Author: Admin

Three interesting scenarios within the past 48 hours reinvigorates my faith in humankind, and indeed in project Nigeria, and do not mirror it with partisan prism because it will fail you. Only a broad-based binoculars will reveal the positives therein.

The first is the return of another batch of the innocents of Chibok, the second is the medical trip to London by Mr President and the attendant transmission of full Presidential Powers to the Vice President, and the third is the emergence of 39-year-old Emmanuel Macron as the President of France.

I do not buy into the scepticism and the cynicism of conspiracy theorists regarding the Chibok story. I believe as evidenced by the committee set up by former President Goodluck Jonathan that certain innocents of Chibok were ferried away by the villainous and impish Haramists some three years ago. Thank God another batch is back from captivity.

On Mr President’s medical trip, at last a seemingly intractable era of lies, falsehood and needless propaganda goes to sleep. Now we know where and what’s happening, and we know that we have an Acting President with full Presidential Powers. Praise be the Almighty.

On the victory of Emmanuel Macron in France, I’m exhilarated that eccentrics are blazing the global trail. Over my head I see a ballot based peoples revolution in this clime come 2019. Not a long way off, Yes it is not.

I’m confident because the darkest point of the night is closest to dawn. And my faith is unwavering because the universe is just, and it tilts the pendulum of divine munificence the way of men and women of FAITH.

Do not worry about how this will happen, for it will. The prevalent existential pressure and the dire socio-economic strait faced by the ORDINARY PEOPLE tells the proximity of cosmic intervention, we must therefore be ready, willing and able. I AM IN, ARE YOU?

To be CONT’D.

By Chris Mustapha Nwaokobia Jnr
#COUNTRYFIRST

Since January 1, 2016, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations officially came into force. These are 17 targets which are divided into five major themes: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership. The Organisation of Flemish Cities and Municipalities (known by its Dutch acronym VVSG) has launched a pilot project where it seeks to recruit 20 volunteer Cities & Municipalities by 30 March 2017 to jointly examine how sustainability can be integrated coherently into the city and urban policy 2020-2024.

As the successor of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) SDG has a fundamental difference being that they no longer rely on the traditional North-South divide. According to the VVSG* Sustainable Developments are universal and apply to all countries in the world, North and South, East and West. This means that there are many challenges and yet many opportunities to jointly strive towards helping to tell this universal story. Therefore, it is logical that they are targeting mainly local governments as well as companies, universities, scientific institutions and associations. Ordinary citizens the world over are encouraged to play their parts.

For Ostend, and its Department for Social Welfare, also known as the Social House, as the arm of government closest to the people, SDG offers an interesting framework to create a link between the City Council and local practices on the one hand and local and global connection on the other. And Ostend is no starters in this domain. Oostende Mondiaal, the Municipal Council for International Development, for example, has long been active in the City-on-Sea with a strong 11-11-11 Standing Committee as well as the City-Link between Ostend City Council and Banjul City Council in The Gambia. The Gent City Council challenged several central cities and would collaborate with Ostend as SDG Voice within the framework of SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being. The City of Ghent is engaging Ostend for the project “Everybody Cycles” or “Iedereen Fietst”. In concrete both cities want as many people as possible to cultivate the habit of cycling both for its health and economic benefits.

Ostend needs the coaching and guidance provided by the VVSG mainly because in the long-term, it enables it to leverage on the strategic solutions to climate change, to ensure an accessible service for all and to galvanize citizens towards local consumption otherwise referred to as the ‘Short Food Chain’. These are all just examples of how sustainable development can be translated into the Ostend municipal level. There are strong indications that Ostend, being a mid-size metropolis, of huge cultural diversity, with over 130 different cultures, will see this as a unique opportunity “to contribute to the welfare of the citizens and to the sustainable development of the municipal area” as contained in Article 2 of the Municipal Decree.

Your guess is as good as mine as to whether Ostend will be one of 20 participants in the pilot project offered by the VVSG. The ball is now squarely on the court of the supervising Councillor for International Development, Tom Germonpré (sp.a) to deliver this project for Ostend. The deadline for signing up is 30 March 2017. Time is of essence!

