Infrastructure Concession in Nigeria as

Panacea
 By Uche Ohia
 Published 08/26/2008
 Nigeria Matters
 Rating:

Uche Ohia
Uche Ohia is a lawyer, public  policy analyst and syndicated columnist. His
column, Silver Lining, is published in the POLITY section of ThisDay on
Saturday.

View all articles by Uche Ohia

At last the Federal Government has taken a strategic step towards confronting the intractable
problem of infrastructural decay which, together with the Niger Delta Crisis, has provided
dispirited citizens with ample reasons to taunt the Yar’Adua administration. Basic
infrastructure in most parts of Nigeria, Africa’s largest country, is in such dire state of
disrepair as to be tagged moribund. This decadence has made Nigeria and Yar’Adua the
popular subjects of endless diatribes on various public forums. But Yar’Adua may yet have
the last laugh. Last week, the president nominated Chief Ernest Shonekan, former interim
Head of State, as chairman of the Board of the Infrastructural Concession Regulatory
Commission (ICRC), a body set up by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Act signed
into law by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005. Other nominees of the president to
the ICRC Board were Hakeem Sanusi (South-west), Bernard Verr (North-central), Clement
Owunna, MFR (South-east), Comfort Saro-Wiwa (South-south), Joe Kyari-Gadzama (North-
east) and Aisha Sheikh (North-west). The nominations are awaiting the nod of the National
Assembly.

By the provisions of the ICRC Act (2005), ex - officio members that will also serve on the
Board with the president’s nominees include the Secretary to the Government of the
Federation, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Minister of Finance, the Governor of
the Central Bank and the Director General of the ICRC. Already, the retired Group Executive
Director (Refining and Petrochemical) of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC) and a former Managing Director and Chief Executive of Port Harcourt Refining
Company, Mansur Ahmed, has been nominated as pioneer Director General of the ICRC.

Generally, infrastructure concession allows participation of the private sector in financing the
construction, development, operation and maintenance of public infrastructure, development
project or network for a stated period. Common concession contracts include Build, Operate
and Transfer (BOT), Build, Own and Operate (BOO), Build, Transfer and Operate (BTO),
lease contracts, etc. The concession process allows private investors and operators to inject
much needed capital into upgrading and maintaining infrastructure. For instance, the national
road network in Nigeria especially in the South has been reduced to death traps. The
cumulative investment of the Federal government in the road sub-sector since independence
has been enormous. In the last eight years, the Federal, state and local Governments spent a
substantial proportion of their annual budgets on the construction, rehabilitation and
maintenance of roads and yet the net asset value of Nigerian roads has continued to decline
embarrassingly. Without requisite infrastructure such as roads, stable power supply, or
transport networks to drive it, the Nigerian economy has remained virtually comatose.

With the support of the World Bank and other financial institutions, many African
governments are adopting the concession option for the development of their basic
infrastructure. Concessions are associated with direct payment by the user in the

form of a toll. Toll systems are common in Europe for roads, bridges and tunnels. Tolls
constitute veritable sources of internally generated revenue for many countries. Toll gates
were also a common feature of some Nigerian highways until former President Obasanjo
erased them from the landscape for no apparent reason. In the 1990s, concessions were
chiefly employed to resolve endemic dearth of infrastructure in Latin America by bringing
private sector efficiency and competition to bear on public infrastructure networks.

The “infrastructure” envisaged under the ICRC Act 2005 covers virtually every sector of the
economy: power plants, highways, seaports, airports, canals, dams, water supply, telecoms,
railways, land reclamation, inter sate transport systems, industrial estates or township
development, housing, tourism development, waste management, ICT and database
infrastructure, education, health, drainage, dredging, trade fair complexes, etc. Invariably, the
ICRC is going to be faced with a big task in the months ahead. The ICRC is expected to fast-
track the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) strategy that is the crux of the paradigm shift in the
Reform Agenda envisioned by the Obasanjo administration. Despite previous policy
somersaults, Yar’Adua has by the latest action shown a strong commitment to the PPP
concept. Can the ICRC transform the bleak situation that has made Nigeria an investor’s
nightmare to a country where basic infrastructure are constructed and maintained with
seamless ease? Maybe.

