The Criminalization of Survival.

KAI at work. Credit. yahoo.groups

Note: This  article was first published in  Youthspeak on the 10th of February 2014. 


Africa's development path (in terms of creating sustainable income, ability to live a decent life, general well-being, increased purchasing power parity, having access to basic social amenities) is different from that of Europe, America and Asia. This is because Africa lags behind on development metrics and creativity is required to catch up with others.

Also, Africa is able to avoid the development challenges and phases other nations went through. For instance, Countries in Africa literally jumped from no access to telecommunications to 650 million mobile telephone subscribers. Yet, in spite of available models to adapt to suit our needs, the continent has failed to translate her positive GDP rates to real effects for her citizens. 

Government inefficiencies, failure of leadership and negative effects of globalization birthed an unintended consequence that may be a solution to our development challenges. This unintended consequence is the informal economy.

World Bank reports state that this economy contributes at least 40% of Africa’s GDP. Yet governments alienate its members culturally, socially and economically.  Though there is no precise definition of the informal economy because it encapsulates many aspects, the International Labour Organization  (ILO) defines it as

“all economic activities by workers and economic units that are – in law or in practice- not covered or insufficiently covered by formal arrangements. Their activities are not included in the law, which means that they are operating outside the formal reach of the law; or they are not covered in practice, which means that although they are operating within the formal reach of the law, the law is not applied or not enforced; or the law discourages compliance because it is inappropriate, burdensome, or imposes excessive costs” 

 Therefore, street hawkers, tailors, drivers, carpenters, handymen, kiosk owners, recharge card vendors, mobile and home offices fall into this category. The informal economy exists in most African cities and Lagos, Nigeria’s melting pot has her share of vendors who survive by hawking items from recharge cards, potatoes, shoe racks, mobile phones, accessories, fruits in traffic or curb sides.

In 2003, the Lagos State government set up the KAI (Kick Against Indiscipline) Brigade. “to keep Lagos Environment Clean: by eliminating indiscriminate dumping of refuse in unauthorized places and eliminating all forms of Street trading and hawking”. This is in line with the government's Mega city goal. The Brigade carries out its duties faithfully and diligently. The fear of KAI is the beginning of wisdom for most hawkers as their goods (which may not be worth more than N15,000) are confiscated in addition to other penalties that may be levied by the State. This action by the government is overkill.

Rather than destroy the meager means of livelihood of certain residents, the government should first identify why people hawk.

Some reasons include migration to Lagos for greener pastures, business failure (especially artisans who have learnt a skill but are unable to practice) and  the cumbersome and expensive process of setting up a business. Of the 3 in Nigeria, Lagos ranks 25^th in the World Bank’s ease of doing business Rankings. Add to this overheads such as space and electricity. It would take a while for even a shrewd business owner to break even. It is no surprise that even businesses that can afford the legal process do not register their businesses.

Lagos is not the only city faced with the problem of street vending and its attendant effects such as pollution. The arrest and seize approach of KAI has not been successful. Instead, it has alienated the government from the "poor" who now view it as elitist.  Hawkers do not make enough to create sustainable income, thus even after they are caught and penalized, they return to the streets. 

To address the hawking problem, the State can adapt alternatives used in other cities such as creating mobile stalls for vendors in designated areas and stipulating hours they are allowed to operate or creating multi-shops stores around the city where hawkers are allowed to operate.

For an industry that emerged by accident and was regarded as a passing phase by scholars, the informal economy is here to stay. Governments like Lagos State should proactively harness the potentials of this sector by acknowledging it and creating conducive policies that aid its growth. This would be beneficial for both the members and the government because holding other factors constant (adequate provision of basic services) when players in the sector are able to create sustainable incomes, the government would be able to earn revenue like it does from the formal sector.

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Counting the cost of government's inefficiencies: failure to connect the dots

One flaw of  Nigeria's governments is the failure to connect the dots. Events and issues are treated as isolated incidents without recognizing patterns and preparing for the consequences for actions and inactions. That cliché a stitch in time saves nine" does not resonate with the leadership.

The indifference and actions of  the governments in the 1960s, 80s and 90s to  Niger-delta agitations bred  the culture of violence that became Niger-delta militants and opportunists. Today, the Federal budget for militants is larger than that of the country's security apparatus (Military and Police) combined. The government also suffers loss of revenue due to oil bunkering activities in that area.  

That same mistake is being repeated with Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen who have between February to March, 2014 killed  about a 1000 people in the North East and Middle belt and destroyed livelihoods and properties.  

The evolution of Boko haram from a group that used unsophisticated weapons and motor cycles  to attack police stations to attacking people with RPGs in luxurious buses is very telling.  The blame for  this evolution lies with the government.
There are two schools of thought on the emergence of the  group- these theories are  linked because both have melded together-. The theories believe that Boko Haram is either politically or religiously motivated.

