains the same. The menace has continued over the years and nothing seems to have been done to stop the erosions.

The havoc caused by the erosions is at a very high scale. Still government has not taken any action towards saving the environment from further degradation. As the region continues to record new erosions and the expansion of the old ones, it has become obvious that in the near future the region will find itself in a terrible environmental condition.

It seems that government has forgotten that the environment is the primary platform in which any meaningful development takes place. The neglect of the environment even in the face of apparent threat is unimaginable in a society under self rule. People want to hear the government promise them new roads, new shopping complexes, airports, electricity, new this and mega that, but few care about the environment which sustains us all.

In a swoop, a couple of years ago, Ekwulobia-Umunze Road was cut off by erosion at the polytechnic town of Oko. Although some repairs were carried out to put the road into use again but up till date danger stares in the face of the road users as well as those living close to the erosion. Similarly, recently, the age long Nanka erosion swallowed houses at Isiakpuenu village in Ifite, Nanka. Apart from this monstrous erosion, Nanka is under siege of many other erosions that have made living difficult for many villages in community.

The behaviour of the people towards the environment is not anything better. Indiscriminate house construction and other activities on the land make the land to be prone to such disasters. No development policy seems to have been evolved either by the government or the affected communities to address the problem; if any policy exists, it surely not operational.

By Michael Chika Umudu

Militants and Politics of Niger-Delta

A lot of noise has been made about resource control, militancy, the provision of basic infrastructure as well as the role oil companies supposed to play in the Niger Delta region. However, it is either that the stake holders have become ignorant or immersed in sheer pretence about the real problems in the region. The problem is the hard truth which the government and its apologists always try to nip in the bud. It is the part of problems that have left Nigeria underdeveloped despite its huge human and material resources. It is the question of ‘how is Nigeria composed and how should its component parts relate with one another; who owns what and how should the resources be shared’?

The proliferation of violence in the region in recent time shows how dangerous the situation could be if the stakeholders refuse to take the bull by the horn. The militants are becoming more sophisticated. Criminals have seized the opportunity to cause confusion and havoc in the region and make fortunes out of the volatile region. It is now difficult to distinguish genuine freedom fighters and common criminals. The cause is not far fetched. It started when Nigerian left ‘a burning houseto chase an escaping mouse’.

Federal government be haves as if it loves the people of Niger delta more than they love themselves. It therefore approaches each peace initiative as if the best solutions are known only to people in the government. This situation has been worsened by sycophants in the region who usually tell government that the problem of the people is the provision of employment opportunities and infrastructure. They would assure their godfathers in government that once these are provided the whole problems would come to an end. Even the much awaited employment and infrastructure seem very slow in coming. It is said that ‘a master piece cannot be carved out of a rotten piece of wood’. It is therefore not surprising that as soonas these sycophants get allocation from their masters to provide the much awaited infrastructure and employment they would immediately bounce on the money and make a feast out of it. They therefore deceive both their godfathers and Niger Deltans who they claim to represent.

The failure of leadership is the root cause of the whole problem. When leaders abandoned their people to pursue personal agenda, obviously ‘the centre can no longer hold’. The disillusionment of the people over those claiming to be their leaders is the root cause of Niger-Delta problem. The leaders of the Niger-Delta, just like their compatriots in other parts of the country, have refused to apply courage and present the cure interest of their people. Instead, they are busy pursuing political appointments which they believe can only be achieved through representing the interest of their Abuja based godfathers irrespective of what their people feel in the creeks. It is these godfathers that will assure them political offices and when they get into the offices, they display maximum royalty to their sponsors in appreciation. Their quest to retain their offices and indeed get bigger ones makes them to feign ignorance of what their people are yearning for. They equally know that their kinds wouldn’t have smelt public offices if things are done the normal way. They know that their people wouldn’t have voted them if free and fair elections are held. Hence, they display the highest level of self-service even if the future of their people is at stake.

