IS OKONJO-IWEALA AN ANTI-GRAFT CRUSADER? By Emmanuel Onwubiko

The irony that bedevils Nigeria in contemporary times is that there is an ongoing contest among evil practitioners on how to out-do each other in the execution of one sophisticated crime or the other thereby exposing the precious lives of millions of innocent persons to unmitigated danger given the ominous but tragic reality that the operatives charged constitutionally with the task of law enforcement are grossly deficient in professional skills and efficiency. It is as if the devil in person has relocated to Nigeria.

But organize crime got to its crescendo last year in Nigeria when the 84 -year old mother of the serving minister of Finance and the coordinating minister of the economy Mrs. (Dr.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was kidnapped and was not released from captivity for nearly one month in what is regarded as a revenge mission by members of the discredited cabal in the petroleum sub-sector who have been indicted by a presidential investigative panel for alleged theft of nearly a trillion Naira from public coffers in the guise of payments from the subsidy fund even when they never supplied any petroleum products.

Prior to the sensational and widely celebrated abduction of this old woman from her home in Delta State by these hoodlums, the office of the minister of Finance raised an alarm that alleged petroleum subsidy thieves have severally threatened to deal decisively with her for daring to expose these monumental corruption and heist of several billions of tax payers money. In saner climes when such alarm is raised, the proactive security apparatus and mechanism are activated to prevent any untoward criminal act from happening to the person raising the alarm including the immediate family members. Nigeria is however a different kettle of fish because security operatives are good at adopting fire brigade approach to anti-crime fight.

Even in the security quarters, the kidnap of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s mother in December last year was linked to the anti-corruption stance of the Finance minister but very little was done to stop these evil practitioners from successfully carrying out their threat.  

But in what analysts see as official confirmation of suspected reason for the dastardly criminal act, the Federal ministry of Finance through the media office said it was possible that those behind the kidnap were the same people who have made threats against her in the recent past.

In the statement, signed by her spokesperson, Paul Nwabuikwu, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said it was also possible that “other elements with hostile motives” were behind the kidnap.

“No possibility can be ruled out at this time,” the minister said.

The minister’s mother was kidnapped at about 1: 30 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon by eight gunmen who invaded her husband’s palace at Ogbe-Ofu quarters in Ogwahi-Uku, Delta State, whisking her away.

Although the abducted mother of the minister of Finance was later released unharm, the symbolism of the entire scenario is that fighting the enthrenched forces of corruption and economic crime is a serious business with life threatening risk.

If you doubt how dangerous it is to battle the scourge of corruption in Nigeria, then ask Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the former Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) who had to go into exile because of threats to his life allegedly by corrupt forces who also successfully convinced the then president, late Umaru Musa Yar’adua, to unceremoniously sack him from office in very controversial circumstances.

Duncan Clarke in his book “Crude continent: the struggle for Africa’s oil prize”, clearly noted that corruption is larger than life in Nigeria’s oil industry.

He wrote thus; “Corruption in Nigeria has acquired legendary and deserved status. It revolves within the state apparatus (2 million apparatchiks strong), especially around government interfaces with oil”.

In the thinking of this profoundly brilliant writer, the Nigerian Federal Government is unwilling to uproot the well enthrenched and oiled forces of corruption.

His words: “Nigeria stands high on all indices of corruption…the government is inclined to alienate neither the military nor the political elites, and so little has been achieved…”

But last year January, millions of Nigerians trooped out to the streets of major cities and towns across the country to denounce Government’s unwillingness to tackle the monumental corruption in the Petroleum industry and clearly demanded that action be effectively adopted to bring petrol subsidy thieve to trial. These protesters were angered by government’s decision to hike the pump price of petroleum products in Nigeria which obviously inflicted pains on the living condition of millions of people.

Nuhu Ribadu was quoted by the British Broadcasting corporation’s website as describing last year January’s mass protest as legendary.                  

According to Nuhu Ribadu, “the biggest single victory Nigerians scored (during the protests) was to put the question of corruption squarely back on the top of our national policy agenda”.

