According to Van Koppen (2006; 19) a water service should have the following three features in order to effect multiple uses; A service should be reliable and constant or, for seasonal uses, predictable. A service implies the existence of (public, private or, more commonly, combined) service providers, and service users; and of agreed or formalized relationships between them. It also implies specialization and separation of roles, responsibilities and relationships among a range of actors from the national to the local level.

There are a wide range of functions necessary to ensure that a service is sustainable, and an equally wide range of actors (government, NGOs, CBOs, private companies, ranging from an individual village bailiff to a large water company or utility) who may take on some or all of these roles.

A survey of access to water and sanitation in 37 small towns (one per state) done in 1997 by Federal Ministry of Water Resources Nigeria in preparation of their National Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Programme (STWSSP), reveals that no more than 5% of the Nigerian population access water from protected boreholes while 13% used water from communal wells.

The small towns have been largely ignored by the SWAs, and the gap is filled by private, informal arrangements such as tankers, privately-owned wells, and hand-carried water containers where residents of these small towns end up paying unit rates for water which is 10 to 20 times higher than those with access to public sector services.

For example, charges in small towns in Akwa Ibom and Imo States, Nigeria range from 1000 to 2500 Naira/m³, compared to about 41 Naira/m³ charged by the water utility in Lagos city. Health implications of water supply deficiencies in parts of Nigeria are enormous. As the percentage of people with access to safe water in the country is low, and the country is relatively densely populated, the direct health repercussion the situation imposes, especially on children, is often underestimated.

Improving water supply infrastructure will help improve the social well-being of the population directly.  From an economic policy and strategic standpoint, it is unlikely that any other sector could have a larger, more substantial, and immediate impact on poverty reduction in Nigeria. If the ultimate and final objective of poverty reduction is to be achieved, the water sector will need to be the driving force of these changes. Not lessening the importance of any other sectoral investments, the consequences of a substantial increase in water supply investment on widespread water borne mortality and morbidity, is likely to be significant.

According to the WHO/UNICEF JMP Report 2008; 87 per cent of the world’s current population uses drinking water from improved sources. Out of this total figure; 54 per cent uses a piped connection in their dwelling, plot or yard, and 33 per cent uses other improved drinking water sources. This translates into 5.7 billion people worldwide who are now using drinking water from an improved source, an increase of 1.6 billion since 1990. About 3.6 billion people use a piped connection that provides running water in or near their homes.

However, estimates for 2006 as reported in this report show that the population reliant on unimproved drinking water sources is below one billion, and now stands at 884 million.  Improved drinking water coverage in sub-Saharan Africa is still considerably lower than in other regions. Nevertheless, it has increased from 49 per cent in 1990 to 58 per cent in 2006, which means that an additional 207 million Africans are now using safe drinking water while 42 per cent are using unsafe or unimproved water sources.

The world is on track to meet

Unimproved drinking water sources according to the JMP include; unprotected dug well, unprotected spring,cart with small tank/drum, tanker truck, and surface water (river, dam, lake, pond, stream, canal, irrigation channels),and  bottled water etc while other improved drinking water sources include  Public taps or standpipes, tube wells or boreholes, protected dug wells, protected springs and rainwater collection. Piped water on premises i.e. piped household water connection located inside the user’s dwelling; plot or yard is described as most improved by JMP by virtue of its position on the JMP 2008 drinking water ladder. Water is divided into three categories, which are illustrated in the form of a ‘drinking water ladder’ similar to that developed for sanitation.

The category ‘improved drinking water sources’ includes sources that, by nature of their construction or through active intervention, are protected from outside contamination, particularly faecal matter. These include piped water in a dwelling, plot or yard, and other improved sources.

However and beyond all these concerns, are other concerns of Accessibility, Affordability and Sufficiency of water. According to the UNHABITAT as quoted by Alabaster (2008); Accessibility means obtaining water by the households without taking undue proportion of the household’s time (less than one hour a day) for the minimum sufficient quantity of at least 20 liters per person per day. Affordability means water not taking undue proportion of a household’s income i.e. less than 10 percent. Sufficiency means water being available at a quantity of at least 20 liters per person per day.

Therefore, a household have access to improved water sources if it has sufficient amount of water for family use, at an affordable price, available to household members without being subject to excessive physical effort and time. According to Alabaster (2008); access to water decreases when quantity, cost and burden of fetching water is considered.

