Introduction:
Over the years, Nigeria has had a number of laudable projects that made one proud of being a citizen of the most popular black country in the world.
These projects range from the Liberty Stadium, Ibadan (now called the Obafemi
Awolowo Stadium) to the National Stadium Lagos, hospitals, schools and the
refineries which got oil displacing agriculture as the mainstay of the economy
to mention a few.
But having been built and
made to serve their immediate purposes - as these were largely capital projects on various sporting and infrastructural facility needs at the time - they ended up in
most cases forgotten, abandoned and at its best given very little attention, leading
to its poor maintenance and management. The million dollar question to draw
from the aforesaid is if these projects were actually made available in the
short term or long term. It is expected that the latter would be the answer. Nevertheless
over the years, most laudable projects in Nigeria fault this notion.
I never imagined
writing on the decadences of the Nigerian maintenance culture with regards to
the public sector but reading the Punch Newspaper of 25 November 2011 that
focused on the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, which is now an eyesore got me baffled,
thus reaching out for my writing materials.
Nigeria is not meant to
be where she currently is for she is a blessed nation, one that is palpably so
richly endowed with the best of resources; “human
and material” to spur her towards having the best
facilities when she deems it necessary and most appropriate. Nigeria as against
the so called world economies, developed nations, world powers or whatever
phrase used to describe the most powerful States of the world is immensely
blessed with natural resources as earlier mentioned, that only if Nigeria was
properly managed by the best hands in leadership, she would have easily stimulated
herself towards being not just a real giant of Africa (as against what I
perceive to be the current self acclaimed status) but among the world powers in
all ramifications most importantly, socioeconomically.
Interestingly, the anticipated
achievement of vision 20 2020, if painstakingly implemented when it was first
initiated during the regime of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria
ought to have achieved the status of being among the top 20 economies in the
world by 2020 much earlier than the anticipated year of 2020 due to how richly
endowed she is by the grace of God. As against the current look of things in
which Nigeria is struggling to meet the feat, if appropriately enacted with
visionary leadership, Vision 20 2020 ought not to be a thing to strive for nor
contend with because she ought to be in that circle of nations with so much
ease like the air one breathes.
“THE MAINTENANCE CULTURE IN
NIGERIA: A threat to her prosperity” will focus on a
handful of maintenance headaches Nigeria has had over the years on its once
upon a time very laudable projects that are right now in the most deplorable
state ever imagined which are definitely threats to the social economic and
infrastructural advancement of Nigeria.
This is with respect to
the issue of maintenance of public facilities and capital projects that are worthy
of proudly making one a Nigerian, though for a short while, no thanks to the
“extinction” of the beauty that once upon a time greeted such projects.
The
Maintenance Culture by the Nigeria Public Sector at a glance:
The maintenance culture
of capital projects by the Nigerian government at all tiers over the years have
been nothing but a disgrace to the nation as a whole due the level of resources
“both human and capital” inputted and doled out respectively towards making
such projects a reality. Due to this, it is noteworthy to point out that the
reason for the poor maintenance culture by the government of Nigeria results
from the IBNV “ILL BEHAVIOURAL NIGERIAN VIRUS”.
The Ill Behavioral
Nigerian Virus (IBNV) is a term I coined in June which entails all forms of
shameful attitudes exhibited by a handful of Nigerians which results from the
corruption of the lot of its leaders over the years. These attitudes range from
the unlawful killing by the police of innocent citizens resulting from their (citizens)
refusal to pay N20 bribe; to those who
believe in the saying “I must eat from the National cake” thereby getting
corrupt in any way as deemed necessary; to the Nigerian who does everything
beyond his smartness to outsmart anyone irrespective of nationality or position
in authority. This all boils down from one thing, anger. Nigerians are angry
and feel cheated, thus leading to a situation that generally makes the led to
feel that the leaders have a disregard to their plight.
Thus, the IBNV
originates from the Nigerian leadership over the years which have been
characteristically singled out for having the same features; CORRUPTION.
Corruption; a term I dub the economic terrorist
is one thing that eats up into other attitudes and approaches to leadership in
Nigeria with the maintenance
culture not being left out.
Practical examples to
mention a few include the stadia in all nook and cranny of the nation to the
roads, the hospitals, school and other infrastructural facilities.
Nevertheless a handful
of these projects will be briefly discussed as follows:
The
National Stadium, Lagos:
This is among the many
notable government projects that have somewhat seemed to be forgotten. The
stadium which was built in 1972 to serve as the main stadium for the 1973
All-Africa Games is today, a shadow of its original self. This has overtime been
as a result of the stadium not serving the primary purpose it was made to serve
and due to the high level of nonchalant attitude exhibited by its management
team towards maintaining the look of the stadium to the low level of usage of
the stadium to serve its primary purpose (sports). Instead, the stadium have
over the years paid host to various religious activities and of recent, a
written test centre into the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) which
took place between November 10-14 2010 in which all applicants were made to
have their written test in the main bowl of the stadium, an incident I guess
brought about the feel that it was the Super Eagles they “the applicants” were
in the stadium to watch.
As a result of this one
wonders;
- What
happened to the classrooms in the public schools?
- Why
should the stadium of all places be used as an exam centre?
The current state of
the stadium is one that is not worthy of serving the purpose it was made to
serve.
