Fellow Nigerians, I need clarification on what goes on at the Bureau of Public Procurement. The Procurement Act was signed to law in 2007 and I am yet to see seriousness in carrying out their function in helping bridge the unfair gap between the public and private sector.
For those who don’t know what I am talking about, you are forgiven. It’s not your fault at all. I suspect the Bureau does not exist. Actually, it does. Well, they have an office somewhere in the villa. I paid them a visit a few weeks ago and totally disappointed was I.
My impression of the bureau is the impression I have of the power wielded by the CBN in the financial sector. The BPP is meant to act as the law enforcer for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in ensuring fairness in public procurement. I suspect an average employee of the agency is yet to read the Act or else, why are they sleeping. This is just like NAFDAC acts as an enforcement agency in food and drugs control. I am sure NAFDAC needs no introduction. You see what I mean?
My visit was anything but memorable. It seemed like an agency set up for no reason and no purpose. There seemed to be nothing going on. There was no external visitor during my 1 hour visit to the agency. Well, there was one visitor who happened to be in search of a job. I wish him all the best. I wish him and millions of Nigerian youths well.
I was unable to extract any meaningful information from the agency to assist me in my research gathering exercise. I was told I had to get explicit permission from the DG. I have not heard from the agency since my visit on the 19th of September 2008. At least someone in the agency must be very busy. As a matter of fact, I had to run out and type a formal letter to the DG to make a formal request to gain access to information I really think has no impact on national security. If an agency that claims to promote transparency in public procurement does not seem to have any level of transparency in-house, my fellow Nigerians, we need to worry. Maybe this is due to the delay in signing the freedom of information (FoI) bill. That’s a fair excuse. I have no legal right to PUBLIC procurement enquiries. The government is sure taking us on a long ride.
The primary argument for setting up the BPP is to help reduce the high level of corruption due to the obvious fact that corruption in the public sector is due to the lack of transparency in award of contracts. The BPP should be an agency on fire at this trying moment in our country’s history. As a matter of fact, the fear of the BPP should be the beginning of wisdom as far as public sector procurement is concerned. Just as the fear of the EFCC is (was) the beginning of wisdom for corrupt public officials. Right now, the fear of court injunction seems to be the beginning of wisdom for the EFCC. How the tables have turned.
The BPP has a common objective with the EFFC as both agencies have to fight corruption in the public sector. This is not very obvious and I suspect this might not be unconnected to the choice of agency names. Who would have thought the BPP is a corruption fighting agency. The main difference I observe is that while the EFCC fights corruption after the facts, the BPP prevents those opportunities from happening in the first place. In other words, the BPP if functioning properly should reduce the work load of the EFCC.
Based on this thinking, I expected to see a BPP office buzzing with activity and computers analyzing procurement records for anomalies, monitoring purchase trends across MDAs, performing correlation measures between public expenditure saving and job creation opportunities for upcoming SMEs. Jack Baur would have been envious. I envisioned an organisation with hundreds of procurement specialists grinded in the art of procurement processes preparing reports and recommendations based on findings gathered from procurement audit exercises at their designated MDAs. I envisioned publicly available reports on progress made by MDAs and possibly punitive actions recommended for defaulting agencies. The last vision would surely be a dream come true. I pictured a leadership who are at least as visible as leadership found in NAFDAC and the EFCC. Sadly, this is not the reality.
Maybe I am wrong. Maybe that’s not what the Bureau is all about. Or maybe there is a deliberate attempt not to do their duties. If I am not wrong, what is wrong? I am sure the president would be happy if you take your rightful role in moving Nigeria from where we are now to where we should be. The problem is that we do not know where we want to be. Our various visions are not even clear to us. For starters, we have like five different visions. Vision 2010, millennium goal, Vision 2020 and NEEDs. Is this an attempt to confuse us or is it a conscious attempt to build up excuses why the visions all fell apart when we look back? We would see our president in 12 years time making a speech telling us “Fellow Nigerians, the visions were too many, hence too fuzzy”. We are very sorry (Nigerians are a forgiving people). Let’s thank God we are still here to try again. (Our leaders know we love God and believe all our inefficiencies are always translated to all sorts of spiritual explanations)”.
Is that it? We are forgetful, extremely gullible and overly spiritual. We would soon hear of vision 2050 (please be patient). Or is it vision 20XX (we don’t even know when) or even vision XXXX (not in any life time). Please, the last option was not a serious suggestion.
The BPP reports to the ministry of finance, so you have strong support base. I am sure the minister would be glad to implement your ideas if recommended. I have been privileged to work within his organisation(s) and he is a confirmed progressive. He also worked in the CBN so I am sure your role as a supervisory body would be easy to put to practice.
I read some existing articles on setting up of the Bureau of Public Procurement in Nigeria and I conclude that: “Nigerians do forget”. Let me extract some for your edification. Note that some of these are reports and whatever recommendations were made are in the Procurement Act itself.
A report by Mr. S.A. Ekpenkhio, permanent secretary, political affairs, the presidency (16th January, 2003)
· “All the elements that enhance efficiency reliability and continuity of the system have been tampered with resulting in major and severe set backs for the conduct of Government business… … …” Furthermore, the President observed and emphasized that transparency in Government procedures was necessary to usher in “a great and dynamic economy” to ensure “a just and egalitarian society”.