However one looks at it, concessioning holds great promise. The ICRC holds the key to the
realization of the 7-point agenda enunciated by the president. Meeting the target of the
Millenium Development Goals will also, to a large extent, depend on the success of the
ICRC. From the composition of the ICRC, President Yar’Adua seems to have made careful
choices. The recognizable members of the board are men and women of high integrity. With
an array of experiences in research, manufacturing, shipping, energy development,
development finance, commerce, banking, construction, law, telecommunications, and
petrochemicals many of the president’s nominees appear well equipped for the onerous task
ahead.

Still, the coast is not yet so clear. Like privatization, not everyone accepts concession as the
panacea to infrastructure problems. Labour leaders feel reasonably concerned about the
impact of the process on workers. Those who do not agree that Government should divest
completely from business also fear that monopolies may be created and argue that systemic
neglect and inefficiencies could be alleviated by training, capacity building and anti graft
sanction monitoring. In a country with poor record of continuity in governance, public policy
discordance, and unbridled corruption, there is apprehension that the members of the
commission may be exposed to undue influences and that concessionaires may require
guarantees of protection from political instability.
All said, the Herculean task before the ICRC requires more core professionals, technocrats
and corporate gurus and less jobbers, cronies and opportunists. The success or failure of the
ICRC will owe a lot to how much the commission is able to show transparency in it’s actions
and how far it is able to insulate itself from the shenanigans of Nigerian politicians and the
vagaries of Nigeria’s deleterious partisan politics.

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7 Responses to "Infrastructure Concession in Nigeria as

Panacea"
Baba Ali Kellu Rating:
 said this on 02 Sep 2008 1:45:42 PM UTC
Simple, articulate and educating.
(Reply to this comment)

Anaele Ihuoma Rating:

said this on 15 Jun 2009 6:49:19 PM UTC
Quite enlightening especially especially given the relative newness of the concept in this part
 of the world . The concerns raised by labour are typical and knee jerk, but the more likely
scenario is for labour to benefit from the lifeline that the concessionaires would throw at the
moribund entities, provided men and women of professional integrity and fear of God are
made to manage the ICRC and the resultant PPP arrangements.
(Reply to this comment)

Nasir Suleiman Yandaki Rating:

said this on 30 Jul 2009 11:09:54 AM UTC
 
We need people like him in Nigeria. If only our leaders could do according to the wish of the
masses Nigeria would have been five hundred percent developed.
(Reply to this comment)