Officials of the Federal ministry of Finance also confirmed that the mass protests last year motivated and reinvigorated the anti-corruption posture of the serving minister of Finance-Mrs. (Dr.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

A position paper obtained from the Federal ministry of Finance recently confirmed that the January 2012 mass protest was a major turning point to expose corrupt persons and companies who have stolen from the petrol subsidy Fund.

According to this position paper; “The ministry of Finance played a critical role in realizing what is possibly the most important response against corruption by the administration. The establishment of the Mr. Aig-Imoukhuede committee to investigate fuel subsidy payments. The committee was a direct fall out of the nationwide protests that followed the removal of subsidies on January 1st 2012….”

It was to the credit of the enormous forensic investigative activities of this committee set up by the Finance ministry and elevated to a presidential panel by President Jonathan, that over 25 big petroleum companies owned by some close associates of the people in power, were indicted for heist of public fund in false subsidy claims.   The Finance Minister nevertheless thinks that fighting corruption is a big business that is fraught with life threatening risks.  

In her latest book titled; “Reforming the unreformable: lessons from Nigeria”, the Finance minister Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala acknowledged that waging battle against systemic corruption in Nigeria is a risky business.

Her words: “It was clear to the Economic Team working on the reforms that fighting corruption successfully would require four crucial and inseparable ingredients”.

According to her the four basic requirements for successfully waging war against corruption in Nigeria are political will and commitment from the top; secondly, identifying and focusing on the most damaging forms of corruption; thirdly, was to develop measurable indicators of success or other means of demonstrating success; and lastly, ability to withstand personal intimidation or threats and to forge on with the fight.

The finance minister has spoken well but to a lot of Nigerians, the current administration needs to do more to show the World that it means serious business in the fight against corruption.

There is the serious need for the current administration to sanction officials of the various strategic ministries who are frustrating whistle- blowers and the organized civil society community in Nigeria by refusing to comply with numerous freedom of information requests to avail Nigerians with basic information on how government expenditures are made given the fact that public procurement processes are some of the worst forms of corruption and economic crime.

President Jonathan’s government should keep corrupt persons in prisons where they belong and stop romancing with them because it makes no sense that some of the key persons indicted in the fuel subsidy theft are seen romancing publicly with the presidency even as some of them recently bagged presidential national awards. The National Assembly is also harbouring some of the worst corrupt persons who publicly admitted receiving bribes to shield fuel subsidy thieves. These persons who still parade around as legislators must be prosecuted and sanctioned to show that the law is bigger than any person no matter the status. The corruption in the judiciary is disturbing. Corrupt judges must be exposed, prosecuted and punished to serve as effective deterrent.

Another area whereby we need to close the yawning gap in the anti-graft fight is to strengthen the institutions that fight corruption and to legally outlaw all possible areas of political interferences in their work even as the court system needs to be reformed to effectively adjudicate anti-graft matters so that the huge public fund diverted into private pockets of public officials are retrieved and returned to public treasury to serve only the public good.

I agree entirely with the British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC] when it concluded in a recent report published online that “corruption undermines economic growth, creates institutional mismanagement and hurts society by holding back economic development at all levels”.

It is therefore imperative that anti-corruption crusaders such as Mrs. (Dr.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala are supported to achieve the national target of using the mechanism of due legal process to sanction corrupt persons and to enthrone a regime of transparency, accountability and zero-tolerance to corruption.

It is either we are serious to fight and defeat the hydraheaded monster of corruption or corruption will completely strangulate Nigeria and Nigerians. Let us chose wisely and the time is now.

*    Emmanuel Onwubiko; Head, Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria          blogs@www.huriwablogspot.com. 

18/1/2013

FISH FARMING AS PANACEA TO YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT By Emmanuel Onwubiko

Senator Chris Anyanwu, one of Nigeria’s best known media entrepreneurs and the Senator representing Owerri, Imo State Senatorial Zone in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has just made a ground breaking revelation whereby she stated that foreign vessels invade Nigeria’s maritime territory to cart away fishes worth several billions of money on yearly basis.