Not surprisingly, prior
to the 2009 Under 17 FIFA World Cup, the National Stadium, Lagos and all other
stadia were renovated. This as usual sealed the notion that the Nigerian
government approach to maintenance is a fire-brigade approach, not doing first
thing first and the right thing at the right time which would have been
advantageous to the government expenditure due to her “the government” spending
much less if she routinely and regularly ensures that all facilities are well
maintained and put in the right shape.
The current state of
the stadium only shows how forgotten the stadium has been since the 2009 under
17 FIFA World Cup. The turf getting to its worst state, and the seats at the
spectators stand not being left out, thus getting surrounded by grass and weed
which I only hope doesn’t make the National Stadium get renamed National
Forest. The external facilities like the lawn tennis court and swimming pool are
also earnestly pleading
for its maintenance.
Obafemi
Awolowo Stadium:
This is another stadium
that has fallen victim to the poor maintenance actions by the government. Like
it was pointed out earlier, the story on this stadium by the Punch Newspaper is
the drive behind this write up.
Realizing that the
Obafemi Awolowo stadium “formerly liberty stadium” is the first stadium to be
built in Africa was astonishing but its current state rubbishes this astonishment
that once proudly took control of my heart, added to the joy of being a proud
Nigerian with this respect.
According to the Punch
Newspaper of Saturday, November 25, 2011, it was reported that an official of
the National Sports Commission, during the course of an interview he had with
the Punch said that after assuming office in the South West Zone, thereby
taking charge of the stadium, he made it a priority to see that the stadium is
renovated to its best possible state. He further went on by saying that when they
were working on the swimming pool, 10 buckets of frogs were pulled out from the
swimming pool; this is no exaggeration from me but his words which is nothing
but highly pathetic. That same visit by the Punch Newspaper only shows that the
stadium is left to almost naught. I personally observed the greenness of the
swimming pool through the picture taken on the Punch Newspaper of the aforesaid
date. One only imagines the look of the pool if one is physically there. Sadly
in the long run, this attitude has nothing but all adverse effects on the
economy due to the low patronage of such facilities which leads to an
unfavourable multiplier effect on the National Income of Nigeria.
On the flip, one
notable benefit of these stadia, if properly managed is its immense
contribution to the GDP of Nigeria which entails it serving as among the
sources of government revenue due to the fact that Nigerians are sports loving
people, thus regularly patronizing the stadia across the federation.
However against these practical
examples cited and so many others too numerous to mention with respect to the
stadia across the federation is the National
Stadium, Abuja, a world class edifice that is being maintained at the best
level. I implore the management, maintenance committee and all those
individuals directly or indirectly responsible for its maintenance to keep up the
good work because indeed its contribution to the economy cannot go unnoticed.
The exotic edifice that
defines the Abuja National Stadium is one that caught the eyes of the Arsenal’s
Marketing director; Angus Kinnear who expressed great satisfaction with the
stadium during the tour of the stadium by an Arsenal delegation to Nigeria on
Monday, 11 December, 2011 in preparation for Arsenal’s visit to Nigeria next
summer.
With the current state
of other stadia, kiddingly one wonders what Angus Kinnear would have said if he
had visited National Stadium, Lagos or other stadia which are in a state that
makes one short of words and unable to mull over the right adjective to get them
described.
The lesson from the
state of the National Stadium Abuja is that the same approach to the management
of it should be given to other stadia across the federation.
The
Nigerian Airways:
Also, another notable
sector to point out is the aviation sector, no thanks to the “extinction” of
the proudly Nigerian National carrier; the Nigerian
Airways. The Nigerian Airways which commenced operations on October 1, 1958
after the dissolution of the West African Airways Corporation (WAAC) got
liquidated by the Obasanjo administration in May 2003.
Obviously, the primary
reason for its dissolution originated from poor management and maintenance by
its past administrators which overtime led to lapses with respect to its
survival.
Having liquidated the
National Career, in the space of 5years (between 2004 and 2010) it has had a
change of name 3 times, thus from Virgin Nigerian Airways in September 2004 to
Nigerian Eagle Airlines in September 2009 and of recent, Air Nigeria by its new
management, Air Nigeria Development Limited in 2010.
However, of recent,
precisely on page 19 of the Punch Newspaper of Wednesday, 07 December, it was reported
that the Aviation Minister said that Nigeria is working towards a new National
Carrier which expectedly now entails that this will be the fourth change of
name. According to the Punch Newspaper
of the aforesaid date, the words of the Minister of Aviation; Mrs. Stella Oduah
are as thus “We’re working on a National
Carrier that will be publicly owned with limited financial contribution by
the government. Government will act as a regulator and provide an enabling
environment for this objective to be achieved”.
From the above quote,
with respect to the National Carrier management, what is different from what
happened in the days of Virgin Nigeria to the unborn National Carrier?
She went further “We
recently reviewed the models of national carriers in other countries and we are
working on the best solution for Nigeria. We are working to deliver the national
carrier by next year”.
Now it seems like the
Aviation Ministry has finally woken up but it is best one should not expect
much but get ones fingers crossed and watch as events unfold because this may
as usual be another episode of failed promises and ineffectiveness.
