NITMA 2025 to celebrate people power in Nigeria’s digital transformation - NITMA

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The 2025 National Information Technology Merit Awards (NITMA), billed for November 20 at MUSON Centre, Lagos, will not only be another award night but also a celebration of people driving Nigeria’s digital transformation story.

According to the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), this year’s award categories were carefully crafted to spotlight individuals and institutions making a tangible difference in the lives of Nigerians through technology.

PHCs: Lagos SAT visits Epe facilities, Vice-Chairman urges people on usage - ITREALMS

A wake-up call has been made to the community dwellers in Epe axis of Lagos State, to frequent the health facilities in their domain like the Primary Health Centres (PHC) established to solely provide health services delivery to them, reports ITREALMS.

This call was made by the Vice Chairman, Epe Local Government Area (LGA), Hon. Sikiru Adeniyi Owolomoshe while receiving the State Advocacy Team (SAT) in his office on Monday.

Orange Digital Center to train young people in digital skills - ITREALMS

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The Orange is proud to inaugurate the Orange Digital Center (ODC) Guinea-Bissau, an ecosystem dedicated to the development of digital skills to promote innovation, strengthen the employability of young people and support local entrepreneurship. 

The ceremony is taking place in the presence of high-level political authorities, including the Minister of Transport, Telecoms and the Digital Economy, members of Orange Guinea Bissau management team and members of the Orange Africa and Middle East Management Committee.

Emir applauds Lagos Motor Show, tasks Nigerians on collaboration - ITREALMS

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A collaboration between the government and the good people is the panacea to alleviate the current economic hardship irrespective of the challenges being faced in the country as protest or demonstrations will not bring a lasting solutions, reports ITREALMS.

This charge was made by the Emir of Borgu, Niger State, Alhaji Muhammed Haliru Dantoro during his opening speech at the maiden edition of Lagos Motor Show (LMS) held at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Onikan, Lagos on Saturday.

'Telecoms: Driving growth in Nigeria through connecting people, transforming lives' - ITREALMS

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The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Africa, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya, has declared that telecommunications industry is driving growth in Nigeria through connecting people and transforming lives, reports ITREALMS.

Ogunsanya in his keynote address at the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) Sharing Experience Series 2023, described telecoms as an industry that empowers both individuals and organizations, by eliminating certain barriers simply by connecting people.

Niger Delta people: Lagos election, declaration of war against our people - ITREALMS

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The Indigenous People of Niger Delta (IPND) has declared that the level of harassment and intimidation, and threat to lives of Ndigbo in Lagos is a declaration of war against their people, warning Yoruba warmongers that their peaceful nature and hospitality should not be taken for cowardice, reports ITREALMS.

President General, Indigenous People of Niger Delta (IPND), Tiemo Pumokumo made this known and warned the definition of the Ndigbo in those attacks were targeted at non-indigenes of both South-East and South South among citizens from other parts of the country outside Yoruba land.

Radio Ijangbara is illegal says NBC, warns promoters to stop misleading people - ITREALMS

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The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has kicked against proposed unveiling of Radio Ijangbara, describing it as illegal broadcast signal, reports ITREALMS.

Director-General of NBC, Malam Balarabe Shehu Ilelah in a public statement personally signed on Friday, December 30, 2022 and made available to ITREALMS, said that their attention has been brought to the plans by Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide to formally commence broadcast on January 1, 2023 under the Radio Ijangbara.

AFTTA advocates regular training to lift people out of poverty, mitigate braindrain - ITREALMS

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The Association of Formally Trained Theatre Artists (AFTTA), in collaboration with Nigeria Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, Responsible Leaders Concerts Limited, Kabesi Owurolawa Foundation, a New Genesis International (USA), has described training and retraining as a tool to mitigate brain drain in the society and in all professions in order to lift people out of poverty, reports ITREALMS.

This was made known at Money Makers Dinner event held at Lagos State Television (LTV) Compound Agidingbi-Ikeja, Lagos, organized by Amb. Dr. Edward Olutoke, who said the gesture was to train people on how to engage in business with good ideas in order to make money.

The imperative of ‘people’s manifesto’ - ITREALMS

Commentary@ITREALMS:

In the 20 months since I wrote “Drafting a people’s manifesto” and “Further notes on the people’s manifesto” (February/March, 2018), a sufficient number of significant things have happened and are happening in our country, Nigeria, in the Nigerian Left, to the Nigerian Left and in the world to raise the level of the urgency of the broad suggestion I alternately called “draft” and “notes”. The use of these terms to describe my attempt was a cautious way of indicating that I was not, and could not be, publishing a manifesto on behalf of the Nigerian Left. I could only suggest, propose and urge—not as a detached outsider, but as an active insider.

One possible manner of appearance of an authentic “people’s manifesto” is clear to me and I expressed it in my piece, “Preliminary notes on RevolutionNow” (August 15, 2019). What I said then can be re-stated, perhaps more clearly: Variants of RevolutionNow (August 5, 2019) may be attempted again and again until a particular attempt initiates a popular revolt which will simultaneously produce an authentic “people’s manifesto” and a substantial and effective unity of Left forces.

This follow-up piece is also not a manifesto, nor can it be. And it is not a call for revolution. The preceding paragraph is a statement of possibility informed by history and experience: distant, recent and current. Having said this we should also quickly add and emphasise that no serious Left formation or serious Left programme can be based—solely or even substantially—on the possibility of popular political eruptions.



