The change game begins

By Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North; Ben Agande, Levinus Nwabughioguand Emmanuel Elebeke
ABUJA —”Since the telephone call you made, you have changed the course of Nigeria’s political history and for that you have earned yourself a place in our history, for stabilising multi-party democratic system and you have earned the respect of not only Nigerians but world leaders”.

These words from the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari to out-going President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, summed up the mood at the council chambers of the Presidential Villa as President Jonathan presented hand-over notes to his successor, Buhari, who will be sworn in today.

Speaking at the Presidential Villa after receiving the hand-over notes as well as the report of the National Conference from President Jonathan, Buhari said by the singular phone call that Jonathan made to him conceding defeat, he has changed the course of the nation’s political history.

According to Buhari, by choosing to concede defeat, President Jonathan saved the lives of many Nigerians that would have been lost if he had insisted on sitting tight.

He said President Jonathan was capable of using the power of incumbency to scuttle the electoral process at the expense of the lives of poor Nigerians, but he chose to toe the path of honour and selflessness.

Buhari continued: “All the leaders who spoke to me and congratulated us for arriving at the point we arrived, mentioned this and I could understand a lot of relief in their voices that Nigeria has made it after all and this is largely owed to a situation.

“You could have made things difficult and that would have been at the expense of lives of poor Nigerians, but you chose the path of honour and may God help all of us. Thank you very much, Your Excellency,” he said.

The hand-over notes

On his part, President Jonathan told Buhari before handing over the notes as well as the report of the National Conference that “this will give you (Buhari) a mission statement of the commitment of this government for the past five years and the directions we are going that will help you to navigate.

“It is my pleasure, on behalf of the Vice-president, members of the executive council and other senior functionaries to formally hand over these notes to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the President-elect who will assume office tomorrow (today). Congratulations.

“There is another document that I will hand over to you; to me this is more important than the hand over notes. The hand-over notes contain the activities of an administration, showing where we started, where we are going. In some of the cases you may follow, in other cases you may take a different approach.

“This is a document that was compiled by Nigerians, the report of the National Conference 2014. We gathered almost 500 Nigerians from all walks of life, and they were not influenced by government in any way.

“And if most of the recommendations here are followed, most of the grey areas, even in our politics will be smoothened. This document deals with most of the areas where people complain bitterly, such as corruption. Some of the people here were members of that great body of about 500 egg heads.

“We were unable to implement the report because of the shortness of time. However, we have sent a copy to the National Assembly and this is a document that we are very hopeful that your government will look into and give it the attention it requires.

“It is also my pleasure, on behalf of the Vice-president, members of the executive council and other senior functionaries and especially the conference members that developed this report, the baby of the nation, to hand over this also to you.”

The President in his address enumerated the achievements of his administration in all sectors of the economy.

He equally spoke on the challenges his administration had been facing, occasioned by the violent activities of the terrorist group, Boko Haram.

He acknowledged that the Boko Haram menace preceded his administration, but expressed hope that it would be eradicated.

Jonathan also noted that he was optimistic that the abducted Chibok schoolgirls would return safely.

Before presenting the hand-over notes to Buhari, Jonathan had taken the President-elect on a guided tour of the Villa.

No regrets losing Presidency to Buhari — Jonathan

Meanwhile, in a related development, President Goodluck Jonathan has said that despite the painful loss of the presidential election to his opponent of the All Progressives Congress, Muhammadu Buhari, he has no regret over his defeat, describing the development as an act of God.

President Goodluck Jonathan presenting his hand over notes to the President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari during the official presentation of Handover notes to the President-Elect at the Aso Chambers, State House, Abuja. Photo by Abayomi Adeshida

The President, who is handing over the mantle of leadership to Buhari today, spoke at a grand House Reception organised in his honour on Wednesday by Chairman Emeritus of DAAR Communications Plc, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, owners of AIT and RayPower.

The elaborate send-forth event, which attracted top Nigerians from all walks of life, was held at the Daar Communications Headquarters, Kpaduma Hills, Asokoro and was attended by many top Nigerians, including the Vice President, Namadi Sambo; Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko and Chairman/Publisher of Vanguard Newspapers, Mr. Sam Amuka.

Jonathan, who was also presented with rare mementos by Dokpesi, said: “By this time people are supposed to be running away from someone who has lost an election but I am being celebrated by Daar Communications Plc. For me, whatever happened in the election I have accepted it in good faith. Even though, some have argued that those I entrusted with my campaign disappointed me but I have no regrets for losing because in any political processes, there are all kinds of stories and conspiracies.

“We are a very religious society; whether Christians or Muslims or some other religions, I believe it is the will of God that the election went the way it did. I have always maintained that for the ordinary Nigerian, what is important is the style of governance, not who is even the president.

“Anybody can be the president any day but if the country is peaceful, and economic activities are going on smoothly, our children are going to school, hospitals are okay and they can eat what they want to eat, then, of course people will be happy.

“I believe the incoming administration will toe that line and Nigerians will begin to see that there is no difference between political parties because even as we see there is no difference between the PDP and the APC. If you look at the number of people that moved from PDP to APC, then you will really see that both parties are almost the same.

“What is important to us as Nigerians is what the government is bringing to bear and I have always maintained that politicians must learn to put the people first. If our aspiration is really for the interest of the people, then you wouldn’t want to hurt these people, you wouldn’t want anybody to be slapped because of your own ambition.

“For me, my ambition is to see what contribution I can make for the ordinary people and that is why their lives are special to me. And I wouldn’t do anything that would create crisis, to kill innocent people. People should not be surprised for the decision I took in Nigeria. I wouldn’t want to be a party to anything that will diminish this country.

“There is combination of bad and good in my administration just like in any other administration, but what should be uppermost in the mind of the leader is to make sure that the bad is not more than the good. One thing I must always ensure is peace and unity of this country.

“We must have a nation before aspiring to hold any position: without a nation, you can’t be elected to any post. I charge all politicians to consider the people first before self. You can losetoday and win tomorrow but anybody that dies in the process can’t be revived again. While looking for political offices, we must conduct ourselves in a way that will not halt the lives of innocent people,” Jonathan said.

Jonathan, a rare leader — Dopkesi

DAAR Communications Chairman, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, described Jonathan as a rare leader, who has made Nigeria and Africa proud because of his exemplary leadership, outstanding achievements that would be difficult to erase, despite bowing out of office.

Dokpesi explained that the event was specially organised by his company to pay tribute to the President for the sacrifice he made for peace to reign in Nigeria and for the numerous contributions he made in the area of infrastructural development.

Dokpesi said Jonathan had made history as the first African incumbent President to concede defeat.

While thanking the President, Dokpesi said the whole world will remember him as the one who laid foundation of democracy in Nigeria.

He is a selfless man — Amuka

Speaking at the grand event, Chairman of Vanguard Media Limited, Mr. Sam Amuka, who presented the star gift to President Jonathan, described him as a selfless man, who put Nigeria’s corporate interest above all other interests by conceding defeat just as the elections results were announced.