Sequel to this new
national carrier, what happens to Air Nigeria and why all these inconsistencies
and lack of continuity? Nigeria needs to have a review of its attitude to
government policies, most especially with respect to the continuity of policies
and projects by preceding government.
I strongly believe that
a new government or leadership does not necessarily mean new ideas and projects
at the expense of already effected laudable projects and ideas. Continuity if
properly structured is the easiest way at thriving towards achieving effective
leadership.
On the flip side,
inconsistency or lack of continuity only depicts three things, lack of
ambition, vision and no purpose or ineffectiveness.
With regards to the
name change on the National Career, I strongly believe that this will not augur
well for the Nation Carrier because the easiest way for any business venture to
have and maintain a good customer base, having built a lot of confidence in its
esteemed customers is CONSISTENCY in the quality of services rendered. The
frequent name change does more harm to the existence of a National Carrier than
good because its once upon a time esteemed customers will rather patronize
other players in the industry that have overtime exercised consistency,
rendering world class services to the fullest.
Roads
across the Federation:
The state of the
Nigerian roads is one that has led to the loss of so many lives, brains, highly
productive Nigerians who were at their peak in terms of their contributory
level to the economy, not forgetting those whom had so much to contribute that
were indeed yet to have an impact on the nation. On the generality, virtually
everywhere one goes to one sees a bad portion of the road at some point. The
high rate of accidents, leading to loss of lives and most times near death
situations is one that I feel so ashamed to make mention of the figures.
In spite of this, the
ineffectiveness of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) and the road
maintenance agency in the states of the federation is one that needs to be
checked due to the adverse effect these roads have on the nation among which is
a bitter discouragement to foreign investors, especially those foreign
investors that would want to major in the rural areas due to it being the base for
the available raw materials that abound in Nigeria. But the roads in the rural
areas serve as a deterrent to attracting these foreign investors.
The negligence and
improper attention given to the roads is one that in its way discourages
foreign investment. The reasons for this are as follows;
i. It
adds to unnecessary overhead cost of the interested foreign investor with
respect to the wastages spent on the cost of motor vehicle maintenance which
due to the nature of the Nigeria roads, is underwent much more than usual.
ii. It
could slow down the pace of production by the firm. This is as a result of the
delay caused by the transportation of raw material or certain resource from one
place to another due to the traffic most times caused by the bad roads,
courtesy the pot holes etc that tend to make such movements carried out at
snail speed.
iii. The
“death trap” nature of a handful of the roads in Nigeria
In as much as the
consumers are readily available, the level of effectiveness of the transportation
system, added to how timely these firms will be able to meet their target
customers or consumers of their products are two pivotal factors that are meant
to be taken into cognizance. Thus in Nigeria, the consumers are readily available
to attract foreign investors into the country but the anomaly to this is the
lackadaisical approach by the government with respect to its desire at wooing
its anticipated foreign investors.
The high spate in which
already present multinational companies leave Nigeria is greatly limiting the tremendous
effects foreign investment would have rained on Nigeria if she (Nigeria) had
had the necessary positive approach in the direction of encouraging more
foreign investors to the country. Among the multinational companies that have
left Nigeria are two giant tyre manufacturers; Dunlop and Michelin, not
forgetting Paterson Zochonis (PZ) and Unilever that have most of their
operations and production activities undergone out of Nigeria.
For the Federal Road
Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to be effective, it has to make itself available to
the public through a well structured customer care or public relations department.
In achieving this, toll free lines should be made available and opened to the
public for members of the public to call whenever there are cases of pot holes
“death traps” or any other slight damage to the roads. Without this openness to
the public, Nigeria will keep having issues with its roads and other facilities
because realistically FERMA cannot be everywhere and cannot timely and regularly
know the state of all roads within its jurisdiction either at the Federal, not
forgetting the road maintenance agencies at other tiers of government.
Thus, providing a means
of network between the everyday road user at every nook and cranny in the
nation to Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) will be the only way the underwhelming
state of the Nigerian roads in all nooks and cranny of the nations can be
overturned.
In addition, the
quality of work done should be of high standard and not the slapdash that FERMA
and other road maintenance agencies at the three tiers of government are known
for in which having worked on such roads, these roads are worse within the
shortest period of time. The high standard maintained on the roads with respect
to its maintenance “not the regular patches that tend to somewhat make the
roads disfigured and rough”, will go a long way in making citizen proudly keep
up with the payment of toll charges.
Good roads aid the
growth and development of a nation, thus serving as a means of attraction to
foreign investors. The present day Nigeria is not meant to have an issue with
its roads due to its resource endowment in bitumen and other resources used in
road construction, worse still with the government seeming to struggle towards
generating revenue for financing road maintenance.
However, the destruction
of tollgates across the federation in 2004 by the Obasanjo regime was indeed
the wrong step it took due to the fact that it (toll gates collection) is in itself
the easiest means the government would have employed towards the generation of
revenue for road financing.
Tollgate collection is
one thing that dates back to history, the era of the Greek Mythology and is
still ongoing in the advanced countries of the world. The excuse the government
of Obasanjo gave for the tollgate cancellation were the activities of the men
of the underworld which entails insecurity on the high ways and corruption by
the tollgate collectors who themselves remit a little amount of their
collection for the day, thereby having the remaining to themselves.