You only have to recognize that possibility of spontaneous revolts while struggling, campaigning, mobilizing and organizing. History and experience have sufficiently shown us that the absence of this recognition of possibility and therefore, the need for “sideline” preparations for it—is the dominant reason for “betrayals” and “hijackings” of popular political upheavals when they occur. Put differently, “betrayals” and “hijackings” of popular revolts are indicators of the level of organization of the Left. Most of the present seemingly chronic and insurmountable obstacles in the path of Left unity will evaporate at a revolutionary conjuncture we may not be able to predict.

The “manifesto of the Nigerian people”, or the “people’s manifesto”, as indicated in an earlier piece, and now being strengthened, has a double character or two forms. In the first place, it is a Nigerian Left’s manifesto in the ordinary sense of the term, “manifesto”: a “public declaration of intentions, motives or views”, of what it intends to do, at the very least, if it comes to power or office.

In the second place, it is a Nigerian People’s Charter of Demands presented to the Nigerian state by the Nigerian Left, in the name of the Nigerian people (popular masses). Hence the people’s manifesto, or distillations from it, can be used for elections as (campaign platform) and for general popular struggle. History shows us that this dual character of the “people’s manifesto” lies at the roots of its popular acceptance, its power and its resilience. These are primary tests of a “people’s manifesto”.

The events or “things” to which I referred in the opening sentence of this piece include Elections 2019 and the recent Supreme Court’s effective “closure” of the exercise; the steady decline of the state of the country’s physical infrastructure; the steady rise in the levels of unemployment, poverty and “insecurity”; the steady increase of the burden of living and reproducing life imposed by the Nigerian state on the masses of the Nigerian people; intensifying violent struggles within the ruling class for the control of political power and the economic surpluses extracted from the labour of the working and toiling masses—struggles in which the same masses are foot-soldiers and primary victims; and, generally, the steady decline of the quality of life of the broad masses of the Nigerian people - the “minimum wage” and its politics notwithstanding.

The significant events of the last 20 months also include the successful holding of a Conference of Marxism—resulting, among other things, in the establishment of a vibrant discussion platform for Marxists. This came as a qualitative addition to older but not-too-vibrant platforms for socialists and Leftists. Also appearing as a significant event is RevolutionNow and the current trial of its leader and a number of its lead partisans; the increasing fascist encroachment on the Nigerian people’s civil and democratic rights; the appearance of new popular-democratic platforms with credible leaderships—at the same time as the appearance of potentially-willing foot soldiers of full-scale fascism.

Finally, the significant events include the current world-wide popular protests in virtually all the continents and regions of the world. Here it is unnecessarily scholastic to start classifying the protests as “revolutionary”, “democratic”, “progressive”, “reactionary”, etc. The first task is to determine whether a protest is popular or not. Then identify and determine the “specific weight” of each ideological tendency in the protest. For the Left, that is where the lessons reside. Do not expect a “pure” protest.

The central message of the “people’s manifesto” at this point in history should be that the various negative and undesirable aspects of Nigeria’s current reality—as partially sketched above—can be arrested and reversed by the efforts of the Nigerian masses acting directly (that is, spontaneously), and as mobilized through their popular-democratic formations and coordinated by the Nigerian Left. But, then, who or what is the Nigerian Left? What are its antecedents and credentials? How does it intend to carry out its promise? How is its message, together with the description of the reality on which it is based, different from what the masses have been hearing over the years, since independence, from regime to regime?

These questions must be answered in the “people’s manifesto”. But before they are answered in the manifesto the Nigerian Left must answer them to itself. The latter is a condition for the former. And if it cannot answer anyone of them convincingly to itself, then it has to return to the drawing board. And in returning to the drawing-board, the identified three forms of struggle (direct, popular-democratic and Left) and their coordination should be more thoroughly interrogated. And remember: “Without a guiding organization the energy of the masses would dissipate like steam not enclosed in a piston box. But, nevertheless, what moves things is not the piston or the box, but the steam”.

Since the “people’s manifesto” will be a formal document it has to be appropriately structured, with a “table of contents”. The following six-point structure is an illustration: Who are the Nigerian Left? What country do Nigerian people now have?; What country do Nigerian people desire and deserve to have?; For a popular-democratic Nigeria: How the desirable will become the realizable; Immediate steps to be taken on coming to power or office; and Exhortation on the essential continuity of the struggle until victory, and beyond victory.

So, what should be done? I recall what I proposed about 10 months ago: “The next qualitative step (for the Nigerian Left) is not the formation of new parties or groups, or renewed attempts to register those already in existence, but the establishment of a Centre for coordination, ideological education, research, documentation and publicity.” But two questions now emerge: Can there be more than one Coordinating Centre? Yes, there can be. But I believe that the Nigerian Left is tired of the futility of multiplicity of formations. How many successful conferences on Marxism or similar efforts have we had in the last decade? And, can be there be more than one “people’s manifesto”? Yes, there can be. But how many Left declarations and platforms have we had in the last decade and how many have survived? From the Nigerian Left history now demands a qualitative step forward - to save the nation.

*Edwin Madunagu, mathematician and journalist, writes from Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria.
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ICT skills wanted to connect people everywhere - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

More people may have access to and are using the Internet but how skillful are they in the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to connect people everywhere, asks the ITU’s Measuring the Information Society Report 2018, reports ITREALMS.

At the same time, ICT prices have dropped globally in the last decade. Improved ICT regulation and policy-making have played a pivotal role in creating the conditions for the reduction of prices, ensuring that part of the efficiency gains of higher ICT adoption are passed on to consumers.

“This year’s report shows how increased investment in broadband technologies is driving the global digital transformation and enabling more people to access a myriad of services at the click of a button,” says ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. “At the just concluded Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-18) held in Dubai, ITU Member States approved the four-year Strategic and Financial Plan, which includes a strong commitment to ITU’s statistical work. We will work together to build the ICT infrastructure and develop ICT skills necessary to foster inclusive economic growth, drive innovation and bridge the digital divide.”

