“And Cogo died!”… “My TC is bigger than yours”…Soludo’s game changer…plus South East Digest…

“And Cogo died!”

Cogo would have been 16 years old this year.  Imagine, that is close to adulthood.  All those involved in his conception were filled with big, big, dreams – Cogo would start from Lagos and spread green across Nigeria; Cogo will give Nigeria fresh air; Cogo will save money for Nigeria; Cogo will promote wealth in Nigeria, and so on, and so forth.  But Cogo died!  What is most painful is that it was still birth.  He died with so much promise, after several billions of dollars invested.

What killed Cogo?  Corruption fighting back, with due apologies to Ngozi Okonjo Iweala.

Interestingly, Cogo may not be the only such great idea that failed to birth the much expected great expectations.  I know at least two similar ideas that also died much more recently in Anambra State - Obiano’s dream of  industrial explosion in Anambra powered by CNG (compressed natural gas) through UG Petroleum Company on the one hand, and Falcon Petroleum on the other.  What makes Cogo’s death so painful is that although a private sector initiative, it had not only the buy-in, but also the blessings of President Olusegun Obasanjo, and today’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

And this is where President Tinubu should watch it!  The President as it were, can be said to be working back from the answer to the question – operationalizing the last administration’s decision on the stoppage of fuel subsidy without a public plan on how to cushion the impact on the masses.  This need not have been so as there must be several solutions already proffered just like the CNG idea, in the office of the President as well as Ministry of Economic Planning, and Ministry of Labour, among others. 

Nigerians can always rise to the occasion when it comes to finding solutions to challenges.  Innosons had already begun the production of gas operated vehicles including mass transit buses.  We pray that this investment by Innosons and others like him would not go the way of Cogo.

“My TC is bigger than yours”

People used to think that Nigeria’s major problem is lack of planning.  Far from it!  Nigerians are some of the best planners in the world.  Our major challenge, as it is now becoming clearer, is implementation.  That is perhaps why Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu wrote the piece below:

Closing Note on Transition Councils

by

Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu 

In a democracy, the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next is a fundamental aspect of maintaining stability and ensuring the continuity of governance. In Nigeria, transition council members are usually handpicked by close aides to elected president and state governors. The transition council members  play a pivotal role in  developing a framework for liaison with the out-going administration with the aim of enumerating the most important or most urgent economic and development  issues confronting the in-coming government. 

In this article, Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu, who was nominated to serve in the transition councils of Anambra state (Soludo administration), Abia state (Otti administration),  and Lagos state (Sanwo-olu administration), delves into personal and practical learnings from his experience with state transition councils.

Transition Councils work under tremendous pressure over six weeks on the average to try and develop a plan at the same time as they build working relationships with hitherto mostly strangers. It is a small miracle that they produce these valuable reports, and a testament to the quality of the people assembled for the task. 

Having had the opportunity to work on developing manifestos and, contributing to three transition councils recently, my key takeouts are the glaring absence of data to drive problem identification, scoping and formulation of solutions; and the challenge of strong analytical heuristic frameworks to guide the development of a plan. 

To differing degrees based on the competencies of the transition council’s leadership, what we end up with is a sectorial list of ideas and initiatives, well thought out and well-intentioned, but not necessarily a plan of action. In most states, despite the best efforts of the transition council leaders and supporting consultants, the gaps and time constraints made it near impossible to produce a comprehensive, internally self-reinforcing plan. The Governor gets a what-to-do but not so much of how-to-do-it and in what order.

To my mind, governance is about a theory of change: here is where we are going and if we do this and that in this order and vector, we will achieve change. Because of its sweep, governance requires a coordination across all sectors and a prioritisation index to allocate its resources.

The detailed submissions of the transition councils are loaded with ideas but still siloed – how does Sports relate to Education, Education to Industry, Industry to Infrastructure,…? Which particular set of ideas are a phase one? What happens when a linchpin idea is not executed ahead of phase two? This is actually what should translate to a budget, the annual plan of execution that drives the theory of change.

The Governor also needs to be able to constantly monitor, gather data, analyse and be agile in making decisions to keep the ship headed in the right direction and at the right pace. By design, making the decision to be data-driven means that every programme answers that question first: what are we measuring and how are we measuring it.

Do you measure the number of PHCs or the number of patients who walk through the doors? 

In the US, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) assists the President in overseeing the preparation of the federal budget and evaluates the effectiveness of agency programs, policies, and procedures, and works to make sure that agency reports, rules, testimony, and proposed legislation are consistent with the President’s budget and with administration policies.

Ideally, there should be an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and a Project Management Office bin every state, both reporting to the Governor on the execution of the components of his theory of change. As the decision-makers, the Governor and his team require data and insights, not anecdotes.