This was corroborated by the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) of WHO/UNICEF 2008 report which notes that when drinking water is not available in the home or close to it, the time taken to collect water (that is, to go to the source, stand in line, fill water containers and return home) is critical in determining whether a household can obtain enough water for drinking, food   preparation and personal hygiene.

JMP 2008 further underscores that studies have found that if the time spent collecting drinking water is between 3 and 30 minutes, the amount collected is fairly constant and suitable to meet basic needs – defined as between 15 and 25 liters per person per day. However, if the total time taken per round trip exceeds 30 minutes, people tend to collect less water, thus compromising their basic drinking water needs.

The JMP 2008 also notes that the MDG indicator does not include a measure for time taken to collect water. However, some argue that, because it is a factor in drinking water use, the time needed to collect water should be considered when determining whether a source is ‘improved’ or not. Data from 35 recent household surveys show that 18 per cent of the population in sub-Saharan Africa relies on an improved drinking water source that is more than 30 minutes away.

Progress was being made in other water-related areas during the same period. A National Water Supply and Sanitation Policy was drafted in 2000 (FMWR, 2000) which, although currently under review, incorporates a number of principles for which water resources policy and law needs to provide the framework.  In 2006, a draft Irrigation Policy was prepared that draws on the principles of the National Water Policy. At State level, a model Water Supply Services Regulatory Law has been prepared in association with the World Bank-supported WIMAG initiative, (Water Investment Mobilization and Applications Guidelines). It provides a basis for water supply reform legislation including establishment of State Water Regulatory Commissions and licensing procedures for water service providers. It is anticipated that most states will adopt such legislation, adapted to their individual contexts as required. In relation to natural resources and the environment, a national policy on the Environment was formulated in 1999 that provided for sustainable development based on proper management of the environment and in 2006 a second reading of a Bill to establish the National Environmental Standards Enforcement Agency (NASEA) went through the National Assembly.

But, in view of all the foregoing, it is germane to understand what influence the regulation of water utility performance would have on poverty alleviation. This could be viewed from the perspectives of legislative reform in urban utilities in order to achieve a new institutional framework for it, defining functions and powers of the institutions; to license water use, regulate operations, and monitor compliance etc. This has been predicated on the premise that in Nigeria, all the 36 State Governments and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have each set up a State Water Supply Agency (SWA) charged with the responsibility of providing potable water supply to the urban and in some cases their semi urban communities but that sad tales of high operational costs, poor revenue, epileptic power supply, inadequate funding, ill-motivated personnel, aging plants and machineries have remained the undoing of these utilities. The consequence is that many Nigerians lack sustainable access to clean drinking water, and those for productive activities.  The tragedy in all these is such that if sustainable water supply is a ladder in economic development with higher rungs representing steps up the path to economic well being, there are roughly 80% of households, three-quarter of Nigerians, who live lacking support to get a foot on the first rung of the development ladder.

A typical case is the Lagos State Water Corporation. Here, the water distribution network can only reach one in every three of the 15 million inhabitants of the city. Yet, they projected population growth of 4% per annum of the city means that the city’s water demand, will double by the year 2020. The cost of meeting current and projected demand has been put at around $2.5 billion over the next 20 years.A World Bank 2003 report had stressed how the abysmal performance of public utilities has come to symbolize the poorest aspects of governance in Nigeria. Using Lagos as a reference the report revealed that being neglected and close to collapse, the publicly run Lagos State Water Corporation holds the dubious distinction of having the highest recorded level of unaccounted-for-water in the world. Only 4 percent of its water production capacity goes towards the creation of revenue.

                                                                                                                                                                  Unaccounted-for-water is the most common measure of the efficiency of a water company. The World Bank defines it as “the difference between the quantity of water supplied to a network and the metered water by the customer” It has two components; physical losses due to leakage from pipes; and administrative losses due to illegal connections and under registration of water meters. For any water utility to maintain or restore a lead to consumers on water efficiency, it must get on top of its leakage problems. Leakage by water companies in England and Wales fell by around 20 million liters a day (ml/d) in 2005/06 because of strict regulation by the Office for Water (OFWAT); its official regulator. The overall leakage in England and Wales was close to 3,600ml/d in 2006 compared to nearly 5,000 ml/d just a decade earlier. OFWAT took action that  required a utility like Thames Water to make a substantial reduction in leakage, and the company entered into a legally binding agreement with the regulator (OFWAT), committing it to spend GPB150million of its own money to step up the program of water mains replacement. It also risks being fined if it does not meet its future leakage targets.