In contrast, sequel to
the removal of the tollgates along the highways, the rate of armed robbery is
still on a surge.
In curbing the
aforementioned excuses that were the reason for its removal, the following
should be undergone:
*On non remittance of
the total collection by the tollgate collectors;
With regards to the
corruption freely exhibited by the toll gate collectors, this really is no
excuse because there is always a way out which are as follows;
a. The
persecution of individuals whom are found wanting with respect to pocketing tax
payers money.
b. If
some individuals are above the law and cannot be persecuted which is always the
case in Nigeria, then the government must provide an alternative to its mode of
collection and payment. In my opinion, an alternative to humans will surely be
the best option to utilize.
I
bet one is wondering where I am driving at; MACHINES, thus the employment of a
technological approach to the collection of money at the tollgates. This
approach will be carried out through an electronic tollgate payment system by
the use of a tollgate payment card.
Owing
to the illiteracy level in Nigeria, the Nigerian Government should ensure that
the electronic toll gate payment card should be user friendly irrespective of
the literacy level and very accessible to everyone.
With
respect to the former, the way out is to make the card in such a way that one
doesn’t need to follow instructions nor make selections nor be a literate before
one is able to use it but rather one would have to stop at the tollgate
collection machine, scratch or rub the card over or against the machine without
necessarily getting down from ones car, thus while one is on ones wheels.
Having scratched the card against the machine, it automatically deducts the
units or amount to be charged and thereafter, there will be a thoroughfare,
thus the road being accessible to the user.
As
expected not all sizes of vehicles will pay the same amount at the tollgate, in
consequence every size of vehicle will be put into consideration through the provision
of different tollgate collection or payment points which will charge different
rates with regards to different vehicle sizes.
Having
introduced this means of collecting revenue at the tollgates from road users, the
following are the advantages to be derived;
i. It
will serve as a means of getting corruption curbed at the tollgates
ii. It
will assist in curbing traffic issues at the tollgate. An example will be with
respect to the primitive way of tollgate collection in which an individual pays
with cash in a high denomination that requires lots of change in which the
tollgate collector really has none. In this case, the time it will take the
tollgate collector to go around asking his or her colleagues for change will
lead to somewhat of a gridlock on the road. But with the employment of a
technological approach, there will be very little or no traffic at the tollgate
compared to the aforesaid example.
iii. It
has a capital intensive nature of production which in itself limits the amount
of individuals employed to partake in the tollgate collection because rather
than have so many staff collecting money at the tollgates “who would not remit
all monies collected for the day”, very few staff would be at all tollgates
from time to time in order to have routine checkups on the tollgate machines
thereby ensuring that they are working to full capacity.
*On insecurity on the
highway:
Due to the nature of
tollgates to be installed, it is pertinent that adequate security is provided
so as to avoid hitches to its collection. In doing this, the government should
endeavour to make provisions for the presence of a team of police personnel.
This will be executed in the following ways;
a. At
every tollgate collection point, a team of policemen would be made available to
ensure that the machine are not tampared with by destructive Nigerians
b. Asides,
the presence of the police being there to scare off any individual that may
want to tamper with the machines, the police would also be there to most
importantly; protect lives of individuals, thus thriving towards making armed
robbery on the highway a thing of the past. This is very important because the
presence of the police alone would scare of armed robbers and other criminals
with ulterior motive on the high way.
c. In
working towards the latter of the aforesaid, there should be a very effective
communication system among all police personnel across all the tollgates of the
federation not forgetting the communication linkage between the police and the
public.
d. Motivation: This
is a very important factor at ensuring that the police at the tollgates and
thus highways don’t compromise standards of duty. The government has to ensure
that these police personnel are fully motivated both extrinsically and
intrinsically because it will go a long way in bringing out the best in them.
The effect of both motivational approaches on the police cannot go unnoticed
because its current laxity is a great reason for the unprofessionalism and
nonchalant approach to duty by a host of the current day police personnel
across the federation.
Having
pointed these, the recent decision by the Goodluck Jonathan regime to
reintroduce the tollgate is a right move as it will be advantageous to the
government in many folds but the level of it being advantageous will be utterly
dependent on the approach to its collection and how effective the approach to
its collection will be.
Also, the level of
affordability of the tollgate should be highly considered. The government
should take a cue from the exorbitant charges by the Lekki Concession Company at
the Lekki – Epe Expressway which in itself is making the users of the road
angry, thus biting really hard on them. This entails that having gotten the
tollgates back on the highways, the government should not follow suit by doing
likewise.
As against this, the
toll gate charge is one that should be easy to be paid by all. Charges between
the rate of N 10 and N 50 will be very reasonably affordable. This
charge like earlier mentioned will be solely dependent on the vehicle size and
purpose.
The toll gate indeed
serves as a direct tax to its users which I think is really necessary since its
primary purpose is to serve as an added means of generating revenue for the
maintenance of roads, thereby easing government’s expenditure on road
maintenance and the government having somewhat of an added or extra expenditure
to spend on other pressing needs and projects.