· Government accepted the CPAR (Country Procurement Assessment Report) in its entirety with the exception of the Registration of Contractors and the involvement of Political Office holders such as Ministers/ Commissioners in the award of contracts in excess of fifty million Naira which the report was against. (I must confess, I am not sure what that means)
· the streamlining of Tender Boards and strengthening their functional authority, including powers to award contracts; (great)
· Permanent Secretary to approve contracts of works, services and purchases up to N1,000,000.00 (approximately U.S. $7,937.66); (not a lot of money and seems to counter the previous point)
· A delegation of the Steering Committee undertook a two-week study tour of the United States of America under the sponsorship of the US Department of Commerce. The delegation visited specialized procurement institutions and held discussions on management of procurement in a multi-sectoral and deregulated economy. (I am sure it was a worthy experience. Have their recommendations been fully implemented?)
· The bill will provide adequate legal institutional framework and financial mechanism to achieve the laudable goals of government in its efforts to enthrone transparency, accountability and equal access to public sector procurement. (How does the legal framework fit with court injunctions? What are court injunctions anyway?)
· When established, the BPP will act as an oversight body independent of the Tender Boards; ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of procurement functions across the public sector. (this is a very big role indeed. So why are you so quiet?)
· Monitoring of the procurement environment; (I am not sure the BPP is clear on how to approach this function)
· For full report, please visit http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/gproc_e/wkshop_tanz_jan03/nigeriacase3_e.doc
Mr. S.A. Ekpenkhio’s report is commendable and I can sincerely feel his vision. So what is wrong?
Now, these are excerpts from a presentation by Professor Kunle Ade Wahab Special Adviser to The President And Head, Budget Monitoring & Price Intelligence Unit (September 28, 2006)
· A survey conducted by the Obasanjo administration shortly on assumption of office revealed that before May 29, 1999, Nigeria must have lost an average of forty billion naira annually through all kinds of manipulation of the procedure for award and execution of public contracts.(are we saving 40 Billion naira now? Remember the power project? If the figures quoted were correct, then we are worse than we were in 1999. About 600 Billion Naira from the power project alone I think and that is being conservative)
· These manipulations were open in the form of inflation of contract costs, use of contract system to divert public funds to private pockets, award of contracts for ghost projects …. (Do people read these documents? I forgot. Nigerians forget quickly. Hope you haven’t forgotten the power project? I wonder how involved the BPP was in the procurement of N80 billion naira worth of rice. I assume that is part of your procurement monitoring process.)
· Objectives
o To determine whether or not Due Process has been observed in the Procurement of services & contracts (Hmmm. Remember the power project?)
o To introduce more honesty, accountability & transparency into the Procurement Process (Okay. That is straightforward)
· In order to make this process clear and simple to all spending agencies of the Federal Government, we designed and published a check-list of processes and documents required for reviews and certification of any public contract to be paid for with public funds. (I am still looking for the checklist. It is probably online somewhere. I just have not found it. Oh, I forgot. The FoI bill is pending. Now, I get it.)
· Contracts above fifty million are to be submitted to the BMPIU by the MDAs for what we call full review and certification before it is sent to the Federal Executive Council for approval. (They must have missed that power project.)
· We enjoy strong and stoic support from Mr. President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo without whom we can hardly achieve much. This is because no capital project at the federal level can be paid for without a due process certificate issued by the BMPIU. (600 vs 40 Billion. We surely hardly achieved much)
· The Challenge before the Unit in the implementation of this policy at the moment is how to spread the message of the reforms to all states and local governments in Nigeria. (I agree. But, why is it a challenge?)
· The concern remain that unless these tiers of government emulate and adopt the reforms, the expected impact on the economy and the standard of living of an average Nigeria would remain difficult to achieve. This is because while the Federal Government gets 48% from the share of the resources, the states and local governments get 52%. (It’s not that. I think it is those court injunctions. Sorry, court protections)
· ….. I therefore use this forum to plead with the State Governors to give the reforms the needed political will to take off in their states. (You have to beg? These fellows are making your job difficult. How do we proceed?)
· … It also provides for the creation of a Public Procurement Bureau to regulate public procurement in Nigeria. The House of Representatives is almost set to pass the Bill into law any moment from now the Bill comes up for its third reading (Yippee. We made some progress. I have been there.)
· There is more to see. Please, visit
By now, I hope you all have an idea what the public procurement Act and the BPP were created to achieve. The excerpts above exhibit sincerity of purpose by the above citizens who I am certain meant well. At a point, the professor had to plead with our Governors. I feel his pains. Only if he had known the power project would be a charade, he won’t have opened up his heart.
The vision for the country if the BPP does its job right is that of a master piece portrait. The good news is that we are the artists and have the opportunity to paint the picture as best as we can. The bad news is that we have not bought the canvas yet. If we have, we probably procured the wrong type or the wrong size. BPP, please take note. We still have time to correct these mistakes. Let’s not wait for 20XX to start dishing explanations.
I implore you all to show concern for events happening in our country. Try and read the Procurement Act 2007, the NEEDS document and the many visions and let us try and make sense of them. There might be a reason for these multiple visions. We have to find out ourselves. I was probably wrong on the multi-vision approach as I am yet to read it (them). I don’t even have an idea which agency owns the management/ monitoring of the vision. We need to find out more. We owe ourselves that responsibility.
We need to leave something worthy for our children and grand children. And, I don’t mean money because that is all we worry about. I mean wealth (Yes, there is a difference). I mean a quality of life (QoL) worthy of emulation (we are currently ranked below the 100th position worldwide on this measure). I refer to memories that would make us smile in our graves. Let’s save this country before we run out of time. We seem to forget we would all die someday and these monies are not going to the cemetery with us (unless you are contesting for the NDDC leadership position). I hate to be the one to tell you this but I would die someday, you would too. So, kini big deal?
Monday, November 10, 2008
Let’s SWOT Nigeria
I have read various articles in the Nigerian newspapers for as long as I can remember. I am sure many of us have read many of these articles too. The articles usually boarder around the inefficiencies of our government, failure to deliver the promised dividend of democracy, corruption and plenty plenty plenty. The problem I observe is that these articles focus on only a single aspect of an organisation’s strategic challenges. It’s weaknesses. No organisation would survive if it keeps on like this.