Amuka said: “God has used you to preserve Nigeria by one singular action you took. You saved this country by giving them peace. You are not only a national hero, you became an African hero and that made you a world statesman. Nigeria will not forget you for what you did, that moment you called the president-elect, Buhari, and conceded defeat. We will always thank you and appreciate you, Mr. President. God will bless you and go with peace of God”, the veteran Nigerian journalist and publisher, said.

Speaking at the ceremony, a member of the PDP’s Board of Trustees, Prof Jerry Gana, questioned the audacity of the critics of Jonathan’s administration, describing them as pathological cynics who had refused to admit the unprecedented achievements of President Jonathan spread across the country.

Gana asked such critics to learn to give due credit to President Jonathan and his administration, which he said had made a mark in the country. He also said that Jonathan had by his leadership style proved to the world that it is possible for a leader to be endowed with enormous powers but yet remain humble and human.

While reacting to the allegation by the APC that the PDP had failed in the last 16 years, Gana said the ruling party had succeeded in restoring democracy and confidence of Nigerians in the electoral system.

May 29: Eagle Square wears new look

Meantime, ahead of today’s inauguration of the president-elect, the popular Eagle Square, venue of the event in Abuja is already wearing an impressive new look.

Vanguard correspondent who visited the arena located at the central business area of Abuja metropolis yesterday saw that massive decoration of the place was still ongoing.

The VIP stand wore very exquisite look with the decorators still putting finishing touches to it.

There was a platform located some 100 meters away from the stand which appears to be where the rituals of the swearing in and indeed all other official protocols would be observed.

Flags of over 20 different countries of the world also adorned the outer part of the area that faced the National Assembly.

It will be recalled that over 50 different Heads of States and Governments would be witnessing the occasion.

The careful lavishing of the Green-white-green, colour of the Nigerian flag would surely convince any passer-by that a great Nigerian event was in the offing.

Most public buildings such as the Office of the Head of Service and a flank of the Federal Secretariat buildings also had a touch of green-white-green colour. Some broadcast media organizations were also seen setting up their equipment while security presence was high.

A combined team of soldiers, police and Department of State Service, DSS and Civil Defence Corps was visible within and outside the square.

Police patrol vehicles also littered the place just as the adjoining roads to the place had been cordoned off and movements restricted.

Heavy security at Abuja Airport as more guests arrive

Security at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja was strengthened, yesterday, as more guests arrived for the inauguration of President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari today.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nigerian Air Force has taken over the entire security network at the airport to ensure smooth movement for the guests.

NAN observed that all the car parks at the airport have also been cleared, pushing all the cab operators away from the terminal.

Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, Deputy General Manager, Public Affairs, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) told NAN that the entire airport security had been taken over by the military.

Yakubu said that the measure was to ensure that adequate security was provided for both the local and international guests trooping in for the presidential inauguration.

She said that the clearing of the car parks was to ensure that there were no hitches in the movement of foreign guests during the period.

“You can see that the Air Force has taken over the security in the airport here; this is to ensure adequate security for all the invited guests to the presidential inauguration tomorrow.

Even taxi operators have been moved out of the car parks because we don’t want any traffic jam when the foreign dignitaries start arriving and it is for security reasons too,” she said.

Yakubu said that the airport however witnessed normal movement of passengers, adding that there was nothing unusual regarding the number of travellers at both the departure and arrival wings.

Unilorin undergraduate dies, as teaching hospital workers’ strike persists

By Demola Akinyemi

ILORIN—The ongoing strike in University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, UITH, Ilorin, Kwara State, has led to the untimely death of a female student of the university, who was rushed there on emergency.

The Vice Chancellor, Professor Abdulganiyu Ambali, recalled the sad incident at a meeting with journalists.

He explained that the female student was admitted in the university clinic for three days until there was the need to rush her to the teaching hospital, when her condition became critical.

Ambali said: “Unfortunately, when she was taken to the teaching hospital, there was no one to attend to her because they are on strike and by the time she was taken to another private hospital, which was not also in full operations, the lady had passed on.”

Professor Ambali also expressed concern over the high rate of expulsion of students in the university.

He noted that the university authorities always felt sad whenever it resorted to expulsion, adding that the number of expelled students was negligible compared to the total number of students in the university.

“We are established to produce graduates worthy in moral, character, and academic ability that will in turn be models in the society,” he said.

Hard decisions awaiting Buhari

By Charles Kumolu
The country that Muhammadu Buhari takes control of today, in the estimation of some, has literally fallen under. It is a country where the primary ingredients of a functional state are in many cases in immeasurable deficit to the harrowing plight of the citizenry.

With all indices of human capital development indicating that the country hardly spent its huge income to bring about quality life for its over 170 million people, Nigeria is once again at a crossroads.

Interestingly, that fact was not lost on Buhari, who had variously conceded that he would be leading a nation of altered dreams and wasted journeys.

The political challenges

The challenges facing the new government are not limited to the inherited governance issues being left behind by the just exited administration. The Buhari administration is also going to grapple with the political challenges of managing its success and one of the immediate challenges before it is on how to grapple with the division among the leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC on the emergence of the new presiding officers of the National Assembly.

It is not difficult to forget that the difficulties of the Jonathan administration were partly rooted in the emergence of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal against the permutations of the president and his party.

Perennial challenges

The enormity of the challenges is such that miracles are being expected from the man, whose electoral victory was a product of general resentment towards an administration that was largely perceived as irresponsive to the issues.

In spite of the fact that the prospects of surprises had been dashed by Buhari, who after a thorough appraisal of the Nigerian situation cautioned against such, analysts have outlined some critical spheres of the nation’s life in need of urgent attention.

The areas include; backlog of unpaid salaries, perennial fuel scarcity, fuel subsidy regime, cost of governance, size of government, review of power sector privatisation, institutionalised corruption, security votes, alleged missing oil money, national reconciliation, the Niger Delta question, insurgency, and general insecurity.

An early and as well pragmatic approach to these national challenges could go a long way in defining the direction of the new administration.

Backlog of unpaid salaries

Though the practice of not paying salaries is endemic in Nigeria’s public and private sectors, the matter is now at an alarming rate following the slump in oil prices.

Of the country’s predominantly 36 unviable states, 22 have not been able to meet their financial obligations to civil servants for months following shortfalls in federal allocations.

So pathetic are the attendant effects on federal and state workers that many want payment of salaries to top Buhari’s agenda.

The extremity of the situation came to the fore during the last May Day celebration, as government workers in some parts of the country openly grumbled at the parade ground over the lengthening delay in the payment of their entitlements.

Therefore, for Buhari’s government to hit the ground running, hard decisions that would result in generating the needed funds for this purpose must be made urgently.

Buhari is particularly expected to get the incoming and re-elected governors into prioritising the need for regenerative sources of revenue in view of the current financial crisis.

Perennial fuel scarcity

The re-emergence of fuel scarcity in Africa’s largest oil producing nation at this time, no doubt has compounded the myriad of challenges for the new government.

