THE NATION THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2011
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EDITORIAL/OPINION FENIFERE’S SOLIDARITY VISIT TO EX GOVERNOR DANIEL ‘I am amazed at your capacity to turn logic on its head. Please tell me the empty swamp that Daniel caused President Jonathan to commission. I will like to have specific details, location and description. The fact that your patron does not share the same political view with Daniel does not give you the liberty to feed falsehood to the public domain….OGD did not castrate the house of assembly as you alleged. Egbetokun and company went beyond their legislative duties because Daniel refused to give them money”. Yinka Kutoye 0806970842 COMMENT As for the allegation against members of the defunct Ogun State of Assembly, I think they can protect their own integrity. As the empty swamp commissioned, Picture doesn’t lie. The above picture shows the PORTAL PARKE HALL whose foundation ceremony was performed five months before the expiration of Daniel’s eight years term. What remains of the Portal Parke Hall is the white commemorative plaque inside a swamp. “U took a swipe at Adebanjo and co’s visit to Daniel. The visit shocked me too….Have the personalities acknowledged the elders? In Yoruba culture, it is the junior that should at least show deference. But here is case where the juniors perceived themselves well off with or without the help of these elders”. 08037037909 COMMENT Our leaders deserve praises for their past sacrifices for the Yoruba nation. The truth about Yoruba culture however is that our leaders often earn their respect. The moment they decide to swim against the tide of popular public opinion of their followers, they are left to dance alone and naked to wit. “I sure hope our leaders can still listen to the voice of reason. They have left us confused by their body language. It seems okay to dine with the devil. I have often wondered how old they were when they became leaders. Some of us still believe in the elders but they should know the generation is a continuum. It does not end with them”. Steve A. Abeokuta 0803712 8706 Some of the so-called Afenifere are on their own They are not representing Yoruba nation since all they know is to be paying solidarity visits to thieves. Adebayo, Mopa Kogi State 07082886203 ON NATIONAL ID CARD This is another way of stealing by PDP gov-
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N November 1, a different kind of meeting was scheduled by the office of the minister of works, Architect Mike Oziegbe Onolememen. A paradigm shift was in the making, indeed it has been in the making since the day he was sworn-in as a minister in charge of one of the nation’s most critical ministries. The occasion was the inauguration of the ministerial committee for the monitoring of federal road projects in the six geo-political zones of the country. These Nigerians who constitute this committee, a first of its kind have a simple but historic assignment – to make government budgets on roads meaningful and realistic. Earlier before the meeting, a similar gathering had been hosted by the minister ostensibly to liaise and intimate commissioners of works from the 36 states of the federation on how best to interface with the centre on roads rehabilitation, reconstruction and maintenance. Architect Onolememen told the commissioners that each of the states should as a matter of urgency establish a road maintenance agency to access the five per cent fuel levy fund established since 2007 but which has not been utilised by both the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) and the states. The levy is shared in the ratio of 40 per cent to FERMA while the various states’ road maintenance agencies are to share the remaining 60 per cent on the basis of established and incontrovertible needs. But, in order for the fund to be meaningfully utilised at both federal and state levels, the minister advised the commissioners to obtain clearance from the Federal Government before embarking on any form of restoration of federal roads in their states. Moreover, where such clearance has been obtained, states should lay more emphasis on maintenance so as to avert the huge cost required in rehabilitation and reconstruction. There is no doubt that the state of Nigerian roads has become worrisome especially given the carnage that has been witnessed on the roads in the last one decade during which these roads suffered neglect necessitated by paucity of funds and constructions that are
Feedback A NEWSPAPER is a market place of ideas. The columnist view is tempered by his environment, culture and his world view. There is therefore always an alternative view to the columnist interpretation of events. It is for this reason I am devoting this week column to those who had taken pains to read and subject the views expressed to critical examination. Happy reading.