I think it is time we do a SWOT analysis on our father land Nigeria.
I am sure a SWOT analysis is not new to many of us. Especially those who work in the business environment. For those who are not familiar with it, SWOT refers to Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats. Every organisation periodically needs to identify areas that affect this four. The purpose is to get a common sense view of the organisations performance and make common sense deductions. Nigeria is no exception to this rule. At least we all know its weaknesses. A SWOT analysis is not an exercise in futility. The primary purpose is to identify your weaknesses and see how you can convert them to strengths and also see how you can convert threats to opportunities. In fact some strengths even have underlying weaknesses. For instance, an organisation with excessive cash in the bank implies many things. They might be under investing, they might not be managing the treasury efficiently by taking advantage of financial investments opportunities. They might even conclude that the treasury department is not as competent as they should be and needs overhauling. As a matter of fact, a SWOT might make you realize that you have more strength than you have chosen to identify. Now I hope you understand, let us SWOT Nigeria.
Let’s start with strengths. This is primarily due to the fact that S comes first. Sorry all pessimists who focus on weaknesses first. I guess putting S first is intended to create an air of optimism. Hmmm, We are not as bad as we thought.
Strength:
· We are the most populous black nation. That is something we all know even though we don’t know how many we really are. This is a huge strength because there is strength in numbers. Well, there has to be.
· We have a diversified culture. Contrary to popular belief, this really has its strength. The strongest organisations usually possess all sorts of skills within it.
· We are rich in natural resources. Ok, we are rich in oil. The largest producer in Africa. Ok, we used to be. Being number 2 should also be considered a strength. I never knew Angola had so much oil.
· We have land mass. Yes, we do have excessive land mass. Zimbabwe should dwarf us in the agricultural sector. Well, they do now. Thanks to Mugabe. But at there very best, we were grossly inefficient. I think I am jumping into weaknesses here. I wish I could tabulate these observations. It would have been easier to understand.
· We have a brand. Weather we like it or not, we do have a brand. Who does not know Nigeria anywhere? We would talk more about this later.
· We have extremely intelligent individuals. Take note of individuals though. Talk to an average Nigerian and you would get a full analysis of our country. Even though the focus is usually on weaknesses. We even have a Nobel Laurette. We have a booker prize winner. We have a computer genius recognized worldwide. Did you know the Big Brother 2 house was designed by a Nigerian. Professor Omotoso I think. You see what I mean? All the way in South Africa. The problem is we are individuals not a group.
· We are extremely optimistic people. We still believe Nigeria will be great someday. No matter how bad things get, we get hope well well.
We can go on and on about our strengths. We have many and when we do realize so, we might as well start talking about them. America has its weaknesses too. But watch an average American movie and it reels of hope, a unified nation, a nation where you leave no one behind and definitely a nation where you can be all you can be.
Compare this to Nigerian movies. We don’t preach a theme that could make us collective and productive. We talk about juju, polygamy and sadly corruption. Yes, this is who we are but we need to start portraying who we really need to be. I was talking to a Zimbabwean recently and her understanding of Nigeria was based on these home videos. Yes, I said Zimbabwean. The censor board needs to try and re-address these issues before we loose our values completely.
Now to our weaknesses
· We are corrupt. No surprises here. Transparency international rates us as one of the most corrupt nations in the world. We are currently rated 121. the good news might be that we are not alone. Four other countries are with us on this position. Nepal, Sao Tome, Togo & Vietnam. Talk about a photo finish.The bad news is that Ghana is rated 67, Gabon is 96, South Africa is 54. Please note that 121 is worse than 67. The higher the worse. Are we really the giants of Africa? To be more direct, we are extremely corrupt
· We are greedy: Grab all we can. Don’t bother asking why or how much.
· Unemployment rate is high. No figures to quote but who thinks otherwise? Remember this is a SWOT no need to get too analytical.
· We are not future oriented. Our leaders have no clue what we will be in 5 years time. They don’t even have a clue about tomorrow. What legacy are we leaving behind? All those things just don’t matter. What can I chop now. I need to buy that house in Dubai. That’s even going too far. We have started buying houses in Ghana.
· Money defines us. A Nigerian is as important as his net worth. Who cares? We have no interest in intellect. We don’t see the gains. At least immediately. What a waste of 120 million people. Nigerian movies, please take note. You make it worse.
· Our Academy has collapsed completely. We really have no clue on the impact of this to the future of our children and grand children. I can’t paint it here. Let’s leave it to our imagination. All I can say is that it is completely gruesome. We have computer science graduates still being lectured on Fortran. Worse of all, the programs are written on paper. We have accounting graduates who have no clue what accrual and cost accounting refers to. My God.
· Our value systems have failed us completely. We have parents in high places who steal public funds like that were the primary job description. Their kids enjoy this booty and see nothing wrong with it. You rarely find a kid whose parents hold high position living a frugal life. They flaunt it and we just can’t do anything about it. As a matter of fact, being their friends is also flaunted with pride. Values like honesty, fairness, diligence to duty just don’t exist any more.
· We have a weak brand. Tell a foreigner you are a Nigerian and you are in for it. 419 springs to mind. Aggressiveness follows suite. That is really how the world sees us. Yes, everyone knows us. But they do so for the wrong reasons. The sad part is that we live in self denial. We have leaders who pretend these flaws don’t exist. By the way these same leaders have their kids schooling and living in countries with a more favourable corruption index. Even Ghana. I know a previous Governor whose son schooled in Ghana and was eventually kicked out after the egunje option ran out. I hope our level of corruption has not started to hunt us. Level of corruption is positively correlated to the behaviour of our kids. Maybe if we can prove this. Maybe they just might stop. Ooops, I forgot, we have no values.
