WEBINAR: “CITIES IN TRANSITION"

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This is to invite all our visitors to the webinar,  “Cities in transition“ on the Alumniportal Deutschland, which will take place between the end of May and August within the framework of several online sessions.

The first webinar session is organized by the GIZ and will be held on May 31st, 2012 at 19h (CET). GIZ invites you to an interesting live discussion with the topic “Alumni as drivers for urban change”, which will be guided by Mr Funcke-Bartz as moderator and expert. In the 90-minute live broadcast we would like to demonstrate how alumni are already contributing as drivers for urban change to shaping the future of cities and to explore how to leverage this potential in the future. 

The webinar takes place in cooperation with the Eschborn Dialogue, which will be held on June 5th and 6th under the title “Driving transformation: the city as a global player”. The panel discussion “Tomorrow’s cities: resource-efficient and climate friendly” will also be broadcasted live to the Alumniportal Deutschland on June 5th (16:30h-18:00h).

For those willing to represent SPACES FOR CHANGE at this webinar session, kindly send an email  to:  spacesforchange.s4c@gmail.com for further details.

Thank you.

POLICE AFFAIRS MINISTRY: A SCORE CARD

In commemoration of the National Democracy Day and the first anniversary of President Goodluck Jonathan’s one year in office, held on May 15, 2012, the ministers of Police Affairs, Navy Capt Caleb Olubolade and the Land, Housing and Urban Development, Ms Ama Pepple gave the scorecard of their respective ministries during the period under review. SPACES FOR CHANGE’s executive director, Victoria Ohaeri joined a wide spectrum of Nigerians who gathered to listen to the presentations by the two ministers: discussing and clarifying their common goals and disparate experiences, acknowledging the obstacles to the successful implementation of programs and policies, even as they began sought public opinion on how to shape realistic strategies for overcoming them.

Although the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan is still young, one year is enough to report on progress being made, says Labaran Maku, Information Minister in his opening remarks. From that note of progress, Navy Capt. Olubolade narrated the variety of initiatives introduced to improve performance and service delivery in the Police Affairs Ministry despite the overwhelming security challenges which now includes terrorism. A sector-wide consultation, especially with the various police commands, conducted at the beginning of his tenure revealed monumental challenges facing the Nigerian Police Force. The problems are not limited to the following: inadequate barracks, inadequate police children’s schools, poor training, inadequate technical equipment, lack of trust between the people and the police resulting in poor service delivery. The problems persist as the country with a population of over 160,000,000 people is peopled by 370,000 police officers.

 

As part of the “Transformation Agenda” of the current administration, the President recently constituted a committee to reform the Nigeria Police Force. The committee introduced new policies and reorganized the NPF into the following component units:

• Investigation
• Research and Training
• Police Inspectorate
• Police Service Commission
• Special Duties
• Administration
• 12 Zonal Commands
• 123 Area Commands
• 1,600 police stations and so forth

According to the Minister, the following are the deliverables expected under this current administration:

·         Increase the police population from the current 370,000 to 650,000

·         90% of police population to be professionally trained in modern tactics and weapon handling

·         Establishment of a Forensic Laboratory in Abuja manned by well-trained personnel in modern forensic science

·         Preferential use of non-lethal weaponry in riot control, with option to resort to live ammunitions only in critical situations

·         Establishment of 6 regional forensic laboratories established in each geo-political zone networked to the main forensic laboratory in Abuja and the Force Headsquarters

·         A police Force that is accountable to the citizenry and respects HUMAN RIGHTS! 

With the heightening political intrigues and horsetrading in preparation for the 2015 elections, these specific deliverables provide a compelling basis for citizens, especially the youth to demand effective governance and accountability from the Nigerian government, especially as it relates to the way individuals, communities as well as properties are policed  and secured. 