“Now in its tenth year, ITU’s annual flagship report is widely recognized as a source of the world's most reliable and impartial data and analysis on the state of global telecommunication/ICT sector,” says Brahima Sanou, Director of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau. “Our analysis shows that digital technologies are fundamentally transforming the way we live and offering important opportunities for boosting economic growth, enhancing communications, improving energy efficiency, safeguarding the planet and improving people’s lives.”
ITREALMS gathered that the report finded out that there continues to be a general upward trend in the access to and use of ICTs. Most importantly, the world has crossed the halfway line in terms of Internet use, with 51.2 per cent of the world population using the Internet by the end of 2018.

Equally, ITREALMS reports that lack of or inadequate ICT skills are a major impediment for people to access the Internet. ITUdata and other cross-nationally comparative data sources show that there are considerable gaps across the board in the skills needed. A third of individuals lack basic digital skills, such as copying files or folders or using copy and paste tools; a mere 41 per cent have standard skills, such as installing or configuring software or using basic formulas on spreadsheets; and only 4 per cent are using specialist language to write computer programmes.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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Short-termism impedes progress of million people

ITREALMS:

A major report released in advance of the G20 and World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings has revealed that short-termism impedes progress of hundreds of millions of people, reports ITRealms.

According to the reports, the prospects of around 800 million of the world’s poorest people remain dire.

The global economy, the UN report hinted, is experiencing a moderate upturn, and momentum around sustainable investing is growing.

But the vast majority of investment is still short-term oriented and commitments by the international community to create sustainable economies are not being met.

ITRealms gathered that there is an increasing interest in socially responsible investing, but that is no substitute for a broader transformation in the financial system.

Just as the report states that the current system rewards investors, financiers and project managers that prioritize short-term profits. Similarly, policy makers are excessively focused on short-term considerations. But there is a price to pay. Infrastructure projects are shelved in favour of short term priorities. Small businesses and women remain excluded from the financial system.

LIU Zhenmin, Under-Secretary-General for the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs said, “The good economic news in some regions masks the very real risk that the poorest will be left behind, There is no room for complacency.”

“If we don’t invest in infrastructure projects like bridges, roads and sewage systems, if the poorest and women are cut off from access to credit and other financial services, we have little prospect of achieving our global goals,” he added.

Per capita growth remains negative or insignificant in many countries where the poverty rate is already high, entrenching inequality.

Overcoming the short-term outlook of many investors is a complex but urgent issue, according to “Financing for Development: Progress and Prospects,” the 2018 comprehensive annual progress report on how to finance the Sustainable Development Goals. 

Pension funds, insurance companies and other institutional investors hold around $80 trillion in assets. But the majority of their resources are invested in liquid assets, such as listed equities and bonds in developed countries.  Investment in infrastructure still represents less than 3 per cent of pension fund assets, with investment in sustainable infrastructure in developing countries even lower.

The lack of long-term investment horizons also means that major risks, such as those from climate change, are not incorporated into decision-making.

According to the report, the solution lies in a multifaceted approach. It includes changing payment practices: the compensation of financial advisors and portfolio managers is too often linked to short term results. More transparency also helps: some countries now require all listed companies to disclose financial risks they face from climate change.

Short-sighted policies also result in a lack of access to finance for countries in urgent need. Support for countries affected by disasters is often too little, too late. Innovative financial instruments exist that provide quicker access to funding. Countries can set up insurance-like mechanisms, and the international community can support those that can’t afford premiums. Loans can be set up to reduce repayments automatically during crises. But so far, major funders have not taken up these promising tools.

“We have to reach beyond the quick fix if we are going to create a world that can sustain all of us,” said Navid Hanif, Director of Financing for Sustainable Development Office. “Political leadership and public policies are indispensable.”

It takes leadership to overcome short-term political cycles, devise and enforce rules which have widespread benefits but may face resistance by powerful groups, for example tax reforms and stopping illicit financial flows, the report notes.

The report emphasizes that in donor countries, political leaders must do more to meet their commitment to provide financial assistance to the world’s most vulnerable countries. 

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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Tinubu calls for more investment in people

ITREALMS:

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called for more investment in the people, describing it as more accurate perspective, reports ITRealms.

In his address at the 10^th annual Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) Colloquium in Lagos, Thursday, the national leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC), said despite the hurdles and difficulties that come, “let this noble effort become our national reality for the sake of those amongst us most in need, for the sake of the present generation and for the sake of generations yet to come.”

Mis-investment, he said, comes with steep opportunity costs, stressing that the misapplication of one naira means one naira less for a more appropriate investment.

“In a way, this represents a double loss. Here I shall depart from the mainstream approach that draws a line between capital investment and what many people now call human capital investment.

“We now speak of the two as if they were conflicting opposites, inherently at odds with each other.

“This is not a wise road to travel.  Instead, we must think of them as points along the same continuum. Instead of being opposites, they are in fact similar and complementary, the one to the other,” he said.

Tinubu pointed out that human capital investment connotes expenditures that improve the inner capacity or wellbeing of a person or populace. Things such as education and health care come quickly to mind.

“Traditional capital investment connotes expenditure on instrumentalities external to a person that improves his ability to further improve his productivity or lifestyle. These are things like roads and power.

In between, he said, lie things like potable water which has clear human capital as well as traditional capital investment dividends.

For Asiwaju, both forms of investment are related; both ultimately benefit the people. No right-minded government builds a road but forbids travelers its usage. Better roads lessen accidents, reduce travel time and cut costs of business and goods.

Emphasising that electric power is not generated merely for its own sake but so people can work more efficiently and live in greater comfort.