 Chuka Rating:
said this on 10 Nov 2009 11:17:24 AM UTC
we dont need the concessioning approach in Nigeria now. we need to involve all nigerians in
the process by enabling market instruments to be used for capital actualisation to satisfy pre-
determined infrastructure projectsthis can be largely achieved by integrating capital and
labour and allowing participation for "rouge" funds. solutions from within thus involving
planning by our engineers(NSE), deployment through mass manual labour(Labour, Capacity
building and skills acquisition) and implementation through adequate regulatory and
enforcement capacities(Government, People-universal participation. 30,000MW of power is
achievable in 4yrs. why are we troubled by 6,000MW. I explain further His Excellency
Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. State House,
Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. OPEN LETTER TO A SERVANT LEADER 18th May, 2009 Dear
Sir, May I seize this opportunity to encourage the efforts of you and your good offices in
steering us through the numerous challenges, obstacles, interests and interest groups
currently facing the nation. Indeed, uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. I pray you
forgive the length and eventual public nature of this letter as it is borne out of the conviction
that all Nigerians both home and abroad should participate in this conversation, because
much of its contents affect us all. Like most Nigerians, one is concerned about the state of
the nation. The challenges we face today are similar if not the same as the challenges (and
perhaps the obstacles) we faced in the mid 80s, over two decades ago, before the initiation of
the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). Then, like now, we had epileptic power
supply, industrial development was in reverse, education and healthcare were in decline, as
was food production, unemployment and poverty were high, leading to heightened
insecurity, cost of living was rising as service delivery was in decline coupled with
infrastructural decay. Mass alienation, corruption and despair were also as evident then as
now. Similarly, then like now, we had abundant reserves of oil and gas, a wide variety of
solid minerals and vast expanses of uncultivated productive land. We equally had a
conclusive array of official regulatory and enforcement offices and agencies, and abundant
wealth of experience and funds. Then like now we also had the largest single market in
Africa i.e. over 100 million people and an equally huge labour market (albeit largely
unskilled). Today, decades later, we are still faced with the same problems, ever growing in
proportion and ever recurrent, reaching levels beyond our collective projections and
estimations. Clearly these problems are not as a result of the recent global recession and one
wonders why we are contemplating stimulus packages, especially when it involves shoring
up the tertiary, when our primary and secondary industries are in a shambles. One asks the
simple question “where are the economists?” indeed what has happened to common sense?
Surely the premise of all tradable value in any environment lies in its production and
productive capacity (re futures markets). Wherein, production relates not only to that of
goods and services but also the attendant raw materials and financial services. How do we
hope to sustain the artificial values that would be generated by stimulating the tertiary when
the fundamentals of modern production and economics do not exist i.e. Power, Energy and
Socio-political stability. Without production we can only boast of sporadic economic
activity. Our primary industries i.e. agriculture and mineral extraction have been neglected
while our secondary industries i.e. production of goods and services, have been thwarted by
an ailing power/energy sector. Many have observed that the surge and rally in the stock
markets was as a result of the nation trading on hope, seduced by artificially supported
indices of economic growth, as opposed to reality. The market is not in crisis, the stocks
have simply assumed their correct values as a result of the “reality gap”. Further still, the
institutional linkages that lay foundation for socio-economic and socio-political activity have
been broken and replaced instead by interests and interest groups who have taken positions
in all Sectors, awaiting successive national budgets for sharing whilst “moving the nation
forward”. These entities and dynamics have gained foothold, using the instruments of state
as rightly predicted by Karl Marx. Mr President, it is such matters and issues that trouble
one’s mind, especially in this nation of ours, blessed with such abundant raw materials and
enviable potential by the Almighty. This is more worrisome when, as a father, one considers
tomorrow, the children growing and those yet to come. What suffering awaits them from our
actions and, more so, from our collective inactions. Many have resulted to prayers, whilst
others languish in apathy. The narration and lamentation of our woes has become a national
pass-time of both social and prime-time entertainment. Several events, individuals and
groups in our polity and history have been blamed, ranging from the imbalances within the
“geographic expressions” created by the colonial masters, years of oppressive and successive
military rule, mismanagement by politicians, theft by public servants, massive corruption,
lack of political will and good leadership. Currently we have included global meltdown to
the list as we continue to make excuses for folly and diminishing cranial activity. And