The first thesis is that Boko Haram evolved from ECOMOG a group sponsored by Ali Modu Sherriff, Ali Ndume and some other politicians who used them as thugs during the elections and dumped them after the elections. The problem with discarding people that have been violently empowered is that they become Frankstein. Cases in point include OPC, Egbesu boys and a faction of Niger-Delta militants who were used in the 2007 and 2011 elections.

The second thesis  claims the group has its roots in some youths disenchantment with the way Islam was practiced in the North and sought to establish true Islam. The group clashed with authorities in 2002 and were ruthlessly dealt with by the establishment who killed the group's first  leader, Mohammed Ali. The group regrouped and in 2009 attacked some police officers, the officers retaliated and killed the group's new leader, Mohammed Yusuf.
The forceful reaction to what was probably a misguided group of youths/ the empowering of thugs for political gain has led to a group that is now linked to Al-Qaeda, has superior weapons to the State's security agencies and is a scourge in the North East where economic and social activities have been grounded. Other hoodlums benefit from the situation by attacking in the name of boko haram. Another dot the government is failing to connect is the re-emergence of Fulani herdsmen that have been killing people in the Middle belt  since 2012. As date over 400 lives have been lost and several villages burnt. In the recent attacks in Benue, chemical weapons were reportedly used by the herdsmen. From the attacks, it obvious that the attack has more  than economic undertones for land (grazing). There are also reports that foreign fighters  help these herdsmen in the attacks.  These attacks by herdsmen did not begin in 2012. There is a history of violence between the Fulanis and the natives in the middle belt. Yet, all the government does is offer condolences
The incidents in Northern Nigeria depict a failure of military intelligence, a failure of Nigeria's diplomatic clout and influence (it is incredible that Cameroon would act nonchalantly and refuse to support Nigeria on disarming Boko Haram)
The after effects of the handling of the Niger-delta agitations offers lessons for the country. The price the government is paying for peace- state monies channeled to militants and oil theft-  should cause a rethink in the handling of similar problems but that is the not the case.

What is the cost of this?
Nigeria is grooming future militancy in the form of civilian JTF who give  soldiers intelligence
To borrow from Reuben Abati, Nigeria is also grooming "children of anger". Children who have lost parents, family and hope and would one day fight back.
Nigeria is  further entrenching food insecurity. Most of the food consumed by Nigerians are  from the North and if people cannot farm, there would be no harvest and food. In last 3 years, food prices have been on the  increase.
Related to above is because the poor have to spend more on food, they become poorer, add this to the cost of kerosene and transport and  the cycle of poverty continues.
85 schools have been closed in Borno. This means that 120,000 students are out of school because of the fear of attacks. For Nigeria North where literacy and education especially for women is  typically low ( about 20% according to World Bank 2012 reports), more numbers are been added to the current 10.5 million children out of school in Nigeria.

A stitch in time saves nine.
Deuces.

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Still on PHCN

Before  I sign out on power issues, below is an infographic on Nigeria's power reforms. 

Deuces.

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Counting the cost of government's inefficiencies: electricity

A significant expense incurred by households is the cost of fuel be it kerosene for the poor or petrol and diesel for the middle class and the wealthy. 
This expense ranks higher than food. Thus, in Nigeria basic needs have become fuel,shelter and food. Nigeria's electricity situation typifies the effect of  successive governments' inefficiency, indifference,inaction and embezzlement of public funds. Since 2000, $24 billion  ($16 billion under Obasanjo and $8 billion under Jonathan) has been expended on power reforms with no improved power supply for Nigerians. 
Nigeria currently generates 3919 megawatts of electricity while 40,000 megawatts is needed for steady power supply. Till date,no one has accounted or refunded the billions invested in the power sector. The saying "money down the drain" aptly describes Nigeria's power sector. The result is that Nigerians provide power for themselves at huge costs.

Informal research shows that households spend between N10,000 ($62) to N100,000 ( $620) on diesel and petrol weekly. This is separate from the  cost of maintaining the generators. Families also supplement with inverters and rationing the use of generators. For instance, the generator may be run from 7pm to 1am.  
For businesses too, power forms a huge chunk of their operating costs and these costs are transferred to customers. For instance, some businesses and organizations  spend between 9 million naira to 660 million yearly on diesel,
According to these articles Nigerians spent between  N1.6 trillion ($10 billion) to N3.5 trillion ($21 billion) on generators  between 2011 and 2012 

Remarkably, Nigerians and organizations are not the only ones that bear the brunt of lack of electricity. The government does too!

In the 2014 budget, for the 32 ministeries, 15 commissions and 783 Departments and Agencies that presented their budgets over 5 billion naira  would be spent on fuel ( the cost of maintaining the generators is different). 