Witty, Sharp and very articulate, Chris Anyanwu, one of the few female Senators in the current political dispensation spoke in an interview with a national daily in which she also called serious attention to the institutional neglect suffered by the Nigerian Navy and also the need to harmonize the legislative frameworks guiding the operations of the multiple government agencies in the nation’s maritime territory which she aptly described as chaotic.   

Speaking specifically on the fish resources that are daily stolen from Nigeria’s high seas by well armed foreign hoodlums, Senator Anyanwu who is the senate committee chairman on Navy stated emphatically thus; “A lot of our fish stock is stolen in this country. Nobody talks about it. We talk about crude oil. The fish stock stolen is enough to give us the roads that we don’t have but when you look at it side by side with crude oil that is stolen, its pales so we don’t talk about that. But at some point once we get action going at sea, we have the right vessels, the right support, we have the right linkages, some of those things would cease to happen at least, gradually. It is not going to happen overnight”.

Reading the above explosive revelation by an authoritative person who should know, one thing struck my sub-conscious and I began to reflect on the potentials of government and other good spirited stakeholders encouraging and enthroning the enabling environment including provision of strategic working capital, grants and the fixing of rural infrastructure to enable the young university graduates roaming the streets of our few cities searching endlessly for the non-available white collar jobs, to venture into investing in fish farming as a viable  alternative source of job opportunity and creation of wealth because from all available scientific data, Nigeria is a potentially huge market whereby fish farming can thrive and indeed can create millions of jobs for our youth and help reduce the national tragedy that has become youth unemployment.

Besides creation of rapid youth employment opportunities, massive fish farming by the Nigerian youth will also bridge the yawning gap in meeting Nigeria’s protein sources to improve the living condition of the populace.

Grema, H. A; Geidam, Y.A.; and Egwu, G. O; very distinguished animal science scholars wrote a piece titled “Fish production in Nigeria: an update”,  published in the volume 32, issue 3 edition of “Nigerian veterinary Journal”, the most authoritative voice on animal science sub-sector in Nigeria.

These scholars argued that; "In recent times, veterinarians and animal scientists have contributed to the development of techniques to increase the sources of animal protein in order to supplement existing sources of protein".

Fish is an important source of protein and provides about 40% of the dietary intake of animal protein, with the need for self reliance at both national and grass root level, fish production offers a good potential if properly adopted, so argued the animal science scholars.

Additionally, according to these academics, increase in small scale aquaculture projects in towns and villages will create employment and alleviate poverty. Fish production involves controlling culture environment and rearing fish in captivity; to enhance production and prevent diseases and predators as well as good husbandry management practices.

However, the main factors affecting aquaculture in Nigeria, according to the tripple scholars, include extreme climatic conditions, flood, water pollution, ignorance and lack of adequate technology, other factors working against the sub-sector are also, lack of loans and grants, fish diseases and problems of preservation.

Despite all those challenges, these scholars believe that fish production has the potential to expand the national resource base, generate foreign exchange and elevate the socio-economic status of fish farmers.

The current minister of Agriculture and rural development Dr. Akinwumi Adesina is a very well respected activist in the field of Agriculture. He has on different occasions, publicly voiced his determination to encourage the Nigerian youth to embrace fish farming as a dignifying professional career which will economically empower them and transform them from serial job seekers to respectable creators of wealth and employment opportunities for themselves and millions of other persons in their age group.

Dr. Adesina as the minister of Agriculture and Rural Development is expected to roll out practicable strategies on how government and other stakeholders can contribute positively to provide the much needed working capital by way of grants to enable willing Nigerian youth to embrace fish farming in the coming days.

But the minister of Agriculture who spoke at the 27th Annual general meeting of fisheries society of Nigeria which took place in Yenogoa, Bayelsa State last year, however stated that fish farming has the enormous potentials for wealth creation and sustainable jobs for the millions of young university graduates seeking for jobs.

According to the minister, the current situation whereby Nigeria spends about N97 billion on the importation of 700,000 metric tones of fish annually, is no longer acceptable.