“It allows students to read into the night, learning more and learning better; it permits hospitals to utilize equipment and procedures that can save thousands of lives otherwise lost,” he said.

In addition, he said, "It allow factories to hum 24 hours a day, producing jobs and goods that increase the wealth and welfare of a people. Thus, investing in roads is more an investment in the people who use them than an investment in the gravel and tar that comprise the paved way.

Investment in power, Tinubu said, is at its "essence more an investment in the people who will rely on it to improve their activities and efforts than it is merely an investment in turbines and other physical equipment... Thus, our task is not to draw an artificial boundary between the two types of investment.

"Our task must be to re-integrate these two components into a coherent plan where finite resources are allocated in ways that respond to present urgencies yet also answer the burning question of how to best achieve durable economic growth for all segments of society.

"It is at this point that we must draw a different conceptual distinction than the one normally drawn between physical capital and human capital investment. I posit that we profit more by drawing a conceptual distinction between the type of social investment that helps us manage or mitigate poverty as compared to that investment which leads to economic growth that reduces if not eliminates poverty at its very root.

"Poverty mitigating investment may soften the harshest blows of penury but such investment offers no great escape from it," he said, citing for an instance, that every human being has a right to health care. Giving such care is a moral duty of any compassionate government. Yet, however healthy that person may become as a result, this does not mean his economic situation will necessarily improve because of better health.

The same goes for education. We already have many intelligent graduates whose abilities did not meet a job because there simply were no jobs to meet.

Over the decades, we have built legions of people who are well educated but not for this economy and this job market.

We must remember that education is not an abstraction. While education is a virtue in itself,  it also must have practical utility or else it will become a discredited, even detested thing.

A key purpose of education is to provide a person the skills required to earn a living within the context of a given economic environment. There is no pressing need to teach a desert nomad to scuba dive or to instruct a fisherman in the Delta the intricacies of hunting a polar bear or riding a camel.

Education must be wedded to the economy that now exists as well as to the economy that shall be in the foreseeable future.

The able-bodied Africans who braved the harsh desert crossing of the Sahara only to further brave the death waters of the Mediterranean Sea do so not in search for better healthcare or even education for the most part.

They do so in search of meaningful work, the money, as well as the sense of independent existence and self worth that such work can bring.

This is the compelling force.

Thus, any responsible government and society must heavily invest in those things that promise economic prosperity and employment. This is the primary challenge government must meet.

While government cannot ignore investments that lessen the grimmest effects of poverty, we also must face the hard fact that a nation cannot truly defeat poverty without generating broadly-shared economic growth through prudent investment in infrastructure, industrial development, and agricultural modernization.

My life has been dedicated to the proposition that Nigeria can grow and overcome poverty, not just live with a less brutal version of poverty. 

After 66 years, I am not about to change my walk or change my talk at this point.

There is something we must examine more closely.  The chorus of Western-appointed experts sings that we must target certain levels of expenditure on various programs to reach sustainable growth.

Few people dare question the veracity of this claim, the soundness of this song. However, the question of cause and effect casts a long shadow over the entire procession.

Is it true that sustaining certain levels of expenditures will bring economic development?

Or is the deeper, more fundamental truth that economic development will generate heightened levels of social expenditure?

Economic history points to the latter explanation as the most viable road to durable national improvement.

We must define our path to development correctly if we are to have any chance of following that path faithfully.

Yes, our society must invest sufficiently in lessening the most brutal aspects of poverty. We cannot allow people to be broken by poverty unattended. 

However, the great escape from poverty comes not by making poverty more livable. Our escape comes by burying poverty under an edifice of wealth creation and equitable distribution of said wealth.

This is only done by economic growth. This is how England, America and China did it.

As these nations represent the past, present and immediate future of economic greatness, we should learn more from what they did for themselves than from what they say we should do.

Here, I offer a few suggestions that may help blunt the effects of poverty while ensuring sustained growth to increase our national standard of living. We must:

1. Stimulate the economy by investment in new generation technology and its resultant infrastructure. This must be at the heart of our national infrastructure planning.

2. Encourage private sector investment in labor intensive industries by reducing barriers to entry in these sectors and by helping such enterprises to be cost competitive. This must be the core of our national industrial plan.

3.  Continue massive investment in agricultural output and move to establish commodity boards and commodity exchanges so that farmers will be assured of a livable income. Farm mortgages should be more accessible to give farmers a pathway to credit to procure better equipment and inputs.

4. Help the elderly.  We must continue to improve the pension system.  This will reduce poverty among the elderly while generating additional economic activity through enhanced consumer demand. Moreover, this is the moral thing to do.

5. Reform the mortgage system to facilitate credit expansion in a manner that allows the real estate sector to become a key driver of overall economic growth and that opens the door to affordable housing throughout the land.

6. Extend school feeding programs into all states.

7. Promote judicial reform to insulate jurists and the legal system from corruption.  Providing attractive salaries and allowances will make jurists less susceptible to the corrupt temptations and illicit requests that distort the cause of justice.

8. Create a blue ribbon panel that identify ways to eliminate all forms of wrongful discrimination in our land. Every Nigerian must be seen as a full and complete Nigerian in whatever part of the nation he may go, no matter what part of the nation from which he came.

Our task is to define ourselves. That means we must think for ourselves.  

We are a populous, richly endowed nation.  The growth of neighboring countries depends on ours. We hold a responsibility greater than ourselves.

We must act with care. Prudence suggests that we learn our most profound lessons from those nations that have already climbed the highest rungs of the global economic ladder.

As such, this requires that we reject the artificial difference between human capital and normal capital investment. 