clearly wallowing in the dark, we continue to return to history in attempts to becloud present
and glaring realities. One wonders, perhaps the problem lies with the people, Nigerians
themselves, as a collective and individually. This is an important question especially when
you raised the matter of the “Independence generation”. Change is on everyone’s mind, but
what kind of change and for whose benefit? A cursory glance at our society today reveals
several distinct groups and stratifications that characterise our national realities. One
grouping would be Government and all its offices at all levels nationwide. This would
include the executive, legislature and the judiciary, all supported by the civil service. Most
sizeable here are the civil servants, the official guardians of our collective wealth. Yet
allowed by, and complicit in deliberate system failure, some have become the gateway for
loot. Collecting unofficial fees in official processes or organising “contractors” for bloated
contracts and government projects are but some of the ways they try to “maintain”. These
qualities, perfected over decades unchecked, have led to the corruption we collectively
complain of today. These qualities have equally been emulated by the executive, the only
difference being a question of degree. And likewise with the legislature wherein, though only
few actually observe their duties and functions, most have equally become contractors in
addition to other collections and “constituency projects”. The judiciary however, though not
directly or actively participant in the decay, exudes complicity through inaction in the face of
abuse and even flagrant disregard for the rule of law. Sadly, herein lay the accomplices that
enable graft and oppression. Indeed such is our justice system that a man can be jailed for
stealing a chicken out of hunger whilst his fellow countryman, who stole billions out of
greed, roams free. Perhaps another group would be the “merchants” i.e. the importers, the
contractors, the middle men, facilitators and professionals. This is the group that accounts for
the private sector i.e. a large pool of Nigerians who have at one point or the other rendered
services to the first group. Here also shelter the other various economic and political
“stakeholders” in our polity. The rich variety, creativity, age disparity, funds and collective
acumen of this group is enough to propel any nation to global reckon. Yet attitude has
allowed the cream of our society to sour, not emboldened enough to seek their destiny.
Continuously complaining and curiously insufferable, united they remain, bound by the “turn
by turn” psychology. Mostly they wait in servitude, nursing ambitions of their own turn to be
“there”. Generation after generation, beyond cars and houses, amounting to nothingness. The
last of these groups would probably be the masses. Herein, when culpable, and in many
instances, the “perpetrator" elicits support either through direct payment or by instigating
turmoil along religious or tribal/regional lines to avoid due consequences. Demands for
accountability, transparency and service delivery have been changed at this level to “na our
man, leave am”. But oddly, and sadly ironic, this is the same group most affected by our
national deficiencies. These are the people who need the jobs and proper education,
infrastructure and utilities and yet have no voice. These are the people who remain
disenfranchised, and misinformed into folly, inspired by pennies. Indeed we have
collectively acquiesced to this shame at all levels and aspects of society and as such should
not throw stones at “leadership”. We have perverted our morals and customs to
accommodate the ludicrous and bizarre in a twisted attempt at modernity. Logic, reason,
honesty, principles, scruples and other essential fibres in the essence of the being are
sacrificed for social and mercurial considerations. We accuse “government” of rhetoric and
insincerity as if government is not made up of those around us – our brothers, sisters,
cousins, uncles, aunts and even our children. Are they not those same people we shower with
all manner of honours and praise singing, perhaps for immediate gratification, instead of
telling them the truth. The rot is not only at the top but equally exists in the middle and at the
bottom levels of our society. One would like to share a poem with you Sir, For Whom The
Bell Tolls by John Donne No man is an island, Entire of itself. Each is a piece of the
continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As
well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manner of thine own Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s death diminishes me, For I am involved in mankind. Therefore send not to know
For whom the bell tolls It tolls for thee. It is an old saying that “a leader is oft’ led by the will
of his people.” Perhaps that is why you have chosen to be called the “Servant Leader”.
Indeed the essence of leadership is to serve and none can doubt your intentions to do same as
evident in your 7-Point agenda. The necessity of addressing our Power and Energy issues are
clear to all. Lack of Power and unavailability of constant and affordable Energy, accounts for
over 70% of our current collective set-backs yet they have remained unaddressed simply
because the successive ruling classes can afford and trade in the alternatives i.e. generators.
Interestingly sir, one wonders why it is not national policy to use coal for power generation
as do all other nations that have large reserves of the mineral. Even China from whence we