Describing the development as unacceptable and unsustainable, Agric minister said importation of fish constituted a huge drain on the national foreign exchange resources. He emphasized the need to harness the full potential of aquaculture which he said would lead to the production of 2.66 million metric tones of fish annually in Nigeria to meet national fish protein requirement.

“Nigeria currently produces 680,000 metric tones of fish from local sources including 200,000 metric tones from aquaculture. This is less than 10% of the total potential”, he said.

From the above facts, it is clear to state that Nigeria needs to immediately set in motion mechanism on how the presidency can direct the ministries of Finance; youth Affairs; agriculture and rural development and labour and productivity to commence the implementation of a national policy on the promotion of involvement of the Nigerian youth in the fish farming sub-sector as one pragmatic panacea to the disturbing menace of youth unemployment which constitutes grave threat to our national security as can be seen from the involvement of our younger citizens in sophisticated crimes of kidnapping for ransom payment; terrorism and other organized crime.

In a well written piece ran in the Thisday Newspaper edition of July 3,2012, titled “Fish farming is a lucrative business”, the author gave well loaded and articulate reasons why Nigerian government should empower the Nigerian youth to embark on commercial fish farming.

According to this writer; “Nigerians are large consumers of fish and it remains one of the main products consumed in terms of animal protein. Study has shown that only around 50 percent of demand for fish is currently being met by local supply. The fishery sector is estimated to contribute 3.5 percent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provides direct and indirect employment to over six million people”.                              

The writer made the disclosure that despite the popularity of farming in Nigeria, the fish farming industry can best be described as being at the infant stage when compared to the large market potential for its production and marketing. This is mainly due to unavailability of fingerlings owing to lack of adequate infrastructure for hatcheries for fingerling production, so submitted the writer.

The Federal Government however has disclosed recently that Nigeria is saving N300 million annually from the substitution of imported fish feeds, with an estimate of 25 percent of the 45,000 metric tones imported into the country.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, stated this while speaking at the Ministerial Platform in commemoration of the 2012 Democracy Day celebration and the first anniversary of President Goodluck Jonathan administration in Abuja.

Adesina,who revealed that the country spends at least N117.7 billion annually on the importation of fish feeds, said four major investors in the feeds production had been identified to increase capacity to meet local demands.

He identified the investors as Grand Cereals in Jos, Plateau State; Durante in Oyo State; Wonder Feeds in Kaduna State, and Multifeeds, an Israeli company; all of which he said had declared their interest in the massive feeds’ production.

The minister also stated that government has completed the training of 120 potential investors in the new all male Tilapia production technology to improve total yield.

From the look of things as clearly published in the aforementioned essay, the Nigerian government’s approach to fish farming is at best cosmetic and elitist. The Nigerian government must go to the drawing board to work out strategies to attract young Nigerians and also get financial institutions to provide soft loans and grants to enable them embark on huge commercial fish farming.

The federal ministry of works must also actively partner with the 36 states ministry of works to ensure that there is a workable national synergy for reviving rural roads infrastructure so that these young fish farmers will find it less cumbersome to transport their produce to the markets.

Government also should ensure that local industries and factories including hotels are compelled by law to patronize theses fish products even as emphasis must be shifted away from importation.  The National Assembly and the Nigeria's Governors' forum have great roles to play to actualize this objective.

The Federal government must also implement effective and efficient pro-active security measures to protect our marine resources.

A national daily on January 14th 2013 revealed that Nigeria loses so much of our fish resources to foreign thieves, thus confirming the revelation made by Senator Chris Anyanwu earlier.

The local media reported thus; “The incursion of foreign trawlers in the fishery segment of the maritime industry is also making Nigeria to lose about N300 billion as a result of inadequate protection of our waters. Instead, we now depend on importation. Right now, Nigeria imports between 700,000 and 900,000 metric tons of fish yearly to partially meet a shortfall of about 1,800,00 metric tons”. 

The newspaper stated that stakeholders say the fishing industry is at the brink of collapse, owing to the dangers of pirates and foreign trawlers. With huge maritime potential of a coastline measuring about 853 kilometers, Nigeria should be self-sufficient in fish production and able to export aquatic foods.”