The Dutch version first published in www.collinsnweke.be is available here

Collins Nweke | Green Party Councillor Ostend City Council Belgium

21 March 2017

*Based on briefing by VVSG International

President John Dramani Mahama in a State of the Nation address to mark Ghana’s 59th independence anniversary on March 6, 2016 made two important pronouncements with foreign relations implications. The first was his government’s plan to improve the knowledge and usage of French language in Anglophone Ghana, which is surrounded by French speaking nations. The advantages of this strategic initiative if effectively implemented are many.

The second policy statement of international import, but which almost escaped media attention is that, starting next July, citizens of the other 53 Member States of the African Union (AU) can “obtain visas on arrival (in Ghana) with the option of staying for up to 30 days.” President Mahama expects this measure to stimulate air travel, trade, investment and tourism in Ghana which, like many other African countries, is going through a difficult economic patch.

To his credit, under Ghana’s independence, President Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah, and until his overthrow in the coup of February 24, 1966, Ghana granted visa exemptions to “persons of African descent” born in the neighbouring West African countries, and members of the Casablanca Group – Guinea, Tunisia, Mali, United Arab Republic, Morocco and Algeria – which along with the Liberia Group, formed the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963, with the Pan-Africanist Ghanaian leader playing a leading role. In his 1961 book, I Speak of Freedom, Nkrumah had also expressed the hope that: …the African race, united under one federal government, will emerge not as just another world bloc to flaunt its wealth and strength, but as a Great Power whose greatness is indestructible because it is built not on fear, envy and suspicion, nor won at the expense of others, but founded on hope, trust, friendship and directed to the good of all mankind.”

But so much has happened with the concept of a United States of Africa, which took its origin from the 1924 poem “Hail, United States of Africa” by Marcus Garvey, American civil rights activist and great Pan-Africanist. The late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had romanced with the same idea in his relentless push for the formation of the AU, which succeeded the OAU in 2002, and many still talk with passion about the African Renaissance.

As expected the AU Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has lauded Ghana’s visa-on-arrival plan, expressing the hope that “many other African countries will follow suit, in the interest of achieving an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa.”

Modern Africa owes a debt of eternal gratitude to Pan-Africanists and independent leaders such as Nkrumah, for their sacrificial struggles, so any initiative that seeks to rekindle the dreams of those founding fathers must be welcomed by all true Africans and friends of Africa. But it is a strong indictment on the continent’s post-independent leadership that almost 60 years after many of the countries gained political freedom, Africans are more divided than ever. Africa is not zero-poor, but with the mismanagement of its rich human and natural resources, bad governance, corruption and the vicious circle of social strife, poverty and unemployment, there are today more skilled Africans in Europe, and the Americas than are in their home countries. And almost on a daily basis thousands of disillusioned, hopeless and desperate African youths risk their lives on perilous journeys to Europe.

Africa and Africans are fast losing their unique identity if they have not already done so, with Pan-Africanism now at best a slogan to the inattentive ears of present generation of Africans. Not a few African leaders have proclaimed or still proclaim Africa as the centrepiece of their national foreign policy. But the reality today is that while they continue to pay lip service to African unity, most of these leaders, under the guise of solving domestic problems, many of which are self-inflicted any way, steal their countries dry to build personal castles at home and abroad.

