Journalists' Round-Table: NIGERIA IS BROKE – LABARAN MAKU

Journalists' Round-Table: NIGERIA IS BROKE – LABARAN MAKU:                                                                                                                                   ...

NIGERIA IS BROKE – LABARAN MAKU

                                       

                                                             

                                              minister of information Mr. Labaran Maku

                                                            BY DAVID BARAU

  

                At least that was what the crowd gathered at the National Press Centre dreaded to hear when the Minister of Information Mr Labaran Maku addressed a world Press Conference on the activities and achievements of Government.

                A concerned civil servant seated beside me poked  me after the address to ask the Minister of information Mr Labaran Maku if the delay in the payments of August salaries was as a result of the cash crunch rumoured by a section of the media. http://saharareporters.com/news-page/nigerian-government-broke-targets-pension-savings

                I told him that I have other question to ask the minister but he can do so himself as it was an open forum and not restricted to Journalists alone, ‘God forbid’ he said ‘do you want me to lose my Job?’ I am civil servant o’             

                I asked him if civil servants were not allowed to ask questions and he just smiled, anyway that is for another day’s argument, well I suggested a way to which he can ask a question and remain anonymous and that was through the social media platform twitter.  @FMINigeria which he did and fortunately the questions was raised    

                Responding, the minister of information Mr Labaran  Maku says the federal government is not broke and the economy is stable

                ‘How can you call a country that has $ 40 million in reserves and 8 per cent inflation broke? We are growing, the stability in the economy is one that is desired that’s why people are coming in to invest so I can tell you certainly that Nigeria is not broke’.

                That still did not convince my friend the civil servant who asked the question and scores of other civil servants who did not understand how the economy was good and ok, yet it did not reflect on their salaries.

                Noticing the agitation in the audience, Mr Labaran Maku said the delay in the release of August salaries has nothing at all to do with whether the government was broke. The information Minister stressed that the delay was caused by technical challenges in the new payment system and assured that the monies will be paid before the end of the week (Last weekend).

                ‘Being a new payment system sometimes there are unusual delays because we are changing to ensure that those ghosts that we use to pay, those ghosts that have taken millions from public sectors particularly the federal public sector stop taken money from our own purse and so the system we put in place sometimes there are these delays.’

                The information Minister went further to say that Nigeria’s economy in the last decade has not been as fantastic as what we have today. He reiterated his address in the following sub-headings Economy, Agriculture, Transportation, Power, and Education. Which I will summarize three

ECONOMY.

                The information Minister said for the first time in the history of the country, the micro-economy of Nigeria has claimed global recognition because the foreign exchange has remained stable for the last three years, according to him a stable foreign exchange is able to make investors plan on the long term without fear of losing their resources.

                He gave an example of the Dangote group entering a deal worth N3.3 Billion to establish the largest refinery and a petro-chemical company.

                ‘This is good because the foreign companies want to see what Nigerians are doing themselves in their country before they invest, so the Dangote group is opening the door to the world to come and invest’

                Still in the oil and gas sector Maku said the government will not be able on its own re-vitalise the downstream sector that is why it has opened free trade zones where private companies can come and invest in the sector. He gave example of chevron which is working on our Liquefied Natural Gas which will be in use by the end of the year because about two hundred companies in the country rely on gas for power.      

                The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is rising as the minister emphasised, the GDP is estimated to be between 6.7% - 7% at the end of the year which will see Nigeria maintain the number one spot in the continent above South Africa and Egypt.

                ‘Economically we can tell you that the Nigeria’s economy is receiving greater confidence from the world, investments are coming in in Agriculture, Investments are coming in the Gas sector and also the petro-chemical companies that are being established’.

                My friend the civil servant after the submission by the Information Minister on the state of the Nigerian economy only muted ‘why did they introduce the system if they know it is not fast?

AGRICULTURE

                In this sector the Information Minister Mr Labaran Maku accused past administrations of paying lip service to Agriculture until the coming on board of the transformation agenda of President Jonathan.

                According to the minister, about 750 thousand young farmers are expected to get the opportunity in agricultural sector to give the sector the required rise it needs.

                ‘The most important thing in Agriculture is deregulation that has taken place in the sector, what is happening in this sector has never happened since the collapse of the marketing burst in the mid-eighties, today we are seeing the agricultural sector driven by private companies supplying seeds and fertilizer directly to farmers without government involvement we have eliminated bureaucracy that has hindered the development of this sector’

                The minister emphasized that the deregulation has allowed private individuals to invest huge amount of monies into this sector, a risks no one was willing to take in the past decades.

                 In 2014 Nigeria will not only be the largest producer of cassava but the largest producer of processed cassava ready for export because of the numerous cassava plants established in the country said the Minister.

                In the area of rice production the minister said ‘we have seen the advent of 12 rice mills, we saw one of them in Eboyin and the one in Kebbi must have been completed by now and in all these towns we have set up grain reserves’.

                According to him a private farmer has invested $ 40 million dollars in rice production and by 2015 we will be able to achieve self-sufficiency. The minister called on Nigerians to patronise local products.

TRANSPORTATION.

                At this moment  my friend gave my an insight of what the information Minister was going to say, he told me the minister will talk about the rail lines from Lagos to Kano and the airport rehabilitation.