All investment, if used constructively, benefits the people and thus can be called human capital investment.

As such, the term human capital investment really tells us nothing of value when it comes to defining the correct path to optimal growth.

To forge that path, we must strike the correct balance between investment that mitigates or temporarily relieves the worst of poverty and that type of investment that sparks long-term economic growth that will divorce the poor from poverty.

"For our goal is not to endure a less biting poverty. Our goal is to enter into an era of robust prosperity.

This, my friends, my brothers and sisters, my compatriots is the only way I know for our nation to invest in its people so that they may become what God intended them to be.

Ayo Midele/GEE

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Drafting a people’s manifesto

Commentary@ITREALMS:

It is now appropriate, indeed imperative, for the Nigerian Left to present its own manifesto to the country. This should be in form of a people’s manifesto, a people’s charter of demands in a situation of national emergency. A people’s manifesto at this point in our history is not a dissertation-like programme of social transformation, the type of thing any Left formation should be able to produce in 24 hours. Rather, it should be a clear and concise statement of not only what the Left believes should be done to reprieve the nation from a threatening catastrophe, but also a statement of what—in alliance with other socio-political forces—the Left can mobilize the Nigerian people to do.

To put the matter differently, a people’s manifesto at this time is first and foremost a Nigerian Left’s manifesto in the ordinary sense of the word: a “public declaration of intentions, motives, or views” or a “public statement of policy or opinion”. Yes; but beyond this, a people’s manifesto is a people’s charter of demands presented to the Nigerian state and governments by the Nigerian Left. A people’s manifesto has this double character because although it can be used for an election, it is not election-bound.

This opening declaration should, however, not be misunderstood as implying that without an explicitly Left intervention, the country is doomed. No. Nigeria can still be reprieved—as it was reprieved in 2015—and before that, in 1993 and at some other critical points in the country’s post-civil war history. What my proposition should be understood as implying is that if the country continues in its present course, a reprieve from catastrophe will again be a temporary or false one. And a temporary or false reprieve will, again, make the nation’s fundamental problems more acute and complex when they explode again in a conjuncture—as will surely happen again. The problems will then be much more difficult to resolve in the context and framework of a single country.

This article is, however, not the people’s manifesto as advocated. It is rather the initiation of a discussion on its contents, nature, parameters and politics. An illustration will also be provided.

A Nigerian people’s manifesto drafted and presented by the Nigerian Left should not begin with a catalogue of what a Nigerian state or the incumbent or future government should do for the people. Rather, it should begin with a self-introduction of the movement, organization or platform presenting the manifesto. There are at least three reasons for this. In the first place, the Nigerian masses have, for decades, been recipients and victims of deception from personages and entities in power or seeking power. The people are, therefore, increasingly cynical. In the second place, the Nigerian Left has a strong and enviable record of involvement in popular struggle and patriotic selfless service which it should be proud to present to the public.

In the third place, we know that in this era, it is not only speech-writers that can be hired; manifesto-writers are also hired. In other words, manifesto-writing has been professionalized. Just put the money down and say what type of manifesto you want and the scale of lies you wish to be included, and the job will be done. Although there are always differences between fake manifestoes—however beautifully written—and genuine manifestoes, most readers may not be patient enough to spot the inconsistencies and incongruities in fake declarations.

I wish to propose that the difference between a people’s manifesto drafted and presented by the Left and other manifestoes cannot be found in the “lists of contents”, a comparison of what the authors and publishers promise to deliver to the people: roads, bridges, hospitals, schools, airports, electricity, jobs, “stomach infrastructure”, etc, etc.

The difference lies in the “totality” or “packaging” which shows whether the manifesto is a revolutionary and popular-democratic declaration or a pack of lies, deceptions and illusions. On the one hand, the “totality” or “packaging” indicates not only what will be done but also how it will be done, with what resources it will be done, where the resources will come from, and when exactly it will be done. For, even if you swear by all the deities known and unknown, that you will run from Lagos to Calabar in three hours I will be a bastard to believe you.

On the other hand, in this period of extended emergency, the “packaging” or “totality” unambiguously answers the question: Whose desperate needs are being articulated and planned for: those of the Nigerian masses or those of exploiters, predators and state-robbers who always present themselves as “the nation”? To put the matter more bluntly, does the manifesto unambiguously indicate plans to immediately redeploy the nation’s resources in favour of the hungry, the endangered and the forgotten?

An appropriate “table of contents” for a people’s manifesto in this particular period of extended national emergency in the lives of the Nigerian masses may be structured in several ways. For instance, it may have the following eight-point structure: Who are we (that is, the authors—the Nigerian Left)?; The country we now have; The country we wish to have and are committed to fighting for; Fundamental human rights; Directive principles of state policy; Social transformation; National unity, federalism and popular-democratic restructuring; and Immediate steps (on pressing needs and current crises).

Back to history. The Nigerian Left is one of the oldest ideological tendencies in Nigerian politics because the Left grew out directly from organized anti-colonial and labour struggles—both of which started in the early 1930s. By the eve of independence in 1960, popular democracy and socialism had become the clear aim of the Left.

As early as May 1961, a Leftist group in Lagos, organized by Gogo Chu Nzeribe, Peter Ayodele Curtis-Joseph, Tanko Yakassai, M.O. Johnson, J.B. K. Thomas and a few others, had, in an extended public declaration, described itself as the “organization of workers, women,  farmers and farm laborers, peasants, artisans, teachers and intellectuals, small businessmen and women, professionals, lawyers, youths, students, the unemployed, the maimed, the deformed …”

This was a clear ideological selection which the authors justified this way: “These are the people who know misfortune and therefore are capable of waging limitless and courageous struggles until victory is won”. Left out of this long list was the “indigenous Nigerian capitalist and feudal class that had emerged as the virtual successors to the British colonialists”. The group pledged to “organize, unite and lead the peoples of Nigeria in a relentless and uncompromising fight against capitalism and capitalist exploitation of the Nigerian peoples”.