I hate to go on about our weaknesses. I am beginning to sound like all the other articles. Now I get it. There are so many weaknesses and it hurts so much we just keep on talking and writing about them. Maybe I have missed a weakness. Our leadership fails us. Our leadership has not been sincere. That could easily be deduced from some of the weaknesses. That’s the beauty of SWOT.
Opportunities
Now let’s look at the opportunities out there.
· Globalization. The trend in globalization over the years have definitely trickled our way. Access to information and education in countries that still take it seriously. We now have access to technologies that would have otherwise eluded us. Are we taking advantage of it? We have lecturers who don’t use these facilities at their optimum. We have government who can reach the people more easily using these cost effective options. Rather than create websites that could address these communication flaws, we are more interested in awarding bloated contracts for websites that add no value. I heard of a government website that cost 40 million naira. I won’t tell the URL. I also came across a website recently that belonged to a current minister of states for one of our ministries. I was utterly impressed. He really wanted to reach out and fix the Nigeria problem. I sent him an email on some of my observations and I was surprised when I got a reply two hours later. It all comes down to sincerity of our leaders.
· Increasing oil prices. In the 70s, Gowon said that we had too much money but we had challenges spending it. Then the boom went away and we surely did not know how to spend it. Fast forward to Now. The boom is here again and it seems the story has not changed. Someone said Gowon was too young at the time. A little trivia for you all. How old was Gowon when he was president? Your discovery would shock you. I am not sure if age was the problem anymore. How old was IBB? How old was OBJ? and how old is Yar Adua? There must be other factors beyond age and beyond Mr. President. Let’s not look back and repeat the 70s oil boom wastage. We shouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
· We have land mass, we have people. Agriculture offers us an opportunity for growth like never before. We all know the Malaysia story. It is beginning to sound like a legend though. Was it real? We talk about it like we all saw them come and we saw them carry those seedlings away. Maybe they took the best seedlings. Maybe that is it.
· We have negotiating power. I hate to break it down to you but we have the resources to make demands. The world needs us. Don’t let them bluff you. The oil companies need us. They would have left if they did not. With all the kidnapping, they still hang around. The problem is the government agencies. NNPC / NAPIMS/ DPR are all working in their self interest. Do a research on Oman and the realities will shock you. They protect their country like it belonged to the individuals that work there. In summary, they are patriotic. Are we telling us we are getting the best deals from the Oil companies? Do they have oil spills in Saudi Arabia, Oman & America the way we have here? The truth is that our official cut corners and the oil companies choose to play along. Any business man would do the same I guess. But what happened to corporate social responsibility? Academic I guess. The bottom line is that we have negotiating power. Thank God for Oil. But what are we doing about it while we can?
· We have a huge number of experienced Nigerians in diaspora. We have the best of the best Africans gaining huge experience in developed countries. The irony is that they left because we refused to function. But we can turn the tides if we sincerely want them to come back. Nigerians love home and are very proud of being here. Like we realized everyone tries to work in their self interest so we can’t blame them. Obasanjo did it by bringing in the Okojo-Iwealas. Well, for a while then things started falling apart. If you bring in people based on values then that is what you get. They don’t dance. Period. I am yet to see a similar initiative by Yaradua. I hope it is not an indication not to change the status quo. All we hear are the same old same old names. Are we not tired of below par performance from our leaders. Mr President, you are as good as the people you employ. We have a vision 2020 with a happily after ending, yet, we have no knights in shining armour. Who are we fooling?
Threats
· Globalization. Make no mistake about it, globalization has its challenges too. Please don’t eat all you are offered. Everyone one works in his self interest. So do countries. We hosted Professor Eric Maskin recently who won the Nobel Laurette in economics for 2007. He argued that globalization widens the gap between the rich and the poor countries and also ends up degrading the environment. Think about it, if I employ you to take care of my house because you do it most efficiently, I would still do better with my house than yours. As a matter of fact my primary objective is to make my house better off. Like everything in life, there are drawbacks. We need to look at globalization and provide a win-win position. It explains the current focus on local content in the Oil & Gas industry. But, are we looking deep enough?
· Poor Academia: Still connected with globalization, we would need to provide the work force that can compete with the world. If we open our shores as it is now, we would be robbed. As it is, we are completely inexperienced and unprepared to compete. If we eat globalization in its totality, WE WILL LOOSE.
· Poor Infrastructure: Same argument. WE WILL STILL LOOSE. Our leaders need to understand that we are cutting off our noses in order to spite our face. What’s the connection? I am not sure. I just like saying it.
· Abundant Natural Resources: Oil seems to be a cause to us. Let’s call it the abundance paradox. How do we convert this threat into and opportunity and the strength it rightfully deserves.
· Poor Leadership: Yes you can repeat similar observations. It usually seems like a repetition and maybe a challenge in differentiating between the SWOTs. The rule of thumb is that if you find a recurrent theme, then it could lead to a strategic issue that needs attending to. Leadership here cuts across. I don’t refer to Mr. President. I refer to all our decision makers. However, “the buck stops at his table”
Now we have completed the academic exercise of SWOTing our country, let us try and construct a strategic issue facing Nigeria.
Nigeria is a country abundant in human and natural resources with a high dependence on Oil as a strong contribution to GDP. The country however lacks human capital and would face serious challenges if we swallow globalization on face value. The country has failed to deliver the dividend of democracy through sincere and forward thinking leaders who don’t their country first.
I believe this summarizes the long thing I listed above beautifully termed SWOT. What a waste of time. Who doesn’t know this is our strategic problem?