Local media wrote that the Nigeria's Finance minister Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said the security threats in the Gulf of Guinea of which Nigeria is a major stakeholder had steadily risen from 45 per cent in 2010 to 64 percent in 2012 threatening Nigeria’s more than 600 million potential in fishing business. He added that the development has created major economic problems for the country and should be urgently addressed.

Recently, because of the incessant attacks on fishing crews, the Nigerian Trawler Owners Association (NTOA) reportedly called its fleet of over 200 trawlers and 20,000 workers back to the shore, leading to a shortfall in fish supply.

According to NTOA, foreign trawlers from European and Asian countries come to the nation’s coastal areas to raid tones of fish, they come with better industrial trawlers that can stay at sea for weeks and even months, equipped with ice boxes, so revealed the national daily.

Specifically, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said piracy figures and attacks worldwide continue to rise, and cases of death are always recorded, stating that this is a major challenge to the world. Nigeria should therefore check this menace so as to make the fish farming subsector beneficial to the national economy.

*  Emmanuel Onwubiko, Head, HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA, blogs@www.huriwa.blogspot.com.

15/1/2013

IS SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND A RIGHT? By Emmanuel Onwubiko

Julieth Chinenye Nwaji is a mass communication graduate of the Kogi State University, Anyimgba in Kogi State, North Central Nigeria. Miss Nwaji who is in her early twenties is witty, sharp and articulate. She has this amazing capacity for asking questions that the most profoundly sound intellectual would have to reflect deeply before coming up with an appreciable answer.

She sat next to me on Monday when I was busy doing this piece and her inquiry to know if sovereign wealth fund is a new generation human right triggered off series of unprecedented debate among two of my mutual friends who were also present even as they could not come up with a consensus on her question.

Miss Nwaji’s point of observation emanated from the theme of my current piece in which I advanced the position that sovereign wealth fund if properly put into use for the utilitarian benefit of the greatest number of the people in a given political entity may be considered a fundamental human right.

It is my considered argument that in nations such as Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Congo[Kinshasha] Gabon, Angola among others whereby natural resources endowed to those entities are explored and the revenue accruable from the export of those rare resources stolen by successive political administrations and diverted to private pockets, it would be imperative for such countries to consider establishing Sovereign Wealth Funds and for strong institutional and legal frameworks to be enforced for the national assets saved in form of sovereign wealth funds used to build functional infrastructure to promote better life for the greatest number of the citizenry.

In his widely acclaimed scholarly book titled; "CRUDE CONTINENT; THE STRUGGLE FOR AFRICA'S OIL PRIZE", Duncan Clarke cited example of Nigeria whereby during the eight year reign of President Olusegun Obasanjo [1999-2007] Nigeria earned $223 billion in oil revenues. Around 70 % of Nigerians remained in survival mode, living on $1 USD per day [80% of oil revenues benefiting around 1% of the populace".

It is therefore safe to conclude that the decision by Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to push for the establishment of the sovereign wealth fund is indeed a remarkable push for the fundamental human rights of Nigerians to be respected especially if the objectives of establishing the fund are strictly enforced and the resources used to promote public good.

The Nigerian government through the ingenuity of the current finance minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the approval of President Goodluck Jonathan has just established the National Sovereign Wealth Fund (NSWF) last year.

Financial pundits have already described the establishment of the Nigeria’s National Sovereign Wealth Fund as the most significant economic policy decision to have been taken by President Jonathan since coming into office as an elected President in May 2011.

What is sovereign wealth fund and why is this a human right if one may ask?

In their words, the Wikipedia stated thus;

“A sovereign wealth fund (SWF) is a state-owned investment fund composed of financial assets such as stocks, bonds, property, precious metals, or other financial instruments. Sovereign wealth funds invest globally. Most SWFs are funded by foreign exchange assets".

The Wikipedia further expounded that;  

“Some sovereign wealth funds may be held by a central bank, which accumulates the funds in the course of its management of a nation's banking system; this type of fund is usually of major economic and fiscal importance. Other sovereign wealth funds are simply the state savings that are invested by various entities for the purposes of investment return, and that may not have a significant role in fiscal management”.