Nigerian
Telecommunications Limited:
Prior to the advent of
the current perfect market nature of the mobile telecommunications industry in
Nigeria in 2001, NITEL over the years was the sole player in the mobile
telecommunications industry due to the imperfect competitive market nature of
the industry that they (NITEL) indeed enjoyed. This got them in control of the
Nigerian Mobile Telecommunications Industry though with a very meager subscriber
base of about 450,000 telephone users compared to the millions that comprise
the Nigerian population. But no doubt, prior to 2001 were the good days of
NITEL due to the large amount of money the very few who could afford its
services had to pay compared to the present day level of affordability of the
mobile telecommunications services which is also advantageous to the telecoms
providers except NITEL due to the tens of millions of subscribers they have to
themselves.
But sequel to the
imperfect nature of the mobile telecommunication market, the decentralization
of the industry has brought about a situation in which the maintenance hiccups
by the government on NITEL over the years has made NITEL to be at the brink of
extinction due to the fact that it is at the verge of liquidation but if lucky,
acquisition.
The
Refineries:
Last among all the
major projects to be highlighted are the Nigerian refineries. This is because
of the fact that oil is the backbone of the Nigerian economy and it will
however be very disrespectful to her not to make mention of it because indeed,
she is pleading for a change due to the fact that the crude oil is not fully
refined in Nigeria. The refining capability of all four refineries in Nigeria
is put at 40% which is far short of the total amount of the refined petroleum
produce needed for her local consumption, not forgetting the exportation
advantage Nigeria ought to have had for finished oil produce if her refineries
were working to full capability. This has indeed led to the government running
at somewhat of a loss and a dent to the budget of the country, partly being
responsible for her deficit even though ironically it is the major source of
foreign exchange and export of her.
This notably, is due to
the importation of refined oil back into the country having firstly exported
the oil in its crude state.
The maintenance
shortcoming of the government on the refineries is one reason why the issue of
the subsidy brouhaha from the public to the government due to the government’s
removal of subsidy on petroleum products will linger on with no limit.
The way out towards
putting an end to this is providing new refineries with modern technology that
will meet the local and export demands of Nigeria, a recommendation that keeps
making the headlines but being on the deaf ears of the government.
Hopefully, the refined
oil importation will be a thing of the past when the pact between the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation and China State Construction Engineering
Corporation Ltd which intends to build three more refineries materializes, thus
easing up the pressure on the existing ailing refineries.
However, only time will
tell how upbeat the government will be towards making refined oil importation a
thing of the past.
Government
Hospitals:
The existing nature of
most of the government owned hospitals most especially at the federal and state
levels is primarily the reason for the high rate of Nigerians travelling abroad
for medical treatment. Also the unforeseen occurrence of strikes by the medical
and non medical staff of these hospitals which does stall the recuperation of
patients in them is another reason for such patronage of foreign medical
services.
All these would have
been averted only if the government had a very proactive approach to its hospitals
and providing the best conditions of service to its medical staff and ensuring
that these hospitals are in its best state.
Education:
As the saying goes; the
youths are the leaders of tomorrow but with the current deteriorating standard
of the educational system of Nigeria, the aforesaid saying seems to best be
rephrased to the question; “are the youths the leaders of tomorrow?
This is because of the
dwindling performance by Nigerian Secondary Students, most especially in public
school in their external exams, precisely West African Senior School
Certificate Examination (WASSCE). There are many factors attributing to this
but for the purpose of this write up, I will streamline my highlight to the
state and nature of the classrooms which are not conducive for learning.
This is characterized
by the devastating state of the unfriendly nature of the classrooms of the
foundational level of education (Elementary Schools) which is one to worry
about. More so, the secondary and tertiary levels are also guilty of having
such lapses in which a number of structures in schools are so dilapidated and
in a state I wonder how these kids and students find school interesting. But
sadly, the poverty level in Nigeria is one that leaves one with no choice than
to persevere because as Nigerians generally believe, things will get better but
the truthful question is; are things really getting better or better put; does
things seem to get better?
I bet most Nigerians
can’t wait for when the answer to the above will be a confidently big YES.
Starting a capital
project of any sort is not a short term action but long term that involves a
serious level of planning and projection which is not limited to the period of
its erection but most importantly how it is to remain comfortably erected in
the best shape afterwards. This is attributed to the fact that a long term
approach to such projects determines the longevity of such projects.
BRINGING
TO PAST, THE MAINTENANCE HICCUPS IN THE NIGERIAN PUBLIC SECTOR
Before going into
approaches to be employed by the government towards ensuring that the
maintenance headaches becomes a thing of the past, it is utilitarian to
establish a linkage between the monies spent by government on its capital
project and thus show its end result. The continuum will also establish a way
out, thus the effects if positively undertaken.
Model
1: THE CURRENT CLINE OF
GOVERNMENT MAINTENANCE ATTITUDE “Emphasizing
its weakness to the economy”
*NB: E = Government Expenditure
The above is a 1-way
and straight cycle model which establishes the current trend and effects of the
deficiencies in government maintenance attitude to its capital project. This
cycle is one that repeats itself overly with no advantage to the government. Money
spent by government on capital projects end up going down the drain due to the
improper approach and somewhat poor planning approach by the government at
knowing that such capital projects irrespective of what it is; road,
stadia/recreational facilities etc have its own economic importance and
viability to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria.
As indicated in the
continuum, the attitude of the government over the years to its funds on
capital project has led to economic sap, thus an attitude that is gradually
destroying and limiting the economic viability and expectation of Nigeria.