ernment. It can never solve any problems confronting the nation. It is a fraud-infested project which must be stopped. The House is noted for passing monetary bills from where they can have kick backs. The FEC is the father of corruption and 419 contracts. Pastor Odunmbaku 07051594699 ON REMOVAL OF FUEL SUBSIDY. Writers from the West have no reason to vilify Jonathan as all the write-ups then were pro Jonathan. Have you people ever asked why Buhari is hated? Give yourself an honest answer, and then you must have found the way to befriend the truth. Gari Kaso, Abuja, 07033377773 NEW TOLL GATES “It wasn’t PDP decision to remove toll gates but a unilateral decision of Chief Obasanjo, though PDP has no credible manifestoes to implement. Evangelist Igunbor-Abuja Nigerians who voted for Jonathan and his devilish party are to be blamed. Muh’d Awsal Jebba…..08098170827 You have nailed the problem on the head. Your advise that if President Jonathan is afraid of the cabal he has already identified as saboteurs of critical aspects of our economy, he should by-pass PDP and seek General Buhari’s help…..” is commendable. One day God will intervene for the sake of the masses. Mr Quadiri Abuja 08033590644 ON BOKO HARAM Your write up on Boko Haram is masterful, but will GEJ and his team listen? Only God can save Nigeria. Chima Anyaibe Port
Harcourt. 07082176768 If our government knows they cannot fight terrorism, let them go into negotiation because diplomacy not backed by power soon dissolves into rhetoric. Sunny, Ikeja, Lagos. 07088802760 You could not convince me why you want government to negotiate with those who have forcefully taken the lives of the poor, prompted by the need to control. I do not also think you have experienced the brutal nature of these extremists who have no love and regard for those outside their fraternity. 08035836499 Where there is poverty, diseases and ignorance, crime is inevitable. Let the government formulate and implement policies on aggressive food production and affordability by the common man and see what will remain of these social vices. God bless Nigeria. Tope Oyetola Ife 08066157763 ON NEGOTIATED FEDERALSM. True down to earth federalism is the only panacea against the differences that have crippled us since birth as a nation. And until we face the fact, no leader will succeed. We can no more afford to sit on the fence playing the ostrich. Skirting around the obvious with a circumlocution of expression of frustration called ‘a single term of six years, refusing to see all these warnings signs are an open invitation to violent break up of this glorified unitary country. Bisi Adefila Osun State 08066701608 We should negotiate. Even those who don’t
New dawn for road infrastructure By Sehinde Omoniyi below acceptable standards. Ironically, for a country with the largest road network in West Africa and the second largest south of the Sahara, Nigeria’s estimated 194,394 kilometres of surfaced roads has suffered from poor maintenance and have often been cited as a cause for the country’s high rate of traffic fatalities. Globally however, human factor accounts for more than 75 per cent of road accidents. Much more than the deplorable state of the roads, such other factors as attitude of road users, condition of vehicles, the standard of these vehicle parts and activities of miscreants and criminals account for accidents on an average Nigerian road. Out of these 194,394 kilometres road network, about 60,068 kilometres (including 1,194 kilometres of expressways) are paved while 134,326 kilometres are unpaved. Notably, some of these paved roads have lost their asphalt surface and are in very poor condition or have reverted to being gravel roads, especially in high rainfall areas of the south. Roads that were designed to carry maximum 30 tonnes capacity are subjected to as much as 50 tonnes and more especially with the increasing number of heavy duty vehicles on these roads due to the non-functional alternative transport systems in the country. The implication is obvious. These roads wear out fast and their general lifespan is shortened. For instance, the Sagamu-OreBenin road is more than 30 years old and it is unarguably one of the nation’s busiest roads, perhaps second only to the 105 kilometres Lagos-Ibadan expressway. Statistics show that in the current federal budget, road construction is allotted less than N120 billion while one road, the WarriKaiama-Port Harcourt-Ahoada section of the East-West road in the Niger Delta was recently revalidated to cost N245.9 billion.
