As a result, the former Sports Minister implored government to exercise caution in borrowing so as not to overburden the nation with debt. He also spoke on other national issues in this encounter with LUKMAN OLABIYI. Excerpts:
The domestic and external debt profile of the country is on the increase, are you concerned about such development?
Yes, I am concerned about our nation’s rising debt profile. We have been reliably informed by the Debt Management Office that our domestic debt profile is about N8.9 trillion and our external debt is also about $9.3 billion. As professionals, we feel that no nation can have all it requires to provide all the services, hence the need for government to occasionally borrow in order to meet certain demands, but in so doing, government must be cautious so as not to overburden the nation with debt. At the moment our debt gross domestic product ratio of 12.5 per cent as against the 25 per cent world standard is a little bit of some concern but I believe that with some of the major steps the government is taking, it will be able to move towards the standard that is set by the world body.
What can be done to curtail the excessive borrowing in the country?
Well, as I observed earlier, the borrowing in the country is not excessive for now but I think that we need to look inward and not depend so much on borrowing. As professionals, we are not against government borrowing because we know that it is something that is quite normal in today’s world. Every nation has to find a way of providing necessary infrastructure and we also understand that such funds are not readily available thereby compelling government to resort to borrowing. Though we are not against government borrowing, we advise that it should be done with some degree of caution.
The much talked about National Conference has finally ended and their report submitted to the President, what is your assessment of the outcome?
To me, it was good that the conference was held. Nigerians from different parts were given the opportunity to sit together under the same roof and present various positions on how best to move our dear country forward, politically, economically and socially. Any Nigerian who followed with keen interest the proceedings at plenary and committee stage will agree with me that those elders and cream of Nigerians who gathered at the conference deliberated on critical issues and came up with recommendations that will advance our country further if implemented. Honestly, as professionals we are very happy with government consideration to give us some slots and we supported our representatives who participated in the national conference. We had very close contact with our representatives during the conference, they reported to us what they were doing and we shared ideas on how best issues concerning professionals will be presented. Though the conference was political in nature, it was successful. Successful in the sense that those who were clamouring for one thing or the other before now were given the opportunity to ventilate and that is why there is an atmosphere of peace around the country. Because people had been given opportunity to express their views and make suggestions on how best the country will be governed. A final report containing policy and constitutional issues had been prepared and submitted to government for necessary action. And I know that the legislature and executive arm of government will do justice to the report so as to chart a way forward for our beloved nation.
The president’s willingness to forward the report to the National Assembly is generating another debate; while some supported the position of Mr. President, others are of the view that referendum is the way to go. Which of the divide do you belong?
Well, I support Mr. President’s view and as professionals, we believe that President Jonathan had taken the right step. Because the National Assembly is a formation of our constitution and they are saddled with the responsibility of making laws for the good governance of the country. Therefore, what Mr. President has done is in accordance with the law because even if the referendum option is adopted, whatever decision that is finally reached will still go through the National Assembly for ratification and adoption. Therefore, why waste unnecessary time when we know that the parliament must play a role either way. So, the best thing is to submit it to the National Assembly now that constitutional amendment is ongoing so that the committee can study the report and infuse some of the recommendations into the constitution. The National Assembly as it is currently constituted is mature enough to understand the importance of the conference report and will treat it with the seriousness it deserves whenever it is forwarded to them. So, what the president has said is the right thing and we support him totally.
Is the reform in the power sector yielding the desired result considering its strategic importance to the overall economic growth in the country?
As professionals in this country, we believe that the reform in the power sector is a right step in the right direction taken by government for a number of reasons. First and foremost, if we will get it right in terms of providing sufficient power to this country, then we know that time has come for us to stand up and be counted as a nation. So far, I think that we are still crawling but by the time we get that power sector reform concluded and we have more than enough to run our industries and of course provide for our domestic usage and perhaps sell to other neighbouring countries. With that achievement, it will translate to massive economic growth. Everything will certainly change for the better. Therefore, I think that the decision to privatize the power generation and distribution is a good thing for Nigeria. But as professionals, there are certain things that are going on now which we do not support, take for instance; if you are privatizing a public enterprise, it will only be fair and just for you to sell the enterprise to the best bidder. One factor that makes a company the best bidder is the availability of funds that it has to inject into the enterprise it is bidding for. But we discovered that despite the fact that this privatization had been successfully done, we still have not seen clearly the injection of additional funds into the sector by these private companies that had taken over. Rather government is still injecting additional funds into the privatized enterprise as a form of assistance to the new owners. This kind of development is wrong and, therefore, is unacceptable by professional bodies in Nigeria.
We do not want our public enterprises to go that way, what this then means is that wrong decisions were taken at some point during the privatization exercise. The wrong people had been given this enterprise to manage and they do not have the capacity required to effect the desired change in the sector. They do not have the needed funds to be able to inject and expand the capacity so as to produce result. And one other issue is that of the prepaid meters, before now we had prepaid meters manufacturing companies in Nigeria but after the privatization, the new owners we learnt canceled all the contract that these meter manufacturing companies had with PHCN to supply the prepaid meters they were producing. We also learnt that about N33 billion was recently injected into the power sector by government to help the new owners so that they will be able to provide some of the basic infrastructure. This includes the prepaid meters in order to function effectively and serve the public better.
Now that the prepaid meter manufacturing companies had closed, because of the absence of market following the cancellation of their contract, it then means that the new owners will now resort to importing the product. As professionals, we feel again that that is a wrong step which we do not support. Government should encourage the existing companies that were manufacturing it locally so that they will be able to improve.