However, it is
important that this drawback before Nigeria that has over the years served as a
threat to her prosperity must be dealt with before it is too late because in
not time, it will be a King Kong to the government but in this context, unable
to be killed.
The current trend of
government misappropriation is a one way trend that in itself is
disadvantageous to the Nation rather being a plus.
*On the flip side,
below is a model showing the advantageous effect a positive maintenance
attitude on capital projects will have on the nation.
Model
2: A 2 WAY CLINE EFFECTED BY A POSITIVE MAINTENANCE
GOVERNMENT ATTITUDE “Emphasizing its
strength to the economy”
*NB: R = Revenue and E = Government expenditure.
The above is a 2-way 3
cycle model illustrating the positive impact a rightly engineered approach of
government funds to capital projects will have on the economy.
Unlike Model 1 which is a one way flow
with no returns to the government, Model
2 is a two way flow. This is as a result of the benefits enjoyed from
having an awesome maintenance attitude to capital projects embarked on. This
primarily entails a return of investment to the government from its capital
project either directly or indirectly.
If the government has a
positive approach to all its capital projects, these projects will have an
overwhelming effect on the GDP of the nation due to the fact that the
government will generate revenues “directly and indirectly” from these projects
through the inflow of cash from these projects. Thus from model 2, it is noted
that the emergence of an economic sap which is prevalent in Model 1 will be inhibited at the
highest level.
In combating the
maintenance headaches that have been a strong contender “Corruption being the other” for a major cause of the slow pace of
growth and development of Nigeria, there are numerous approaches to be employed
by the government but however, I do wholeheartedly recommend the following
stringent approaches;
The establishment of a
new Ministry dubbed “THE MAINTENANCE MINISTRY” or if not possible, a government
maintenance agency with this responsibility. But if one says, there is or are
at all tiers of government level, then;
1. What is the name of
the existing parastatal?
2. the nonchalant
maintenance attitude has proved that this agency, if it exists is nothing but a
shadow in its self and should be overhauled in whichever way deemed expedient
to ensure its utter effectiveness.
The recommendation of
the aforementioned is because of the need for there to be an individual, body
or agency to be held responsible for the downturn in the beauty that once
characterized such project of great brilliance. Over the years, there really
has been nobody to hold responsible for such ills which are largely the reason
why all mishaps with respect to the maintenance of capital projects have been
pointed to the government.
Somebody has to take
responsibility for such ills, and should be rightly prosecuted, thus facing the
full wrath of the law.
While pondering on the
appropriate actions to be undertaken by the government towards having a turnaround
around in its approach to maintenance, I initially felt the need for all
Ministries involved in capital projects like Road, Sports, Aviation, etc to have
a department responsible for the maintenance of such projects inherent in the
ministries. This I believe exits. The question to ask in this respect is if
such exist, then why are these capital projects worse off and in such terrible
state? I will reiterate; someone needs to take responsibility for such, the
reason why the aforementioned Ministry or Agency with respect to Capital
Project Maintenance is deemed most appropriate.
In retrospect, the best
example to defend the reason why maintenance departments “if they exist” in the
Ministry of Sports, Aviation etc are not effective is the case of “a son having
a dad that is notably known to be corrupt, a man whom spent so much of these
state funds on his son in bringing him up, sending him to the best of schools
abroad etc then the son later turning his back to say to his dad; dad you are
stealing state funds etc. Nah, this cannot happen but rather the lad will
encourage his dad to keep up the “good” work for it is their time to eat from
the National cake. This is why I believe such maintenance departments “son” in whichever Ministry will never
check the Ministry “dad” as a whole
or the top officials responsible for diverting such funds to private purse.
In order to ensure the
effectiveness of this ministry, having effected its creation, the following are
hereby recommended to ensure that the Ministry does its duties in the best
possible way;
a. Primarily
ensuring that all capital projects are at its best state; “as new as ever”
b. The
maintenance ministry should ensure that the stadia across the federation and
all publicly owned recreation facilities are regularly patronized and used
because the easiest way of maintaining an equipment, electrical, sporting
facilities etc is to use it regularly.
c. Ensuring
that such funds designated for such maintenance activity are not misdirected
nor misappropriated but stringently used for the primary purpose it was
initially meant to serve.
All the aforementioned
are expedient and most importantly every other useful recommendation to be
added to the aforesaid is expedient because Nigeria needs everyone involved, it
begins with everyone irrespective of age, tribe, culture, experience etc.
In addition, it is
noteworthy to point out that due to the sensitive nature of this Ministry it is
expedient for this Ministry if created to comprise individuals with very good
pedigree who are known to be disciplined and prudent towards funds with no
stain “corruption” to their name at any point in time.
The Ministry of
Maintenance is one I deem to be akin to the EFCC. Just like the EFCC was
established to curb corruption, the Maintenance Ministry will be established to
put a stall to the maintenance deficiency by the government, thus working hard
towards making Nigeria to be termed among the most efficiently maintenance
inclined country in the world.
With regards to the
stadia and other recreational facilities, the Ministry will ensure that these
facilities are used on a regular basis and opened to the general public. This
way the public will play an active role in its maintenance.