Significantly, these young Nigerians opposed regionalism and declared their commitment to “one undivided Nigeria, under unitary and centralized government”. And, consistently, they declared their belief in the creation of a “Union of African States” and “one common nationality for all Africans”.

The revolutionary Lagos group—let us call them so here—advocated a 40-hour week for all workers, full employment, unemployment benefits, social security, worker-participation in management, special allowances for “all labour that is especially risky or dirty”, adequate minimum wage, free medical treatment, free education, paid maternity leave, paid rest-time during nursing period ….”

Putting itself forward as a vanguard in post-colonial nation-building, the group concluded its public declaration by repeating that it was formed to “lead the peoples of Nigeria in their just struggles for peace, friendship, national reconstruction, a better future, democracy and the triumph of socialism”.

That was the Nigerian Left about 57 years ago, just six months after independence. A contemporary people’s manifesto can proceed from here by indicating what has changed, what has remained and what has emerged.

*Edwin Madunagu, mathematician and journalist, writes from Calabar, Cross River State.

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Pix: Courtesy: NigerianEye

Fidelity Bank: Let my people go!

Commentary@ITRealms: 

This is to call on people of goodwill and friends of Fidelity family to prevail on the current Management of Fidelity Bank to pay its ex-staff their entitlements.

 It is callous and wicked to be paying Senior Advocates to argue in favour of not paying the ex-staff their entitlements after decades of hard work.

This call is also to the Catholic Church of Nigeria which has been one of the greatest beneficiary of donations from Fidelity Bank and the core owners of Fidelity Bank either in personal capacity or as the former Governor Peter Obi and present Governor Willy Obiano both from Anambra State.

The Catholic Church over the years has exerted some considerable influence within the institution. Now is the time for it to exert for fairness, equity and justice.

The men and women of the Church should prevail on the bank to pay the entitlement due to the ex-staff including that of many sons and daughters of the SE states.

I went through this institution when it was at its greatest glory so I know the facts of the matter.

Fidelity bank has a staff policy that allows two kinds of retirement. A staff must compulsorily retire at the age of 55 years or he can choose to retire at the end of 15 years of continuous service. The second option is voluntary as the staff can choose to stay on till age of 55 years if the 15 years of service arrived first.

It is not a secret that Fidelity bank pays slightly lower over the years compared with its peers. But staff doesn’t worry because they know they have a day of harvest on retirement.

Last December, the Management decided to stop the retirement policy and paid only people that have achieved 15 years of service their entitlements. But there were some who were in their 10th year, 11th years, 12th and 13th years etc. There were even people who were few days and months from that important day of 15th year.

That retirement bonus is not earned at 15th year. It is earned on daily basis but paid when the person has clocked 15 years in service.

 The Management decided not to pay them and that the policy has caught up with them. These staff and their families had an uncertain and sad Christmas celebration. That shows how callous the decision was. Those were one category of affected staff.

The other category were those who started careers as contract staff and were later converted to full staff. As contract staff, they were employed under a subsidiary of the bank called Fidelity Union Securities Ltd, an action that was then rooted in the wicked aspect of capitalism.

They were employed to do the work of core staff but were paid contract salaries in order to declare huge profit. Many were converted as full staff few years later after meeting the condition for conversion. Majority never got converted.

 Meanwhile Fidelity bank was the payer of all staff salary regardless of the cadres. Many contract staff never knew FUSL  beyond what was on their offer letter.

Please note that when these staff got to the benchmark of 5th, 10th and 15th year anniversary, Fidelity bank not the subsidiary FUSL paid the bonuses for those milestones of years.

 When it now got to payment of retirement benefits, Fidelity bank was first reported to be saying they were not paid because they spent some years as contract staff regardless of its own record that acknowledged those milestones with bonuses and congratulatory letters/cards.

 In fact many have retired in the 30 years of Fidelity bank existence using their employment date with FUSL to get their entitlements.

 It was argued when the ex-staff petitioned the CBN – Central Bank of Nigeria - earlier that since Fidelity bank did not give those  staff new employment letter on conversion , then continuation of the previous contract was implied. So Fidelity lost at that level yet refused to pay the staff.

At the court of law now because of this position, Fidelity bank is claiming they were never its staff. The bank is also claiming all those who were paid in the past were in error. That those milestones of years of services were in error on its part. That all promotion letters in the letterhead of Fidelity bank were all in errors.

If you minus the 15 years from 30 years, you will see that these core of staff were those who worked to see the bank through the turbulent years.

For a person who joined Fidelity bank when it was just four branches and  left when it has over 200 branches, it is painful to see friends and colleagues that i have worked with go through the psychological trauma when they are supposed to be reaping the fruit of years of dedication, selfless service and unparalleled loyalty.

 I know not just few of the people who were being sought ten years ago with mouthwatering offers by competition but the love for Fidelity bank was most paramount to them.

Fidelity bank of today is a good example of how loyalty does not pay in the corporate world and a classic example of how an institution can be destroyed within a short while. Fidelity bank today is a microcosm of what the whole country is. The notion that when you are a part of a family, you don't destroy it has been lost due to the insensitivity of the Management.

Fidelity bank, that our place and institution of pride suddenly became place where drivers publicly demonstrated against corporate mistreatment. Fidelity a name synonymous with "Trust" had become a name that is seen on very industrial infraction and where a Managing Director had become a courier for money launderers.