They should have performance dashboards that drive SEC meetings, and cascade into the civil service. The heuristic framework that anchors the theory of change will serve as a True North for the Governor. He will always be able to know what part of the vast engine of government is stalling or misfiring, and how it impacts on the overall plan.

Transition Councils happily also help to gather data, draw inputs from the street and in canvassing the views of sub-committee assist in generating a 360° view of Governance. I think Gov. Otti is on the right track in converting his Transition Council into an Advisory Committee. This is, in my humble opinion,  how the supportive institutions of governance are entrenched.

My experience with the Technical Working Groups for Nigeria’s Vision 2050 and  Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) were no different. What this points to is an opportunity to truly reinvent governance around data-driven, performance-oriented execution. It can begin in Ala Igbo.

Who wants Umahi out?

The last one week may not have been the best of times for Ebonyi State’s immediate past Governor, Engr. Dave Umahi.  First it was a viral photo of a small section of the Ebonyi International Market building which had collapsed.  Two days ago, it was the crash-landing of a plane in Lagos which only relationship with Umahi was that the plane took off from the Chuba Okadigbo International Airport, Abakaliki.  A lot of people fail to see the relationship between the airport of take-off and the airport of landing in the viral video.

Former Governor Umahi is easily one of the top of the Class of 2023 in terms of service to his people.  There can't be more than two or three other Governors in the Class of 2023 (and there are 28 of them) that can boast of having developed 30 percent of the infrastructure Umahi left behind.

Soludo’s game changer

About this time last year, Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, launched his coconut revolution, which he described as a “game changer”. 

Anambra State’s Commissioner for Information, Sir Paul Nwosu, takes a look at the coconut revolution and other developments one year on:

The oil and coconut palms solution agenda of Anambra State

by

Paul Nwosu

It is an established fact that Governor Charles Chukwuma  Soludo, CFR, is determined to re-enact the days of agricultural prosperity under former Eastern Region Premier Dr. Michael Iheonukara Okpara. Of course many of the younger ones, especially the recent generation, may not understand the Michael Okpara revolution that transformed the Eastern Region into one of the fastest growing economies in the world. 

At the time of the Okpara phenomenon, crude oil was still being prospected and nobody had any inkling that the oil boom would happen, even though it later turned out to be more like oil doom. Doom in the sense that it gradually killed the lofty agricultural initiatives that were already yielding robust fruits.

The institutional milestones recorded and solid infrastructure built by the M.I. Okpara administration in the Eastern Region at that time were essentially from agricultural produce, majorly palm produce.

It’s this glorious era that Soludo wants to bring back. He has crunched the numbers and come to the veritable conclusion that, as it was in the beginning when there was no crude oil, so shall it be now that crude oil is drying up. The requisite projections have been carefully done by Mr Governor to convince the doubting ‘Thomases’ in our midst that this is the fastest way to pull our people out of poverty.

Palm and coconut seedlings are currently being procured by Anambra State government and distributed free of charge to carefully selected people and groups that can nurture them to fruiting stage.

The gains are enormous. For starters, palm oil ranks one of the world’s most consumed vegetable oil. This underscores the need for the Anambra State Oil and Coconut Palms Agenda of 2023 because well over 60 percent of all packaged products found in supermarkets includes palm oil as the basic raw material.

It’s a well-known fact that the global palm oil market is valued at U$D63.86 billion.

The development of the oil palm industry in Malaysia is one of the largest and most successful poverty eradication projects in the world. This remarkably crashed poverty indices from 50 percent in the 1960s to less than 5 percent today, and directly employs over 570,000 people, with additional 290,000 downstream.

At the latest count, there are over 30 high value by-products that could be captured through the refining of palm oil.

On the other hand, the Coconut Oil market is currently valued at U$D3.44 billion. It is one of the fastest growing agricultural sector products with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7 percent. Experts attribute the rapid growth of this sector to the increase in awareness of consumers regarding the various health benefits of coconut oil.

The chosen species of the palms are quite prolific. The Malaysian hybrid coconut, for example, has a fruiting period of three years after planting. The expected yield per tree is 100+ nuts per year after maturity. At the average market price of N400 per nut, the expected revenue translates to N40,000 per tree in annual income.

The Tenera oil palm (Malaysian Hybrid) also has a fruiting period of three years after transplanting. A minimum of five trees would be given to each household. Each tree produces average of 40 fresh fruit bunches (FFB) per year at full maturity. When 40 FFB is multiplied by 5, it amounts to 200 FFB per household. It is remarkable that 100 FB yields one ton of crude palm oil. Thusly, 200 FFB is guaranteed to yield 2 tons of crude palm oil. At the current market price of N600,000 per ton of Crude Palm Oil, this translates to N1.2 Million per annum in revenue.