                Well it turns out my friend was right, the Minister of information started with the railway ‘we are going to visit with media particularly the rail sector before the end of this month we are going to take the media what is the government is doing in the standard guage rail line betweenAbuja and Kaduna so that Nigerians will see the progress going on simultaneously with the Warri- Ajoakuta  lines.’

                Wondering how my friend the civil servant knew all these did he get a hold of the script?  He said he was present at the ministerial platform and has listened to the Information Minister speak every day for a month, and that there’s nothing new that has happened between July and September.

                I informed him that he cannot say that something new has not happened; I reminded him that for the first time in the history of the country an airline landed and departed from the south-east to china. He simply responded by saying if I could go to china I won’t be sitting beside you.

                Whatever he meant I didn’t want to stress further but the point I figured out was that the average civil servant is less concerned by the economy unless it does affect his/her salary. If these group of persons that are supposed to well informed and interested in governance and provide answers to many who don’t know care less, what will be millions outside the sector be channelling their strengths into?

                Similarly the government should focus on developing new achievements rather than hammering and chorusing on the same old issues.

                I hope you have been paid by now my friend?

               

               

               

               

Journalists' Round-Table: ASUU STRIKE- NIGERIAN STUDENTS SEEK EDUCATION ABRO...

Journalists' Round-Table: ASUU STRIKE- NIGERIAN STUDENTS SEEK EDUCATION ABRO...:                                 L-R Jennifer Onyukwu head Education USA Abuja, Bill Strassberger- Head Cultural Affairs Section US...

ASUU STRIKE- NIGERIAN STUDENTS SEEK EDUCATION ABROAD.

                                L-R Jennifer Onyukwu head Education USA Abuja, Bill Strassberger- Head Cultural Affairs Section US Embassy and Elise Brombach Consular Officer.

By: David Barau.

                Studying outside the shores of the country has become imperative for Nigerian tertiary students owning to poor standard of education and recently the incessant strike embark upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

                The Academic Staff Union of Nigerian universities have been on strike for over two months demanding that the federal government keep to their promise made in 2009 of injecting mega funds to university Education. With several meetings between government officials and Asuu ending in deadlock, Nigeria students are searching for Education Elsewhere.

                For this reason many countries over the years have been advertising their education programmes and marketing scholarship opportunities to Nigerians. The United Kingdom, and the United States embassy in Nigeria have been championing this cause by inviting reputable institutions in their respective countries to come to Nigeria and recruit prospective and eligible students even on the spot.

                Many Nigerian students who cannot afford the luxury of western education travel to nearby African countries which offer cheaper and sometimes better education. Ghana is one of such countries, in the past years Ghanaian students have been educated in Nigeria from primary to tertiary levels, now they receive Nigerians as their highest number of foreign students. Education is now one of Ghana’s highest gross domestic products (GDP) due to incessant strikes in Nigeria.

                Suffice you to note that countries that cannot be compared to Nigeria in whatever level of indices used are receiving thousands of Nigerians as students.

                Recently the Sudanese Ambassador to Nigeria Ambassador Tagelsir Mahgoub Ali in a courtesy call to the former Minister of youth development Alhaji Inuwa Abudulkadir says about 1600 Nigerians are currently studying in Sudan.

                Nigeria’s best brains through this migration has been lost to many of this countries  a point  the head cultural affairs Section US embassy Abuja Bill Strassberger was quick to debunk  at a media briefing on Education USA recently.

                ‘ we’ve been accused  sometimes of a brain-drain but we don’t see that in Nigeria so much, we’re not grabbing your best students, educating them and making it easy for them to stay, but the Nigerians are choosing to come back cos there’s so much opportunity in the county.’

                The United States Mission to Nigeria has in the last 14 years organised annual EDUCATION USA COLLEGE AND CAREER FAIRS; where prospective Nigerian students are given the opportunity to explore the vitality and diversity of U.S colleges and Universities. Admission officers and other U.S university representatives and their alumni are available to provide hands on information on their institutional requirements for admission and financial aid.

                This programme has over the years helped in giving Nigerian students admission in the US.

According to the head Education USA Abuja Jennifer Onyukwu

                ‘Nigeria is currently the number one largest sender of students from sub-Saharan Africa to the U.S with about 7000 students studying at over 700 institutions in the U.S’

                The programme has in the last five years witness students who benefitted in over $ 40 million in scholarship and financial aids from U.S colleges and universities both for undergraduate and post graduate studies.

                ‘we are looking forward to do more in the upcoming year, scholarship are very competitive, we are looking for academically stellar students, students who obtain a first class in their undergraduate degrees and students with 8 distinctions in their SSCCE.’

                This year’s edition of the colleges and career fairs is expected to begin on the 7^th and 8^th October, in Lagos while that of Abuja takes place on the 9^th and 10^th October,2013

                A consular officer at the media briefing on education USA Elise Brombach advised intending students to present only genuine credentials during visa interview and applications. She further adised students to make sure they fill out all the required forms themselves.

                ‘if any student present a fraudulent material it’s going to affect their application negatively by negatively I mean you may permanently not be granted entry into the united states.’

                It is true that the Nigerian Educational system has declined from the days of the great University of Ibadan and the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria to become a shadow of itself now, it is also a fact that the federal government has not lived by its words by funding adequately tertiary education in Nigeria.

                For the sake of the Nigerian Students, sheath your sword Asuu ! sheath your sword Federal government! Go back to the negotiating table with an improved package for education in Nigeria.