Today, what makes one a leader in Nigeria is his ability to pledge full royalty to those in higher authorities irrespective of what they do. It is not surprising that each government become bad only immediately it leaves office. The same people who served and benefited under a given government would turn around to label it anti-people in other to exonerate themselves from any wrong-doing directed at the government in question. It happened to Ibrahim Babangida’s military junta. It also happened to the despotic regime of Sanni Abacha. Not spared is the immediate past government of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

No wonder South-South governors refused to come out openly to condemn the appointment of Professor Ibrahim Gambari to chair the rejected Niger-Delta Summit. It is amazing that while many groups, personalities and indeed the masses of Niger-Delta were condemning the appointment of Gambari, the governors who supposed to speak for the people kept mute or openly supported his appointment in order not to offend their Abuja based sponsors.

It is only in Nigeria that the government will try to justify the appointment of somebody who described some of the epitomes of Niger-Delta struggle as common criminals. If Gambari could describe the likes of Ken Saro-Wiwa as criminals then how can he be appointed to mediate in crisis between federal government and those who began where the Saro-Wiwas stopped? One of the reasons why Abacha killed Saro-Wiwa was to suppress the struggle for resource control or regional autonomy which Saro-Wiwa personified in other to make fortunes from the resources of the region. It is a pity that men who call themselves leaders now shy away from the real issues, just because they are afraid of the power-that-be or because they are only interested in their pockets.

If these governors and other political office holders cannot come out boldly to champion the cause of Niger Delta then one should not be surprised that the militants are generating sympathy from groups and individuals in the region and beyond, including eminent personalities like Edwin Clerk and Anthony Enahoro who don’t drink from the same cup with the powers in Abuja. Militancy in the region is a child of misrule which has been on since oil was first discovered in the region little before independence.

It is the kinds of Anthony Enahoro and Edwin Clark that Abuja powers don’t want to see in political offices. The game plan is that if they plant their cronies into the political offices to represent the region, just as they do in other regions, their interests will be fully represented. And as the result any call for sovereign national conference, resource control or restructuring of Nigeria will be tagged the ranting of separatists and rebels. By doing so, they believe that the international community will believe them. Their strategy is to deceive the international community and groups in Nigeria who are not familiar with the Niger Delta. It is not surprising, therefore, to hear the authority say “Those who are saying the contrary are the enemies of Niger Deltans, as you can see, the elected leaders from the region are saying what we are saying”.

If people like Nelson Mandela had preferred to dine with the apartheid government in South-Africa the freedom that South-Africans enjoy today wouldn’t have been possible. The struggle may take long but it is only truth that will win the final battle. It therefore does not suffice to sell one’s birth-right simply because one is threatened or wants to occupy a public office. It is only when genuine leaders of the Niger Delta mount political offices that the present situation would begin to end.

Government should know that the militants are not only becoming sophisticated in warfare, they are also becoming much more sophisticated in knowledge. As the result they want to have a direct control of their resources and decide the kind of political structure or system that would satisfy the aspirations of their people. The World has become a global village. And the militants and indeed all Niger Deltans are part of it. The Niger Deltans can no longer be cajoled into believing that ‘a well-fed servant is as important as his master’. ‘A servant is a servant and a master is a master’. No group in the world today wants to play a second fiddle whether oil is involved or not.

By Michael Chika Umudu

Nigerian roads and the awful experiences of travellers

Silence seems to prevail in recent times amongst the critics of the deplorable state of Nigerian roads. Perhaps, ‘there is something ominous in silence’. People have cried, shouted and protested the lost of lives and property particularly on the federal roads still the situation is getting worse day-by-day. Both electronic and print media have shown gully pictures and written many articles about the unimaginable hardship road users are subjected to, and not even the power of the mass media is enough to propel government to action. Indeed, the roads are getting worse and the helpless Nigerians are at the receiving end. They are robbed, harassed and of course killed on the neglected roads. It is however an irony that the situation is worst in the southern parts of the country especially the south-east.

