SAM OHUABUNWA'S PARADIGM

  From all the official and several media accounts, PMB's four-day visit to the USA was a huge success. He met President Obama in the Oval Office for a beautiful photo-op. He held several meetings around the Country and met several high ranking Public and Private sector officials. He had several breakfast , luncheon and dinner meetings. He even had town hall meeting with Nigerians where he proved to me that he listens to what Nigerians are saying about  t him, BABA GO SLOW . He was interviewed by many global media and was back on Amanpour's show. I therefore identify with all the beautiful sentiments expressed by many regarding the trip and to add that PMB discharged himself meritoriously.   But we must all remember that this is not the first trip by Nigerian leaders to the USA which had been hailed as very successful, yet without any enduring benefit to the People of Nigeria. Against my expectations at this austere times, PMB undertook this trip with a fairly l...

 After what looked like an interminable wait, President Muhammadu Buhari( PMB) in the last couple of days began to show his hand. Before now, he had only made some apparently minor changes and appointments, the more significant being the appointment of the Accountant General and the acting Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission( INEC). But in the last week or so he has taken some bold steps that give an indication of where he is headed to.   Firstly, the anticorruption campaign seems to have taken off. Past Governors Ohakim and Nyako (with sons) whose cases with EFCC had gone cold were revived in a dramatic manner. Then attention was moved to Governor Lamido and his sons. The three Governors and sons have been arraigned in court and all taken on bail. I am expecting many more arrests, followed by arraignments in court and then granting of bails. Already I recently read that the erstwhile National Security adviser(NSA) may have been arrested a few days ...

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT: CURBING THE IRRESPONSIBILITY IN MANY STATES   After the heroic efforts Of President Olusegun Obasanjo and his Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala to get the Paris Club to forgive a large chunk of our Debt, most of which had become delinquent and clogging our credit worthiness, he was determined to do all in his power to see that we never walked that route again. One of the things he did, was to push through the fiscal responsibility act in 2007 before his exit. Among other things,the law specified deficit to GDP ratio for the federal government which should not exceed 3%, the borrowing limits for the Federal Government and the State Governments, what the borrowed funds must be spent on and the need to maintain budget and procurement integrity. Though the act is a federal act, certain aspects apply to all the tiers of government  and it was expected that all the States would adopt or domesticate the laws.   But the recent revelations...

 In my days as Chairman of the Manufacturer's Association of Nigeria, Ikeja, I would jump and applaud the recent ban of importers of 41 Products from accessing foreign exchange market for the importation of the said products into our Country. These products include food items like Rice, vegetable oil, tomato purée, Margarine,sardines, fish,& meat products; tools like wheel barrows, head pans, toothpicks, plastic materials;Cement and luxury items like Furniture & Private Jets. As a manufacturer or significant investor in local manufacturing, I will always want to support any ban or restriction on importation,with the general belief that all bans of importation will naturally result in increased demand for locally produced goods. And this view is fully supported by many of my colleagues who are currently active in MAN or indeed who are involved in some local production activities. Not them alone , many Nigerians believe that we are too import dependent and will want the Natio...

  I have always held the view that it is the economy that will force us to rational Behaviour. We can fool around as much as we can, argue as much as we can with all kinds of biased, ethnic, religious or primordial considerations but when the economic reality dawns on us, we either decide to take the right decisions or we are forced to sink.  For many years I have stood against State creation. I have argued that State creation destabilizes the Federation, making the centre much more stronger and more domineering. I have argued that every new State comes with its admistrative paraphernalia that consumes the income that should be devoted to development. I have argued that most of the existing states are unviable and many are insolvent and there was no economic justification to create more. I had argued that States in Nigeria were not created for altruistic reasons. They were created primarily to weaken Eastern Nigeria and subsequently Biafra in 1967. They succeeded in that miss...

   On the 29th of May( about 3weeks now), I arrived Miami, Florida in the United States of America to attend my son's graduation from the Ross University School of Medicine( RUSM). The first thing I did was to link up with Nigeria on the Internet and on phone. I was eager to hear President Buhari's inaugural speech. I was impressed with its brevity and memorable literary lacings. The quote from Shakespeare on the import of seizing the moment was heart stirring and the catcher" I belong to everybody and I belong to Nobody" was poignant, brilliant and pregnant.   When he finished speaking, I swallowed hard and lingered around as if waiting for more. Somehow, rightly or wrongly, I had expected more from that Speech. It was a speech and a day many Nigerians had  waited for with high expectations. In the weeks preceding the handover, if you complained about anything, especially matters related to governance or the economy, you were told to wait till the 29th of May....

  INTRODUCTION I am grateful to the leadership of the Public Administration and Management Development Institute( PAMDI) for the kind invitation to speak at this year's conference. These are 'political times' in our Nation and the subject for my intervention is germane. Nigerians must remain thankful to God for a long time to come for the peaceful elections and the smooth transfer of power from Dr Goodluck Jonathan to Muhammadu Buhari, from PDP to APC. It is a unique development in our Nation and perhaps signals that may be at long last our Democracy is maturing .  PRIMORDIAL ISSUES  In matured Societies as you see in Europe and else where and to a great extent in the United States of America, people are evaluated for their fit for a particular Job or position based largely on identifiable and measurable criteria. They look at your education, experience, skills and other such issues in making a choice. They hardly will be interested in who your father was or were he c...

 Your Excellency, as I conclude this three -part memo as my humble contribution to support your historic assumption of office after a record lengthy struggle, permit me to give my thoughts on some of the very critical issues on which you have promised the Nation significant, if not revolutionary change. I have chosen to write on them last because, in my candid opinion, these are the areas you need the best advice and the greatest help. This is so,because when all is said and done, these are the sentiments on which you won the election and it is on  these your success will be measured:  FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION Nigerians can and do disagree on many issues. But when it comes to corruption, ALL Nigerians agree that the level of corruption in Nigeria is very high. When the Transparency International places us year after year at the bottom quarter of the Corruption Perception Index(CPI), they are only reflecting what we Nigerians and our friends say about ourselves. They do...

 Your Excellency, I am praying that as you have finally assumed office as the 4th Democratically elected President in this 4th Republic, that you will do well, much better than the already very high expectations. That's why I made the three simple recommendations to you last week that you choose the best lieutenants to support the implementation of your vision for Nigeria. After you have determined what you want to achieve for Nigeria or where you want to take Nigeria to in your four years, I believe that you know that your next most critical assignment is to find the men and women to whom you will commit the implementation of your vision. This is always the most critical function of a Chief Executive Officer( CEO), which you have become as the CEO of the enterprise called Nigeria Inc. If you get this wrong, sir, you may have to carry more burden than is necessary and your vision may be under achieved. I know that you came to power on the platform of a political party and you will...

Your Excellency, I must begin by joining most Nigerians to congratulate you on your success at the March 28 Presidential elections. You truly deserve to be congratulated. Perhaps except for the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo , the Nation has not found any politician who has labored so much to be given a chance to govern Nigeria. I know that Chief Awolowo tried about three times or possibly four times( if we add the alleged treasonable felony). But despite his spirited efforts, he could not make it. Some Nigerians insist he is the best President Nigeria never had. Well... But in your own case you succeeded at the 4th attempt. You have indeed set a record. What is more is that you are the first Military man to subject himself to this democratic exercise this long. It was difficult to imagine that a Soldier would have the patience.Chief Olusegun Obasanjo tried once and got it on a platter of gold, tried a second term and got it on a gritty platter of Iron. His plan for a third attempt or term...