But in an ailing economy such as Nigeria’s where the Gross National Index is US$560 (World Bank, 2006), no authority actually regulates the urban water utilities. Yet, over 70% of the populations are poor and well over 50% of them live in the cities, and depend on these utilities for their daily water needs. I will therefore suggest that a review of a recent document put in place by consultants for the Federal Government of Nigeria in this context is desired. This model water supply services regulatory law has been prepared in association with the World-Bank supported Water Investment Mobilization and Applications Guidelines (WIMAG). WIMAG provides a basis for water supply reform legislation including the establishment of State Water Regulatory Commission and licensing procedures for all water service providers. It provides an equitable approach to water pricing in Nigeria.

In tandem with the Nigerian National Water and Sanitation Policy (2000) and the National Water Resources Bill (2007), WIMAG and the model State Water Supply Services Regulatory Law (WSSRL) insists that each state of the federation with a State Water Agency (SWA) must establish a regulatory commission that is empowered to issue licenses for the provision of water supply services by both government and private sector entities; define minimum service requirement; set tariffs; define rights and obligations of the water service providers; and define performance standards.

Further to the foregoing, States are to ensure that water service providers are autonomous bodies subject to regulation by the state regulatory commission; and that the regulatory commission is not subject to the direction or control of the state governor or any other person in respect of any determination, report or inquiry; and that the sector is structured to prevent misuse of monopoly power. Above all, WIMAG demands that Nigerian States should incorporate principles of good governance into the structure and operational procedures of state water agencies, particularly; equity, accountability, efficiency, transparency and public participation. States are also required to establish appeals mechanisms for decisions taken by water service providers under their jurisdiction.

The likely influence of the WIMAG document on utility performance and poverty alleviation in Nigeria need to be further explored under this premise; in addition to comparing it with those of organizations such as OFWAT and the Environmental Agency in the UK. I think that doing this will support age long efforts to revive many of Nigeria’s ailing water utilities.

In Benin, Owerri, Calabar and other parts of urban Nigeria flooding has become a modern day menace. Flood in particular, especially in Nigerian coastal cities is an extant major challenge. Though climate change related, it is also related to changes in built-up areas. The building of infrastructure, residential and office accommodations, as well as paved surfaces now obstruct natural drainage channels, and eclipsing the provision already made for, and use of parks and other open spaces as places to safely accommodate flood water from unusually serious storms. The result today is that rainfalls no longer easily infiltrate the soil; hence rapidly generating huge run-offs. Also high intensity or prolonged rainfalls now rapidly overwhelms local areas because of poorly maintained and insufficient drainage systems as those in existence are full of silt and clogged with garbage.

In Port Harcourt city and its environs, unpredictable high intensity rainfalls now results in mass flooding of neighborhoods. In such areas, one recurring problem is the overflow and clogging of latrines, as well as the erosion of pit and septic tank structures. The major problems arising from these are surface water contamination and loss of accessibility to the latrine during flood. Often, the most affected are the urban poor who live in densely populated neighborhoods where households share on-site latrines located outside their living rooms. For women in such areas, this is an issue as loss of access also translates to loss of privacy for defecation. The result is that most residents are now compelled to “wrap and throw” their excreta into runoffs; and further worsening the health risks and retarding local gains in sanitation coverage.

From Lagos, Tessy Igomu writing for the SUN reports that each day, the picture is nauseating. Open sewage tanks and pipes oozing acrid odor; blocked drainages and gutters overflowing with garbage as well as disused household items and pure water sachets have become sights that Lagos State residents daily behold during rainy season. To many Lagos residents, a cloudy sky only signals one thing: Prepare to empty your waste bin into any available drainage. ‘Agbara a gbe lo,’ meaning, the flood will carry it away, is an easy chant on the people’s lips in defense of such dirty habit.