currently derive much economic inspiration derives 80% of its Power from coal. The
inclusion of Agriculture in your 7-Point Agenda is not surprising and this sector will
ultimately benefit from mechanised large scale farming. There are miles of productive but
uncultivated land that can be economically accessed through Cooperatives or other like
business models for commercial mechanised farming. More important, however, is the need
for enhanced preservation and storage capacities to maximise current levels of production.
Agricultural potentials may also contribute to change the dynamics of the Niger Delta. This
is possible in conjunction with an all inclusive pollution control and clean-up exercise
involving the indigenous youth and the companies that have caused such environmental
degradation. Much soul searching is equally in order as evidenced in recent Summits and
Truth Commission. It is obvious that the people of the region know the script writers and the
actors in their unending ordeal and ultimately have the power within themselves to displace
those deviant few who continue to be “settled” whilst havoc reigns. Though a later entry into
the agenda, Health and the health sector are equally of importance, and even more especially
Education. But many have been our national agendas, reforms and visions. We pick and
choose areas of focus forgetting or unaware that for economic development to occur, all
variables and elements must be integrated and simultaneously activated. We have many and
enough ministries, agencies, commissions, laws and tools, programmes and policies, yet we
have not managed to make these existing offices, policies and institutions functional nor
existing laws applicable. How do we then reform what we have not practiced? Many
successive governments have sought to court the people and their support through these
agendas and reforms, even probes and commissions. Perhaps this is related to the fact that
we have never had a democratic government truly of the people. The military regimes
usurped power by force and the use of arms and our civilian “rulers” usurped power by
rigging. And thus, predictably, our only true democratic experience was annulled. Nigerians
wonder why we spend so much time and resources in debates and discussions on agendas,
reforms and visions that do not manifest any tangible difference in the lives of the citizenry.
“No light, no water, no food, no money, no fuel, no anything” has become common talk in
the polity. The Nigerian, “average” or “ordinary”, has nowhere to go and no one to turn to
for solutions to mundane problems. Food, light, water, shelter, jobs etc. remain promised
“dividends of democracy”. Even the various state apparatuses for societal regulation, order
and rule of law ignore his pertinent need for fairness, equity and justice. System failure, and
subsequent corruption, has resulted in governments’ inability to provide for the people.
System failure has equally resulted in societal failures as both our traditional and official
institutions have failed in maintaining the prerequisite standards of transparency,
accountability, honour and discipline. This has denied the polity of local pairing structures at
the grass roots necessary for policy implementation and policy benefits. There is a general
feeling of despair and apathy as majority of Nigerians watch their country drift into
obscurity. Even those in positions of authority have ultimately resigned to a psychology of
business as usual or worse “if you can’t beat them join them”. And though they know what
ought to be done they choose rather to aid the ostrich bury its head in the sand. Such is the
state of things that the Local Government structure has been relegated to the “third tier of
government”. Consequently many States fail to even conduct Local Government elections.
The Local Government structure is that level of government closest to the people. It is
through this level of government that the people can receive information and participate in
government activity, initiatives and benefits, directly or indirectly. Economically, it is at this
level that the inner wheels of any economy turn supported by state policy and intervention
through financial institutions and initiatives. Politically, the Local Government structure
provides the “electoral college” that selects, educates, prepares and equips future leaders at
all levels. And sociologically, it is at this level that social safety nets become applicable and
implementable either through organised menial labour such as sanitation and facility security
or through direct state support. Historically however, our national experience at this level has
been disappointing. In the forward to the 1976 Local Government Reform Guidelines, your
brother, the then Brigadier Shehu Musa Yar’Adua was to comment that with “...the
continuous whittling down of their powers.....Excessive politicking had made even modest
progress impossible. Consequently, there has been a divorce between the people and
government institutions at their most basic levels”. That was 33 years ago. It is at the local
levels that the prerequisite levels of societal and administrative cohesion are fostered,
through interaction, necessarily involving universal participation based on communication.
This point was equally captured then, by the Brigadier, when he continued “...it is only
through an effective Local Government system that the human and material resources could
be mobilised for local development. Such mobilisation implies more intimate
communication between the governed and the governor. But above all, these reforms are