This primarily has to
do with the efficient use of the monies paid by the public every time these
government facilities are used. The efficient use of the money collected from
patronage by the public entails that these monies are used to manage and
maintain the facilities in the best possible way.
However prior to when
such facilities are used “with respect to the stadium and other recreational
facilities etc”, the following approaches should be employed;
1. A thorough
inspection should be carried out on the facility by the intending user(s) and a
team of staff members from the Ministry of Maintenance.
2. After such
inspection is carried out and all parties are deemed satisfied that the
facility is in a very good shape, a written agreement or document between the
Maintenance Ministry and interested user of the facility should be signed upon
stating the following;
a. The
facility has been certified to be in its best state prior to usage
b. The
facility is temporarily handed over to the individuals making use of it
c. The
facility after usage must be returned back to its initial state “state it was
at the point of inspection”
d. If
any damage or destruction arise, the individuals whom patronized such facility
will be solely responsible for ensuring that the it is reverted to the good
shape and state it was as at the time of its inspection
e. Also,
after the usage of such facility, the individual(s) using it must be solely
responsible for the cleaning of such facility. Failure to comply will entail
the imposition of stiff sanctions. Sequel to the facility concerned being
cleaned up a team of inspectors from the Maintenance Ministry will, having
inspected and deemed the facility well used by the patronizer present a report
to the top echelon affirming that the facility was used efficiently. The
purpose of this report is to hold accountable the team of inspectors for any
misinformation provided with respect to the report presented on the state of
the facility after its use.
If this can be
vigorously undertaken, thereby being strictly adhered to, every subsequent user
of such facility will be driven to patronize the facility overly and ensure
that the facility is left in the best possible state for the nest individual to
use it.
These aforementioned
approaches I believe will be the right step in the best direction towards
Nigeria having a new leaf, attitude and approach in its maintenance culture,
thus driving the maintenance culture headaches on the road to being past tense.
In addition, as one
knows, one of the reasons why Nigeria over the years has had a very
discouraging level of continuity in government policies is down to its
maintenance culture. This is because it is expedient to note that there is a
direct relationship between the maintenance culture and continuity in
government policies, thus the maintenance culture is dependent on the
continuity of government policies with new government continuing the policies
of previous government rather than start all over again from the scratch, thus
slowing down the pace of growth and development.
Having pondered the
last paragraph, I came up with the graphical illustration below to elucidate
the direct relationship between the maintenance culture of government and its
continuity.
From the above, the
direct relationship between the maintenance culture of government and the
continuity of government policies could be in two folds; i.e. either positively
affecting the nation or vice versa.
*The positive effects
of the direct relationship include the following;
- Economic
growth and development will be attained.
- There
will be a better allegiance to the nation by Nigerians due to the
government being termed as “WORKING”
- Efficient
use of resources “human and material” will be optimally maximized.
*On the flip side,
against the positivity as earlier mentioned, the following are what happens;
- Economic
downturn with no growth attained but if lucky, a creeping and snail like
growth
- Inefficient
resource allocation
- Wasteful
government spending
- Very
little or no allegiance to the nation due to the fact that the citizens
will term the government as “NOT WORKING”,
thus losing confidence in subsequent promises by the government.
From the
aforementioned, conclusively it is expedient to note that the growth of a
nation is obviously not dependent on the volume of laudable projects available
nor level of resource endowment but solely how well these projects are well
managed and efficiently used to generate more wealth and in addition, how
efficient these natural resources are distributed to meet the needs of everyone
in the country.
All along, I had always
thought that the greatest singular headache to the positive advancement of
Nigeria in all folds was corruption but writing this opened my mind up to
realize that corruption has a younger brother; the desertion of public projects
most times resulting from lack of continuity.
Having said these, it
is expedient to note that the newly constituted Ministry of Maintenance or
whatever statutory agency the government may deem necessary to come up with for
as long as it is one to bring to an end, the Maintenance hiccups in the public
sector if properly outlined the government will have an added strength to its
viability and as I earlier pointed out, it will hinder the misappropriation of
funds since it will be an independent agency.
The importance of this
newly constituted agency or ministry on maintenance cannot be overlooked and is
utterly necessary due to the current high level of disregard for national
projects. It will indeed be a reason for a turnaround in the manner in which
such projects were disregarded.
Apart from the great
managerial and maintenance dexterity that the newly formed ministry will bring
upon the government, its economic impact is one that will make the nation smile
to the bank because the government will have more funds to use for other
projects due to the less money doled out on these projects, courtesy the
revenue gotten from the high patronage received from it.
It is a known fact that
Nigeria is blessed in all ramifications from its people to natural resource. A
government having a positive approach to governing in all folds has the
singular effect of making the people having the highest sense of belonging to
their country and the best brains not having any reason to leave the shores of
his or her country to seek greener pastures being made to ensure that they make
a mark in their home country. The level in which Nigerians strive towards
leaving the shores of Nigeria is one that I term to be at a geometric pace
which if care is not taken will adversely hit the country in due course.
The Maintenance Ministry
should solely be involved in capital projects and should be well structured in
a way so as to ensure its independence and freewill directed at its efficiency.