Voicing her fears, Nkechi Ogom, a salon operator at Lawanson area of the metropolis complained that they are yet to enjoy reprieve from flood since the state government started dredging the Idi-Araba canal in the area. “This canal runs from here to Mushin and empties its water into the lagoon. We live in fear because no serious work has been done on it. They just demolished houses close to it, brought out the sand and left it that way. I must tell you that we are afraid here”, she lamented. The lamentation is widespread in all the areas where major drainages snake through in the state. Residents of such areas actually live with bated breath when the sky darkens.

However, for madam Glory in Mushin; concerns over latrine and latrine wastes are topmost. She recalls “Last year, tens of floating polythene bags sailed into our rooms with the invading flood, when we tried to remove them, their contents, mostly “shit” poured all over the place. Even after the rain, the problem persisted as we all had diarrhea”.

In Amadi Ama and Diobu areas of Port Harcourt, incidents of floating “shits” during flood is common. Residents are worried that fellow residents could afford to punish others by throwing their wastes into flood. According to Mr. Amakiri, “If only I had the funds, I would have parked out of the place to a better place; rainfall season is a bad time for us because of the floods”. He continued…” The water that comes, always come with sand and other dirt including wastes from toilets, this makes the whole place filthy and unsafe”.

For Angela, who lives around Slaughter area in Port Harcourt, “The toilets are clogged and washed over during flood. You won’t even find a place to excrete till after one week or two after the flood”. Wading through flooded compounds in search of good toilet to use during flooding gives Moses some concern, according to him; “My pregnant wife suffered so much in April because of no latrines as our toilets were submerged and unusable, it was hell”

Though residents agree that the state governments in Lagos and Port Harcourt are doing well to check the flood problem, they however gives thumps up to LatrineTec, a private company that works on ecological latrine emptying, upgrading and short listing of adaptable latrines; and training services etc. The company partners with other groups to improve public health, personal dignity and the quality of the living environment. Its specific areas of operation include the emptying of septic tanks.

LatrineTec is currently promoting the “Flood Resilient Household Latrine”; an innovative design with improved adaptive features to the traditional pit and the pour-flush system. Its designers in delivering it were not unmindful of the fact that certain latrine components are vulnerable to flood damage and that some are most likely to lead the users to abandon the latrine hence have adopted an improved version of the Bangladesh raised latrines.

Therefore the flood resilient latrine as being promoted by the company retains improved design and more careful installation that makes it adaptable. It also has unique internal and external components and unlike other sanitation options, it retains enormous flexibility with great ease of adaptability based on the fact that it could be built in-door or outdoor; operated on either single or twin pits that are well sealed; and appropriate for both rural and urban settings as well as being accessible to even disable persons and respects privacy.

When indoors, the floor does not have to be broken open periodically for emptying the pit hence encouraging families to use a higher standard of fittings and materials, thus increasing the prestige attached to it. If inside the house, people can visit the toilet in complete privacy without wading through flooded compounds to access it.

Based in Port Harcourt, LatrineTec according to the Marketing Manager Mr. Emma Ekong, the company is currently partnering with some NGOs to engage landlords to upgrade their house latrines and make them resilient to floods. He also unveils the company’s plan to partner with the Port Harcourt City and Obio-Akpor Councils in this regard.