What is the opportunity cost of this N5 billion budgeted for diesel?

•  5 substations
• Payment for the  $24 million contract between Nigeria's government and Manitoba (The organization managing Transmission Company of Nigeria on behalf of the government) freeing the allocated money for other uses
• Investment as the federal government's share in the Sovereign Wealth Fund
•  Repair  Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the government plans to toll.

Communities and neighborhoods also need to reassess the individual cost of generating power and pool their resources together. Lekki Phase 1 estate is an example.  There are about 1000 houses in that area. Let us assume the average cost per household on weekly diesel/petrol is N40,000, weekly Lekki residents would spend 40 million on fuel. Yearly they would spend 2 billion on fuel 

What would N2 billion ($12 million) do for Lekki residents?

• It would build 2 substations that would distribute and transmit power for the estate (it costs about $6 million to build a substation)
• It would pay for 1,700,000 units  of gas to power the substations (at $7 per unit) 
• It would generate 96 Megawatts of power. According to the DG of Bureau of Public Enterprises, it costs $1.3 million to generate 1 megawatt of power. 

The 1.6 trillion Nigerians spent on fueling generators in 2012 would pay for the $7.5 billion required to  5000 megawatts of electricity with money left over for contributors. 

Apart from the alternative uses of the money spent on fuel,the impact of the pollution from generators is not measurable. We spend money that we do not need to spend on health issues.
As Nigerians we need to rethink what we want from our government and stop enabling the  current apathy towards performance. Silence, indifference and i-better-pass-my neighbor is expensive, very expensive. 

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Good policy/ Bad politics: Osun education reforms

Credit: Mike Asukwo

Osun State's education reforms patterned after K-12 (US education system) is an interesting study on the connection between policy and politics. 
In 2011, the government held a summit where the reforms were planned and  implementation commenced in October 2013. For a policy that reads well on paper, implementation has met resistance because  as the saying goes, the devil is in the details.

The policy aims to revitalize the educational system in the state by reclassifying schools, building new school structures, merging  schools, having a standard uniform for all schools (the rationale for the uniform is to create employment for the state- owned tailoring factory and schools would be differentiated by badges on their caps) and provision of school lunch to elementary school students.

According to the Deputy Governor, this policy exists  to improve the position of Osun State in comparison with other States in student achievement (it is reported that Osun State Students were under-performing in national examinations and enrollment rate into universities was low), to maximise teaching resources (some schools do not have the population and resources to stand on their own), to boost agriculture and employment in the State through the one-uniform policy and provision of school meals. The Deputy Governor also claims that the one-uniform policy is in line what the US and UK practice.

Below compares the Federal system with the Osun system  

FEDERAL SYSTEM	OSUN SYSTEM	NEW GRADES
Pry 1-6  (Ages 6-10/11)	Elementary school  (Ages 6-9)	Grades 1-4
JSS1-JSS3 (Ages 11/12- 14/15)	Middle School  (Ages 10-14)	Grades 5-9
SS1-SS3 (Ages 16-18)	High School (Ages 15-17)	Grades 10-12

It is clear that the government put some thought into this policy. However, implementation is the cause of  religious tension in the State. The merger of schools was done without regard for religious and gender sensitivities and this is threatening the reforms. I have been unable to get the full list of schools that were merged but in October 2013, there were protests when 2 single sex schools were merged to become a mixed school. More problems emerged when students of Baptist High School, Iwo and an unidentified muslim school were merged. In protest, the students came to school in religious attires. The merger of schools without regard for these emotional values (religion and gender) has  created a situation of good policy/ bad politics. 
In the field of policy, this occurs when  the political feasibility and acceptance of a policy is not properly thought out and managed such that the politics overshadows the policy. A related issue on the merger of the schools is the one-uniform policy. The Deputy-Governor noted that schools in  the US and UK  have standard uniforms. That is incorrect because what exists in these countries are basic school wears  and colours that schools mix and match. Some schools have their own school uniforms . The State can still provide employment for her tailors without the one-uniform policy. Schools should be allowed to have their own uniforms because a basis for uniform is identification of students and that should be allowed to stay. 

That the government did not engage, involve and get the buy-in of stakeholders (the faith groups and parents) shows the lack of political management  and the consequence is the resistance to the policy. For a policy that was conceived in 2011, there was enough time for engagement to sell the benefits of changing the system and not force it  on stakeholders. Humans by default are resistant to change –even when it is for their benefit. To discount the values and emotions of people because the schools are public schools and the government has the power to do so is a mistake. 
Dipak Gupta says “when it comes to politics and public policy, we most often make our decisions using our guts and political instincts, which may or maynot involve questions of rationality or self-interest. Thus, emotions is not only legitimate but central to political persuasion".  
It is not to late for the government to re-engage and listen to the various groups and then implement what is agreed. Parents have reasons for enrolling their children in either faith-based or single sex schools. That emotion valid or not should be recognized.  On the other hand, the government’s idea of integrating faith schools thereby encouraging interaction of children of different faiths is also valid. However, it is not the government’s role to force socialization. People would interact without the government’s help-  the Yoruba family culture facilitates that (Yorubas' have Christians, Muslims and non-believers in the same family). The government needs the help of parents and the influencers ( the faith groups) for the mergers to succeed.

