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A BIRTHDAY MESSAGE- IYORWUESE HAGHER

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Today is June 25th. I have been celebrating since Sunday, June 21st. My friends, grandchildren, children, and other fathers and mothers, the world-over, held me up to an unforgettable Father’s Day celebration.

But that is not all. My friends, we all deserve to celebrate. To be alive during these perilous times when death is lurking and stalking to ambush and obliterate us all in the world is celebratory. We have become the narrators of the times of Corona Virus just like those present in their nineties and hundreds. They tell us of the pandemics of their time; the Spanish flu of 1918, that infected 500 million people and killed an estimated 20 to 50 million people worldwide.

But that is not all. We live in a special time in history. Not just special but extraordinary times. Globalization and technology have made small happenings in remote parts of the world to assume the gargantuan center stage globally. Everyone everywhere is now more vulnerable to the actions of anyone anywhere. Never has the whole world lived in recurring moments of global mutuality as we do now. While the COVID 19 has killed people irrespective of race, nationality, and economic status; it has also opened our eyes to see that oppression anywhere on earth is oppression everywhere and diminishes our common humanity.

Oppression is being resisted in uncommon ways. In the United States where I am Sheltering in Place with Nancy my wife, the people have risen to say “NO” to systemic racism; after the public lynching of a black adult George Floyd, by a white supremacist police officer. Never before have both whites and the black together risen up in such numbers and force to denounce and condemn the systemic racism against the black American citizens. This racism has kept the black of the United States perpetually backward and consigned them to a backwater precarious existence while white society wallows in growing wealth. It is more amazing that the millions of white, black, and brown demonstrators went out on the streets to protest that black lives mattered while putting their own lives at risk from the Corona Virus and white supremacist backlash.

These are memorable times. They will be remembered even in the 22nd Century when most of us alive today would be lying peacefully in our graves. Our grandchildren and their grandchildren will probably find through research that we lived in these memorable times. My own celebration is a co-mingling of surprise and gratitude. Surprise of how the single year 2020; can change the course of human history and gratitude of how God preserved me to be a writer in the last quarter of the 19th Century and now I also function as writer, and documentarist of the 21st Century.

HOW I SURVIVED THREE PANDEMICS IN NIGERIA.

I have more reasons to celebrate this birthday. I have survived three pandemics in my life and I am looking at the strong reality to survive this ubiquitous menace called COVID 19? In 1958, While I was in primary school a long time ago; when Nigeria was under colonial rule my school village Zaki-Biam woke up to horrendous deaths due to the smallpox pandemic. My Uncle’s wife Kuzuwa Kpurkpur was one of the first attack victims of the virus which spread in the air like COVID19. I lived with my uncle and his wife taught me entrepreneurship as a young schoolboy. I sold savory beans cakes she fried.

My aunty did not die. And we were not infected. The colonial office in Kaduna immediately sent the vaccine for all of the community. My aunt survived because of the tremendous love her husband had for her. She was promptly isolated in a remote hut far away from everybody including us the children. But her husband defied death. He was there with her both day and night cooking and caring for her blistering rashes, high fever, and oozing skin sores. To the glory of God, Aunty Kuzuwa is alive at the age of 93, as fit as a fiddle. Her name Kuzuaai means death has met its match. I survived smallpox that had killed over 300 million people worldwide. It was only eradicated in 1980. So allow me to celebrate in the time of COVID 19.

I suffered a second attack. My second pandemic attack arrived two years after I developed high fever just like other people who were dying in their droves without reason. There was no testing and no registration of deaths. Many older people who died were attributed to witchcraft until the staff and students of ABU and other universities in Nigeria started to demonstrate against France. As it turned out, almighty France had detonated its first nuclear bomb in February 1960 in Algeria during that country’s struggle for Independence. Nigeria was still a British Colony and I was neither a Nigerian citizen nor a British citizen. I was a “British Protected Person” in status. I was in primary four. And the mission dispensary helped me survive the French bomb flu which had carried radioactive emissions through the harmattan winds to cause fatalities in British Colonial Nigeria seven months to independence.

In 1998 while serving as Nigeria’s Minister of State of Health, Nigeria was attacked by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and too many lives were lost. The international community refused to help Nigeria and even when I invited the American ambassador to my office to express the displeasure of government and pleaded for their assistance. He declined. Nigeria was an international pariah then. To make my case dire; My home State Benue had one of the highest infections and deaths. I had to resort to desperate measures in innovation for curtailment.