Since February this year, Nigeria’s struggling population has faced acute fuel crisis resulting in increase in the price of goods and services.

The fact that most homes depend on petroleum as a result of unsteady power supply underscores the agony of Nigerians at this time.

Across the country, the product currently sells betwee N150 and N300 per litre, representing over 60 and 100 percent above the official rate of N87.

Despite promises by the Goodluck Jonathan administration that the country would be flooded with petrol, the situation is deteriorating on a daily basis with people finding it increasingly difficult to buy the commodity.

Fuel subsidy regime

The new government will have to frontally address the issue of fuel subsidy which is reportedly at the centre of the crisis in the supply of fuel products. Given the general upheaval that attended the last effort by the Jonathan administration to remove the alleged subsidy in January, 2012, President Buhari is bound to be in a catch 22 situation. While it is a given fact that the subsidy regime is polluted with fraud, it is also a fact that Nigerians do not want to pay astronomical prices for the product.

Cost of governance

Buhari’s determination to force the cost of governance is not an issue with many. What, however, is of concern is the resistance of those who have been used to the system to adapt with his moves.

At a pre-election summit with governors of his party, Buhari had urged them to address the exorbitant pension scheme that many Houses of Assembly had passed for their governors and speakers.

The Buhari administration is also expected to cut down on the number of aides and ministers, but one challenge the president would face is the constitutional requirement that requires each state to produce at least one minister.

Apart from that, the ministries reportedly have about 400 parastatals. The ministries with the highest numbers are Health, 77; Science and Technology, 40; Education, 41; Agriculture, 44; Power and Steel, 27 agencies. The worsening nature of the current financial quagmire is such that Buhari’s government can’t but review this age-long practice of servicing profligacy.

However, in doing this, the new administration would need to draw blood in shedding body weight which would entail reduction in the number of staff, an action that would in the immediate future draw ill-wind from those affected and the labour unions.

Alleged missing oil/NNPC probe

Even without being persuaded Buhari has calmed fears that the allegation of missing oil money may be swept under the carpet.

He specifically vowed to investigate the 20 billion dollars allegedly missing from coffers of NNPC, with the view of bringing anyone found wanting to book.

With that came sighs of relief from Nigerians, who had thought that the matter would receive the kind of attention it got under President Jonathan.

Mallam Sanusi had last year accused the NNPC of not accounting for $49.8billion oil money. He later reviewed the sum to $20 billion after a reconciliation of the figure by the NNPC, the Federal Ministry of Finance and other government agencies. Aside the probe, many are expectant that other activities of the NNPC would be urgently looked into in order to reposition the corporation and as well restore public confidence.

Institutionalised corruption

Given that most of the challenges to be inherited by the Buhari administration were brought about by corruption, there is hardly any surprise in the urgency to curb the menace. Buhari himself had alluded to this during the campaign with his famous quote that “If we don’t kill corruption this corruption will kill us.” Among the most challenging issues on corruption that Nigerians would be expecting the new administration to tackle are the allegations of a missing $20 billion from the Federation Account, the subsidy funding scheme, among many others.

Insecurity

The security chiefs of former President Goodluck Jonathan had given the assurance that they would find the secondary school girls captured from Chibok before handing over to the new administration. However, as at press time the school girls were yet to be rescued even as the Boko Haram group has continued to rear its head here and there. Hence, insecurity is another challenge that the Buhari administration would have to put at the front burner in its efforts at restoring normalcy to the land.

National healing

The election left the country almost divided with the majority of the South-South and the Southeast almost left out of the Buhari phenomenon that squashed out the first South-South president of the country. Though a democratic expression, the new administration would have to address concerns of the people of the two regions who may feel apprehensive over their marginalisation in the government that took office today.

How Buhari’ll play his politics

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor
How Nigeria’s new president will play his politics is a sort of mystery to many people including his close aides. However, almost everyone agrees that the advent of the Buhari era in Nigeria’s democratic dispensation will bring a change to the way and manner former holders of the office of president had played their politics.

A stalwart of the new president, Osita Okechukwu who has followed him since 2002 said that Buhari would be a sticker to the rules of the democratic enterprise discharging the responsibilities of his office strictly according to the laws of the land and in the dictates of his conscience.

Given the high expectations on him, Buhari, it was also gathered, would live to his reputation and ensure that the uprightness that has followed him all through his public life is not soured.

But how he plays his politics will be seen in his dealings with the other arms of government, the governors and his party.

The advent of Buhari will for the first time erode the overwhelming influence that Nigeria’s governors had in the past pulled on the levers of the Federal Government. Governors had in the past arrogated to themselves the privileges of appointing ministers they foisted on the president.

However, under Buhari that practise might change. As he said in an interview with a newspaper ahead of his inauguration today, “the type of people I am supposed to appoint, like in the cabinet and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and service chiefs will be different from how the PDP appointed its. Definitely the system is going to be different from what we had under the PDP where governors nominated ministers.”

Unlike some of his predecessors and notably, President Goodluck Jonathan, Buhari is going to work with only those he has personally verified their competence.

That decision, good as it is, also could provoke political consequences as the ministers may be tempted to see themselves as political rivals of their governors in their states. However, the ministers knowing that their appointments are at the mercy of a stern and rule of law president would be tempered in any effort to overreach themselves in their states. The president would also seek to use moral suasion in some of the issues of concern to him as relating to the governors.

At a meeting with the governors of his party just before the presidential election in Owerri, he had told them to urge their Houses of Assembly to review pension laws enacted for governors, describing the financial provisions as indefensible.

The urge was upon the realisation that he could not as president prevail on the governors or the state legislators. Hence, in several issues where he may not have direct power to influence the governors, he would be expected to use moral suasion to bring the governors into line.

Of more significant would be his dealings with the National Assembly.

The new president prior to his inauguration had sought to distance himself from the squabbles in his party over the choice of presiding officers of the two chambers of the National Assembly.

As he told the same newspaper in the interview, he would not bother himself with the politics of the emergence of the presiding officers, affirming that he was determined to work with whoever is produced as Senate President or as Speaker of the House of Representatives.

There is, however, no doubt that the practice of influencing legislators with money to push key legislative proposals or appointments would not be tolerated in the Buhari presidency.

This new dispensation is bound to shake up the system and inevitably bring some sanity to legislative oversight and operations of the machine of government.

Buhari and his party

Buhari may want to deny it, but his approach towards the APC leadership would always be shadowed by the experience and betrayal he got from his former party, the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP in his two presidential bids on the platform of that party. It is, however, instructive that in the days leading to the merger of the three parties that formed the APC, that Buhari’s objection to the participation of the ANPP was mellowed by convincing facts on why the party was needed.

Such attitude would be seen in his future engagements with the APC. The president would be swayed by convincing arguments on issues. It is expected that the caucus of the national leadership would continue in pushing forward party positions on issues, but such issues would not be expected to becloud Buhari’s judgment.