In the spirit of adapting US& UK school systems, the government should provide school buses for students. A criticism of the reclassification policy is that students now walk longer distances to school (though the governments says the walking distance is not more than 1km for elementary and middle schools ) and parents are unable to provide for transportation to the new locations. In the US, school buses are available in every school district that pick up and drop off students at certain points, UK& US pupils do not trek to school. 

In conclusion, every government policy should aim to be in the realm of  good policy/ good politics. The education reform of the government is a brilliant idea. The government needs to engage  stakeholders and re-work aspects of the policy. For holistic reforms the government should also focus on teacher training. Systems and structure are nice but the people that deliver education are very important and should be invested in.

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Death by Convoy

An American life is worth $8.7 million, a Malaysian life, $345, 000 and an Australian life is $2.2 million. The value of a Nigerian life is zero. It is zero because the  government cares little for her citizen both home and abroad. In addition to stifling the potentials of citizens, the government (at all levels) also commits acts of violence against them.  Brutality and  wanton killing of citizens is a norm that should have passed with the Military era. Unfortunately, it has not.  The present crop of "democratic rulers" have imbibed the culture and kill the citizens they are meant to protect through their careless and reckless convoys that are above traffic rules.

Below is a list of accidents caused by government convoys since 2000.

Date	Convoy	Status	Number dead	Number Injured	Harassed
12-May-00	Kofo Bucknor- Akerele	Lagos State Deputy Governor	1
19-Aug-02	Titi Abubakar	Wife of the Vice-President	1
No date, 2003	Gbenga Daniel	Ogun State Governor	5
No date, 2008	Peter Obi	Anambra State Governor	6
16-May-07	Joshua Dariye	Jos State Governor	9		Elizabeth Udoudo & 2 children
12-Sep-07	Oserheim Osunbor	Edo State Governor	12		Uzoma Okere
10-Feb-08	Ikedi Ohakim	Imo State Governor		6
3-Nov-08	Harry Arogundade	Naval Officer			Eustace Okorie
12-Apr-09	SamiuTuraki	Jigawa State Governor
18-Dec-09	Olagunsoye Oyinlola	Osun State Governor
15-Oct-09	Olusegun Mimiko	Ondo State Governor	6		Ufuoma Ejenobor
8-Aug-10	Ikedi Ohakim	Imo State Governor
29-Oct-10	Adeyemi Ikuforiji	Lagos State Speaker
15-Mar-11	Ibrahim Shema	Katsina State Governor	8
17-Mar-11	Aliyu Babangida	Niger State Governor	2	6
9-Oct-11	Ibrahim Muhammad	Zamfara State Deputy Governor	2
13-Dec-11	Emmanuel Uduaghan	Delta State Governor		Unknown
28-Apr-12	Adams Oshiomole	Edo State Governor	3	4
24-Jun-12	Abdulaziz Yari	Zamfara State Governor	1	5
12-Sep-12	Diezani Alison- Madueke	Federal Minister	1
23-Sep-12	Tanko Al-Makura	Nassarawa State Governor	3	Unknown
22-Nov-12	Patrick Yakowa	Kaduna State Governor	1
14-Dec-12	Danjuma Goje	Senator of the Federal Republic	1
28-Dec-12	Idris Wada	Kogi State Governor	1	1
18-Jan-13	Ibrahim Dankwambo	Gombe State Governor	1	6
20-Jan-13	Ahmed Musa-Ibeto	Niger State deputy Governor	2
12-Nov-13	Idris Wada	Kogi State Governor	1
13-Nov-13	Omolewa Ahmed	Kwara State First Lady	2	Unknown
1-Feb-14	Ali Olanusi	Ondo State deputy Governor	1	Unknown

It is unfortunate that government, which exists to protect the lives of citizens, is responsible for taking it forcefully without any repercussions. Sadder still is that some of the victims are the aides of these rulers. Yes, a Nigerian life is not worth much but there should be limits. Immunity for government officials should not cover criminal acts like willful manslaughter. Also, protocol officers and drivers not covered by immunity should be prosecuted for any deaths and accidents that occur as a result of their reckless driving. The right to life is a guaranteed right and everyone has just one life to live. It is unfair, very unfair for a ruler to arbitrarily take that life just to show they are the "kings-of the road"

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