                                                                

NIGERIA 2012 BUDGET MADE SIMPLE

“This budget is a stepping stone to the transformation of our economy and country in our walk to economic freedom...The proposal I lay before you this day seeks to sustain sound micro-economic growth that will translate to achieving socio-economic transformation, and gainful employment for our people”. This view was expressed by  President Jonathan in paragraph 1 of 81 of his address while presenting the Draft 2012 Budget before the National Assembly.

With rising levels of unemployment, youth restiveness and insecurity across the country, many young people lack understanding of how the national budget will "transform' their lives, and are unaware of strategies for using the budget to demand accountability from leaders.  

BudgIT, a Nigerian organization working to stimulate citizens interests around public data and hence trigger  discussions towards better governance has made the Nigeria budget simple in a way that is accessible and very easy to understand. We are very happy to share the info-grahic representation of the 2012 national budget, thanks to our friends, BudgIT.

ENJOY!

"THE 2012 BUDGET IS A FAILURE" - CLEMENT NWANKWO

SPACES FOR CHANGE participated in the workshop, Monitoring the 2012 Budget for the National Assembly held on Monday, May 14, 2012 in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory. The workshop brought together officers and staff of the National Assembly Budget and Research Office (NABRO), members of the National Assembly Committees on Budget, Appropriations and Finance, representatives of youth groups and civil society organizations (CSOs) and the media to deliberate on the strategies for formulating realistic budgets and achieving effective budget monitoring in Nigeria. The workshop was a collaborative initiative of NABRO and the Policy and Legislative Advocacy Center (PLAC) with support from the British Department for International Development (DFID).  

 

NABRO is patterned to fulfill the same objectives as the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Resource persons and experts on budget issues drawn from both the private and public sectors were invited to deliver key representations, share important lessons and strategies for maximizing compliance with the principles and global budgetary best practices.  

Clement Nwankwo, PLAC’s executive director’s opening remarks espoused the workshop’s overarching objectives of ‘making budgets go through a reasoned, well thought-through process, from design through implementation towards an effective prioritization of spending on programmes within the national budget”. It then follows that the National Assembly needs to pass a budget that it understands. 

 

Describing the 2012 budget as a failure because of the lateness and obstructions associated with its passing and actual implementation, he singled out the repeat of budget heads as one of the issues that budget monitors should take seriously. For instance, every year, same figures are budgeted for specific items (such as cars, air conditioners) that are not necessarily renewed on an annual basis. This scenario means that either the items are procured and disposed yearly, or that the monies allocated for the budget heads are not expended. If they are not expended, what happens to those funds? Are they returned to the nation’s treasury or used for something else? These are questions monitoring would answer, and also sits squarely with the role of NABRO.  

 

Jens-Peter Dyrbak, DFID’s Governance Adviser highlighted specific challenges hindering effective budget implementation. Noting that CSOs have a primary role of making information more accessible and meaningful to people (citizens), he urged CSOs take advantage of the new media to provide first-class analytical information about budgets in a simpler and appealing way. 

 

NABRO’s administrative head, Mr. H.O Olutoye formally declared NABRO office open, marking the commencement of its full-scale operations. “The crisis affecting the budget process in Nigeria is threefold:  crisis of formulation, crisis of implementation and crisis of monitoring thereby making budget passing a mere annual ritual. This workshop represents an effort to turn these challenges into opportunities for transformative change in the entire budget and appropriation processes in Nigeria, Olutoye concluded.

In Ogbugo Ukoha’s presentation, “The National Assembly Budget Process: A Strategic Outlook for NABRO”, he observed the critical role NABRO will play in the future of appropriation in Nigeria.  Ukoha explained in great detail, the role of the American CBO office that the NABRO office is modeled after. According to him, prior to the establishment of the CBO office, America experienced the same challenges Nigeria is currently facing, such as mounting deficits, backdoor and uncontrollable spending, impoundment of funds.

The recent global economic recession has placed pressure on governments to be more accountable and responsive. In Nigeria, the outbreak of protests over the increase in the pump price of fuel in January 2012 attests to the desire of Nigerians for more transparency and accountability by the government. The 1999 Constitution empowers the National Assembly to make budgetary appropriations and oversee the management of public funds. There is no doubt that legislators need the assistance of experts to be able to play a major role in overseeing the national budget and controlling government spending.