Buhari would be expected to make a distinction between the roles of the government and the party in running the country. The party may articulate policies, but the implementation would solely be that of Buhari and those he delegates such responsibilities to.

Relationship with party elders

Party elders such as Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, former ANPP national chairman, Ogbonnanya Onu (if not given an appointment) would continue to play roles from the background and positively so, except they overreach their bounds wherein the president would step in to check them.

It has been alleged that Tinubu’s reported support of two of the leading candidates for the office of Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives is to ensure that he has able men in the National Assembly who can check Buhari should the president attempt to wreck the system that the two of them conceived.

However, such assertions betray the confidence that Tinubu and Buhari have for each other. The two men have over time weathered past several other controversies including the nomination of Yemi Osinbajo as vice-presidential candidate without as much as rocking the boat.

It is thus expected that the two men would continue to push forward the collective goal for which they effected a change in the leadership of the country.

Though Buhari’s position has been consolidated with his new position, assertions that the president would cage Tinubu underplay the simple fact that though he has dropped his cherished title of General, the fact remains that Buhari remains an officer and a gentleman. He would not ordinarily rock the system except something extraneous develops.

How we tackled cabals in oil industry – Diezani

Outgoing Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, in this interview with Arit Essanga, a freelance journalist with the African Free Press, in London, explains the intricacies and how she tackled the cabals in Nigeria’s oil industry. Excerpts.

Thank you for granting me a few minutes of your time for this pressing discussion about the future of policy evolution in Nigeria. But I want to quickly talk about the fuel scarcity that has come just weeks before the hand-over to the new administration.

The time of my appointment as Minister of Petroleum Resources 5 years ago was a time when the nation was in the throes of many years of continuous fuel scarcity and the abandonment of our fuel facilities. This was having such an adverse impact on the masses, especially in terms of livelihood and quality of life.

This situation certainly affected me and my household. I was one of those who went out to queue at filling stations and what left an indelible mark on me was the plight of the many, many women who were queuing for this essential commodity for their families! We are looking at time when women where losing their lives as a result of adulterated products as kerosene stoves were exploding all over the country! So the problem was not just about getting access to the product but also purchasing the right quality products to ensure the safety of their households of my fellow women.

It was a time when cars were ‘knocking’, generators that cost hundreds of thousands of naira were also breaking down because of adulterated products. People around the country were losing many millions of Naira as a result of loss of business incomes and we are talking of taxi drivers, face-me-I-face-you traders in the market, the lorry drivers transporting food to the markets, the okada drivers – basically the engine room of the economy was affected.

I am a mother and grandmother myself and I understand the pressure that women go through in order to put food on the table for their families. I am very sensitive to the struggles of the Nigerian woman. So, when granted the opportunity to serve the country as Petroleum Resources minister, I made this my first priority. Dealing with the fuel scarcity was a key issue that I resolved to address as soon as I stepped into office. Nigeria is a country that relies on access to petroleum products for businesses to thrive, for families to survive and for communities to evolve. For me it was a fundamental issue. I

Diezani Alison-Madueke

immediately set to the task. Several inter-ministerial committees were formed to get to the root of the matter including liaising with marketers and the unions.

A few things were identified such as the process of payment to marketers as well as the improvement of the distribution & monitoring mechanisms. The Ministry of Finance is charged with addressing the payment process while the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and its parastatals tackle production, distribution and monitoring aspects.

What did you do in terms of tackling the issue of access to products?

Firstly sectorial reforms were put in place, and an attempt was made to establish a uniform pricing regime across the country, which still requires task forces to be put in place to oversee its success. Secondly, an aggressive strategy was completed to build as well as refurbish over 23 Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) depots across the country many of which, had lain fallow for several years. This is the result of the determined efforts of the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the NNPC.

The aggressive establishment of the depots occurred from Aba to Benin, from Gusau to Suleja, in an attempt to ensure a more robust delivery of products, to not only those areas but also all contingent areas.

Thirdly many vandalized pipelines have been restored and expanded in addition, fuel products are now transported by rail where possible to ensure that the products get the depots in good time to avert situations of shortage. Furthermore, NNPC now holds and maintains a 30-day stock of PMS, as part of the National Strategic Stock Reserve for products.

The Ministry has also increased the flash point for DPK (kerosene) from 44 to 45 (curbing the incidences of kerosene cookers exploding) – I cannot remember the last time a kerosene cooker has exploded; implemented inspection of trucks at each NNPC Depot for cleanness (preventing contamination) and lab testing of truck samples for quality control.

DPR also introduced colour coding for all trucks loading any petroleum product, this means the trucks cannot be used for any other purpose apart from what it has been coded to load. Many Nigerians will attest to the fact that before now, the country has been “wet” with products with even filling stations in remote areas, able to dispense products.

I also led the roll out of robust measures to identify and penalise those behind the activities of fuel adulteration as well as pipeline vandalism, in a joint effort between security agencies, the NNPC and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). The first joint meeting between the key parastatals, the Service Chiefs and Inspector General of Police took place at the Oriental Hotel. It was the first meeting of its kind in the history of the sector.

If all these measures have been put in place why has there been this crippling fuel crisis?

The fuel scarcity that we see today I can only describe as the ‘fear of the unknown’ in these last few days before hand-over. It is also a backlog following the attempts by the government to stamp-out the subsidy fraud and clean the system in November 2011. Identifying and cutting out up to 92 marketers who had been round-tripping reduced the subsidy payments by about 50%. This also brought about a few delays in payment, as the investigations to identify erring marketers were robust and took time.

We are faced with a situation where the marketers want this administration to pay them all the money they are owed before the tenure runs out on May 29. This is a difficult situation more peculiarly because this administration did not incur all the debt, which actually goes back 40 years. It is a rolling obligation.

There has never been a time, when the debt obligations was reduced to zero it is cyclical. What the marketers are asking for is not just the outstanding amount to be paid but also for the exchange rate differential that they have incurred. This is in the light of the many conversations that are on going about deregulating the subsidy payments. The transition period is allowing the marketers to try to forestall any losses as a result of a change in regime, while this makes good business sense it is the polity that suffer. The Ministry of Finance and the presidency are giving this situation the priority it deserves.

Let’s talk about some of the allegations that you face with regards to ensuring stability of supply across the country, more specifically about the debate on the subsidy. The memory of Occupy Nigeria is still distant but we see this same situation by marketers holding the country to ransom?

Let me start by making the distinction that the decision as to whether subsidy payments are made or not is entirely economic and outside my purview as Ministry of Petroleum Resources. What we are responsible for is the production, distribution and marketing aspects. What we also do is give a view as to the status in terms of these 3 areas and the decision becomes an economic one from the Presidency.

In terms of my direct actions in November 2011, following the high incidence of subsidy claims, with a stroke of the pen, I removed 92 throughput marketers from the PPPRA scheme because we believed that within the group were the round trippers who were causing problems for the country in term of the burgeoning levels of subsidy payments. As a consequence of this action, the amount of subsidy payments dropped by over 50%.