Joachim Ibeziako Ezeji

One food that has become a major source of calories for the average Nigerian is rice. It is becoming difficult to find rice missing on the daily menu of most Nigerians or the refreshment list of important ceremonies such as wedding, naming ceremonies, wedding anniversaries, burial ceremonies, birthday parties and many others. In Nigerian markets, both those in the rural and urban areas, rice is a major grocery that often occupies a conspicuous position. It knows no religion, and does not discriminate against any tribe or race in Nigeria. Both the Nigerian rich and poor eat it, though the contents of the preparation may be different. Nigerian traders, especially those who trade on it would be in a better position to know their margin of profit. Rice can be grown over a wide range of ecological conditions, and is cultivated in virtually all the agro-ecological zones in Nigeria. Nigeria encompasses four major agro-ecological zones, with rainfall diminishing along a South-North gradient. The forest zone borders the coast in the South, and going northward gives way to the Guinea and Sudan Savannah. Nigeria’s North Eastern fringe falls within the Sahel zone. Though rice contributes a significant proportion of the food requirements of the population, production capacity is far below the national requirements for rice. In order to meet the increasing demand for rice, Nigeria has had to resort to importation of milled rice to bridge the gap between domestic demand and supply. Nigeria’s rice import is paid for in foreign currency. A combination of various factors seems to have triggered the structural increase in rice consumption. Like elsewhere, urbanization appears to be the most important cause of the shift in consumer preferences towards rice in Nigeria. Rice is easy to prepare compared to other traditional cereals, thereby reducing the chore of food preparation and fitting more easily in the urban lifestyles of rich and poor alike. Rice indeed is no longer a luxury food in Nigeria and has become a major staple food for many households. Demand for rice in Nigeria is, however, growing faster than for any other major staples, with consumption broadening across all socio-economic classes, including the poor. Substitution of rice for coarse grains and traditional roots and tubers has fuelled growth in demand at an annual rate of 5.6 per cent between 1961 and 1992. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) had in 2003 projected growth in rice consumption for Nigeria beyond year 2000 to remain as high as 4.5 per cent per annum. Nigerians have been identified to consume about 5.4 million metric tons of rice annually (valued at $9.2 billion at current prices), while local production only amounts to about 2.3 million metric tons per year, and that the remaining 3.1 million metric tons is imported, making Nigeria the second largest importer of rice in the world. The key problems facing the rice production in Nigeria has been identified to consist of lack of competitiveness resulting from low and uneconomic productivity, poor access to expensive inputs (especially fertilizers and credit), low capacity to meet quality standards and little or no encouragement of private sector participation. Also, increasing changes in rainfall patterns as a result of climate change is already threatening local rice cultivation and making it pretty difficult to plough rice fields after the very first rain or make multiple harvests in one year. The resulting harvest shrinkage and diminishing income, is further exacerbated by endemic water mismanagement and inappropriate land use by farmers which have led to massive soil erosion and loss of the soil’s productive capacity. Also, limited potential for dry season rice cultivation through soil and water conservation, and the non-employment of rain water harvesting technologies have continued to widen the increasing demand-supply gap for rice. The consequence is threatened food security and livelihood for hundreds of local rice farmers in Nigeria. Generally, food production in sub – Saharan Africa is prone to multiple risks since it is based on rain – fed systems hence imposing the onerous challenge of producing adequate food on developing countries to satisfy her growing population. This has contributed immensely to a widening gap between food supply and demand However, efforts in the present problematic rain fed agricultural production need to be complemented through dry season farming. This is absolutely necessary because the productive realm of the small scale producer needs expansion to infuse higher productivity. Then may then query what has happened to the fadamas? In a frail attempt to reverse this trend, the Olusegun Obasanjo’s government had initiated some “farmer-friendly policies” under the Presidential Initiative on Rice. One of such policies was the high import tariffs on imported milled rice. But the crumbling of that initiative very shortly after the end of the tenure of that government exposed the weaknesses or sincerity of those behind it. With less than one year in office President Umaru Yar’Adua and the 36 state governors at  an emergency meeting in Abuja, had decided to import 500,000 tonnes of rice up to a value of US$600 million from Thailand to curtail the effect of the global rise in food prices on Nigeria. According to the then  governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Agagu;  “The whole essence of this importation in the short term is to create availability and reduce the skyrocketing prices,”  He further said: “We cannot say there is famine in Nigeria yet, but the prices of foodstuffs are going up and availability in a number of places is diminishing,” During the period of that announcement, the price of a bag of rice on markets in Nigeria had doubled and tripled to between US$85 and US$102.  