intended to entrust political responsibility to where it is most crucial and beneficial, that is, to
the people.” It is then not surprising sir, that you should show visible interest in universal
participation and participatory democracy under the rule of law as fundamental. It is equally
not surprising that you understand the intrinsic and foundational relationship between
universal participation and the rule of law. Your public acceptance of the discrepancies and
invalidity of an election wherein you were victorious not only supports, but is indicative of
your pedigree. This throws a challenge to the rest of the nation to rise up to the occasion, not
through protest but rather through constructive dialogue and collective action. Indeed there is
a national need to shift focus from “complaint conversations” to “solution conversations”.
There is need for unison of purpose, guided dialogue and coordinated action in addressing
the important and necessary tasks in our polity, especially that of uniting capital and labour
in our country and fostering an economically viable entity regulated by the rule of law. This
is indeed becoming more glaring with the obvious and eminent emergence of a new
economic world order destined to ravage the developing nations, Africa especially. The
dictates of globalisation determine that production will continually seek cheap skilled labour
and more importantly capital will seek higher and secured profits. We have a large domestic
market of over 100 million people to produce and cater for, which can sustain economic
growth for decades were we enabled. And there is an abundance of capital, especially in
private hands, which can be productively deployed for national development and benefit.
Thought provoking is the notion that if neither the government nor the people can effect
restitution nor afford the upheaval and the time wasting that will be caused by an attempt to
immediately and fully correct the ills of the past, perhaps an amnesty is in order, allowing
the economic reintegration of these “rogue” funds, from whence we may safely say “no
more” and deal decisively with new culprits henceforth. There is ultimately the imperative
that much attention be primarily directed to those between the ages of 20 and 50 as the focus
of our new socio-economic and socio-political policies, and social engineering mechanisms.
Therein lay our productive (20 – 40) and regulatory (40 – 50) capacities in the present.
Proper categorisation, compartmentalisation, reorientation and deployment of this segment
of society, if adequately planned and pursued, necessarily in conjunction with the integration
of capital and labour, will provide for all our needs. The future however, lies with those
currently between the ages 5 and 15 for whom we must immediately overhaul the Education
sector such that the society produces reliable hands and heads for continuity. Whilst
cramming and regurgitation have replaced thinking and creativity in our nursery and primary
schools, cults, examination malpractices and “sorting” in collusion with staff have been the
bane of our secondary and tertiary institutions. This has left us with a large pool of the
unskilled, unschooled and largely untrained. Beyond tinkering with ownership of the schools
or the number of years spent at each level, the vehicles of education are equally in need of
drastic appraisal and repair i.e. the school staff and structures. Most schools lack adequate
science laboratories, physical education facilities and basic amenities. The Kwara State
experience where out of over 19,000 only 75 passed a Class 4 exam, shows that the teaching
staff must be reassessed nationally as a matter of urgency. Perhaps the same State
Commissioner for the Ministry of Education should immediately head the Ministry at the
national level since, reading his methodology and even for the fact that he was thinking in
that light, he obviously knows what to do. We have equally forgotten that education is a
continuous as well as a collective process and the relevance of libraries (with books inside),
arts and drama, clubs such as Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, Age grades and other traditional
structures educative and supportive of instituted authority and collective societal input. Even
toys, folk tales and sports have all but disappeared in our society. The benefits of recreational
facilities, zoos, social centres etc have been lost as most of these instruments of Edutainment
are fast being destroyed and replaced with housing estates for the affluent. Indeed Sir, even
education involves universal participation as does most else of communal relevance,
implication or deployment. It would be difficult to teach a child to throw waste in a dustbin
while all around the streets and houses are piles of refuse left by adults. But, universal
participation, like the rule of law involves and requires an understanding within a given
polity. This understanding facilitated by communication, enables all members of that given
polity to appreciate and adopt a common and agreed path of action, achievable and
sustainable through continued understanding and the cooperation of all. An example of this
would be queuing, wherein Nigerians manifested their will in stopping queue jumping.
Though initially forced into queuing by a military regime, there was a collective
consciousness in the matter as ordinary Nigerians abided and enforced queuing everywhere.
It is this collective consciousness that is referred to as the “General Will” and translates to