Ghana’s visa-on-arrival plan for AU citizens may also be viewed against the deafening complaints by African citizens about the difficulties and humiliations they suffer to obtain visas for Europe and the U.S. But the truth is that the process for obtaining visas to African countries is no less laborious and frustrating. For many Africans, travelling in the continent whether by road or by air is a nightmarish experience. In some cases air fares cost more than elsewhere while immigration and check points punctuate the transnational roads, some of which are in terrible conditions, with the attendant extortion of travellers by the border security personnel. The travel delays and the lack of deliberate pan-African national policies have ensured that intra-African trade hovers between 10% and 12% compared to 40% in North America and 60% in Western Europe.
The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) founded in 1975 deserves commendation for its 1979 flagship Protocol on Free Movement of persons, goods and services, rights to Establishment and Residence, which guarantees community citizens, a free-visa entry and stay in countries other than their own for 90 days at first instance. In spite of its imperfections, the implementation of this protocol is a major stride towards regional integration and makes ECOWAS the only Regional Economic Community (REC) with a free-visa regime.
Time was when Africans took refuge and were even provided the national passports of their host African countries during the independence struggles. Hundreds even received free education in their host countries during the Anti-Apartheid era. But with globalisation and world economic crisis African migrants who once constituted the bulwark of economic development on the continent, have become targets of violent xenophobic attacks by fellow Africans who accuse them of stealing their jobs.

If Europe is accused of erecting walls/fences to stop immigrants, African countries are no less guilty for the erection of invisible walls against fellow Africans even in their times of need.

With their ill-gotten wealth and multiple foreign visas, many African leaders and members of their families flaunt their ostentatious life styles abroad, while the majority of Africans are stranded and condemned to abject poverty at home. The same leaders bemoan capital flight and brain drain from Africa but do very little or nothing to incentivise or create the enabling environment to retain local capital or manpower. Instead, they encourage the mass exodus of Africa’s best brains; discourage foreign investment and incite social crisis that cause death, destruction and render citizens, refugees in their own countries. With their dual/multiple nationalities, these unpatriotic leaders easily disappear with their families to enjoy their ill-gotten wealth abroad.

As things stand, Africans must undertake a serious reality check to determine their Africanness and how they have derailed the lofty dreams of African founding fathers, for the purpose of damage control/limitation. Symbolic as Ghana’s visa-on-arrival initiative may seem, it is a reminder to Africans in general about where they are coming from. The AU and various Pan-Africanist groups/institutions and policy think-tanks must wake up from their slumber. It is bad enough that through slavery, colonial and neo-colonial exploitations and plundering, Africa’s sweat, blood and wealth were used to lay the foundations for the industrialisation and transformation of many countries in Europe and the Americas. For Africans themselves to now become champions of Africa’s disunity/disintegration, and the continued siphoning of the continent’s resources, is an unpardonable crime against humanity.

According to Marcus Garvey: “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” It is not enough for Africans to know their history and culture; or to continue to blame others for their woes, they must use that knowledge strategically to work for the good of present and future generations.

• First published in The Nigerian Guardian of 8 April 2016 under the title Ghana’s new visa plan and pan-Africanism by Paul  Ejime, a media/communications consultant

Abstract of a Keynote Presentation I made at the NIDO Europe Orientation and Leadership Retreat, Hamburg, Germany. 17 -18 February 2017 entitled THE ROLE OF THE DIASPORA IN NIGERIAN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND NATION BUILDING: A Historical Perspective & Review.*

Recent discourse on the participation of the Nigerian Diaspora in national development has played up two main phenomena: Brain Drain and Brain Gain. While brain drain refers to mass migration of Nigerians of working age out of Nigeria, brain gain touches on the return of these nationals, often with resources, both capital and human, required for national development and nation building.

To exploit the goodies of brain gain, a good understanding of brain drain is omissible. Why and during which period was the brain of Nigerians drained in such significant and noticeable numbers? What factors gave rise to the drain? What exactly has been drained and to what extent has the drain constituted a cog in the wheel of national development? Available literatures examining brain drain puts the number of Nigerians permanently based abroad at between 6 and 9 Million. The vast majority are gainfully employed and contributing meaningfully to the socio-economic development of their host countries. Tens of thousands of the active professional Nigerians based outside Nigeria are world-class inventors, medical professionals, and experts in science, technology, the economy, politics and other fields. These include first generation Nigerian migrants whose initial orientation was Nigeria prior to their sojourns abroad as well as their offspring born abroad and currently hitting up to the third generations.

The presentation on The role of the Diaspora in Nigerian National Development and Nation Building posits that human capital resources of Nigeria have continued to play decisive roles in other economies of the world, while national economy of Nigeria stagnated between 1960 and 1999. This constituted a strangling setback on national development and informed Government’s resolve under President Olusegun Obasanjo, with the return to democracy in 1999, to have its Diaspora organized and reverse the brain drain to brain gain.