A series of probes where kicked-off to investigate the transactions of these marketers and to begin to bring in a level of accountability and transparency into the system of subsidy payments. The lists of these marketers were also published in the local press and a series of probes ensued. The marketers had to justify their claims to the payments. This was the first ever-major cleanup of the subsidy programmes and yet again the ministry was vindicated and offending marketers are going through the legal implications of their actions.

The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) was also restructured and the processes in place for the determination of subsidy payments were comprehensively reviewed.

But these actions led to major push back by many with accusations of corruption against the ministry and NNPC to get us to back down. I am sure I stepped on the toes of the greedy cabals that have dominated the sector for years, upset at the change in the system. The push back has come from many other sources beyond the marketers the funny thing is these are the same people that shout corruption the loudest but yet are unable to accept the reforms that are being put in place to make the sector more accountable so we are almost caught between a rock and hard place in the sector.

[The minister at this point puts her hands on her head and sighs]

In fact this is where the bane of my problems as a woman in government began. I wonder why people seem to want to put a tag of corruption against my name when all I have ever tried to do is to open the sector up for more Nigerians and make it work better for the benefit of the country. If I were corrupt would we have achieved the extent of reform that has occurred in the sector to date? Ah my brother, I have worked tirelessly to curtail the excesses while ensuring that the country remains wet with products and the sector run more efficiently. I have constantly ignored the viciousness and focused on my job.

The most important point to make in terms of stability of supply is that today, marketers have a clear contract to deliver their products on specified dates. Marketers are put under strict terms to deliver products at dates specified if they miss the cut off date for delivery then their cargo goes into demurrage which in itself acts as an incentive to ensure supplies.

More recently, as part of the transition activity I have instructed that all of the swap operators across the board provide detailed and clear reports about their export and import activities so that a reconciliation can be conducted and published for all Nigerians to see. These swap transactions involve extremely high volumes and huge cost obligations to banks. The contracts with these operators are very stringent indeed and delivery specifications clear. There are serious ramifications to the operators for non-delivery most especially by the banks for non-delivery this is dependent generally on the lines of credit arrangements.

This is being done as part of my commitment to accountability and transparency to Nigerians. It will also put to bed the various claims in the press about different alleged practices by the operators that are being associated to me. The operators deal with the NNPC according to tight contractual agreements.

All the swap operators were well vetted and passed as credible Nigerian corporations capable of executing such major stringent contracts with no room for any offences to the system. So when you have strict contracts in place and bank obligations it is surprising that mischief-makers can say that I am in league with some of these operators in acts of corruption! It shows that they have no idea how the system works and I would ask that they educate themselves before they speak. If Aiteo, Talevaras or any other operator were cheating the NNPC it would be made public as the system has been reorganized to do this automatically. The publication of the reconciled transactions from the time the contracts were assigned to them will also be a testament to this commitment. Erring contractors will be made to face the legal implications of any wrongdoings that are uncovered.

Am glad to be married again........says Oshiomhole

It was glitz and glamour as Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, yesterday, exchanged marital vows with his heartthrob, former Miss Iara Fortes, from Cape Verde.

The Governor and his bride had signed the dotted lines at a private marriage registry attended only by family members and a few friends at his Iyamho residence after which top dignitaries in the country, were led by the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari to the wedding reception held at the People’s White Hall in the Governor’s country home.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole slips puts a ring on the finger of fomer Miss Iara Fortes at a private marriage registry at Iyamho, Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State, on Friday.

Among a list of who-is-who in the country who also graced the ceremony were President-elect, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, his wife Aisha, Vice President Elect, Professor Yemi Osibanjo, Speaker of the House of Reps, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, Cross Rivers State Governor, Liyel Imoke, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Dr Samuel Ogbemudia, Peter Obi, former head of state, Gen. Yakubu Godwin, Alike Dangote, Captain Hosa Okunbor, Femi Otedola, Chief Tom Ikimi, Gen. Charles Airiavbere, Engr.Chris Ogiemwonyi, Saraki, Minority Whip of the House of Reps, Samson Osagie, Pally Iriase and many other members of the National Assembly.

Others are National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Governor Rauf Arigbesola, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, representative of Crown Prince of Benin, Jim Ovia, President of a faction of the NLC, Ayuba Wahab, Gen Tunde Ogbeha, Dr Samuel Ogbemudia, former Governor of Edo State, Prof Osarhiemen Osunbor, former Governor of Anambra State, Dr Peter Obi, Senator Daisy Danjuma, Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edebiri, Matthew Iduoriyekemwen, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, Governor-elect of Kaduna State, Mallam el Rufai, Gov Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Chris Ngige,Kenneth Imuasuagbo among others.

See more photos here

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, former Governors Kayode Fayemi, Oserheimen Osunbor, Senator Tunde Ogbeha; Osaigbovo Ogbemudia,Otunba Niyi Adebayo were also in attendance.

Top military brass including Brigadier-General MJ Abel, Commandant, Nigerian Army School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Auchi were also in attendance. The Director-General of the State Security was represented by Engr Joseph oworuya, while Mr Bello Bakori, Director, SSS Edo State was also at the ceremony.

Members of the Edo state Executive Council were led by the Deputy Governor of the state, Dr Pius Odubu, Chief Judge of Edo state, elected members of the State and National Assemblies and many others.

Parents of the bride, Mr and Mrs Fortes flew in from their home in the Netherlands to attend the ceremony while the Governor’s mother, Hajia Aishetu Oshiomhole was also in attendance.

The Governor’s children Steve, Adams, Jane and two of his grandchildren also on hand to show love and support for their father and his wife.

The Governor’s marriage is coming about five years after the painful death of his first wife, Clara Oshiomhole, following a protracted battle with cancer.

The delectable Iara, a lawyer by profession and top model, is from the Cape Verde Islands.

The chairman of the ceremony, General Yakubu Gowon said the Governor’s wife completes and complements him and he admonished the couple to show true love and have patience in their dealings with one another.

Fielding question form newsmen, Oshiomhole who noted that both PDP and APC leaders attended the wedding, said it shows that despite political differences, Nigerians remains one.

He described his wife as very “ understanding, caring and a loving lady and also expressed joy with his family for the support given to him to remarry.

“This is something that one is happy about. I am also happy that I have friends across all political divide. The occasion reminds me that across all divides, we have friends and well-wishers.”

Describing his wife, Oshiomhole said: “She is very humble, she appreciates the nature of my job and life that I return home late, some times 3am. She understands my weaknesses, she is more or less the mother of the house, the one that has accepted to be the mother of my children.

“I am happy that all my children are at home with her and accept her as their mother even though she is not old enough to be their mother. She has accepted to fill that gap” he said.

Nigerian incoming First Lady, Aisha Buhari made an interesting comment. She described Oshiomhole’s wife as beautiful and turning to her she said “but for you to marry a Nigerian, you need to cook Edi-Kaikon, Egusi, and other Nigerian delicacies. God bless the marriage and we know as First-lady you have a big task and God will guide and protect the family”.