ARUNMA OTTEH: ARE NIGERIANS ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS?

The Security and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) Director General, Ms Arunma Otteh is no doubt, in the eye of the storm. She has been SEC's top boss since December 2009. Her travails started when she leveled grave allegations of graft against the then Chairman of the House Committee, probing the crash of the capital market, Mr. Herman Hembe. Ever since, controversies have trailed her every move. 

In a televised public hearing by the newly-constituted House of Representative's ad-hoc Committee investigating the Nigerian capital market meltdown, both lawmakers and colleagues lashed at her, raising moral questions that border on her professional immaturity and lack of leadership. Typical of Nigerians, the drama playing out at the National Assembly has evoked deep emotions, just as intensely divided viewpoints dominate public discourse. Take a look at these divergent positions held by two Nigerian youths:

 Kelechi Deca wrote:  It is a pity that Nigerians, lazy as usual to ask relevant questions have all gone to market with the charade that played out at the House of Representative's hearing on SEC. But while I would not mind Oteh's head on the platter for underestimating the power of tribal knowledge in management - which is also a problem most returnee Nigerian have been faced with as soon as they are called to come home and serve - there is this 'we-don't-want-this-tokunbo-to-tell-us-what-to-do-attitude among many Nigerians at home. This is principally to maintain their entitlement mentality.

I would also like the House of Representatives to dig deeper and get to the real issues. The first question we should ask is: "who supervised the crash of the capital market in 2008? Oteh or all these 'hirelings' who were already executive directors while the market was having a free fall,with two of them already over 20 years at SEC?

Because they are afraid Oteh may not recommend for their second tenure with their first tenure expiring next month after 4 years, they want to push her out so they can get someone they will intimidate into recommending all of them for another 4 years. Since she came in, they made it open that they do not want an outsider. They wanted to continue business as usual. That's why they had rooted for one of their own Daisy Ekineh who is as old at SEC as the institution.

How could the executive directors deny knowledge of the Project 50 when most media outfits that participated interfaced with most of them? Visit the SEC website gallery and see these shameless old people performing one duty or the other. How I wish they could upload the videos for Nigerians to see how otherwise respected people could come and swear on oath and tell lies. Nigeria we hail thee!

Was it not the same Daisy Ekineh who delivered the votes of thanks and spoke glowingly of the project and how it captured the road SEC has traveled being the oldest staff of SEC? Was it not Mr Charles Afamefuna Udora who introduced Alhaji Shehu Shagari, for an award for establishing the SEC in 1980? Its a big SHAME because there are evidence of their contributions in all the things they openly denied knowledge of. Nigerians should learn to ask critical questions.

Whereas SEC commissioners accuse OTTEH of not convening meetings, but rather communicating with them through text messages and emails, this picture was taken after SEC's Strategy Meeting held on August 15, 2011. For more pictures of SEC's activities, please visit ... http://www.sec.gov.ng/galleries

  Disagreeing with Kelechi Deca, Kunle Rotimi wrote:

"...In public service in which Ms Oteh has found herself, her act is called gross misconduct. Her management officials openly alleged that she was highhanded, that she took decisions outside statutory bounds. She has lost the confidence of her team and finally she is not qualified to hold that post, in that she's not a chartered stockbroker with minimum of 15yrs experience in stock broking! Her appointment is in error, out of person specs!

Ms Oteh is not qualified to hold that post in the first instance, her appointment is flawed, so she should leave. Every position has person specification, (relevant qualifications, years of experience, etc). Ms Oteh is not a stockbroker and she has no 15 years experience in stockbroking (that is the bottomline). She is occupying that post in sufferance and therefore now that her imconpetence is glaring, my recommendation is simple, she should recuse! QED.