If they are forced out of business in this manner, then the clamour by government to generate employment will suffer a huge setback. Therefore, even if their standard is not up to what the new owners want, they would have encouraged them to improve on their standard. So, we feel that government needs to look into this matter closely and resolve it as quickly as possible. There should be a better approach to the issue rather than the cancellation of the contract which will impact negatively on our economy.
The privatization had been done but as I said earlier, if you are privatizing, you must give it to the best company and unless these new owners are performing, the dreams of this privatization will be a mirage. So, what I advocate is that these new owners should be given a target and any of them that fall short of the target within a specified period should be forced out and the enterprise re-sold to a new company. But now, I think that the regulatory body should check and ensure that they are all performing in accordance with government requirement.
Recently, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Julius Okojie raised the alarm that professional bodies are usurping the commission’s powers, in what ways are professionals encroaching into the mandate and functions of NUC?
Yes, it is true that Prof. Okojie who is the Executive Secretary of NUC complained that professional bodies are encroaching into the commission’s mandate of accreditation of instructions and development of curriculum and programmes for the universities. He further stated that the mandate of professional bodies starts at post-graduate level. However, we the apex body representing all the professionals in Nigeria feels that such complaint by the Executive Secretary of NUC is unfounded and, therefore, does not represent the true picture of things. Our members are up to date in terms of global best practices; in terms of what is happening elsewhere in the world regarding programmes in engineering, sciences and even in the art. Therefore our concern as professionals is that the standards in Nigeria must be equal to standards elsewhere in the world, because we do not expect that Nigeria will train people who will come out either as engineers, doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, builders, surveyors and all other professions that you can find in the country and not be able to practise outside the country. We want a situation whereby a Nigerian graduate can be employed in Europe, Asia, America and any other part of Africa without being seen as below standard. And that is the reason the professional regulatory bodies work together with NUC to accredit courses for the institutions, with a view to having better study environment and well developed curriculum for the programmes that these institutions undertake. Therefore, it is wrong for NUC to say that professionals’ regulation starts only at postgraduate level. It has to begin early during the undergraduate level of the students. To this end, the professional bodies regulate and check all the contents of the curriculum, laboratories and other learning material to ensure that they are not below standard, so that at the end of the day, our graduates will be compared with graduates of other nations.
Is there any extant law empowering the professional bodies in Nigeria to regulate standards in tertiary institutions?
The relationship between the professional associations in Nigeria and NUC had existed for decades and we have never had such complaints from the leadership of the commission. It is now becoming clearer that the current executive secretary of the commission does not seem to be happy with the level of interests and concerns of the professionals that our standard needs to be comparable to standards in other nations. But as for any extant law that empowers us to work together with NUC, there is one, because it is in observance of the law establishing the commission that mandates it to extend information and invitation to the professional bodies to go round the universities and polytechnics to accredit their courses, check their laboratories to ascertain if they are up to the required standard for students passing through such institution to be able to attain the knowledge level that is required of them to excel in the field after graduation. I do not see the reason the executive secretary is scared of what the professional bodies are doing even when he is aware that the standard of education in Nigeria is falling. And we as professionals need to do something to make sure that the minimum standards are maintained so that our graduates can compete not only within Nigeria but in Africa and the rest of the world.
As a former Sports Minister, what do you think is responsible for the incessant crisis in NFF?
I see the prevailing problem in NFF as a continuity of their lifestyle, NFF has always been volatile and one of the major reasons it is so is that of non-adherence to the rule of law. They suspect one another of either sentiment or misappropriation of fund. NFF has been like this for ages, the glass house has since become synonymous with problems. And those people that constitute the leadership are the major stakeholders in football development in the country. Most of them came from various states to form the national body, therefore it is difficult for us to just remove any person without attracting sentimental outcry of marginalization and what have you from certain quarters. Now look at what happened, apart from the fact that there has been so many problems since the end of the 2014 world cup which we participated, they have added yet another problem by going to set the glass house on fire. This is the attitude that makes them prone to accusation by the public in terms of management of the meager resources available for football management. So, I think that they are the only people that can have a rethink and change of heart and come up with strategy on how to move forward from the perennial crisis. There is not enough synergy between the National Sports Commission and NFF and that is the reason you see this crisis always persisting. So, the Minister of Sports must step in to ensure that sanity is brought back in the glass house. A serious investigative panel should be set up to investigate and submit report of findings to the National Sports Commission to implement and take disciplinary action in order to correct the anomalies in NFF.
What is your assessment of the performance of team Nigeria at the commonwealth games?
Our performance at the last commonwealth game as far as I am concerned was fantastic. We finished eighth in the medals table and I know that this country is blessed with some of the world’s finest athletes. Nigeria has good array of athletes who can go out there and win medals for the country just as they had demonstrated at the just concluded commonwealth games. But what we are lacking is care for the athletes and funding generally. Therefore, because of poor funding and lack of care for the sportsmen and women, the country had lost excellent athletes. Another factor affecting the performance of the athletes is abysmal facilities in the country. Government needs to invest more in the development of sports in Nigeria for us to reap the full benefit of their potentials in the country. Our gold medals dropped by one following a case of the use of performance enhancing drugs, which was unfortunate and regrettable because it pushed us down in the medal table and also put a question mark on the good image of our country.
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Rising Nigerian debt profile is dangerous, Ex-minister Ka’oje warns |
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