Governors have no reason not to pay salaries, Finance Commissioners insist

The Forum of Finance Commissioners in the country, yesterday, criticised state governors who are owing workers’ salaries, saying that no governor had any excuse for owing, even as the three tiers of government shared N388 billion for May expenditure.

A Cross section of Workers Match Pasts, during the 2013 Workers Day Commemoration by The Lagos state Council of Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, Theme: 100 Year of Nationhood, The Challenges of National Development, held at Onikan Stadium, Lagos. Photo: Bunmi Azeez

The Chairman of the Forum and Commissioner for Finance in Ebonyi State, Mr. Timothy Odaah, who spoke at the end of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC, in Abuja, told journalists that those owing should be held responsible by the workers and the public adding that such governors should have made payment of salaries their priority, rather than spending state funds on electioneering campaigns.

About 12 states have been branded as not workers’ friendly by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, following complaints of inability to pay salaries or the new National Minimum Wage. Some of the states owing workers’ salaries include Bauchi, Plateau, Ondo. Kogi and Benue. Kogi State is reportedly embroiled in crisis with workers over alleged attempts to cut workers salaries by 40 percent while civil servants are currently on strike in Bauchi over alleged inability of the state government to pay arrears of salaries owed workers.

Osun State is also said to be owing several months of salary arrears.

Also, Enugu State has not reportedly paid retired primary school teachers’ gratuity and pensions in the last 13 years just as workers in the government- owned Daily Star newspapers, water corporation and the state- owned transport company, ENTRACO were being owed several years of unpaid wages.

Odaa said, “Why should states be owing workers’ salaries when they have been regularly collecting their statutory allocations from the Federation Account? We hear of some states owing   11 months, nine months, seven and so on. What have they been doing with their allocations? And workers have been looking at them!

“Payment of salaries is not an achievement. It is not a thing that a governor would pay when he likes. The salaries are built into the allocations that the states collect every month and so the governors are supposed to pay regularly as a priority. So why should they not pay? Governors must pay salaries. Salaries must be a priority.

“Look at Ebonyi State, as poor as it is, we are not owing workers. Even the workers agitated for an upward review last month and our governor even approved it, paying according to the federal structure. So why should any state owe and where has the money the states have been collecting gone to?

“The press should take this up and give them the heat. They were able to fund their elections and then workers are being owed up to this moment.“

Earlier, the Minister of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, had lamented the drop in the federal revenue owing to deliberate acts of sabotage by unscrupulous individuals.

“Frequent shut down and shut-in of trunks and pipelines at Terminals continued to impact negatively on crude oil revenue”, he said.

Federal revenue in April which stood at N282.062 billion was a N32.982 billion decrease when compared to the March revenue of N315.044 billion.

The minister who chaired the Jonathan administration’s last FAAC said that the distributable fund was boosted by an exchange gain of N24.786 billion; a refund of N6.330 billion by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC , as well as N 72. 154 billion earnings from the Value Added Tax.

The Federal Government got a Lion’s share of N 142.941 billion; state governments- N103.089; while the local governments got a total of N76. 917 billion.

Oil producing states got an additional N 23. 109 billion representing 13 per cent derivation from oil revenue in the month under consideration.

Apapa Gridlock: Awaiting the Buhari Formula

The new job naturally brought joy to Mr. Ufot Essien and his family. He had been jobless since September last year, when he was relieved as the production manager of a manufacturing company at neighbouring Agbara, Ogun State. But the new job came with its own peculiar challenge: the company is located at Apapa, Lagos.

“It was not as if I never knew about the traffic problem in Apapa”, he says. “I used to visit Apapa sometimes before I got the job. I was no stranger to Apapa.”

But those were just visits, which could have been infrequent as he reveals he lives at Iba Estate, Iba, a more convenient location to access his former place of work, and that his wife works with a bank at Igando. His children school within Iba.

Since starting his new job in February as a supervisor in a flour mill company, he has come to confront the horror that is Apapa traffic jam.

“The first challenge I had was deciding not to drive down to work”, says Mr. Essien, “except I will have to leave home by 4a.m. And that will also mean I might have to leave the car at the office and take okada(commercial motor cycle) back home because sometimes one cannot drive forward or backward after being caged in between those terrible tankers, which could be stuck in one place till daybreak. And then you will have to either sleep inside the car or leave it there, with all its risks.”

Mr. Essien’s case is only one of many nightmarish others subjected to hardship by the Apapa gridlock.

Apapa is the heart of port activities in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre. The suburb and its environs constitute a local government with Apapa as the headquarters. It houses the Lagos Port Complex (LPC) and Tin Can Island Port Complex. The Lagos Port Complex was owned and operated by the Federal Government until March 2005, when it was sold to the Danish firm, A. P. Moller-Maersk (APM) Group for about $1 billion in the concessionary policy of the government of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

Adjacent to the Lagos Port Complex is the Tin Can Island Port Complex, which has roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) facilities. The Complex today is an amalgam of what used to be Roro and Tin Can Island Ports. This merger came with the concession of the terminals in May, 2006.

Spread across Apapa and its environs are terminals and depots. There are also Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) formations all over the suburb, as well as other various government parastatals and agencies like Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

Ninety percent of Nigeria’s sea imports are done through Apapa’s two ports. The other ports, Warri Port in Delta State, Rivers and Onne Ports in Rivers State and Calabar Port in Cross River State share the remaining 10%.

At Apapa alone, there are a total of 59 petroleum tank farms for storage of petroleum products, which account for 90% of the total imported products into the country. All these, as well as other maritime-related businesses like freight, and clearing and forwarding easily make Apapa a hub of maritime activities.

But Apapa is not only reputed for maritime business. Not unexpectedly, manufacturers have taken advantage of the ports to site companies in the suburb for quick access to imported raw materials and for easy export, making Apapa a leading centre for manufacturing, playing host to leading manufacturing companies like Dangote Sugar Refinery, BUA Group, Honeywell Group among others. There is an industrial estate at Kirikiri, a district of Apapa, which hosts some major Nigerian manufacturing companies like the Coscharis Group. And the suburb is also host to three of Nigeria’s leading national newspapers: Vanguard,This Day and Sun; as well as a major office of MTN Nigeria, one of the leading telecommunications companies in Nigeria.

Maritime activities at Apapa alone constitute a multi-billion dollar industry, considering the fact that the industry is the gateway to the nation’s economy and only second to oil and gas in revenue generation.

Saturday Vanguard investigations revealed that the Nigerian Customs Service alone generates over a billion naira daily in Apapa, not to mention other Federal Government agencies, the Lagos State Government and Apapa Local Government, which are all believed to rake in millions of naira every day in revenues and taxes.

Gridlock

Serving as such a major source of revenue for the three tiers of government, and with such high level economic relevance, residents, business owners and workers at Apapa will certainly be forgiven if they expected Apapa to measure up to Rotterdam, European busiest and leading port city, or South Louisiana, American No. 1. port city. These are cities whose maritime activities are relatively not far off than those of Apapa, be it in tons of cargo handled daily and the sizes of their ports; but they are cities whose administrators, residents and workers will experience nightmares by the simple thought of Apapa-like gridlock being a part of their life. However, it is that same gridlock which has almost become part of every day life in Apapa.