 FOLLOW THE DISCUSSIONS HERE...ARUNMA OTTEH: A GUSH OF CONFLICTING VIEWPOINTS 

ARUNMA OTTEH: A GUSH OF CONFLICTING VIEWPOINTS 2 

For anonymous feedback, please write spacesforchange.s4c@gmail.com  

 

 

Nigerian Insecurity Challenge: Frank Conversation with Northern Youths

By Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri

It was not until May 3, 2012 that I realized that most of my Facebook friends were the youth of northern extraction. With the escalating  security crisis in Nigeria: daily news of bomb blasts, rising death toll, and the deepening of hate lines across religious and ethnic divides, northern youths are often targets of blame games, and verbal attacks on the social media and other platforms for youth engagement. Consequently, an officious bystander would observe with ease, the disappearing northern voices, and the deafening silence of  northern youths in discourses and conversations that affect them. Its even worse where the conversation borders on the activities of the Boko Haram Islamic sect operating in northern Nigeria.

In my line of work, interacting with people is a longstanding tradition and passion. The silence must not continue, as it fuels the accumulation of unspoken grievance and murderous rifts. Dialogue, in my view, especially frank dialogue is critical to the restoration of peace and harmonious co-habitation of different ethnic, cultural, tribal and religious groupings. This conversation represents an effort to get Nigerian youth talking about national security, and to inspire them to take a deep interest in peace-building, peace-keeping and nation building. 

Enjoy! Happy reading. Follow the conversation here:..Frank Talk with Northern Nigerian Youth

For anonymous feedback, please send email to: spacesforchange.s4c@gmail.com

Refugees in their Homeland

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On the orders of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) and the Nigerian Army, a demolition squad comprising heavily-armed soldiers and mobile police officers invaded Gosa 1 village, located along the Airport Road, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and demolished homes, businesses, churches, mosques, schools, farmlands, crops, shrines and important cultural relics belonging to indigenous Gbagyi farmers and low-income residents. The Thursday, April 26, 2012 demolitions - carried out without prior notice, payment of compensation or provision of alternate shelter - left thousands homeless, including children, the youth, women and the aged  people who had lived on the land from time immemorial. 

The military officials claimed that the Federal Government has earmarked the demolished areas for the construction of a military barracks, and hence, they mounted a signpost after the violent demolitions, warning indigenes to keep off from the land. Ten days after the demolitions, scores of families continue to live near the ruins of their demolished homes because "they have no where else to go", and cannot afford the soaring rental costs in the city.

The soldiers used extreme force in carrying out the demolitions.  Some local youth who attempted to protest or resist the demolitions were teargassed, arrested and detained. They were only released after the intervention of the village head, Chief Micah Waliki and the Local Government Chairman, Honourable H. Micah.

As Mama Hauwa Abdulahi, 78, said in Hausa language, (who was seen sleeping in the open with two of her grand-children), "I was born and raised in this community. I feel so much pained that i am now a refugee in my homeland".

 

Homeless children cluster in Gosa 1 village, along Airport Road, Abuja

Properties of displaced families litter every corner in the community

Onyeka Ani, and her brother and sister have no where else to go. They continue to live in the open, near the debris of their former home 10 days after the demolition.

Onyeka's sister sleeps in the open

Like Onyeka Ani's family, Hussain's family: 2 wives and his aged mother also live in the open. They have no where else to go

A demolished home

This Primary School is the only structure left standing in the demolished portion of the community

Homeless families seek refuge in the Primary School at night. Defecating in and around the school premises is quite common, increasing the vulnerability of the 'refugees" to health hazards.

Demolished buildings

Community wears a forlorn look following  the demolitions

The traditional ruler and his cabinet lament the demolitions

Right on the demolished site, the Nigerian Army mounted this sign post warning residents to "keep off".

SPACES FOR CHANGE strongly condemns this violent demolition of a poor indigenous settlement by Nigeria's security forces. We urge the Nigerian President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, the National Human Rights Commission to investigate the circumstances of the demolitions and accompanying gross violations of human rights perpetrated  by armed security security forces. We demand the authorities to take immediate steps to provide relief in the form of alternative housing and/or fair compensation to all indigenes and residents evicted from the Gosa 1 community.