The pertinence of an organized Diaspora was reviewed against an unorganized Diaspora and an attempt made at establishing the collateral loss to the nation by the situation. The presentation further examines the role of visionary, proactive governance as opposed to leadership by exigencies in the identification of the potential impact Nigerian Diaspora will have on national rebirth. It is the assertion of the presentation that talks of Brain Gain are no happenstance but by the execution of a set of deliberately planned and strategically deployed actions by both Government and the Diaspora.

Examining existing mobilization methods and engagement tools in facilitating brain gain, it is the contention of the presentation that reversing the incidence of poverty, Nigeria’s greatest nemesis; gaining back the brains of the Nigerian Diaspora is a critical success factor. While copiously acknowledging that the job of gaining back the lost human capital of Nigeria resulted from visionary leadership of Government and is currently work in progress, both sides – Government and Diaspora – have their distinct roles naturally caved out and must take these roles seriously if the brain gain project is to be the success that it ought to be.

Drawing from examples globally where Diaspora mobilization have resulted in socio-economic transformation, the presentation advocates a number of measures, untried in Nigeria as it were, to mine the abundant human capital reservoir of the country towards accelerated national development.

*To request full paper / presentation, send an email to admin@collinsnweke.eu

The National Bureau of Statistics released today the Internally  Generated Revenue at State level for January to June 2016.

In the report, Lagos State recorded the highest Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) figure of N150.59bn in Half Year (H1) 2016, closely followed by Ogun State with N28.15bn while Nasarrawa State generated the lowest revenue for the period under reference at N1.05bn.

“It is encouraging to note from the figures that Internally Generated Revenues for Delta State increased from N34.75bn in 2011 to N44.89bn in 2016 but yet to rival the 2013 peak of N50.21bn. This trend appears to mirror the situation in an average State (see: NBS States H1 2016 IGR – Internally Generated Revenue – all States) In a low oil yield regime, this along with non-oil export must be stepped up” reacted Collins Nweke, Global Affairs Analysis for Television Continental in an early assessment of the performance

For this period, seven (7) states are yet to report their  H1 2016 Internally Generated Revenue figures. These are Abia, Anambra, Bauchi, Ebonyi, Oyo, Rivers and Sokoto.  A total of N317.79bn was generated by twenty-nine (29) states that have reported their H1 2016 Internally Generated Revenue figure and the revenue was generated across the following types – PAYE, Direct Assessment, Road Taxes, Revenue from Ministries, Departments & Agencies and other taxes.

Being the full text of the address of Dr Goodluck Jonathan, immediate past President of Nigeria at the Oxford Union, England on Monday 24 October 2016

Protocols.

1.    It is my pleasure and a great honour to be in the hallowed chambers of the Oxford University, one of the world’s most prestigious universities, not just to speak, but to exchange ideas and answer questions from you, some of the world’s most brilliant youths and future leaders.

2.   It is instructive to note that since 1823, the Oxford Union has consistently presented this platform for scholarly and social congregation of the student population, the interchange of ideas, propagation of views in the enhancement of knowledge, and for the overall good of mankind.

3. This is highly commendable.

4. This discussion is topical for our global search for development and security. The issue of youth entrepreneurship in Africa is very critical, as Africa is the only continent in which we will witness a population boom in our lifetime.

5. Studies reveal the symbiotic relationship between youth unemployment and youth restiveness. Accordingly, most violent crises in Africa have been traced to a lack of education among its teeming youth population.

6. Genuine search for development and sustainable peace must therefore begin with youth empowerment and entrepreneurship.

7. When I was Governor of Bayelsa State and later the President of Nigeria, I asked myself some critical questions;
·   Why are some nations rich and some poor?
· Why do individuals that grow up in similar circumstances end up differently, with some as successes and others as failures?
· Is the wealth of nations a result of geography, weather, culture, destiny, etc.?
·  What could a leader do to effectively lift a people out of the depths of poverty, and enable them to achieve prosperity?