Within Lagos, and even nationwide, Apapa is now better known as that suburb of Lagos which is synonymous with traffic jam.

For residents to refer to a section as synonymous with gridlock only goes to tell the level of Apapa pathetic traffic situation.

Traffic jam is understandably a part of Lagos, the city being not only densely populated with over 10 million people (2006 census puts it at 9.013 million), it is also a port city, heavily commercialized and industrialized. Traffic jam is therefore expected, especially during rush hours. But unlike many densely populated cities of the developed world, the transport system in Lagos is poorly managed, clearly evident from the poor and inadequate roads, lack of maintenance and traffic officials who collect gratification from bus drivers and look the other way when they drive against traffic or stop at the centre of the road to pick passengers.

Apapa logjam is not about spending a few minutes moving at a snail pace or an hour on a ride that ought to have taken 15 minutes. It is about spending up to 12 hours on a trip that normally is supposed to be less than 30 minutes, or even passing the night in your car, or abandoning your car on the road altogether.

Commuters are now known to alight from buses and trek down to their destinations.

One could either enter Apapa using its major entry route, the Oshodi/Apapa Expressway, or Ijora/Apapa Expressway, both of which are hellholes to drive in due to the unpleasant traffic condition. Exiting through these routes is as hellish as entering.

On the Oshodi/Apapa Expressway, the no-motion traffic normally begins on the stretch from Rainbow to the Mile 2/Berger/Kirikiri axis of the road up to Apapa Wharf, with tankers, trailers and other articulated vehicles completely seizing the road, leaving other motorists and road users at the mercy of the elements.

The gridlock has become part of Apapa for years. However, no one could imagine that the situation will get to the present worrisome situation.

Tales of woes

Residents, landlords, business owners, workers and visitors to Apapa hold different agonizing tales occasioned by the now famous gridlock in the suburb.

“My tenants are leaving”, cries Alhaja Sekinah Abolore, an old landlady. Her house, a block of four flats at Yunus Street, Apapa, she says, is her major source of living. When asked how many tenants she had, she says they used to be three, but one left in March. “She’s not yet married, but has a fiance”, the old lady reveals. “She said her boyfriend said he no longer finds Apapa conducive to visit her. She said she was moving to Amuwo Odofin. Now, the other two are planning to leave.”

“My saddest experience in this matter was the day I was returning home from work”, Mr. Julius Obada, a technician with CFAO Equipment, Apapa recalls. “It was about 7pm. It had rained heavily that day, which compounded the hold up. But the rain had reduced to drizzles. I was supposed to get to Mile 2, but could not stand the slow traffic. There were lines of tankers driving against the traffic and blocking the road. So, I alighted at Sanya and decided to walk down. Just after the Kirikiri Bridge, I crossed the road and stepped over the median, wanting to cross to the other side.

“As I paused, my nostrils were suddenly attacked by an offensive smell. It was almost dark, and I could not see very well. Then I recognized the smell. It was that of human faeces, and I had stepped on it. I switched the light of my phone. My brother, the thing had stained my shoes and rubbed on the bottom of my trousers. At that moment I almost died. I did not know what to do. Whether to remove my trousers or to keep on walking. I could feel myself smelling of faeces, another person’s faeces for that matter. I just crossed over, took okadaand straight home to Agboju. I just condemned the trousers.”

Mr. Obada claims he later learned that tanker drivers who pass the night in their vehicles or on the pavement in their bid to lift products, now use the road as toilet. “That constitutes health hazards, very unhealthy”, he says. “I honestly fell sick that day.”’

Miss Michelle Edozie’s story is as pathetic as it is interesting. She had been living at Maza-Maza before she got a job last year, as a receptionist/computer operator with a company at Kirikiri. But her mother, a single parent, had to move to the village recently, and Miss Edozie went to live with her aunty at Apapa.

Now, unlike when she was with her mother, she started coming late some times. And when her boss queries her, she often say it is due to Apapa traffic. It took her aunty coming to the office for her boss to be convinced that the receptionist/computer operator has actually relocated to Apapa and was not cooking up Apapa-residence story to back up her new lateness habit.

Factors responsible

Major factors that can be identified as responsible for the gridlock include the large concentration of tank farms at Apapa, malfunctioning refineries, dearth of parking bays, bad roads, on-going but intermittent maintenance of the road, corruption and lawlessness.

Most of the 59 tank farms located at Apapa are on the Apapa end of the Oshodi/Apapa Expressway. Due to the long loading process, tanker drivers have to queue, and as there are no parking bays, the various queues extend towards the road. As many as there are tankers, so also do these long queues extend further backward, forming queues on the ever busy road. But it is quite unfortunately that the tanker drivers have constituted themselves into law by parking indiscriminately on the expressway, thereby completely blocking the road and constituting nuisance to other road users.

“The Lagos State Government has long directed that they should use only the service lane”, says a clearing and forwarding agent at Apapa. “They are the major cause of the hold up”, he concludes.

A few years ago, the Lagos State Government had indeed ordered that the tanker drivers should remain on the service lane while they queue to load. But they clearly never took the order seriously until a fatal accident involving a petroleum tanker driver, which claimed the lives of three persons and destroyed 36 vehicles in the Mile 2 area of the state.

The tanker driver involved in the accident had lost control of his vehicle and spilled the petroleum product it was carrying on the road, thus causing an explosion.

After handing down a 72-hour ultimatum to the drivers to stop indiscriminate parking on the road, and to stay only on the service lane as they queue to load, and to stop constituting themselves into nuisance to other road users, the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Comrade Kayode Opeifa, after the expiration of the ultimatum, had to personally lead a monitoring team comprising top government officials from the Ministries of Transportation and Environment, Lagos State Task Force, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIOs), Park Monitoring Committee, and members of the Abandoned and Disused Vehicles Committee, to clear the road.

Not surprisingly, decency had returned to the expressway, and the traffic became free, but it was only for a few days, as the drivers returned to their old lawlessness some days later.

The large concentration of tank farms at Apapa is easily one of the major factors responsible for the Apapa gridlock. Because Lagos seems to enjoy the monopoly of fuel importation into the country, and Apapa hosts the two ports in the city, tankers come from all over the country to load fuel in Lagos, thereby over-stressing the Lagos ports.

Apart from the Port at Onne in Rivers State, the other seaports located at Port Harcourt, Calabar, Warri and Koko are, mildly put, existing only in name. Freight forwarders in the Eastern ports regularly reel out the challenges facing their operations, and often accuse the Federal Government of churning out policies that deliberately target the strangulation of operations in the Eastern ports.