From the foregoing, the
following are the adverse effect on the current state of the Maintenance
hiccups prevalent in Nigeria on her:
1. It
breeds corruption
2. It
serves as the “strength” to the downtrend of the Nigerian public sector
3. It
leads to brain drain
4. It
leads to a loss in value
5. It
leads to wastages
6. It
is a dent to economic viability
1. It breeds
corruption: The maintenance weakness of the Nigerian public sector has a
great impact on corruption due to the high degree of mismanagement on the part
of the public sector, no thanks to the high spate in which public funds are
used for private purposes.
2. It serves as the
“strength” to the downtrend of the Nigerian public sector: This is due to
its long run adverse effects on business activities or performance which
decreases, thus becoming worse over a period of time.
3. It leads to brain
drain: This arises due to the loss in confidence the citizens have towards
the government which generally have the effect of a high level of emigration to
other countries where their contributory effect will be better appreciated and
taken into cognizance. The reason for the high level of emigration and most
time naturalization of Nigerians to other countries is attributed to the
inadequate and fast deteriorating facilities in Nigeria that are rife to hinder
their dreams from coming alive.
4. It leads to a
loss in value: Due to the maintenance problems encountered, the once upon a
time available projects that were the reasons for Nigerians being proud of the
nation are reasons why they are disgruntled with its leaders and above all, the
nation.
5. It leads to wastages:
The negligence of these projects by the government in the long run leads to
wastages in public funds. This is due to the fact that if these projects were
regularly maintained, the amount of funds used on such projects would have been
greatly reduced. A good example to this is the earlier approach to the National
Stadium, Lagos prequel to the FIFA football tourney in 2009.
6. It is a dent to
economic viability: Due to the wastages and misappropriation of government
funds, the strength of the nation economically will be attenuated in no time.
It is so pathetic to
observe that Nigeria struggles with its capital project, a circumstance that
has been in vogue over the years. No doubt, Nigeria needs a change, a change in
the attitude of the bad eggs in government because without this change coming
forth, Nigeria will not get better but much worse off in the years to come as
the ill attitude of these bad eggs will only impede the chances of Nigeria
towards being one of the global economies in the world to be reckoned with,
“Vision 20 2020”, a feat that as far as I am concerned is not something to
contend with because she is meant to be there a very long time ago.
Nigeria, take a cue
from China and Brazil, then you will know why I keep hitting on this ambition
“Vision 20 2020”.
No doubt Nigeria has
got lots of prospects with respect to its economic growth which is convincing
enough to woo any foreign investor into the country but that in itself is a
slapdash due to the fact that these firms, having gotten started with their
business get chased away by the harsh investment environment that is ubiquitous
in Nigeria.
Rather than continue
with its investment in Nigeria, these firms rather invest in countries with the
best of friendly and cost effective investment environment. Among the
noteworthy countries is Ghana, a country that is more economically encouraging
to foreign investors with respect to its maintenance prowess, available
infrastructural facilities, security and very fast fulfilling pace at getting
things right with respect to providing good leadership to its citizens.
With all due respect to
Nigeria, it is expedient to note that Ghana is fast becoming a true giant of
Africa due to how fast she is catching up with Nigeria in terms of economic
viability. The giant of Africa is not measured by population but most
importantly, economic viability which is primarily attributed to effective
leadership. Ghana is one country that is more likely to meet the Vision 20 2020
anticipation of Nigeria.
Most important to any
investor is the market availability of its target market; consumers. This puts
Nigeria ahead in Africa due to her large population, which transcends to being
an added advantage towards Nigeria being one of the most sought after countries
in the world for foreign investment.
To corroborate the
aforesaid is a publication of the words by the Managing Director of the
International Monetary Fund; Christine Lagarde made available to the Punch
Newspaper of Tuesday, 20 December, 2011 prior to her first official visit to
Africa as the IMF head. Some of these words of hers are as thus “Africa’s
natural resource wealth is attracting rising foreign investment to help develop
and extract those resources. Domestic and foreign investment are increasingly
addressing the large infrastructure gaps that many countries face”
No doubt, Nigeria is
not left out with respect to these words as above but in as much as both forms
of investment are addressing infrastructural gaps in Nigeria, it is at a
creeping pace, a pace much slower than it ought to be, thus not defining the
true capabilities of Nigeria. This issue with respect to this write up is also
attributed to the Maintenance deficiencies of Nigeria.
Furthermore, on the
countries she planned visiting, here are her words; “I will visit three
countries that display both Africa’s considerable achievements and its
unfinished business”. These countries in the order of visit are; Nigeria, Niger
and South Africa.
With respect to the
latter words, she got that right. Nigeria has got lots of unfinished business
that needs to be addressed immediately with the best of attention thereby
turning her considerable achievements to a level that will not just be
considerable, thus having somewhat of a pass mark but utterly significant thereby
being the strength to Nigeria being promoted from its membership of the league
of growing or underdeveloped or developing nation to a league that has one name
and not three like the former. This new league to befit Nigeria is the “the league of developed nations”.
Having said all these,
it is pertinent for the Nigerian leadership most especially at the Executive
and legislative arm of government in all tiers of government to work towards it
pro-activity rather than pay lip service at the expense of the future of
Nigeria.
In my last words; “leadership is all about leaving a legacy for
others to build on and excel from but not a stain for others to fret over and
suffer from.
Long Live the Federal
Republic of Nigeria!!!