Nebolisa Arah, the man who conceptualised the bank and led it through the first 15 years of its existence must be having his head down to see the institution he build from scratch become a place of ridicule and litigations.

Fidelity bank should pay my people their pro-rated entitlements so they can move on to their next stage of life with full optimism.

*Yomi Agbetola, 

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Annkio Briggs to President Buhari: Leaders serve people not punish them

Commentary@ITRealms:

The oil-rich delta region of southern Nigeria - called Niger Delta - is larger than 70,000 square kilometers with a population larger of over 35 million people - larger than the population of Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Australia, Greece, Netherlands, Austria, Romania, Hungary, and United Arab Emirates - made up of 40 ethnic nationalities and collectively producing over 2.2 million barrels of crude oil per day.

I have to restate here for the purpose of emphasis - the population of the people of the Niger Delta is larger than that of all our African neighbours - Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Benin Republic, and Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and many more. If the Niger Delta region were an independent country, its population would place it as the 39th most populous nation in the world, a position between Canada (36 million) and Morocco (34 million) on the global country-by-country population list.

The people of the Niger Delta with the crude oil resources exploited from their region are not a poor people, are not a conquered people, and we are therefore not beggars. And we could probably be the richest black people on earth, if we dared to own our God-given resources.

From 1885 to 1893, the Niger Delta we have gone from being the Oil Rivers Protectorate to the Niger Coast Protectorate Petroleum Rich Region, these are identities given to us first because of our riches in Palm Kernel produce to the discovery of crude oil and gas just before the independence of Nigeria in 1960. Before the British came and ascribed these nomenclature on the region, we were (and are still are) the indigenes of an enviable, blessed, rich, and industrious region.

After the discovery of oil and gas in commercial quantities in the Niger Delta, the region has remained in the centre of national and international debate with regards to the pollution and environmental degradation of the region. The twin issues have been made worse by unimaginable levels of corruption and human rights abuses of succession of military regimes and the democratic regimes that followed.

The Niger Delta are mostly found in the South South political zone of Nigeria. Geographically, we occupy 7.5% of Nigeria's landmass. Politically, the region is made up of six states - Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, and Rivers.

We have experiences different seasons of oppression and political climate - colonial, post-colonial, Nigerian civil war (in which we were marked for extermination by the two armies in the conflict), violent agitations, and non-violent resistance, and the story is on-going.

The resources of the Delta region has been used for more than a century, since the 1914 amalgamation to 1960 Independence, when we were dealt a bad hand of cards of oppression, neglect, under-development and human rights abuse.

We are a welcoming and peace loving, yet we have never failed to resist oppression, neglect, injustice and inequality from the days of Nana of Itsekiri, the Nembe war, the era of King Jaja of Opopo, to that of Chief Harold Dappa Biriye, Adaka Boro, and all the way to the agitations of Ken Saro-Wiwa, we have always wanted fairness, justice, and equitable for all.

During all these times, our peaceful and humble ways and obvious loyal commitment to the continuity of Nigeria as a country has been willfully misread as weakness or even deadly desire on our part to sacrifice our people, region, and resources to keep the corrupt enterprise called Nigeria going.

When in 1998, the oppressive and extremely corrupt regime led by the late General Sani Abacha was dismantled following the unexpected death of the head of state, a supposed democratic government was ushered in the next year. General Olusegun Obasanjo (Rtd), a former military ruler who had just been released from prison took up leadership of the country as president based on the 1999 Constitution and there was high hopes for a new era of democratic rule.

But, the 1999 Constitution wasn't the constitution agreed upon by the 350 ethnic nationalities in Nigeria. Rather, it was a military decree signed into law by General Abdulsalami Abubakar. The military-produced document begins "We, the people", then proceeds to say the people agreed on a united Nigeria and prescribe laws to govern the people, who never agreed to the document in the first place. It is a fraud to pass off the 1999 Constitution as a democratic framework for the country.

I have always maintained that the problems staring Nigeria in the fact, that threaten our unity, are are written in the 1999 Constitution which the military government handover over to a military general as the basis for him to rule the country.

The Niger Delta people expected things to change in favour of the region, politically, when Obasanjo took over power, but what we were handed was continued genocide. We were cruely handed Odi, Odioma, Gbaramatu, Ayekoromo, and others.

The Niger Delta Development Commission, a supposed developmental intervention agency, turned out to be a puppet controlled from Abuja using people from the Niger Delta region as willing political and economic pawns in the hands of the federal government working against the collective good and development empowerment of the very people the agency was created to serve.

Though the NDDC is being presented as an agency for the Niger Delta people and region and managed by the Niger Delta people, it is actually a political power tool manipulated and controlled by the political system today known as the 'cabal'.

What did we get from democracy? The calls for resource control which galvanised into a globally recognised movement during the Abacha years was frustrated, the oppression and neglect of the Niger Delta region continued which snowballed into the armed agitations. Only then, did the issues that had been placed before past leaders of the country receive some attention.

President Obasanjo again offered something, a truce to enable the output of oil to rise again from the creeks of the Niger Delta, he succeeded. Then we had to deal with the unconstitutional ambition for 3rd term, NDDC became the cash cow for driving an illegality driven by the raw ambition of one man. Funds meant to go into the Niger Delta was diverted to fund the unholy agenda. The Niger Delta and Igbo people are still paying the price for the failure of the 3rd term, as they are seen as being responsible for the failure.

There is, indeed, a political cabal, that takes a hold of any elected or military government, it either controls the government to its selfish benefit or brings the government down. The Niger Delta has been at the receiving end of this cabal. The policies and system of long established decisions of never allowing either political or economic power to leave the control of "the cabal" which is made of one minority ethnic group from the North driven by the draconian philosophy of the military profession.