When an organisation works out a strategic summary like this, the next question to ask is “What can we do to eliminate these threats and weaknesses”?
· Our leaderships needs to be sincere and get people who can do the job
· We need to address the academia. I think this is of higher priority than the power sector.
· We need to provide the necessary infrastructure to attract foreign investments and also improve efficiency locally. In other words increase our GDP from other sectors and improve our quality of life. I hear Nigerians all the time say if the Government can provide constant power, they are fine to do the rest. I totally agree. That is the least you can do for us.
The order of the above is deliberate and is listed in order of importance. Let’s call it precedence. If leadership is not sincere, then let’s kiss the other issues good bye. We see the decline in many states over the years and it all comes down to LEADERSHIP. We all love to compare Cross River State under Donal Duke to many other states. And it still comes down to LEADERSHIP. Provide good leadership and every other thing will follow.
As a matter of fact, the president’s job is just too easy. All he has to do is put the people who can act and understand what the problems are in the RIGHT places. The problem we have is in his power to take such decisions. Please Mr President, act now before the organisation we call Nigeria declines so badly we would need to be acquired. Sadly, by some of our leaders who would be richer than their country. Mobutu Sese Seko proved that it can happen.
Some bonus for you all. A few quotes from Brave Heart. You remember that movie?
I know. I know you can fight. But it's our wits that make us men.
There's a difference between us. You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom. And I go to make sure that they have it.
I think it is time we do a SWOT analysis on our father land Nigeria.
I am sure a SWOT analysis is not new to many of us. Especially those who work in the business environment. For those who are not familiar with it, SWOT refers to Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats. Every organisation periodically needs to identify areas that affect this four. The purpose is to get a common sense view of the organisations performance and make common sense deductions. Nigeria is no exception to this rule. At least we all know its weaknesses. A SWOT analysis is not an exercise in futility. The primary purpose is to identify your weaknesses and see how you can convert them to strengths and also see how you can convert threats to opportunities. In fact some strengths even have underlying weaknesses. For instance, an organisation with excessive cash in the bank implies many things. They might be under investing, they might not be managing the treasury efficiently by taking advantage of financial investments opportunities. They might even conclude that the treasury department is not as competent as they should be and needs overhauling. As a matter of fact, a SWOT might make you realize that you have more strength than you have chosen to identify. Now I hope you understand, let us SWOT Nigeria.
Let’s start with strengths. This is primarily due to the fact that S comes first. Sorry all pessimists who focus on weaknesses first. I guess putting S first is intended to create an air of optimism. Hmmm, We are not as bad as we thought.
Strength:
· We are the most populous black nation. That is something we all know even though we don’t know how many we really are. This is a huge strength because there is strength in numbers. Well, there has to be.
· We have a diversified culture. Contrary to popular belief, this really has its strength. The strongest organisations usually possess all sorts of skills within it.
· We are rich in natural resources. Ok, we are rich in oil. The largest producer in Africa. Ok, we used to be. Being number 2 should also be considered a strength. I never knew Angola had so much oil.
· We have land mass. Yes, we do have excessive land mass. Zimbabwe should dwarf us in the agricultural sector. Well, they do now. Thanks to Mugabe. But at there very best, we were grossly inefficient. I think I am jumping into weaknesses here. I wish I could tabulate these observations. It would have been easier to understand.
· We have a brand. Weather we like it or not, we do have a brand. Who does not know Nigeria anywhere? We would talk more about this later.
· We have extremely intelligent individuals. Take note of individuals though. Talk to an average Nigerian and you would get a full analysis of our country. Even though the focus is usually on weaknesses. We even have a Nobel Laurette. We have a booker prize winner. We have a computer genius recognized worldwide. Did you know the Big Brother 2 house was designed by a Nigerian. Professor Omotoso I think. You see what I mean? All the way in South Africa. The problem is we are individuals not a group.
· We are extremely optimistic people. We still believe Nigeria will be great someday. No matter how bad things get, we get hope well well.
We can go on and on about our strengths. We have many and when we do realize so, we might as well start talking about them. America has its weaknesses too. But watch an average American movie and it reels of hope, a unified nation, a nation where you leave no one behind and definitely a nation where you can be all you can be.
Compare this to Nigerian movies. We don’t preach a theme that could make us collective and productive. We talk about juju, polygamy and sadly corruption. Yes, this is who we are but we need to start portraying who we really need to be. I was talking to a Zimbabwean recently and her understanding of Nigeria was based on these home videos. Yes, I said Zimbabwean. The censor board needs to try and re-address these issues before we loose our values completely.
Now to our weaknesses
· We are corrupt. No surprises here. Transparency international rates us as one of the most corrupt nations in the world. We are currently rated 121. the good news might be that we are not alone. Four other countries are with us on this position. Nepal, Sao Tome, Togo & Vietnam. Talk about a photo finish.The bad news is that Ghana is rated 67, Gabon is 96, South Africa is 54. Please note that 121 is worse than 67. The higher the worse. Are we really the giants of Africa? To be more direct, we are extremely corrupt
· We are greedy: Grab all we can. Don’t bother asking why or how much.
· Unemployment rate is high. No figures to quote but who thinks otherwise? Remember this is a SWOT no need to get too analytical.
· We are not future oriented. Our leaders have no clue what we will be in 5 years time. They don’t even have a clue about tomorrow. What legacy are we leaving behind? All those things just don’t matter. What can I chop now. I need to buy that house in Dubai. That’s even going too far. We have started buying houses in Ghana.
· Money defines us. A Nigerian is as important as his net worth. Who cares? We have no interest in intellect. We don’t see the gains. At least immediately. What a waste of 120 million people. Nigerian movies, please take note. You make it worse.