Nigerian traders were reported to have bought stocks of rice and grains from around the West and Central Africa region. The government imported rice was to be sold around US$50 per 50kg bag. But Ahmed Rabiu, then vice president of Kano Chamber of Commerce, in an interview had dismissed the massive import order as senseless. According to him : “It would have taken a minimum of three months to import and distribute the rice to the people that needed it and by then many farmers will have started harvesting their crops which will make the import worthless,” However, one week later, that is after the initial decision to import rice, the Agriculture Minister Abba Sayyadi Ruma rescinded the import decision and instead approved the investment of US$85 million in a credit scheme meant to support local rice processing as part of measures to attain food sufficiency.  The government also suspended duties on rice imports for six months and ordered the release of 11,000 metric tonnes of grains from its strategic food reserves for sale at one-sixth its market value.  Sabo Nanono, head of Kano chapter of Nigeria’s commercial farmers union had said the decision to invest in the domestic agriculture sector was the right one, even though it will not achieve as much populist enthusiasm as the rice imports.  He estimated that Nigeria has conditions favourable enough to become a net exporter of rice, given the right tools, seeds and irrigation. According to him: “It is a wise decision that the government reversed the idea of importing the rice” Nigeria, a former agrarian nation, abandoned agriculture in the early 1980s when the government refocused the economy on oil exploration, which now accounts for more than 90 per cent of total government revenue. Sadly, the bulk of this revenue is stolen by politicians and their cronies. The consequence is that today, according to the agriculture ministry, 91 million Nigerians representing 65 percent of the country’s population are food insecure. As noted earlier, rice is grown across the 6 geopolitical or 4 ecological zones of Nigeria. In the east, Uboma is the major rice producing community in Imo State. The community is noted for its lowland rice fields, the biggest in the entire state. Rice here are transplanted or seeded directly in the soil on level to slightly sloping fields with variable depth and duration of flooding depending on rainfall. Most of these farms are located mainly along the flooded valleys of the Imo River.  Most of the rice farms are privately owned as they are cultivated in private family lands. Rice farmers tend to be small-scale, with farms of 1-2 ha.  It is however sad that instead of giving these farmers the maximum support they need, both the Imo state and the Ihitte Uboma local government council have preferred to fuddle at the expense of such important crop. Policy somersault and inconsistencies have continued to undermine the genuine efforts of the rice farmers to produce enough rice for everybody. Instead of genuine assistance in form of extension programs and micro-finance or credit facilities the Udenwa administration (1999-2007) was contented in manual distributing of unsustainable items like rain coats, boots, hoe and shovel to the farmers. The road project planned to run from the Umuahia-Owerri road to Isinweke to the rice farms in Onicha Uboma was abandoned, while no attempt was made to rehabilitate the rice mills. Since after the expiration of the Udenwa misrule, the new government led by Ikedi Ohakim is yet to define his strategies for the rice fields in Uboma. What we now hear is that Governor Ikedi Ohakim has guaranteed the sum  of N1 billion to the privately owned  Cooperative Federation of Imo State to import about two million bags, of 100,000 metric tons of rice to Imo State. According to Rev. Dr, Geoffrey Maduabuchi Samuel, who is the President of the Cooperative Federation of Imo State, the shipment would commence in May 2009 and will run till December 2009. He posited that because of the guarantee given by Governor Ohakim, cooperative federation of Imo has stationed one of its officials in Thailand for the past three months to supervise the processing of the guarantee, bagging, loading and shipment of the consignment. What a shame?  Why not invest or guarantee such a lump sum in rice fields in Uboma and parts of Aro Ndizogu? Sadly, it is misplaced priorities on crucial issues like this that have constituted a clog in the development and expansion of the many rice fields and other crops in Nigeria. In the words of Alhaji Sabo Nanono, “Nigeria has conditions favourable enough to become a net exporter of rice, given the right tools, seeds and irrigation” But, kindly, the NGO-Rural Africa Water Development Project (RAWDP) is today in partnership with the rice farmers is designing an improvement program that will be beneficial to all parties. The outcome, if successful will be cheery.  