I brought medical doctors and theatre professionals to create public awareness. I had to personally join the Kwagh-hir performers in Benue to an effective mass education when the people were losing hope and fatalistically making witchcraft claims and blaming women for the spread. Generous offers from Julius Berger of condoms were accepted and distributed and we co-operated with the states to engage more actively to help contain the spread throughout the country through mass awareness and education about HIV/AIDS.

As a minister, I was horrified to see people dying in droves due to depression of stigma, discrimination, and stereotyping. We needed to offer a more humane and scientific way of presenting HIV/AIDS victims to be accepted by their communities to become care-givers. My personal smallpox experience of homestead care became a national norm. The highly knowledgeable medical staff at the ministry followed me to Ogobia in Benue State where a homestead policy was effective in enhancing care for the victims. Today it is difficult for us to imagine how HIV/AIDS ravaged the country. Nigeria survived because the government was upfront, innovative, open, and inclusive.

Prof. Iyorwuese Hagher

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS

I also celebrate my future today. I am facing the rest of my life with calm resolve. I will celebrate life. I will allow God to take charge of my life as I had always done. I will celebrate my wife of forty-five years every day, as part of my life. Together with Nancy, we have faced life and the world hand-in-hand. She gave me strength, courage, patience, and humor. We faced our vulnerabilities every day with faith, hope, and love. The presence of God’s potency in the unpredictable trajectories of our life has been palpable. But we are not a singularity family. We are a large family of teaming scores of sons and daughters and grandchildren in Nigeria and across the world even though we live in an empty nest.

My life is becoming busier. I have this month joined the family of US novelists fighting racism and imperialism through my forthcoming novel “ The conquest of Azenga.” Racism and Tribalism are dangerous myths. They are nonsensical beliefs and doctrines claiming that inherent differences in racial and ethnic groups determine superiority and the right to dominate and oppress other races or tribes considered as inferior. My task is to seek along with other writers to dismantle systemic racism in the US and systemic tribalism in Africa of which Nigeria is the worst offender. I have only my written word as a weapon. My prayer is that God will lead the fight for justice and I will merely be a translator of his will through my inescapable and inevitable complex reality.

We are all living in portentous times. Advances in technology, science, and medicine have accelerated the rate of change. Unfortunately, this acceleration is not matched by the human ability to adapt. In Africa, the inability of our people to adapt is costing the life of the citizens chafing under the weight of nonsensical and outdated demagoguery. The rest of the world is not just changing rapidly it is being dramatically reshaped, and starting to operate differently. Africa’s leadership, institutions, societies, and ethical choices need to cope, adapt, and be reshaped. This is a task to which all of you my friends are called to undertake.

I finally call out the intellectuals among you. And you are all intellectuals because you are on this platform with me. The 20th century is the Century of the intellectual. The whole world is suffering due to ignorance that is calling the shots everywhere. Let us build networks of new enlightenment for global social justice that can tear down the walls and monuments of racism, bigotry, and tribalism. We must all join hands together and march onwards. To do less is to allow evil to seize the momentum. As the philosopher Albert Camus famously warned:

“ The Evil that is in the world always comes of ignorance. And good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.”

So I drink a toast to all of you my friends for making this date so memorable.

Iyorwuese H. Hagher

2019 PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANT NIGERIA

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Opinion

SHAMBOLIC LOCAL ELECTIONS: ARE GOVERNORS SETTING ‘STANDARDS’ FOR TINUBU’S 2027 RE-ELECTION STRATEGY?

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By YAShuaib

It’s shocking and laughable that ruling parties, which barely secured victories in gubernatorial elections, are now winning local government council elections by landslides.

In some states, even parties that had never won elections are sweeping council seats, often at the behest of influential governors seeking to undermine their political rivals. For instance, Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State exemplifies how to win elections despite lacking support from traditional power brokers.

The abuse of local government councils by state governors in Nigeria is a pressing concern that threatens the very foundation of our democratic structure. While the Federal Government ensures timely disbursement of funds to all tiers of government through the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), the reality is that many governors exert undue control over local government resources. This is particularly evident in the misuse of the State Local Government Joint Accounts (SLGJA), which, though intended to streamline funding, often become instruments of financial manipulation at the state level.