Consequently, the ministry of works is perpetually insolvent where money required for road maintenance and reconstruction is concerned. The scepticism of the average Nigerian, especially given the terrible images of gullies and craters which have replaced once beautiful surfaces, has increased. These pictures which are painted of both federal and state roads, pains the heart. The same Nigerians have over the years, seen ministers come, make promises and go; budgets announced and presumably expended, but these roads have remained the same way, and in most cases become impassable. Several sad tales are told of loved ones who started a journey on these roads but never got to their destination, instead unpleasant details of how they died on these roads reverberates. Faced with this state of unproductive exercise, certain segments of the society have become disillusioned and sometimes emotionally obtuse. Presently, the Federal Ministry of Works is committing N980 billion to ongoing projects in the country while its budgetary allocation for this year is less than 30 per cent of this sum. So, there must be a way of resolving the existing funding gap and that is one of the minister’s headaches. Another solution, perhaps a more permanent one, would be when the other aspects of transportation in the country are harnessed and put into proper use as a way of reducing the over dependence on road transport, especially for moving goods and services. The country has an estimated 3,557 kilometres of rail system out of which more than 3,000 kilometres are narrow gauge while only a mere 329 kilometres are in standard gauge. Several years of neglect of this sector has seriously reduced the capacity and utility of the system.
like houses can choose to live in holes like rabbits. They will remain Nigerians provided they pay their tax. Imoh Ukpong, Makurdi 08037655611 There is a need to focus on what is in our interest as a people of common descent in our Nigeria that has refused to change from ‘a geographical expression as said of India by Sir Wilson Churchill and echoed of us by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Special Advisers, our National Assembly members and other well meaning Nigerians will appreciate this master piece and act fast for a true federalism. The time to Act is now. Dr Dotun Malomo “My question is how long we will shy from this stark reality. We cannot tell ourselves the truth….Some from all the geo political zones are benefiting from the system, one day the monkey will go to the market and shall not return”. Tarrie Dawudu, Warri Delta 008027475353 ON WIKILEAKS AND THE NAKEDNESS OF OUR LEADERS It has opened our eyes and mind more to the evils peddled by the Westerners under the guise of giving succor to Africans. It is time we woke up from our docility, define and decide our future by ourselves. Rabiu Waliu Bolaji University of Ilorin This is a naked truth that has somehow stripped further our leaders. Do we cover them up or take them to the market for a dance? J.A. Akinyemi 07066722465 ON BPE Contrary to your view, Nigeria Airways had over 30 brand new aircrafts when OBJ left power in 1979 but met only two when he returned in 1999. 08053060685 COMMENT. That is a clear evidence of failure of a leadership. OBJ in 1979 said the best candidate didn’t need to win the presidential election. Shehu Shagari won but messed up the economy. In 2007, OBJ’s successor was the terminally ill late president Yar’Adua.
‘This is another way of stealing by PDP government. It can never solve any problems confronting the nation. It is a fraud-infested project which must be stopped’ Only a few states in the country have made any plans to construct viable rail system in their states as a way of easing the dependence on road transport to move human and commodity traffic. The few states that have taken some steps in this direction include Lagos which proposed a metro system since 2008 and before then in 2007, Bayelsa and Rivers announced plans to embark on the construction of a high-speed rail line to connect their two capitals of Yenagoa and Port Harcourt. The biggest boost to restoring the rail system in the country came in 2006, when President Olusegun Obasanjo signed a contract with China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation to modernise the Lagos to Kano railway line as first phase in the proposed threephase line upgrade. The project has been split up into five sections namely Lagos-Ibadan (181 km), Ibadan-Ilorin (200 km), Ilorin-Minna (270 km), Minna–Abuja–Kaduna (360 km), and Kaduna-Kano (305 km). Similarly, the more than 8,600 kilometres of inland waterways in the country, needs to be harnessed. The longest are the Niger River and its tributary, the Benue River yet, the most used especially by larger powered boats and for commercial activities are in the Niger Delta and along the coast from Lagos lagoon to Cross River. Modern economies have adopted pipelines to transport not just petroleum products but also products like cement. And as at 2004, Nigeria had 105 kilometers of pipelines for condensates, 1,896 kilometers for natural gas, 3,638 kilometers for oil, and 3,626 kilometers for refined products. Since then, additional pipeline projects have been added to expand domestic distribution of natural gas and to export natural gas to neighbouring West African countries, with extension to other African countries. So, when recently in an interactive session with the media, the minister reassured again that Nigerians would experience pleasurable rides to their various states this yuletide; he is saying in essence that with the support of wellmeaning Nigerians his character, credentials and zeal for fatherland are enough to make all the difference there could be. • Omoniyi writes from Abuja.