notions of a Social Contract i.e. an agreement made (acquiesced) to by all and binding by all.
The concept of general will, as indeed social contract, introduces the element of trust to
communal existence, wherein anyone who betrays that trust is decisively dealt with by all for
the benefit of all. In a democracy, the general will is enabled by the electoral process which
allows members of the polity choose representatives they believe will protect their interests,
i.e. the people they trust. In Nigeria, as you have rightly acknowledged Sir, the electoral
processes are in need of immediate attention and scrutiny to correct the ills therein. It is thus
clear and evident from all social and national commentary that Power/Energy is fundamental
to a realistic economic and socio-economic revival whilst free and fair elections i.e.
participatory democracy is foundational to sustaining socio-political stability for economic
prosperity. I commend the spirit of sincerity in your leadership and that of the Minister of
Power who has acknowledged that we currently do not have a Power master-plan. If that is
the case, then the minister should immediately prepare one, there has been enough talk
already. This should be a full report, detailing the existing and proposed power plants in the
country, both public and private, including pertinent factors and issues such as distribution
capacity and requirements, envisaged constraints, accompanied by the policy and actions
taken, time frame and expected results. Your recent observation that Nigerians are not
adequately informed of Governments actions and policies is sadly also true. The Minister for
Information and Communication should therefore publish an exhaustive list of all
government Ministries, Departments and Agencies/Commissions etc, their functions and
their addresses including their Service Charters created and submitted to SERVICOM. This
is in line and core to the functions of that Ministry. Let Nigerians know their Government
and its instruments first. The branding of a nation must involve its people who must be
necessarily informed about their nation before all else. Indeed as with most things in life, for
any successful outing, proper preparations must first begin at home. This should also be a
free publication, distributed throughout the Federation through the Nigerian Postal Service,
an essential instrument of communication and information, all but forgotten, yet structurally
present in almost every Local Government Area. The Nigerian Postal Service should be at
the fore in extending and attaining the desired levels of information dissemination and feed-
back mechanisms especially at the grassroots in order not to occasion further disadvantage to
those in rural areas. Though Government needs to be sufficiently enabled with Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) for internal processes, hard-copy formats must
necessarily be the platform for communicating with the nation, especially in Nigeria. This
constant communication provides not only the platform for societal integration and
regulation but also the collection and collation of accurate data and statistics for national
planning, deployment and implementation of development strategies. Please find enclosed a
copy of the Project Initiation Document for Deployment and Implementation of
Development Strategies which lays the prerequisite national platform to bridge the gap
between the government and the people. Reform like change must be a continuum, and, as
regards to a specific polity, must represent a collective conclusion from collective
contributions based on collective experience. Development, like government and governance
is inter-related and inter-dependent. National development must therefore involve
simultaneous ignition and actualisation in all sectors. As humble contributions to “solution
conversations”, the first of three steps is the launch of an Ombudsman, necessarily by and
involving the people, in concert with both government and traditional institutions. An
Ombudsman structure, being inherently probative, will engineer adequate reform across the
public sector especially in service delivery and accountability, whilst providing a bridge
between the government and the governed. Supported by the collective, driven by the Public
Defendant (through the Nigerian Bar Association in conjunction with other professional
bodies) and guided by the Law courts, the Ombudsman will address 1. Non-recurring injury
to individuals or a group 2. Recurring, systematic injury to individuals or a group/class 3.
Injury to the general public or the greater collective The second step would be actualising the
integration of capital and labour for wealth creation through the provision of critical,
commercially viable infrastructure, more specifically and most importantly Power/Energy
and Rail transportation. This would include one 10,000Mw Thermal Power Station powered
by coal, two 200,000bpd Refineries and 3000Km of strategic intercity rail. All of these will
be deployed using nationalisation platforms. By so doing, not only will critical infrastructure
be actualised in the least possible time, stability will be occasioned in the capital markets due
to the inherently broad base platform of nationalisation instruments. This is in contrast to the
stagnant monopolies occasioned by our unbridled application of single-owner privatisation
policies. The imperative of actualising Power is basic, thus in conjunction with our current
policy using Natural Gas, we must mine our coal and ultimately use it to provide electrical