Recognising that the Federal Government guarantees each tier of government its statutory allocations, state governors have no legitimate reason to deny local councils their rightful share. This was underscored by the landmark Supreme Court ruling on July 11, 2024, which mandated direct federal allocation for elected councils to curb gubernatorial interference in local government finances.

However, with limited access to local government revenue after the ruling, many governors swiftly orchestrated elections to consolidate control over council positions and finances. The predictable results have seen ruling parties dominate the polls in nearly every state. These so-called “victories” do little to inspire confidence, as the elected officials often act as mere extensions of gubernatorial power.

The lack of genuine competition is hardly surprising, given that the governor’s appointees manage each State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC). The recent wave of local elections follows a clear pattern: handpicked candidates of the preferred parties consistently win and easily claim the titles of LG chairpersons and councillors through questionable processes, often coordinated behind the scenes by the governors.

While one might expect an outcry over the shambolic LG elections, only a few voices have raised concerns. The election observation group Yiaga Africa recently highlighted the troubling development and recommended civic education, genuine competition and a transparent electoral process. Unfortunately, the entrenched realities make these ideals’ recommendations almost unattainable.

These actions of some of the governors threaten to undermine the legitimacy of future elections, including gubernatorial and presidential contests. It would not be surprising if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu faced pressure to replicate this manipulative election strategy of governors in the 2027 general elections. The logic is simple: if governors can manipulate elections to their advantage with relative ease, why shouldn’t the president do the same at the national level?

Sadly, disobedience to court orders and manipulation of local judges are similarly rampant at the state level, rendering adjudications predictable. For instance, some state-controlled courts of justice, which handle local matters—including traditional issues and chieftaincy titles—function as extensions of their governors, lacking genuine impartiality and integrity.

The stronghold of governors on local governance is unmistakable, surpassing the President’s influence over state administrations as they wield significant control despite judicial efforts to safeguard local autonomy.”

Meanwhile, under Tinubu’s federal administration, the Supreme Court has acted as an independent arbiter, often favouring opposition parties. For instance, following the last general elections and rulings of tribunals, the apex court upheld the victories of opposition candidates, including Governor Abba Yusuf of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) in Kano, Governor Caleb Mutfwang of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau, and Governor Alex Otti of the Labour Party (LP) in Abia among others.

While the Supreme Court’s mandate for direct funding is a positive step, governors’ continued dominance over local governments is still apparent. Yet, the Federal Government continues the transparent disbursements of statutory allocations to states without interference. Why can’t state governments reciprocate such by ensuring local governments receive their fair share of internally generated revenue (IGR) without also encroaching on their legitimate federal allocations

The conduct of governors may have set a worrying precedent and questioned their commitment to fiscal federalism and the principles of local governance.

I strongly urge the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, and the Finance Minister, Mr. Wale Edun, to take decisive action to protect local governments’ administrative and financial rights. They must implement mechanisms to ensure local councils have political autonomy and receive their financial entitlements without the risk of misappropriation by state authorities.

Local governments must be granted full political and economic autonomy to function effectively as the grassroots arm of governance. The future of our democratic governance hinges on the equitable treatment of all tiers of government, ensuring that local councils can genuinely serve their communities with the resources they rightfully deserve.

For Nigeria’s democracy to thrive, we must hold local elections to a higher standard. Despite its flaws, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) still performs better than SIECs, whose inefficiency and bias are becoming more apparent.

The debate over federalism versus centralisation will undoubtedly arise. However, a balance between federal and state powers is essential. If reforming SIECs proves unfeasible, INEC oversight may be necessary to safeguard democratic governance at the local level.

If citizens remain silent on recent flawed local elections conducted by some state governments, they should equally accept potentially compromised gubernatorial and presidential elections that the federal government could conduct in the future, possibly in 2027. After all, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

 

Yushau A. Shuaib, publisher of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential

yashuaib@yashuaib.com

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Opinion

Soludo Solves Onitsha Water Problem with Last Mile Connection 

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Ebuka Nwankwo

Documents from the World Bank’s archive show that the Bank approved a $67.0 million (equivalent to N36.8 million in 1981) loan for Nigeria in 1981 for the rehabilitation of the 1960 water supply scheme in Onitsha, which suffered significant deterioration during the Nigerian Civil War and was not meeting the needs of residents of Onitsha. The total water scheme project was estimated at N66.3 million (which was equivalent to $120.6 million using 1981 exchange rate). The $67 million World Bank loan, at that time, was to cover the foreign currency component of the project which was 55% of total cost.

