Public Affairs Analyst

As a young lad in Ibadan, Oyo State, there was this jingle being played on Radio O-Y-O, the radio arm of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State about a righteous man known as Muibi who returned to government (Police, more precisely)  a large sum of money a passenger left in his taxi. The jingle encouraged all citizens to do likewise. In 2012, another Muibi surfaced, now in Abuja.  Mr. Imeh Usuah, a taxi driver plying Abuja airport road returned N18 million a passenger forgot in his vehicle to the owner. Imeh said he was at the car wash when he discovered there was a bag left behind after dropping the man off in a hotel and immediately returned it. He was quoted as saying: “My mind went back to the man who I dropped at the hotel and I immediately alerted my chairman and he instructed me to go back to the place where I dropped him. I saw him and delivered his bag to him.” There was no account of who the owner of the money is or whether he gave the cab driver some of the ret...

I could not agree more with the findings of the World Bank which in its Investment Climate Assessment Report for the 2011 fiscal period chronicled the constraints that entrepreneurs face in doing business in Nigeria. The report titled ‘Nigeria , an Assessment of the Investment Climate in 26 States’ was released on August 9, 2012.   The account observed among many other things that Nigerian business environment, in spite of the series of reforms being carried out by the current administration to attract Foreign Direct Investment into the country, remained hostile. The 202-page report said that investors were losing 10 per cent of their revenue to the hostile investment climate in the country. It stated that the areas that account for the 10 per cent loss include poor quality infrastructure, crime, insecurity, and corruption. The assessment reviewed the experiences of over 3000 surveyed business owners in 26 states of Nigeria about the aspects of the business climate that affected...

Effort at the fourth alteration of the 1999 Constitution is gradually gathering momentum with the submission of the report of the Presidential Committee on the Review of Outstanding Constitutional Issues headed by the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Alfa Belgore. The Committee which was inaugurated on November 17, 2011 submitted its report to President Goodluck Jonathan on July 10, 2012. The committee was saddled with the responsibility of reviewing outstanding issues from the recent constitutional conferences with a view to determining their relevance to national development. Media report has it that the committee came up with a bouquet of recommendations. Some of them include the following: Devolution of powers from federal to state government while the Federal Government retain powers only necessary for maintaining the sovereignty of the country; Creation of “an optimally independent, incorruptible and stabilising local government system that shall always be adm...

Nigeria has often been cited by political finance experts as an example of a country with strong laws on political finance regulations. The country’s statutes, viz: the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, as amended; the Electoral Act 2010, as amended; the constitutions of the political parties, the Political Finance Manual and Handbook, the Companies and Allied Matters Act and the Code of Conduct for political parties all contain provisions that aim at regulating political finance in Nigeria. Be that as it may, there are inherent problems with the laws, hence the need for further reform of the legislations. Good enough, Nigeria’s National Assembly is in the process of altering the 1999 Constitution. Aside the weaknesses in the law, there is the challenge of law enforcement by the regulator.  Some of the following proposals are targeted at legislative reform; policy reform and institutional reform. It is proposed that candidates must have the obligation to submit election expenses ...

On Wednesday, July 18, 2012, the Nigeria Petroleum Industry Bill began its second journey to the National Assembly when President Goodluck Jonathan forwarded the 223 page bill to the lawmakers for consideration, adoption and speedy passage. It would be recalled that the bill had earlier been introduced by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to the national parliament in 2009. This piece of legislation had been enmeshed in controversies as several versions were being circulated so much so that it was difficult to ascertain the original. Some Senators were also accused of having been sponsored by an International Oil Company on a retreat to Ghana thereby engendering conflict of interest. Even while addressing the media to inform the general public that the President has sent the bill to the National Assembly, Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dieziani Allison-Madueke disowned the versions that were being circulated on the internet prior to July 18. She said the authentic one has some sec...

Hearty congratulations to our new Chief Justice of Nigeria, Honourable Justice Aloma Mariam Mukthar (JSC) who was sworn in as the thirteenth CJN on Monday, July 16, 2012. Twelve predecessors of the new CJN are:  Adetokunbo Ademola 1958–1972, Teslim Olawale Elias, 1972–1975, Darnley Arthur Alexander, 1975–1979, Atanda Fatai Williams, 1979–1983, George Sodeinde Sowemimo, 1983–1985, Ayo Gabriel Irikefe, 1985–1987, Mohammed Bello, 1987–1995, Muhammad Lawal Uwais, 1995–2006, Salihu Moddibo Alfa Belgore, 2006–2007, Idris Legbo Kutigi, 2007–2009, Aloysius Katsina-Alu, January 1, 2010- 28 August 2011 and Dahiru Musdapher, August 2011 – July 15, 2012. Justice Mukthar was a lady of many firsts; she is indeed a trailblazer and a pacesetter. News report has it that she is the first female Northerner to become a lawyer, first female High Court Judge from the North, first female second-in-command in Kano State judiciary, first female Justice of the Court of Appeal where she served 17 years,...

“This is not only a monumental fraud, but a national embarrassment. This is one report that the government should not ignore, it should be implemented.” – Senate President, David Mark on Thursday, June 21, 2012 I couldn’t agree more with the above statement credited to Nigeria’s Senate President, David Mark while adopting the recommendations of the Senate probe into the pension scam. There is no gainsaying that Nigeria has totally been engulfed and enveloped by corruption. Hardly will a week pass without one story or the other about high level corruption. I doubt if the Transparency International will not place us once again at the lower rung of the ladder of countries with high proclivity for corrupt practices. Six months into year 2012, there have been several corruption related scandals involving both private and public sectors. There have been the over one trillion Naira fuel subsidy scam, the $620,000 bribery allegation involving the chairman and the secretary of the committe...