8.  After much soul searching, my conviction in regards to these questions is this : wealth is a creation of the human mind properly prepared by education.

9.  It is my firm belief that any Nation that does not spend its wealth and resources to developing the capacity of its youth  will eventually be forced to devote its resources to fight insecurity amongst those same youths.

10.  As a leader, you can decide through your policies to educate the youths,  or face the consequences of failing to do so. The problem all African leaders have is how to manage the youth bulge. Do we consider this a ticking time bomb or an opportunity?

11.  To me there are two key areas we must invest our resources if we are to convert this perceived time bomb to the opportunity I believe it is. The first is requisite education and capacity building. This should be followed by enabling  youth entrepreneurship. Allow me to share with you a brief account of the implementation of my vision to empower the youth.

12.  Within a year of my stewardship as the Governor of Bayelsa State, I gave Education a top priority.

13.  I provided infrastructure in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions and gave undergraduate students financial assistance in the form of Bursary awards.

14.  I started building two special post primary schools for gifted and talented children.  The relevance of the gifted children school is obvious. For the talented children, the idea is to develop their natural talents in addition to sound education so that at graduation they can make a living from their God given talents if they choose to do so.

15.  While construction work was on-going in the special schools, we initiated a program to encourage the best brains of the State. We selected through competitive entrance examinations the most brilliant pupils in our primary schools and sent them to the best secondary schools in the country.

16.  The idea was for the State Government to take care of the best brains from the post primary through the tertiary level of their educational career and ensure that they attend the best institutions anywhere in the world. It was designed for a minimum of 100 pupils to be selected for this program annually. I left the State after one year and five months to contest election as the Vice President, and therefore could not see the idea through.

17.  Upon assumption of office as President of Nigeria, I launched a similar program called the Presidential Special Scholarship Scheme for Innovation and Development. [PRESSID] This scheme nurtured a select cadre of professionals, to serve as facilitators for accelerated, sustainable, economic and technological advancement.

18. Each year, through competitive examinations, we selected between 100-to-120 first class graduates and sent them to the top universities in the world to study for higher degrees. These students were drawn from various STEM disciplines. Let me mention here that Oxford University was an integral part of this program and indeed, a favourite for most of our applicants.

19.  The essence of the program was to get a crop of youth over a period of time that will advance our course technologically. When I launched the program, I did mention that we were training young people that will take Nigeria to the moon.

20. In addition to this, my administration also gave a series of educational incentives to university students across the country.

21. We established twelve conventional Universities and a specialized Maritime University.  To assist the disadvantaged children in Northern Nigeria, we built 165 special schools known as “Almajiri School” that integrated Islamic culture into Western education.

22. The foundational theme of my Administration was ‘The Transformation Agenda’. It was conceived to engage the latent potential in the entire nation, and to stimulate and enable higher productivity. And this was also the foundation of our youth development drive.

23. The Transformation Agenda sought to address the problems of youth job creation, with emphasis not just in getting our young citizens employed, but in assisting them in acquiring the right skills, and providing the requisite support. This was to enable them set up and run their own businesses; thereby becoming employers of labour themselves.

24. In Nigeria and most African countries, there are well-educated young people. The problem is how to create  opportunities for them. My Administration came up with various programs to encourage young entrepreneurs. The most popular is the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria “YouWIN”.

25. It was a unique intervention launched in 2012, which targeted youth with unique business proposals in startups and expansion of existing enterprises. YouWin is structured as a competitive cyclic initiative which invites and reviews Business Plans submitted by Youth. Young people who wanted to be entrepreneurs were asked to submit their business proposals. The best business plans were chosen based on relevance, profitability, demand and practicability. The winners were trained and given grants.

26.  YouWIN was multi-sector- cutting across light manufacturing, food processing, and the service sector.

27.  The motivation for this program is for young people to go into SMEs, create jobs for other young people with the expectation that some would grow to large scale businesses. In addition to YouWin, under our broad based Agricultural Transformation Agenda, we developed the Youth Employment in Agriculture Program [YEAP] – and like many of our other youth programs, we incorporated the youth themselves in its design.