The 1981 project financing scheme required that the counterpart costs would be met through contributions of $ 48.1 million (N26.5 million as at 1981) by the then Anambra State Government and $5.5 million (N3 million) by Anambra State Water Corporation (ASWC) which was supposed to charge for water usage. Interestingly, the World Bank’s 1991 project completion report for the Onitsha Water Scheme shows that its $67 million loan to Nigeria was closed in July 1991 and an unutilized balance of $2,655.22 was canceled in September 1991. Interested readers could visit the following link for details of this project: https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/605701468290135155/pdf/multi-page.pdf and https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/906611468098982882/pdf/multi-page.pdf

Despite the anticipated impact of this water project to the long-term sustainability of Onitsha, many adults in Onitsha cannot remember when they enjoyed public water supply in Onitsha. The story of how Nigeria accrued external debts – which it got ‘debt relief’ from during the President Obasanjo’s administration – is better left for another day. And before the advent of Governor Chukwuma Soludo, some of the lands these projects sat on were not only encroached upon, most of the equipment installed in these projects had been stollen and vandalized.

In 1979, before the commencement of the rehabilitation of the Onitsha Water Scheme project, the World Bank had approved the sum of $415,000 for the feasibility and engineering studies of the Greater Onitsha Water Scheme. During the same period, a consortium of Nigerian – German consultants (ENPLAN -GKW) carried out engineering designs for the master plan for sewerage, storm water and solid waste disposal schemes for Onitsha.

Today, the abandoned World Bank water scheme in Onitsha has a new life and the contractors handling the 3 major water schemes in the city are currently carrying out ‘final test running’ of the facilities and reticulation works. The facilities now produce highly treated portable water. And because reticulated pipes to homes of the 80’s have been severely damaged, contractors are working round the clock to restore these pipes. It is a very difficult job. Many residents have even built on the right of way of these water reticulation pipes and some have been stolen. Luckily, through sheer hard work and ingenuity, water has been reticulated to many commercial fetching points in Onitsha markets, civic centers and townhalls.

The Governor Chukwuma Soludo led administration has successfully rehabilitated the GRA Onitsha Water Scheme, CLASH Program Water Scheme and Terminal Reservoir Water Scheme. These water facilities have the capacity to supply 45 million litres of well-treated water to residents of Onitsha per day.

There have been efforts to rehabilitate these water schemes in the past. In November 2013, the state government announced that a 1.8-billion-naira contract to rehabilitate the Onitsha Water Scheme would be completed in 2014 by Peterson Candy International of South Africa. But the scale of deterioration of this water scheme was a big impediment to the project taking off. The infrastructure at the original intake water source at the Nkisi River for the water schemes had been seriously deteriorated and many big developments – including investments from institutional investors – had built on the right of way of the large raw water pipes taking water from Nkisi River to these treatment plants.

Today, the rehabilitated 45 million liters installed water treatment facilities in Onitsha is now powered with solar energy and with electricity from the national grid. The solar energy component of this facility is part of its sustainability and running cost reduction plan. The superb engineering design provided for this rehabilitated facility was able to have large industrial pumps powered by solar energy.

Last week, the joy of some residents of Onitsha knew no bounds when they received the State Commissioner for Power and Water Resources, Engr. Julius Chukwuemeka, during his routine inspection tour to monitor the reticulation of water to different fetching points in Onitsha, particularly at the Ogbe Oye Market, Inland Town.

There are ample reasons to be excited with the scale of work that has been done by the Governor Soludo-led administration. During the test running of the installed reticulation works in Onitsha by the project contractors, water runs for some hours daily at fetching points. Here is the grand plan: after the current test running of this project is completed, people at dedicated fetching points would be sure of a 24-hour water supply. The next phase would be to get water into individual houses.

During Engr. Julius Chukwuemeka’s inspection tour on a fetching point at Ogbe Oye Market, one woman lamented how her children had suffered from waterborne diseases in the past because of the unavailability of constant pipe borne water and that she spent a large portion of her earnings buying water in jerrycans from water vendors that she was not sure of their source of water. But, today, this woman is overjoyed!