· Our Academy has collapsed completely. We really have no clue on the impact of this to the future of our children and grand children. I can’t paint it here. Let’s leave it to our imagination. All I can say is that it is completely gruesome. We have computer science graduates still being lectured on Fortran. Worse of all, the programs are written on paper. We have accounting graduates who have no clue what accrual and cost accounting refers to. My God.
· Our value systems have failed us completely. We have parents in high places who steal public funds like that were the primary job description. Their kids enjoy this booty and see nothing wrong with it. You rarely find a kid whose parents hold high position living a frugal life. They flaunt it and we just can’t do anything about it. As a matter of fact, being their friends is also flaunted with pride. Values like honesty, fairness, diligence to duty just don’t exist any more.
· We have a weak brand. Tell a foreigner you are a Nigerian and you are in for it. 419 springs to mind. Aggressiveness follows suite. That is really how the world sees us. Yes, everyone knows us. But they do so for the wrong reasons. The sad part is that we live in self denial. We have leaders who pretend these flaws don’t exist. By the way these same leaders have their kids schooling and living in countries with a more favourable corruption index. Even Ghana. I know a previous Governor whose son schooled in Ghana and was eventually kicked out after the egunje option ran out. I hope our level of corruption has not started to hunt us. Level of corruption is positively correlated to the behaviour of our kids. Maybe if we can prove this. Maybe they just might stop. Ooops, I forgot, we have no values.
I hate to go on about our weaknesses. I am beginning to sound like all the other articles. Now I get it. There are so many weaknesses and it hurts so much we just keep on talking and writing about them. Maybe I have missed a weakness. Our leadership fails us. Our leadership has not been sincere. That could easily be deduced from some of the weaknesses. That’s the beauty of SWOT.
Opportunities
Now let’s look at the opportunities out there.
· Globalization. The trend in globalization over the years have definitely trickled our way. Access to information and education in countries that still take it seriously. We now have access to technologies that would have otherwise eluded us. Are we taking advantage of it? We have lecturers who don’t use these facilities at their optimum. We have government who can reach the people more easily using these cost effective options. Rather than create websites that could address these communication flaws, we are more interested in awarding bloated contracts for websites that add no value. I heard of a government website that cost 40 million naira. I won’t tell the URL. I also came across a website recently that belonged to a current minister of states for one of our ministries. I was utterly impressed. He really wanted to reach out and fix the Nigeria problem. I sent him an email on some of my observations and I was surprised when I got a reply two hours later. It all comes down to sincerity of our leaders.
· Increasing oil prices. In the 70s, Gowon said that we had too much money but we had challenges spending it. Then the boom went away and we surely did not know how to spend it. Fast forward to Now. The boom is here again and it seems the story has not changed. Someone said Gowon was too young at the time. A little trivia for you all. How old was Gowon when he was president? Your discovery would shock you. I am not sure if age was the problem anymore. How old was IBB? How old was OBJ? and how old is Yar Adua? There must be other factors beyond age and beyond Mr. President. Let’s not look back and repeat the 70s oil boom wastage. We shouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
· We have land mass, we have people. Agriculture offers us an opportunity for growth like never before. We all know the Malaysia story. It is beginning to sound like a legend though. Was it real? We talk about it like we all saw them come and we saw them carry those seedlings away. Maybe they took the best seedlings. Maybe that is it.
· We have negotiating power. I hate to break it down to you but we have the resources to make demands. The world needs us. Don’t let them bluff you. The oil companies need us. They would have left if they did not. With all the kidnapping, they still hang around. The problem is the government agencies. NNPC / NAPIMS/ DPR are all working in their self interest. Do a research on Oman and the realities will shock you. They protect their country like it belonged to the individuals that work there. In summary, they are patriotic. Are we telling us we are getting the best deals from the Oil companies? Do they have oil spills in Saudi Arabia, Oman & America the way we have here? The truth is that our official cut corners and the oil companies choose to play along. Any business man would do the same I guess. But what happened to corporate social responsibility? Academic I guess. The bottom line is that we have negotiating power. Thank God for Oil. But what are we doing about it while we can?
· We have a huge number of experienced Nigerians in diaspora. We have the best of the best Africans gaining huge experience in developed countries. The irony is that they left because we refused to function. But we can turn the tides if we sincerely want them to come back. Nigerians love home and are very proud of being here. Like we realized everyone tries to work in their self interest so we can’t blame them. Obasanjo did it by bringing in the Okojo-Iwealas. Well, for a while then things started falling apart. If you bring in people based on values then that is what you get. They don’t dance. Period. I am yet to see a similar initiative by Yaradua. I hope it is not an indication not to change the status quo. All we hear are the same old same old names. Are we not tired of below par performance from our leaders. Mr President, you are as good as the people you employ. We have a vision 2020 with a happily after ending, yet, we have no knights in shining armour. Who are we fooling?
Threats
· Globalization. Make no mistake about it, globalization has its challenges too. Please don’t eat all you are offered. Everyone one works in his self interest. So do countries. We hosted Professor Eric Maskin recently who won the Nobel Laurette in economics for 2007. He argued that globalization widens the gap between the rich and the poor countries and also ends up degrading the environment. Think about it, if I employ you to take care of my house because you do it most efficiently, I would still do better with my house than yours. As a matter of fact my primary objective is to make my house better off. Like everything in life, there are drawbacks. We need to look at globalization and provide a win-win position. It explains the current focus on local content in the Oil & Gas industry. But, are we looking deep enough?
· Poor Academia: Still connected with globalization, we would need to provide the work force that can compete with the world. If we open our shores as it is now, we would be robbed. As it is, we are completely inexperienced and unprepared to compete. If we eat globalization in its totality, WE WILL LOOSE.