Global Scholar see human rights as the most fundamental rights of human beings. They define relationships between individuals and power structures, especially the state. Human Rights delimit state power and, at the same time, require states to take positive measures ensuring an environment that enables all people to enjoy their human rights.

It is universally acknowledged that one of the sure ways that government ensures respect for the fundamental human rights of citizens is for the enforcement of policies and measures that give rise to good governance, zero-tolerance to corruption, promotion of the principle and practice of accountability and transparency.

The primary purpose of establishing the sovereign wealth fund by most developed societies is the creation of quality infrastructure that are designed to make life meaningful and if members of the political entity are provided with qualitative infrastructure to better their lives as citizens, it is safe to say that the sovereign wealth Funds are necessarily established for the promotion and protection of the fundamental human rights to life; dignity of the human person; freedom of association; freedom of movement and other basic freedoms and rights that are inherent, universal, and also the right to development.         

To demonstrate that the establishment of the sovereign wealth fund by the Nigerian government is one sure way of promoting and protecting respect for the fundamental rights of the citizenry, a cursory look at the history of sovereign wealth fund is imperative.

According to a publication on wikipedia.org, the very first SWF was the Kuwait Investment Authority, which was established in 1953 before Kuwait secured its independence from the United Kingdom. The Kuwaits’ Fund was created from crude oil revenues and is reported to be currently valued at about two hundred and fifty billion US Dollars ($250 billion). Kuwait is one of the best places to live in the World before of the aggressive infrastructural development achieved with this sovereign wealth fund. 

Experts who support the establishment by Nigeria of a sovereign wealth Fund wrote in http://www.financialnigeria.com/ that; “SWFs are thus usually established to save and invest the excess liquidity that arises from natural resource exploitation. When for instance revenue from crude oil sales exceed the budget projections, the extra revenue represents excess liquidity. Pumping the excess liquidity through spending back into the national economy has the capacity to disrupt sound macroeconomic management. Inflationary pressure becomes real risk and economic values are distorted. There is thus the need to warehouse the excess liquidity in savings and then invest it for the long term for cross-generational benefit”.

Apart from the establishment of the sovereign wealth Fund by the Nigeria’s ministry of finance, last year also witnessed some milestones achieved by the minister of Finance Mrs. (Dr.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and her economic management team to tame the monster of corruption and to bring about rapid economic transformation.

  

Finance ministry played a critical role in realising what is possibly the most important response against corruption by the administration so far by the establishment of the Aig-Imoukhuede Committee to investigate fuel subsidy payments.

The Committee was a direct fallout of the nationwide protests that followed the removal of subsidies on January 1, 2012. The President had reportedly pledged in the wake of the nation-wide peaceful protest that the government would take action against any proven cases of fraud in subsidy payments. 

Finance minister inaugurated the committee which did a forensic investigation of subsidy payments. The result is seen in critical quarters as one of the most far reaching investigations in the history of the country which resulted in clear progress for the country. To ensure that the good work done by the Committee under the Federal Ministry of Finance got the requisite support at the highest levels of the government, the Committee was later elevated into a Presidential Committee even as 25 firms were named and shamed and are currently being prosecuted by the anti-graft commission for allegedly stealing over N400 billion from the subsidy fund through false claims.

I must however conclude by repeating what I had earlier published that the attempt to collect another debt totaling over $9 billion from some international creditors including China as contemplated by the Federal Government is retrogressive and will return us to position of a slave nation.

*   Emmanuel Onwubiko, head, HUMAN Rights Writers’ ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA           writes from www.huriwa.blogspot.com. 

14/1/2013

HOW FASHOLA STOLE OUR HEARTS By Emmanuel Onwubiko

I must confess that the nearest I have seen the current governor of Lagos State Mr. Babatunde Fashola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria was about two years ago at the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s complex in Abuja when he witnessed the swearing in of some newly elevated lawyers to the title of Senior Advocate of Nigeria. We only exchanged very distant gestures of greetings which began with my telling him good morning sir and he in turn responded thank you.   