FAAN, please remove these garbage from Lagos International Airport!

Monumental waste as a fleet of air-crafts rot away at Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria. The sight of these air-crafts is not good for the image of our airports.  They should pull them away from the airport vicinity and sell them off as scraps.

FEDERAL AIRPORTS AUTHORITY OF NIGERIA (FAAN), please remove these garbage from the Lagos international airport!

African Juju: To be or not to be

BY J-ONE ANJOORIN

Last week, a university don, and political scientist, Professor Chinedu Nwolise suggested that Nigeria should revert to traditional methods of combating corruption and insecurity since western ways have failed. He said, “We need to apply efficacious oath, not with just the Bibles or Qurans used during swearing-in ceremonies but a Bible or Quran blessed by a real man of God or a machete taken straight from the shrine of Ogun.

This statement evoked an intense debate on our FACEBOOK  platform among Nigerian youth in different parts of the world. This is how Adejuwon J-One Anjoorin responded to the debates centered on the efficacy or otherwise of  Africa's traditional oath-taking strategies. 

Hear Adejuwon: 

                              

This reminds me of a story that happened in Benin City recently when the goods of billionaire Bob Izua were stolen. My uncle told me this story: the looted premises were located either within or beside a major market in Benin, Edo State, and somehow, word had gone round that certain boys from the market area were responsible for the looting. The man Bob Izua employed the police to investigate the case but they could not reach a headway. He even invited the Bishop of the Catholic diocese in the area to come plead with the people to return the goods, but this too was to no avail. Then he reportedly brought a voodoo priest into the market place who publicly did his incantations and stuff and unleashed "ayelala" to pursue the thieves if they did not return what they stole within seven days. The very next morning, every stolen item was found at the gate of Bob Izua's compound!

The story proves that our people have lost the fear of God simply because the mill of God grinds slowly. However, it grinds surely. Our people fear the wrath of idols more than the wrath of God. God is ever patient, always waiting for the sinner to come to repentance, and that seems to many of our people, as though, an act of evil will not be recompensed. Yes it will!

Where are those who looted Nigeria in the 70s? Where are their children today? In the same vein, many of today's looters are setting up poverty and long seasons of lack and arid deprivation for their generations to come. That is the mill of God grinding, slowly, but surely.

I will not subscribe to the application of idolatrous oath-taking as a measure to curb corruption. Men who do not fear God will ultimately defy idols as well out of their greed. For all the Okija oath between Ngige and his godfather, we know how it all ended in a fiasco as the agreement could not be sustained. Political godfatherism, with all its oath-taking has continually been defied by men. Ladoja/Adedibu is another example. The reason is simple: voodoo is strange and its powers have a way of appeasing each other. For instance, somebody that has taken a voodoo oath can escape judgment from that oath if he turns back on it, provided he knows the right countering voodoo to do. It might have to take a sacrifice of human lives; it might even take the life of the person's most beloved child. But they can always go back on their oaths.

Let our people arise and hold our leaders accountable instead of abdicating our responsibilities for idols. Let us do it ourselves. Let our people hold our leaders accountable. Let our people stop leading dance troops and protest marches in support of corruption and indictments. Let our people stop celebrating wealth that has no traceable root. No idol can do that for us. But if we truly embrace the fear of God we can do it by ourselves. Afterall, we ourselves are gods.

Great and enduring nations were built by a disciplined people, with disciplined thoughts and disciplined actions. We all must abhor corruption even if it is perpetrated by our tribesmen. We must allow the law to take its full course, we must push our congressmen to pass laws that are stiffer on corruption and ensure right judgments are passed. We must make life miserable for looters and those who help them sustain their loot, be them lawyers or judges.

The fight against corruption in Nigeria can only be fought and won by our collective steel-resolve, and not by a descent into darkness and idolatry.