A thought of a journey through the roads could repel one. Yet it is a risk that must be taken as the alternative air space seems to be a preserve of the minority elites. The bad state of the roads has survived several administrations. Over fifteen years now, the successive administrations left worst situations despite remedies they promised at the inception their respective administrations. They allocate a lion share of federal yearly budgets for the repairs and construction of new roads. They usually appoint well known public figures to preside over the ministry in charge of roads. In all, neither the ministers explain why they could not reverse the situation nor account for the high budgetary allocations to the ministry.

During the administration of Rtd. General Ibrahim Babangida toll-gates were introduced as a means of generating revenues that would be used to repair the roads. He promised Nigerians that the tolls paid on a given stretch of road would be invested directly on the same road and that the usual government bureaucracy had been eliminated. Hope was therefore raised and soon toll-gate and toll-bridges sprang up in geometric progression on federal roads throughout the nation. The fees charged were regularly increased still no improvement. Instead the situation continued to worsen, forcing motorists to run through old roads and local roads in other to avoid worst portions of the federal roads.

The administration of was no different. Abacha for the first time popularized in Nigeria the term “deregulation”. He deregulated the petroleum sub-sector and as the result the prices of petroleum products were increased by more than three hundred percent. One of the major reasons he advanced was that the money realized from the sector would be used to improve the infrastructure including the road network. Until Abacha died in 1998 no significant improvement was noticed apart from some improvements recorded in the northern part of the country.

In the wake of the present democratic experiment, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo raised the hope of Nigerians when he said that the days of rot was over. He introduced what can be described as deeper but abused deregulation policy. Prices of petroleum products and other public utilities were regularly increased with the assurance that the money realized would be used to bring about infrastructure comparable to what is obtainable in the developed countries. The increments and money realized amounts to thousands of percent but what Nigerians were left with at the end of his eight-year old administration was unbelievable sorry state of infrastructure. The roads became worse. Indeed the roads are now death traps and the people seem to have surrendered to their fate.

The worst amongst the federal roads are Lagos-Benin-Asaba Road, Onitsha-Enugu Road, Enugu-Port Harcourt road, Oba-Nnewi-Okigwe Road, Lagos-Ibadan Road and numerous others. The current minister of Transport, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, on assumption of office in 2007 promised to quickly address the problems. She also condemned the previous administrations for allowing the roads to degenerate into the present condition. But almost two year into President Umaru Yar’Adua’s administration which Alison-Madueke serves, the situation remained the same.

Nigerians in the diaspora are also expresing their shock at the sorry state of the road network in their home land. The situation which some of them said has discouraged them from visiting home. Perhaps, they have options, they can stay back in the foreign lands where the host governments take full responsibility for such facilities.

Domocracy which the common Nigerians had hoped has not been able to bring about the much expected dividents. The elected executives and the legislators have formed an elite club where they distribute the available resources amongst themselves. They have enough resourses to buy fleight tickets, hire herocopters and of course provide special security for themselves. They have usurped the power of the people and subjected the people to the state of trauma. They alocate votes to themselves and no one dares question them. They chase away or even kill those who seem to represent the interest of the masses and ravage the land with reckless abandon. And as they have expected, the people seem preocupied with their meagre earnings and could only talk but can’t bite or effect any change in their leadership.

If top government officials travel by road often as the common Nigerians do, of course they would have done something on these roads the first day a crack appeared on any of them. But they and their families travel by air where greater safety exists and where each life lost or abused is accounted for. But roads such as Lagos-Binin road are mainly for the poor and less influential members of the public who are not only exposed to numerous dangers on the road but sometimes get to their respective destinations very late in the night. As they arrive late at their destinations they are exposed to further dangers owing to the highly flawed security system in most parts of the country. Silence may prevail in the present times but certainly one day the situation would be reversed and the officers of the state will be made to really account for their stewardships.