I have also in the last couple of years written several articles but only commented about Lagos issues only about thrice the last of which was my strong condemnation of the Lagos State governor for reportedly sacking hundreds of medical doctors under the Lagos State civil service for daring to proceed on strike to press home demands for enhanced pay packages and better working environment.

In that article, I castigated governor Fashola for been insensitive by ordering the mass sack of striking doctors even as he air lifted his father who was reportedly ill to take the best medical treatment abroad.

From the above, readers will appreciate the fact that this is not a paid write up even if the title may sound patronizing. 

  

Governor Fashola did something in late December 2012 which gave rise to the title of this piece in which I am now narrating how he stole our hearts.

The Lagos State governor ended last year on  a good note as one public office holder who understands that power is nothing if the suffering of a citizen in need can not be ameliorated even when we have the resources to achieve the resolution of such distress situation.  

The act of charity that was done by the Lagos state governor was his timely intervention in donating N4.5 million to the ailing ace Nollywood Actress Miss. Ngozi Nwosu who is critically facing health challenge of kidney related issues. Ngozi Nwosu, the talented amazon who has featured prominently in several home movies and television soap operas has being bed -ridden with kidney related ailments for some months and has frantically searched for N6 million to enable her undergo foreign medical treatment and she could only raise N2.5 million.

The timely intervention of Governor Fashola with the much needed cash donation was one killer punch that has engraved his name in the footprints of time as one kind public office holder who is ready to wipe away the tears of the distressed members of the society.

Tu Face Idibia, the reputable talented musician who has won several laurels for his beautiful songs has once released a song in which he rightly enthused that “power is nothing if the people’s suffering is not solved…”    

Few hours after we ended our Christmas Mass at the Saint Joseph Catholic Church, Uwakonye-Aniche, Aro-Umuduru Autonomous community of Arondizuogu in Onuimo local government council of Imo state, I received a news alert on my facebook wall that Ngozi Nwosu was critically ill and that she was practically begging the Nigerian elite to come to her assistance because she does not want to join the growing list of actors and actresses in Nigeria that have passed on to the great world beyond due to pathetic health challenges which they could not resolve for lack of financial resources.

At this point, my mind went straight to the philosophical story written by Sam Anokam for Daily Sun in which he stated the obvious that “Angel of death has visited Nollywood”.

It was from the beautifully written story of Daily Sun of December 8th 2012 that I learnt that at the last count about 10 actors and actresses, both popular and obscure (to quote Sam Anokam) have passed on to the great world beyond. Just before the year 2012 ended and approximately three weeks after the above story was written the number of actors and actresses that died in 2012 increased to eleven with the passage at the University of Ibadan Teaching hospital of the popular Yoruba Actress Miss Bisi Komolafe. She reportedly died from complications associated with pregnancy even though no confirmation has emanated from the hospital on her precise cause of death.

In what could pass as the litany of woes that befell the film industry in Nigeria, the media has reported that the following Actors/Actresses have died in 2012. They are; David Ihezie; he was a veteran actor, who died in his Enugu base after a short battle with Arthritis on January 19. He was in his 70s; Brown Atienwen; popular Benin-based seasoned Nollywood actor and staff of the Edo State’s Ministry of Arts, Culture Tourism, died at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH). He was unable to pay the sum of N150, 000 for a major operation. The cause of his illness was unknown. He died in October.

I am told that Governor dams Oshiomole of Edo State was so enraged at the news that the Permanent Secretary in the ministry of Culture could not raise the money to save this Benin based talented actor who died because he couldnt raise a pittance of N150,000. The Governor compulsorily retired the indicted permanent secretary.

Other Nigerian talented actors and actresses that died from seemingly surmountable health challenges in 2012 are Mr. Pete Eneh; who died, according to media reports, after suffering from protracted illness, which culminated in the amputation of his leg. The actor, who was diabetic, sustained some kind of injury last year, which degenerated to a sore and refused to heal. He spent three months at the hospital before he was advised to amputate the leg to avoid the infection spreading to other parts of his body. The amputation took place on Wednesday, October 24, after all efforts to save the leg was unsuccessful.