{Please note that references have been cited for this work, and You may contact the author directly on joachimezeji@aol.com to get the list}

 The accommodation will be residential for the statesmen at any location of their choice in Nigeria; while for transportation, the former presidents will get three cars (one for self, the second for pilot, and the third as a back-up) to be replaced every five years. The former Vice Presidents will get two cars (one for self and the other as a back-up car). For furniture, the men will get 300 per cent of the basic pay of the sitting president payable every four years. Other freebies for the former numbers one and two citizens include domestic staff, medical services, and security. The free medical services will be for them and the immediate members of their families. State Assemblies has also been advised according to Hamman Tukur had been advised in respect of their Governors and have already passed the necessary laws.

In view of this development, it will be germane to point out that in 2006, a similar proposal was made by the Hamman Tukur led RMAFC. Then, Hamman Tukur had lamented on the poor pay package of President Olusegun Obasanjo. He was quoted to have said that President Olusegun Obasanjo was among the poorest paid heads of state across the globe. He argued that a take home pay of USD10, 000 per month is too small for the president vis avis the galloping inflation which has made nonsense of the current wages fixed about four years ago.He then gave indications of an imminent raise in emoluments for a coterie of political office holders such as the President, Vice President, The Senate President, The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Governors, Chief Judge of the Federation and other political appointees down to the rank of permanent secretaries. This of course did not exclude local government chairmen and members of the legislature at all levels. That Proposal which has long come into effect, included a 100 percent increase in basic salary, an increase in accommodation allowance from 100 to 300%, a rise in utility allowance from 20 to 40 percent because of increased NITEL and electricity tariffs, motor vehicle maintenance and fuelling allowance to be doubled from 30 to 60 percent of their basic salaries etc.

These was also against the background that Aso Rock budgets and squanders about N2.3million daily for refreshment as was reported in the 2007 budget. We don’t know how much the president expends on the security vote or budget etc. This correspondingly applies to all the so called executive governors and many others who wield executive powers. No wonder, we live in country that is in absolute gridlocks. Nigerians are quick to compare their country with the United States of America, and in this wise, I wish to state that President Obama currently earns $400,000 (Naira 48million) per year, along with a $50,000 expense account, a $100,000 nontaxable travel account and $19,000 for entertainment. I don’t know if pension exists for the American president, but then, I know that President Obama is not entitled to eating free state food in the White House, as he pays for it.

But in Nigeria, the president and all those who work in Aso Rock and their friends, plus all the 36 state governors including the FCT Abuja and all those around them eat free food, drink free drinks as well as other many, many free this and free that in a country where poverty is already a synonym to whatever we pride ourselves to be. Yet, and most ironically, we live in Nigeria, where tens of thousands of men, women and children live in extreme poverty. Besides being poor, they have limited access to education, suffer from poor health, have little political weight, and are vulnerable to all manner of external shocks such as deprivation of basic amenities and services such as treated water supplies, as well as being exposed to other crises like ethnic and religious crisis, droughts, floods and erosion etc, and as a result die early. But America is not Nigeria, and Nigeria is not America. The difference is very clear. America is well and better governed and ensures hope and patriotism on its citizens. Everything works in America, from electricity in private homes to security in the streets, as well as social security, health care and functional education. In such a milieu, why should the president not be entitled to his modest take home pay? But the reverse is the case in Nigeria.

One very clear example of a country poorly governed and mismanaged is the Federal Republic of Nigeria. You need not think about this, as it cascades everywhere you look. According the UN Millennium Development Report (2008), Nigeria, with its huge population, has a huge population percentage that lives below US$1 per day. This percentage   rose from 49.2 per cent in 1993 to 68.5 percent in 1996, and has remained at 64.4 per cent since 2004. The report also listed the proportion of the population using improved drinking water source in both urban and rural Nigeria as 47 per cent since 2004. A break down showed 65 per cent urban coverage and 30 percent for rural coverage within the same period despite our so called democracy. Genuinely successful and well governed countries have innovative scientists, world class universities and major companies turning out popular products. Nigeria has none of these assets, yet we have leaders who are being fed and rewarded for absolutely doing no work, other than delaying the destiny of our well blessed and naturally endowed country. Despite this poor development index, Nigerians remains one of the most tolerant and docile people in the world.

 Nigerians endures all things; from the rigging of elections, to the imposition of political leaders, the  abysmal performance of these leaders, the looting of public treasury, sexual harassment in offices and schools, brutality on the street by police and soldiers, ill treatment by landlords, assault by robbers, exploitation by traders and humiliation by a coteries of other elements and factors. For what reasons should Shagari and Obasanjo be rewarded? How many Nigerians can remember their philosophy or what they actually stood for? I know that both won controversial mandates, I also know that both unleashed unprecedented bizarre leadership on the country, and this have led the country to nowhere. I am of the candid view that pensions for politicians who held one office or the other if at all to be implemented in  law be attached with some conditions or benchmarks that has to do with performance while in office. Let us set minimum standards, such as the percentage of unemployment reduced during the political term or the extent of sustainable investments made in long term infrastructure that are the sinews of development.