The future of Anambra is bright with Governor Soludo at the helm of affairs. The Onitsha Water Scheme which seemed like a hard nut to crack has now been fully resuscitated and the last mile connections to residents are ongoing.

 

* Nwankwo is the special adviser to Soludo on special projects.

 

Note: Opinions expressed by contributors are strictly personal and do not necessarily represent the position of SunriseNigeria.

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Lifestyle

Bishop George Biguzzi (1936 – 2024): Humility Beyond Reproach

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By Sule Musa (WhatsApp: +23276613799)

Whether night or day, I can no longer remember. Thereabout March or April. It was the year 2000. And at Lamina Sankoh Street in the central business district of Freetown, capital city of Sierra Leone.

This was the address of my short lived newspaper, Daily Adviser 2000 – 2001.

The office phone rang and I dashed for the receiver. Mobile phones were rare then; at least in Sierra Leone. Pioneer operator Mobitel was as rare as it was erratic. You could lay two handsets side by side on a table and dial the other with reports that the second handset was out of coverage area. So, it was mostly land phones

“Yaah!” I answered in my usually busy note. “Hello!” came back from the other end.

I will never be able to explain how that voice sounded like Emmanuel Turay’s. Emmanuel was the maiden news editor of the newspaper. I had been looking for him for the better part of that day.

So, I heard myself yelling “ah go kick you ass when I see you!

The response from the other end cut me by the groin. That could certainly not be Emmanuel. The voice responded “miself go kick u ass!”

I calmed down. I knew instantly that something was wrong somewhere. “Who’s this please?” I heard myself pleading. The answer and the voice hit me at once. I sought the ground to swallow me but it didn’t even yield a crack. “This is George Biguzzi” he said and began laughing, asking “where’s Emmanuel?”

My response was in whispers. “Mi Lord, ah don die!” I cried. “I thought it was Emmanuel.”

And he said coolly “Sule, let’s talk about important things. Tell Emmanuel I want to see him.”

I remained in the chair immobile for a long time. What sort of humility is this? I kept asking myself. And have not stopped going over same question whenever Biguzzi came to my mind.

But I had to know the man better from a closer proximity when the then director of Caritas Makeni, Ibrahim Sesay hired me as a communication consultant for the Catholic aid and relief agency. As Bishop of the Makeni diocese, Biguzzi was the chairman of the Caritas Makeni board.

The Daily Adviser newspaper had extensively covered the operations of Caritas Makeni especially in the course of ending the eleven-year war through peace negotiation and consolidation championed by the Sierra Leone commission for disarmament, demobilization and resettlement (DDR).

The guns had barely gone quiet when Caritas Makeni wrestled the child combatants in their thousands from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) high command in Makeni. They were brought to Port Loko in about fourteen trucks owned and driven by the Pakistani contingent of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL).

In all the hectic and hair raising operations led by Ibrahim Sesay and the dedicated Caritas Makeni team, Bishop Biguzzi was there in the background soliciting for funds from far and wide.

On countless occasions, I would be in the company of Ibrahim Sesay in the Wilkinson Road office of Caritas Makeni late into the night and long after the staff had closed. In nearly all of these sessions, there would be back and forth consultation with the Bishop on issues relating to the peace and relief operations.

The national award conferred on Bishop George Biguzzi by the government of President Ernest Bai Koroma was consequently well deserved.

Developments in nearly every area of human needs brought to Makeni and parts of the north of Sierra Leone are attributed to the glowing accomplishments of George Biguzzi who was always mentioned in one breath with his predecessor Bishop Azzolinni.

Perhaps the most touching pronouncements attributed to Biguzzi was his response to alarmists who ran to him in Freetown during the thick of the war, wailing that all he laboured to build in Makeni was reduced to rubbles by the rebels.

His response was classical patriotic zealotry. He said, “Once the ground is still there we will rebuild.”

When his obituary was published on Monday first of July, accompanying news that his remains would be brought to Makeni for interment according to his will, only cemented the fact that he was always Sierra Leonean by body, soul and spirit.

The soil of Sierra Leone is enriched by the mortal remains of George Biguzzi, a Catholic priest of rare breed.

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