Some time ago, Mr. Eluagu who is the Public Relations Officer of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, Onne Seaport Chapter, has alleged that the Federal Government was encouraging capital flight to Lagos by its deliberate policy of strangulating the Eastern ports, claiming that the “government is deliberately strangulating and frustrating the business activities in the Eastern ports, thereby creating capital flight to Lagos”, and that although “the two port at Onne which were concessioned to Messrs INTELS Services, can handle oil and gas related cargo, many importers prefer to use the Lagos ports because of the disparity in freight charges which is tilted in favour of users of Lagos ports.”

Speaking during the week on the Apapa gridlock, Mr. Bolaji Akinola, the Spokesman for the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN), said that the tank farms must be decentralised as a major solution to the problem of traffic jams in Apapa.

He noted that the association had always suggested that petroleum products could be piped closer to different geo-political zones, moved through rail wagons and barges to avoid the extended pressure on the road.

Also speaking on the subject, Mr. Lucky Amiwero, President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), said the concentration of tank farms at Apapa was not in the interest of the maritime industry.

He said the nation should first consider critical actions like building of refineries, rather than remaining import-dependent for petroleum products.

In the same vein, Mr. Nasir Mohammed, the Port Manager, Lagos Port Complex, Apapa, said the traffic situation degenerated because petrol tankers come for loading simultaneously from across the country.

He said that the NPA had continued to work with the security and traffic agencies, to resolve the imbroglio to enable trucks to have free access to the ports.

The port manager, however, expressed fears that activities in the port may be greatly affected if the situation persisted.

Nigerian refineries are said to be less than 20% of capacity utilization, not enough to meet Nigeria’s high consumption rate. If the refineries were to be functional, even if only up to 50%, there will certainly not be need for fuel importation, let alone over-concentration of tank farms in only one city. And the issue of over-stressing the Oshodi/Apapa Expressway might not have risen.

Speaking recently, Lagos Zonal Chairman of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), the parent body of Petroleum Tanker Drivers, PTD, Mr. Tokunbo Korodo, said that tanker drivers could not automatically end the congestion. “We are pained and equally affected by the continuing loss of man-hours in the traffic and collapse of businesses within Apapa due to the congestion”, he said.

Mr. Korodo noted that an enduring solution to the Apapa congestion lies in increasing capacity for local refining of oil and less dependence on imported petroleum products.

Lagos ports equally also enjoy monopoly in other imports, hence, the large number of articulated vehicles entering and leaving Apapa, many from the South-East and South-South, when there are under-utilized ports in the South-South, closer to their destinations.

It is true that due to aging, and the damaging effects of the heavy axle load vehicles hauling freight to and from the ports, the Oshodi/Apapa Expressway has virtually collapsed alongside its drainage system. Yet the 4-lane road space of the dual carriageway has not disappeared. As such, besides the on-going expansion and rehabilitation work on the expressway, a strategic approach to traffic control and management is what is needed to make the road accessible at all times. This can be achieved through modern transport planning techniques and contemporary traffic control models.

At the two ports, trucks are expected to queue along the service lane and to leave the speed lane open for other motorists. But because of the corrupting influences of the law enforcement agents that control access to the ports, this simple rule is always violated by truck drivers who eventually form two queues thereby making the road impassable on a daily basis. Because the queue on the service lane is the approved one, the law enforcement agents at the gates choose to create the second queue to grant express access to truck drivers who are willing to offer five thousand naira, N5000 bribe. Incidentally, drivers at the far end of the queue and others from various points easily subscribe to this express arrangement since it enables them jump the queue, join the illegal one and maneuver to the front, leaving road blockage and traffic gridlock at their wake. It is pertinent to note that while the illegal express queue is granted easy access to the ports, the normal queue is kept at a snail speed simply because they choose to follow set traffic rules and not offer bribe. This and other underlying factors account for the endless queue of trucks that has become a landmark on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.

Following failed portions of the road resulting in heavy traffic on Oshodi/Apapa Expressway, stakeholders recently noted that the two contractors, Julius Berger and Boroni Prono Nigeria Limited, are very slow and are contributing to the traffic situation on the route.

Chairman of the Presidential Monitoring Taskforce of Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents ( ANLCA), Mr. Dom Obi, noted recently that none of the two contractors are performing but however claimed that Julius Berger is a bit better than Boroni Prono.

Mr. Obi said that while Julius Berger is slow in its reconstruction of the Sun Rise to Mile 2 end of the road, Boroni Prono’s presence at the Trinity to 2nd Gate Tin-can Island end is no longer being felt. He said unless government took urgent steps to address the situation, the reconstruction work “will not be ready till the next generation. I do not see anything coming out of the contract.”

In his comment, Honorary Secretary of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST), Engr. Alex Peters noted that the two companies are too slow and they are part of the problem of the road. Mr. Peters emphasized that the right thing for them to do should have been provision of alternative routes to ease the traffic congestion. He also pointed out that working at night like Julius Berger used to do would have helped a great deal in curbing the traffic congestion.

Buhari to the rescue

“I’m very confident that Gen. Buhari can bring a final end to this Apapa traffic palaver,” enthuses Mrs. Rachael Omorodion, a banker at Apapa who says she has been living in the suburb for more than ten years. “From Yar’Adua’s government to that of Jonathan, we have been hearing about final solution to heavy traffic at Apapa blah, blah, blah”, she continues. “Still, no solution. But with the change which the retired general has promised, I’m very confident that he will change Apapa for good.”

She is not alone. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari has inspired hope and confidence in many Nigerians, and Apapa residents, business owners, workers, and other stakeholders in the shipping and maritime sector are not left out.

Dr. Boniface Aniebona, founder, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), recently urged the general after his presidential victory, to pay attention to rehabilitating and opening up the roads leading to Apapa and Tin Can Island ports to address the perennial gridlock. Noting that the problem has impacted negatively on cargo turnaround time, he said it might persist until the roads were fixed.

His words: “This is the gateway to the economy. So the changes we expect is that the road should be open. Why should the road be that bad? We don’t need this type of tiny road between Ijora and Apapa. The government has what it takes to break up the road to open up the axis and compensate those living there. That is what government can do, especially when it is being done for public interest.”

“I see change coming”, says Engr. Pius Omena of Globalnet Proline Systematic Co. Ltd., Apapa. “I heard some public office-holders secretly returned embezzled funds because they are scared of probe when Buhari is sworn in. That is the kind of leader Nigeria needs. A leader who you know is in charge and who will take strong decisions for public good. I pray he takes such decision in the case of Apapa traffic jam.”

Summary of solution

In the short term, the tanker drivers could be directed to only queue for loading if they are licensed to load for the day. Any tanker driver who does not have a docket to load and is found on the queue should be arrested and sanctioned.

This way, the number of tankers on the road will be drastically reduced. The police (the Navy could help too) should ensure one lane of the road is left for others to use.

In the long run, the rail system will be the final solution. Tankers and other trucks must be made to use the rails to transport their products to different destinations in the country. The Federal Government, should, as a matter of urgency, construct rails lines to Apapa and repair the old one and make them functional.

As this is going on, the government should also repair the refineries so that all the tankers in Nigeria do not come to one place to load fuel. More refineries should be built too.