power as do all other nations that have large reserves of the mineral. Nigeria has the largest
coal reserves on the west coast if not the continent. Our coal is sufficiently low in sulphur
content to be considered environmentally acceptable. The employment potentials are
obviously twofold as they involve not only the power plants but also the mining of the coal
and our other minerals for export. Likewise sir, in relation to Energy matters, if a
200,000bpd refinery costs $4 Billion, why doesn’t the State build two new refineries and
recoup the expenditure, plus cost of capital, by nationalising/selling same through stock
instruments in the capital markets. There is an abundance of funds in Nigeria, though largely
in private hands, that will definitely support and participate in such an initiative. A variant of
this model may equally be used in deployment of rail transportation using manual labour.
Rail transport is capital intensive but critical to national development. It is also a viable and
lucrative business as are coal mines, Power Plants and refineries. Indeed most of the nations
that offer us advice and loans for these items used and continue to use internal fiscal
mechanisms and manual local labour to achieve sustained infrastructural and economic
development by integrating capital and labour as a means of wealth creation. The Chinese
even use their own nationals for projects abroad as evidenced in their various projects in
Nigeria. The expansion in the economy occasioned by these three projects will necessarily
provide mass real employment, direct technical and skills transfer, micro-economic activity
and macro-economic stability. More importantly the projects involved either involve or
stimulate other economic variables thereby deploying inter-relatedness, characteristic of
governance and development, by simultaneously stimulating all sectors. However, the role
and functions of the Central Bank, as indeed the commercial banks, need to be examined
along with interest and lending rates in a bid to realign them to current objectives and
realities. The last, but definitely not the least step, is that the national voter’s registration
exercise should commence now, as a continuous and public process, to ensure free, fair and
verifiable elections. This may be in conjunction with the National Identity Card scheme,
another essential developmental and planning instrument. Further to this, the issue of
independent candidature, as included in your proposed electoral reforms, should be
vigorously pursued as enabling of involvement, access and universal participation in the
polity. Nigeria is not a failed State. Many are also quick to observe that we are barely 60
years old as a Sovereign nation, and that we were under military rule for over half of that
period. The current levels of developmental progress in some States, speaks volumes of what
is possible. But still, in the history of our nation, few moments have been so critical.
Externally, a new world order unfolds, one that will be conditioned by a new generation,
products of a new time. Internally, old interests, interest groups, obstacles and challenges
continue to distract and derail us. Fortunately for us, we are not at the end of a cycle, but
rather at the beginning. Unlike our western neighbours in the global village who face
economic recession, we are yet to deploy and sustain the basics of an economy. And whilst
they seek new markets and means (including nationalist policies) to sustain consumption and
thus production, we have a virtually untapped domestic market of over 100 million
consumers. Mr. President Sir, in the next three months, Nigerians of all ages and professions,
States and tribes, religions and creeds will be called upon to unite and actualise the first two
steps in a historic moment of self actualisation as a Public Private People’s Partnership.
 Support us in every way and with all your good offices that together we will all deliver the
heart of our nation. The last or third step can only be taken by you and your good offices.
Should you bring the spark, Nigerians will light the candle of true democracy. I pray you Sir,
always remember that you are the President of a nation and not just a political party or
interest group. Seize these times, step out of the box, emerge the leader that your pedigree
demands of you, Nigeria will succeed, as our pedigree demands no less of us. Majority of
Nigerians do care and are willing to sacrifice for a new Nigeria devoid of excessive
politicking, interests, interest groups, and all other obstacles presented by those who profit
from this madness and shelter in the chaos. We are indeed old enough to give a “GOOD
PEOPLE a GREAT NATION”. May the Good Lord grant you love, favour and shelter, both
in the heavens and on earth. Yours Sincerely, Akunwata Chuka Modebe Esq
(Reply to this comment)

maryam Garba Rating:

said this on 01 Dec 2009 10:58:05 AM UTC
Very informative i can say. The feelings that something can at last be done to change the
 
condition of the death infrastructures in the country is really amazing. I pray that those
sadled with the responsibility, will be just and sincere in changing the current state of the
nation.
(Reply to this comment)

Mohammed Kabir Olayiwola Rating:

said this on 12 Apr 2010 9:35:56 PM UTC
 Quite informative, I wish the author can get in touch with me to do a joint paper on
Infrastructure concession:the prospects and challenges urgent
tomorow(mko@kabolaassociates.com)
(Reply to this comment)

allstin Rating:
 
said this on 18 Jun 2010 7:04:25 PM UTC
it is in line with our present situation
(Reply to this comment)