It is noteworthy that when fully implemented the Anambra Oil and Coconut Palm initiative will radically transform the economy of the State by directly impacting on the disposable household incomes of Ndi-Anambra.

The 2023 Palm Agenda is focused on liberating the most vulnerable population from abject poverty, thus bringing to fruition the APGA motto: “Onye Aghana Nwanne Ya.”

At the very least, 100,000 households are expected to benefit from this year’s initiative with each family receiving between 5 to 10 improved palm seedlings.

Indeed, the Solution is Here for a livable and prosperous homeland.

(A digest of latest reports on the Economy, Industry, Politics, Sports, and developments around the South East of Nigeria)

ABIA STATE

Otti appoints 22 Special Advisers, market administrator

Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has announced the appointment of 22 Special Advisers as he shapes up his administration.  A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Kazie Uko, listed those appointed as Mr. Michael Akpara (Special Adviser on Finance); Mr. Uwanna Ikechukwu (Senior Special Assistant on Legal Matters); Prof. Uche Eme Uche (Special Adviser on Education); Prof. Joel F. Ogbonna (Special Adviser on Petroleum and Energy); Dr. Clifford C. Agbaeze (Senior Special Assistant on Agriculture); Mr. Chimereze Okigbo (Special Adviser on Internally Generated Revenue); Mr. Uche Mark Nwosu (Chief of Protocol); Mr. Uche Ukeje (Senior Special Assistant on Aba Rejuvenation);  Mr. Dodoh Okafor (Special Assistant on Public Communication);  Mr. Uzor Nwachukwu (Special Adviser on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs);  Mr. Kingsley Anosike (Special Adviser on Planning and Strategy) and Mr. Uzoma Nwagba (Senior Special Assistant on Digital Economy and SME).

Others are Rev. Father Christian Uche Anokwuru (Special Adviser on Policies and Interventions); Mrs. Ifeoma Thomas (Special Assistant on Vulnerable Groups and Poverty Alleviation); Pastor Dike Nwankwo (Senior Special Assistant, Special Duties); Mr. Okey Kanu (Special Adviser on Strategic Communication); Dr. (Mrs.) Betty Emeka-Obasi (Senior Special Assistant, Special Duties); Mr. Chinedu Ekeke (Senior Special Assistant Youth and Sports Development); Mr. Chuka Ofili (Senior Special Assistant, Domestic); Luke Ukara Onyeani (Senior Special Assistant on Legislative Matters); Navy Commander Macdonald Ubah (rtd) (Special Adviser on Security) and Dr. Chimezie Ukaegbu (Special Adviser on Trade and Commerce). 

In another statement by Uko, Otti also approved the appointment of Mr. Timothy Iheke Kalu as the Sole Administrator of Umuehilegbu Industrial Market in Osisioma local council of the state.

The statement noted that the appointment takes immediate effect, adding that the governor has subsequently ordered the reopening of the market, which had been closed to commercial activities, owing to leadership crisis. 

It stated that Kalu would hold office for three months within which period he would work with various unions in the market to resolve all the issues that led to the closure of the market and a leadership properly instituted to enable the market function seamlessly.

ENUGU STATE

No more sit-at-home in Enugu, Mbah declares

The governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has declared an end to sit-at-home in the state effective from Monday, June 6, 2023, saying such orders were restricting creativity, entrepreneurship, and productivity in the state.  He, however, expressed government’s readiness “to engage in dialogue with people, who have genuine grievances towards bringing lasting peace and security to Enugu State”. 

This was even as he called on President Bola Tinubu to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to quicken the much-needed healing process in Nigeria.

Mbah made the declaration while listing out the decisions reached at the end of his first security council meeting with the heads of all the security agencies at the Government House, Enugu, on Thursday.

At the meeting, which also had the Deputy Governor, Barr. Ifeanyi Ossai, in attendance, the governor reminded the people of Enugu that he had hit the ground running on the day of his inauguration by signing three Executive Orders for the good governance of the state, including Executive Order 002 for the removal of “Unauthorised Street Barriers Across the State Within 100 Days”.

IMO STATE

Gov Uzodimma Elected Chairman Progressives Forum

The All Progressives Congress (APC) governors forum has elected Imo state Governor Hope Uzodimma as its chairman.   Governor Udozimma was announced chairman of the APC governors after emerging victorious in the election conducted in Abuja.   The Imo state governor has now taken over the helm of affairs from the immediate past governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu.  The announcement was made in Abuja, on Wednesday, May 31 after an election was conducted. Governor Hope Uzodimma succeeds the immediate past Governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu as chairman APC governors forum.

This development means Governor Uzodimma will now be the leader of all governors under the umbrella of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The Progressives Governors' Forum (PGF) serves as a platform for collaboration, policy development, and sharing of experiences among its members.

 

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