 Anything short of this amounts to short changing the average citizen. Rewarding bad examples has never been known to encourage exemplary conducts anywhere. We need not reward failure by whatever sphere as such amounts to encouraging more failure. Rewarding politicians in the terms prescribed by the Hamman Tukur led RMAFC or the “stale” constitution further makes politics a “do or die affair”, and beyond that, further impoverishes our country and exposes these leaders to public odium.

In public buses, one person would out of the blues indicate interest to ‘’commit’’ the journey into the hands of the ‘Almighty God’. But immediately after the lengthy prayer, he would delve into reading and preaching the bible. This is often done without due respect to other people with different religious beliefs. To them, you are either a “Born again Christian” or a sinner. The views or right of other people of other faiths is immaterial. When you resist or challenge them, you are called all sorts of names, including being labeled an unbeliever. Some would even curse you.

At times when you humble yourself and listen to them, it becomes an opportunity to invade your privacy with all sorts of questions. They claim to retain special prayer powers that your own prayer does not matter anymore. Some would even be bold to tell you that you are poor or finding things difficult in your life because you are a sinner. I remember how I was once told while struggling to secure a job immediately after my National Youth Service Corp programme in Port Harcourt in the year 1999 about my situation. Then I had visited one of my extended sisters who happen to own a small Pentecostal church in the city. It was an early morning visit, as I had left my apartment at around 6am.

While waiting for her as she attended to other early visitors, one of her workers came to exchange pleasantries with me. As the exchange progressed, she quipped “Joachim are you born again?” I was a bit stunned and ignored her. But she would not let me be, and then said: “You are suffering unemployment because you are not born again”. That has remained one of the most stupid comments I ever heard from a woman I thought was educated. Though I felt taken aback, but I swallowed the unwarranted insult and still sat there to wait for my turn to see the lady I came to meet. But the waiting lasted longer than necessary to the extent that my other engagement for that morning was almost getting ruined. I did not want that and instead felt I was in a very wrong place. After a little while, I stood up and quietly walked away, vowing never to return that way again. This character of Nigerian recently came up on stage again in far away London when a council employee became suspended from his job for encouraging a terminally –ill woman to be born again. Committed Christian Duke Amachree has been disciplined after he discussed his faith with a client who wanted his advice on a housing problem. The woman later complained to the relevant British authorities that he told her not to trust her doctors. A senior source at the council where Amachree works said: ‘’She (the woman)was concerned that, if Mr. Amachree was allowed to repeat his views, vulnerable people might believe him and read the Bible instead of receiving medical help” hence she reported him. Mr. Amachree , a 53 year old father of two, has worked for Wandsworth Council in South-West London for 17 years. He was born in Nigeria, but now has British citizenship and earns £30,000 a year as a homelessness prevention officer in the council. He is a member of the UK World Evangelization Church in London. The incident happened on January 26 when the woman, who was about 30, came into the council’s offices for advice. The woman spent 50 minutes discussing her concerns that she was going to be made homeless as her landlord was selling her privately rented flat. The woman, an artist, hoped to find alternative accommodation nearer a hospital, where she could be treated for what Mr. Amachree says she described as an ‘incurable bowel condition’. Mr. Amachree admits he told her to put her faith in God and said ‘’some times the doctors don’t have all of the answers’’. But a council spokesman said: ‘’The allegation is that a member of staff gave wholly inappropriate and unprofessional advise to a very sick person who has a an incurable illness, which caused great upset and distress.’’ The council said Mr. Amachree had been warned in the past for raising his religious beliefs with members of the public. The senior source said: ‘’This woman was subjected to a half hour barrage of invasive questions and was basically told it was her fault she was so ill because she had not prayed to God’’. But down here in Nigeria, this is not an ‘’offence’’. Even civil servant can devote their entire working day discussing their faith and the heavens would not fall. Many people would be misadvised to forego their medication and pray instead, yet these preachers and advisors know they are simply fake.This is one nauseating trait of many of the present day fanatical Nigerian preacher. He often ignores the right of others, and in like manner pushes his own agenda as if others are immaterial. Despite the many faiths and preaching, crime of all sorts, dishonesty, unfaithfulness and betrayals dot the Nigerian landscape. In the resulting melee, you have nobody to trust as everybody has become a viper unto another. Crime in Nigeria is very abundant, yet there seems to be a lot of Christian and Muslim practices around. Why? What a pity!