· Poor Infrastructure: Same argument. WE WILL STILL LOOSE. Our leaders need to understand that we are cutting off our noses in order to spite our face. What’s the connection? I am not sure. I just like saying it.
· Abundant Natural Resources: Oil seems to be a cause to us. Let’s call it the abundance paradox. How do we convert this threat into and opportunity and the strength it rightfully deserves.
· Poor Leadership: Yes you can repeat similar observations. It usually seems like a repetition and maybe a challenge in differentiating between the SWOTs. The rule of thumb is that if you find a recurrent theme, then it could lead to a strategic issue that needs attending to. Leadership here cuts across. I don’t refer to Mr. President. I refer to all our decision makers. However, “the buck stops at his table”
Now we have completed the academic exercise of SWOTing our country, let us try and construct a strategic issue facing Nigeria.
Nigeria is a country abundant in human and natural resources with a high dependence on Oil as a strong contribution to GDP. The country however lacks human capital and would face serious challenges if we swallow globalization on face value. The country has failed to deliver the dividend of democracy through sincere and forward thinking leaders who don’t their country first.
I believe this summarizes the long thing I listed above beautifully termed SWOT. What a waste of time. Who doesn’t know this is our strategic problem?
When an organisation works out a strategic summary like this, the next question to ask is “What can we do to eliminate these threats and weaknesses”?
· Our leaderships needs to be sincere and get people who can do the job
· We need to address the academia. I think this is of higher priority than the power sector.
· We need to provide the necessary infrastructure to attract foreign investments and also improve efficiency locally. In other words increase our GDP from other sectors and improve our quality of life. I hear Nigerians all the time say if the Government can provide constant power, they are fine to do the rest. I totally agree. That is the least you can do for us.
The order of the above is deliberate and is listed in order of importance. Let’s call it precedence. If leadership is not sincere, then let’s kiss the other issues good bye. We see the decline in many states over the years and it all comes down to LEADERSHIP. We all love to compare Cross River State under Donal Duke to many other states. And it still comes down to LEADERSHIP. Provide good leadership and every other thing will follow.
As a matter of fact, the president’s job is just too easy. All he has to do is put the people who can act and understand what the problems are in the RIGHT places. The problem we have is in his power to take such decisions. Please Mr President, act now before the organisation we call Nigeria declines so badly we would need to be acquired. Sadly, by some of our leaders who would be richer than their country. Mobutu Sese Seko proved that it can happen.
Some bonus for you all. A few quotes from Brave Heart. You remember that movie?
I know. I know you can fight. But it's our wits that make us men.
There's a difference between us. You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom. And I go to make sure that they have it.
I have an injunction
I have been looking around for a court injunction. Is it a thing? Is it a an action? Is it something I can buy off the street? I ask because I really don’t know.
I have asked a couple of lawyers and I am not sure they know too. They probably do but Nigeria turns these things on their head so everyone gets confused.
I have a lot of respect for Nigerian politics. For one, it makes us learn new words and phrases. We got to learn about “step aside”, “immunity”, and now the poplar “injunction”. When new words or should I say old words with new meanings crop up, they are designed to protect a public official who obviously has something to hide.
Why else would a Governor need a court injunction in order not to appear in court. If he has nothing to hide, why avoid going to court?
I refer to the former Governor of Rivers state, Dr. Peter Odili. I mention his name because I notice people usually can’t. Especially the media. They make indirect hints but no direct references. Is that part of the injunction? I am beginning to understand what an injunction means. How do you get those injunctions? I need to get myself one. Every public official needs to. You never know when it would come in handy. Just keep it in your wallet. It just might be a card like your drivers license. “Mr. Akinosho, we need to pick you up an ask you a few questions”: “Oh, I am sorry, I have a court injunction”: “Can we see it?”: “Sure, no problem”.
How Borisade & Fani-Kayode would be biting their fingers now. Why didn’t they get one of those injunctions? I mean, they should have some right to it too.
Nigerians awaited the drama after the second tenure of most of the Governors. There seemed to be no escaping it. The chairman of the EFCC had actually set the ball rolling before the expiration of their tenures. I think that was a mistake. An intelligence officer should not make his intentions known. He sure gave them a head start to act. Any Governor that has been apprehended is a sure mugu. You had enough time to get that injunction. I am already processing mine. For future safety.
I talk to people around about the effectiveness of the EFCC and the results are quite mixed. Some say it was not Ribadu’s right. I agree. But, it does not explain why he was literarily whisked out of office on spurious official requirements. No problem. Then he was demoted. Now we have the new and improved EFCC. Our Governors can heave a sigh of relief. I am yet to see them bite. Some say no matter what the EFCC does, if they don’t pick Odili up for further investigation, then it is all a waste of time. I mean this fight against corruption. We talk about corruption like a living being too. Just like the fight against terror. Recently, they picked up the SSG to the current Rivers state Governor. He should have gotten an injunction too. Silly guy. He needs to learn from the master.
I just checked out the meaning of injunction from my Oxford English dictionary. It says “Injunction 1 Law a judicial order restraining a person from an action, or compelling a person to carry out a certain act. 2 an authoritative warning”
Whichever definitition we choose, all na long thing. But let’s analyze these two definitions and pretend we don’t have lawyers who can analyze things the Nigerian way.
If we look at definition 1, who was restrained from an action? I suspect the EFCC. I guess they are not as powerful an effective as we thought. The second part of that definition if I get it right means the EFCC can also get an injunction to compel Odili to appear in court. I am probably wrong. We would need a lawyer to break that one down for us? They could be so confusing. Like I said, I have tried to get them explain that injunction process for a while in relation to the current state in the country and they seem to be confused to. Ok, it’s the Nigerian political process that seems to be confusing. We could also look at definition 2. EFCC could give Odili an authoritative warning as well requiring him to appear in court or else …. Ok, I think that is a subpoena. Why can’t he get a subpoena? Because he has a court injunction already. This thing is surely getting more confusing.