The cabal won't permit a government with aims different from its selfish aims to hold power at all costs to rise and fix Nigeria by addressing the very unjust system that the cabal feeds off of.

Boko Haram, the Fulani herdsmen militia, boldly killing, destroying and raping their way from Kaduna to Warri in the past 6 years, the kidnapping of under-aged Christian girls of South South origin, forcefully converting them to Islam, renaming them, and married them off to Muslim leaders and truck pushers are all criminal and terrorist enterprises funded and protected by the cabal.

In May 2015 the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress government was sworn in, 1 year and 5 months later, the Niger Delta people are worst off than they have ever been since 1960.

In my opinion as a Niger Deltan, amongst over 35 million Niger Deltans coming from 40 ethnic nationalities owning the resources known as oil and gas, and others yet to be discovered, we the Niger Delta people have made too many sacrifices that no other groups of peoples have made for Nigeria or will ever be willing to make. And this is for a country dubiously created 100 years ago for selfish economic reasons. By 1914, the people of the Niger Delta had been living in the territory as free and independent nationalities for hundreds of years, it is therefore nothing to be ashamed of, if we decide today to re-appraise our terms and conditions of continue stay in a union that has no regard for us as equal partners in nation building, but rather sees us as tools to serve.

The Niger Delta region and her people, and the people of the South East have been referred to as the 5% that did not vote for the President Buhari lead APC government and were told not to expect what the 97% who voted for him will get.

At home and abroad the people of the Niger Delta, Igbos, and some selected outspoken Yorubas have been singled out and made to undergo media trials by the Muhammadu Buhari government. They have been branded thieves and looters of the treasury and denied their fundamental human rights.

The Niger Delta region is under constant threat of having the political will of the people overturned by the courts. Nearly 18 months after the 2015 elections and re-run elections, my beloved Rivers State is without full representation at the National Assembly, House of Representatives and State Assembly. All this, is a bid to frustrate the will of the Rivers people embodied in Governor Nyesom Wike. A political party and a democratic leader is meant to serve the people not punish the people.

The devastation and destruction of the Niger Delta people's environment, by International Oil Companies and their 60% federal government partners is probably the worst and most unacceptable sacrifice the people of the Niger Delta reLegion have had to make to sustain Nigeria. And it is one that we will continue to make until we take our destiny into our own hands.

The Niger Delta ecosystem and the people's livelihood has been destroyed by the careless and wicked method of exploration and exploitation of oil and gas has been undertaken since the discovery of oil and gas in the Niger Delta in 1957.

It is estimated that 25% of our mangrove has been destroyed! Our rain forest is nearly if not all destroyed all 7,400 square kilometers.

Oil spills in communities destroy crops; aquaculture which contaminate our drinking waters and farm soil destroying our livelihood, taking away our basic human right to feed and provide for ourselves and family. In the 90% agrarian and fishing communities of the Niger Delta, our fish and crops are destroyed by the activities of the federal government and their international oil major partners.

Experts have predicted that the environmental degradation in the Niger Delta region, if it continues at the current pace, our land and waters will become uninhabitable in less than a generation.

l personally believe this unfortunate trend has been the strategy of the born-to-rule power dealing cabal all along and the silence and inaction of the Nigerian government has encouraged it, in fact, actually promoted it. To either kill us off or make the region uninhabitable, either one of each will produce the desired outcome - unfettered access to our oil and gas (by any means necessary).

Respiratory problems, asthma, skin, stomach, and lung cancers, are some of the common health issues prevalent in the Niger Delta. Access to clean water, air and food is denied us as a result of the environmental abuses.

Gas flaring minimum of 3.5billion cubic feet of associated gas is flared yearly in the Niger Delta by the oil companies and their federal government partners, ironically the governments are obliged to protect us from these abuses. Gas flared in the Niger Delta is the equivalent of 25% of the UK's gas consumption, which is the equivalent of 40% of Africa's gas consumption as of 2001 (15 years ago) (Source: Wikipedia.org).

The federal government and oil companies are wasting a minimum of US$2 billion per year of Niger Delta wealth. It is cheaper for them to flare than to commercially separate viable associated gas from oil so they flare not minding the cost to the people and the Niger Delta region. They are killing us slowly to, ironically, save money.

It is therefore my considered opinion that this is the reason oil companies take their headquarters to Lagos State, and not because of insecurity caused by the Niger Delta people. They have the knowledge of exactly the health hazards they have created for us, according to the UNEP report we have a death sentence hanging over our heads. Our children have no future even before they are conceived.

Climate Justice in its study estimates that the exposure to benzene would result in 8 news cases of cancer yearly in Bayelsa State. Is it worth it? So that Kano State can collect allocation for its 44 LGA while Bayelsa State gets less than 1/5th of that for its 8 LGA.

l can say with confidence that more than 95% or 97% of our people in the Niger Delta region believe that the call for restructuring and resource ownership rather than threaten the unity of Nigeria seems to be the last post for the unity of Nigeria. I make my observation as a Niger Deltan, I don't claim to speak for all the ethnic nationalities, and I have been a strong advocate for all ethnic groups to speak for themselves.

As recently confirmed by Nigeria's minister of state for petroleum resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu when he presented a roadmap for the development of the nation's oil and gas industry at the Presidential Villa Abuja on Thursday the 27th of October, 2016 that President Buhari will meet with some stakeholders from the oil rich region on Tuesday, November 1.

*Being a part of contribuition by Annkio Briggs, a daughter, servant, and respected leader of the Niger Delta. She is a leading voice in the struggle for human rights and environmental justice in the oil-rich region. Connect with her on Facebook. 

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