Enebeli Elebuwa; died in an Indian hospital in New Delhi. He had spent two years bed ridden and unable to raise the needed finance to proceed to take good medical treatment abroad since the health sector in Nigeria is in shambles. Ironically, this profoundly gifted actor Elebuwa was behind a popular advertisement in which the Federal ministry of culture and information was advising Nigerians some years back not to travel enmasse abroad in search of greener pastures [Andrew please don't check out]. 

It was reported that Mr. Enebeli Elebuwa's health deteriorated when he couldn’t afford to receive medical attention. It was also gathered that the stroke came as a result of uncontrolled hypertension and diabetes mellitus, which also affected his brain.

The shocking news of the serious health challenge facing Miss Ngozi Nwosu came at a time when those of us holidaying in the South East and especially in Imo State were bombarded with the unfortunate news that Governor Rochas Okorocha was in confrontation over right of way with the Senator representing Owerri Mrs. Chris Anyanwu.

We were about figuring out how this needless public show of shame between governor Okorocha and Senator Anyanwu could be settled when the cheering news was again received that the Lagos State governor Babatunde Fashola has donated N4.5 million to Miss Ngozi Nwosu to enable her take the best medical treatment abroad.

Most of us who were in the South East for the Christmas break then heaved a sigh of relief that at last we have a cheering news to take our attention away from the quarrelsome duo of governor Okorocha and his party member, the APGA produced Senator Chris Anyanwu.

Looking at the entire scenario from a larger picture of the donation of this life saving cash to the ailing Actress Miss. Nwosu by Fashola, a lesson to be learnt is that for once, politicians in Nigeria now have a good example of the Kind of Charity and humanitarian activity that they can emulate.

Former American President Mr. Bill Clinton in 2007 wrote a 240 pages book on the thematic issue of charitable activities.

Clinton appropriately titled that book as “Giving: How Each of us can change the World”, and in this book written in simple grammatical expressions and language, the former American President who is now an Iconic figure around the World challenged the elite around the world to make doing work of charity as their first nature.

Clinton wrote thus; “Like many people who are fortunate to live full, rewarding lives, I reached a point in my journey where, apart from taking care of my family and being with them and my friends, what I cared most about was doing what I could to make sure people younger than me don’t die before their time and aren’t denied the chance to find their own fulfillment. After I narrowly escaped what could have been a fatal heart attack in 2004, I felt that way even more strongly”.

Bill Clinton’s wife Mrs. Hilary is another human being that God endowed with a heart of Gold because she has lived and continues to live a life of humanitarian services to the less privileged.

In the book by President Clinton titled “Giving: How each of us can change the World”, he offered reasons why each of us should extend our good hearts of human kindness to the needy.

He wrote thus; “Because we live in an interdependent World, we cannot escape each other’s problems. We are all vulnerable to terror, weapons of mass destruction, the spread of disease, and the potentially calamitous effects of climate change. The fact that one in four people who die this year will succumb to AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, or infections related to dirty water casts a pall over all our children’s future”.

The singular good act of charity done in late December 2012 by governor Fashola in the form of giving N4.5 million to Miss. Ngozi Nwosu has endeared him to the hearts of millions of Nigerians.

Two things easily come up for cross examination from the sickness of Miss Nwosu which can only be treated abroad for which she does not have the resources even with her longstanding services to the Nollywood film industry.

The two issues are the need for Nigeria’s health sector to be fundamentally transformed so that distressed Nigerians can get solution to their health challenges locally at affordable cost. The second issue is the need to pay commensurate wages to talented actors/Actresses and for them to invest their resources for the rainy days.

A situation whereby some of our best Actors/Actresses are paid pittance for their beautiful work should be condemned and the Regulatory authorities must wake up to enforce legal frameworks to protect the copyrights of these rare talents because it is only in Nigeria that such profoundly endowed actresses/Actors are neglected up to a point of destitution.

* Emmanuel Onwubiko; head, HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA blogs@www.huriwa.blogspot.com.

7/01/2013