28.  This took a complete value chain approach from farming to processing and marketing. Just like in the YouWIN initiative, my Administration gave young farmers grants and training. The young people who were involved were called “Nagropreneurs”.

29.  We also launched The Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS). The objective of this program was to provide temporary work experience for fresh graduates, to enhance their capacity to attract permanent jobs.  Eligible graduates are posted to corporations and companies in the private and public sectors. They received practical training and mentorship for a one-year period, within which remuneration is paid by the government.  This enabled the young graduates to acquire relevant experience.

30. We also increased the allowances due to Youth Corp members by more than 100% in 2011. This was in line with our policy of youth empowerment and development.

31. To ensure that the Nigerian youth benefit massively in the ICT revolution, we created a special Ministry of Communication Technology. We wanted the Nigerian Youth to be self-employed and exploit the advantages of ICT.  The Ministry, among other things, improved broadband penetration, set up ICT incubation centres in Lagos and Calabar.

32. The efforts of the Young software engineers at the Lagos Co-Creation Hub (CC Hub) became so successful that it did not only give birth to many thriving start-ups, but their activities also attracted the attention of Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg who chose it as his first stop during his first ever visit to Africa.

33. One sector we deliberately encouraged to stimulate job growth for Nigerian Youth was the Nigerian entertainment industry. We identified Nollywood as a sector that can employ many young people. We provided a grant of $200 million and for the first time, Nollywood became a major contributor to our GDP. In 2014, Nollywood contributed 1.4% to our GDP.

34. The sporting industry was also not left out. We encouraged our young people in that sector. I was to launch a Fund to encourage sporting activities in the Country but I had to bow out by 29th of May 2015. Nigeria has a crop of talented youth but the nation has not properly keyed into the global sports industry.  The Fund would have been a catalyst to promoting the Nigerian sports industry by promoting training, welfare of athletes and manufacturing of sporting equipment among other things.

35.  Distinguished audience let me conclude my speech by urging contemporary African leaders to see youth entrepreneurship as a collective project transcending national boundaries.

36.  I believe in the Nigerian youth and indeed African Youths.  My conviction is not only an emotional one, but one grounded in my experience with youths from all over the continent. You will agree that foremost in the minds of many youth, is a desire to develop their dreams and potentials. Placing them closer to the driving wheel, does a lot for their confidence.

37.  Despite incredible challenges, Nigerian youths are achieving great things and placing Nigeria positively in the world map. Nigerian youths are an inspiration to their leaders.

38.  I once said that I was not elected President of Nigeria to spread poverty, I was elected to generate and spread wealth. My belief in this regard is that getting a job or being a worker cannot completely cure the disease of poverty. It is only your own business that can provide such security and give you the financial freedom you need to prosper.

39. That was why my Administration introduced these initiatives and policies, to enable Nigeria’s youths take their own destinies in their hands.

40. You can appreciate that there was a lot of emphasis on education during my time at the helm of both my State and my Nation. This is because the richest people today are those who develop ideas and commercialize them. Viable ideas can only come from educated minds, and money pursues ideas. My three flagship programmes ie the gifted and talented children schools in Bayelsa State, the Presidential Special Scholarship Scheme for Innovation and Development and the ICT Incubation Centers (Co-Creation Hub) were geared towards developing that calibre of youth.

41. We may not have been perfect, but we did our best, and our best yielded an era of unprecedented economic growth for Nigeria.

42. A growth that proved the truism that a Nation’s wealth is not underneath the ground but between the ears of her people.

43. Under my watch, Nigeria was projected by CNN Money to be the third fastest growing economy in the world for the year 2015 and rated as the largest economy in Africa and the 23rd in the world by the World Bank and the IMF, with a GDP above half a Trillion US dollars.

44. These in a nutshell are some of the ways we were able to promote youth enterprise; a topic that I know is of utmost interest to many of you here.

45. Thank you for taking the time to listen to me.

46. I shall now take your questions.