I am trying to get it. I believe you readers are in the same situation. If the EFCC has some evidence or doubts in his level of graft or involvement in graft, why can’t they act on it?
I am not interested in Odili. Neither am I interested in the EFCC. I am interested in injunction. Or how to get one. I am sure many of our politicians are working that ome out to. Whoever gets to know how first, please try and share with all Nigerians. We need to educate ourselves. With over 80% of our kids failing the WAEC exams, we really need to start learning fast. We are as bad as them. After all, we are all struggling with the meaning of the word “injunction” here. So easy to spell but difficult to explain. What legacy do we want to leave behind for our kids?
I have asked a couple of lawyers and I am not sure they know too. They probably do but Nigeria turns these things on their head so everyone gets confused.
I have a lot of respect for Nigerian politics. For one, it makes us learn new words and phrases. We got to learn about “step aside”, “immunity”, and now the poplar “injunction”. When new words or should I say old words with new meanings crop up, they are designed to protect a public official who obviously has something to hide.
Why else would a Governor need a court injunction in order not to appear in court. If he has nothing to hide, why avoid going to court?
I refer to the former Governor of Rivers state, Dr. Peter Odili. I mention his name because I notice people usually can’t. Especially the media. They make indirect hints but no direct references. Is that part of the injunction? I am beginning to understand what an injunction means. How do you get those injunctions? I need to get myself one. Every public official needs to. You never know when it would come in handy. Just keep it in your wallet. It just might be a card like your drivers license. “Mr. Akinosho, we need to pick you up an ask you a few questions”: “Oh, I am sorry, I have a court injunction”: “Can we see it?”: “Sure, no problem”.
How Borisade & Fani-Kayode would be biting their fingers now. Why didn’t they get one of those injunctions? I mean, they should have some right to it too.
Nigerians awaited the drama after the second tenure of most of the Governors. There seemed to be no escaping it. The chairman of the EFCC had actually set the ball rolling before the expiration of their tenures. I think that was a mistake. An intelligence officer should not make his intentions known. He sure gave them a head start to act. Any Governor that has been apprehended is a sure mugu. You had enough time to get that injunction. I am already processing mine. For future safety.
I talk to people around about the effectiveness of the EFCC and the results are quite mixed. Some say it was not Ribadu’s right. I agree. But, it does not explain why he was literarily whisked out of office on spurious official requirements. No problem. Then he was demoted. Now we have the new and improved EFCC. Our Governors can heave a sigh of relief. I am yet to see them bite. Some say no matter what the EFCC does, if they don’t pick Odili up for further investigation, then it is all a waste of time. I mean this fight against corruption. We talk about corruption like a living being too. Just like the fight against terror. Recently, they picked up the SSG to the current Rivers state Governor. He should have gotten an injunction too. Silly guy. He needs to learn from the master.
I just checked out the meaning of injunction from my Oxford English dictionary. It says “Injunction 1 Law a judicial order restraining a person from an action, or compelling a person to carry out a certain act. 2 an authoritative warning”
Whichever definitition we choose, all na long thing. But let’s analyze these two definitions and pretend we don’t have lawyers who can analyze things the Nigerian way.
If we look at definition 1, who was restrained from an action? I suspect the EFCC. I guess they are not as powerful an effective as we thought. The second part of that definition if I get it right means the EFCC can also get an injunction to compel Odili to appear in court. I am probably wrong. We would need a lawyer to break that one down for us? They could be so confusing. Like I said, I have tried to get them explain that injunction process for a while in relation to the current state in the country and they seem to be confused to. Ok, it’s the Nigerian political process that seems to be confusing. We could also look at definition 2. EFCC could give Odili an authoritative warning as well requiring him to appear in court or else …. Ok, I think that is a subpoena. Why can’t he get a subpoena? Because he has a court injunction already. This thing is surely getting more confusing.
I am trying to get it. I believe you readers are in the same situation. If the EFCC has some evidence or doubts in his level of graft or involvement in graft, why can’t they act on it?
I am not interested in Odili. Neither am I interested in the EFCC. I am interested in injunction. Or how to get one. I am sure many of our politicians are working that ome out to. Whoever gets to know how first, please try and share with all Nigerians. We need to educate ourselves. With over 80% of our kids failing the WAEC exams, we really need to start learning fast. We are as bad as them. After all, we are all struggling with the meaning of the word “injunction” here. So easy to spell but difficult to explain. What legacy do we want to leave behind for our kids?
9 Months Ago
I don't have a clue what a blog means. Well, I know it is a portmanteau for weBLOG. But what is it good for. I ask because i last put something here 10 months ago (even if my title says 9). I was about to post a new item and sadly, it looks exactly like the previous.
So no point going there. I know what to do. THEN DO IT. I have some articles I had written over the months. No surprise the Blog has seen none. pre-occupied with worry. Someone once said “The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work.” Hmmm. Nice quote really. Pure statistics. So which side are you on?
Let me put up a few posts. Just doing a welcome back first. Did I say Congratulations President Obama. We are all proud of you.
So no point going there. I know what to do. THEN DO IT. I have some articles I had written over the months. No surprise the Blog has seen none. pre-occupied with worry. Someone once said “The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work.” Hmmm. Nice quote really. Pure statistics. So which side are you on?
Let me put up a few posts. Just doing a welcome back first. Did I say Congratulations President Obama. We are all proud of you.
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