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Exploring Public-Private Partnership For Development

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By Sola Ogunmosunle

When Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999, one of the very first issues that characterised the polity is the clamour for the re-adjustment of our lopsided federalism, created by many years of military rule that was rather very autocratic. The other tiers of the federating units i.e. the states and local government areas have continued to make raucous demand for a drastic shift in our fiscal federalism. Particularly, they have been calling for the adjustment of the revenue sharing formula that sees the federal government go home with the lion’s share of the nation’s resources.

In Nigeria, the revenue allocation formula has given the federal government greater resources than it needs to perform its functions thereby leaving the states and local governments with more responsibilities and functions than they can cope with. It is quite obvious from our democratic experience that the states and local governments are closer to the people and they better understand the developmental needs of their people. People tend to benefit more from developments in their immediate environment. But because of the very limited resources going to the states and local governments from the federation account, it is a herculean task for some of them to even pay workers’ salary. It is, therefore, extremely difficult for most states and local governments to meet the developmental needs of their people

However, since infrastructural renewal and development in any state requires enormous funding, and the federal government seems to have turned deaf ears to the states’ demand for more money from the federation account, the time has come for states to become a little more creative by discovering other sources of income and funding and not to be totally dependent on the stipends from Abuja. They should explore the myriads of untapped potentials in their domains to generate additional funds that can be used to develop their states and improve the lot of their people. In the United States of America, USA, for example, as the state of Virginia is using the advantage of its arable lands for agriculture to develop so is the state of California tapping from the advantage of its entertainment industry. And now, one veritable approach that many of the states in Nigeria have not adequately exploited in addressing the paucity of funds, that has been the bane of visible development in their states, is the involvement of the private sector in governance.

It has been realised by governments world-wide that funding of infrastructural projects can no longer be sustained by the government alone without the participation of the private sector. Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is a contractual relationship between the private and public interest as a systematic collaboration geared towards ensuring communal, state or national socio-economic development that is comprehensive and self-sustaining. It is an arrangement with clear direction and defined roles and responsibilities of all the actors in the plan. PPP is a financial module designed to attract private investors to engage in infrastructural projects with short and long term benefits to the people. Various funding options available in PPP include Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT), Concessionairing, Join Venture, Franchising, Equity Participation and Leasing, especially for projects which ordinarily should have been handled by the government.

In adopting any of these varied intervention funding options, government is not abdicating its responsibilities but essentially releasing scarce resources for other uses and thus creating a win-win situation for the government and the private enterprise as well. Roads and Transportation, Housing and Environment, Energy and Water Supply and Tourism Development are some of the critical sectors where the exploration of the PPP can bring immense benefits to some of the states.

Other states can take a cue from Lagos state that has been taking advantage of the benefits that PPP offers. With regards to roads and transportation, for instance, the state is developing an integrated transportation system that is private sector driven. The popular Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) scheme, first of its kind in Africa, moves over 150 thousand passengers along the mile 12/CMS route with dedicated lanes. The greatest breakthrough in mass transit in the city will come this year with the commencement of the nearly completed Badagry expressway incorporating BRT lane and light rail. The state has also created an enabling long-term regulatory environment that is conducive for significant Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in the provision of water-based transport services.

The Lagos state government awarded a contract for rehabilitation and upgrade of approximately 50km Lekki-Epe Expressway to Lekki Concession Company Limited (LCC). The project, which will be executed under Public-Private Partnership (PPP), also grants LCC a 30-year concession. LCC will build the infrastructure, operate it for 30 years and later transfer it to the Lagos state government. This model in PPP lingua is known as Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT). In this way, not only has Lagos State started to enjoy new world class infrastructure as a direct consequence of this agreement, users of the road have also been experiencing  the positive service-based approach that  has been adopted by the Concessionaire to deliver key benefits.

Other projects of the Lagos state government that embrace the PPP approach  include the Eko Atlantic City, the Lekki Free Zone, Save Our Schools Initiative, grassroots sports development,  waste management, Rice for Job initiative, just to mention a few.

The major advantage of the involvement of the private sector in governance is the efficiency it brings to project management. The issue of wastes, delayed delivery and abandonment that is usually associated with public projects is highly minimised. This is as a result of the optimization of the returns on huge investment of the private sector.

However, the major risk in PPP, because of our finicky political environment, is for the political class in Nigeria to enter into atrocious PPP agreements with their families and cronies against public interest.  Aside this, political and other parochial considerations could hinder the successful execution of PPP projects when the overall interest of the people is not properly factored. One other hindrance to the effective implementation of PPPs is the lack of local talent in the area of technical and structuring competence.

Since PPP is fast becoming an acceptable model for rapid infrastructural development in most countries of the world, it is vital that cash-strapped states across the country, and indeed the federal government, properly and effectively key into the unlimited window of opportunities that this option offers to enhance rapid socio-economic transformation. It is a better, safer and quicker way to get our dear nation out of its sorry state of rapid infrastructural decay. It is the way forward.

•Ogunmosunle is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

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Nigeria News

Kano Transfers Over 1,000 Almajiris To Different States Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

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The Kano State Government on Saturday said it has transferred 1,098 ‘almajiris’ to different states of the country.

The commissioner for local government, Murtala Garo, disclosed this while presenting a report before the state’s task force on COVID-19 at the government house, Kano.

Almajiris are children who are supposed to be learning Islamic studies while living with their Islamic teachers. Majority of them, however, end up begging on the streets of Northern Nigeria. They constitute a large number of Nigeria’s over 10 million out-of-school children.

Mr Garo said the Kano government transported 419 almajiris to Katsina, 524 to Jigawa and 155 to Kaduna. He said all of them tested negative for coronavirus before leaving the Kano State.

Despite the coronavirus test done in Kano for the almajiris, the Jigawa government earlier said it would quarantine for two weeks all the almajiris that recently arrived from Kano.

Mr Garo said another 100 almajiris scheduled to be taken to Bauchi State also tested negative to COVID-19.

In a remark, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the COVID-19 situation in Kano was getting worse. He appealed for a collaborative effort to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.

Mr Ganduje, who commended residents for complying with the lockdown imposed in the state, said the decision was taken to halt the spread of the virus.

Kano State, as of Saturday night, has 77 coronavirus cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

The decision to transfer the Kano almajiris is part of the agreement reached between Northern governors that almajiris in each state be transferred to their states of origin.

However, even before the latest agreement by the governors, the Kano government had been transferring almajiris to other states and neighbouring countries after it banned street begging in the state, most populous in Northern Nigeria.

Despite the transfers, however, no concrete step has been taken to ensure such children do not return to Kano streets as there is freedom of movement across Nigeria although interstate travel was recently banned to check the spread of the coronavirus.

 

Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria

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Nigeria News

COVID-19: ‘Bakassi Boys’ Foil Attempt To Smuggle 24 Women Into Abia In Container

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By Ugochukwu Alaribe

Operatives of the Abia State Vigilante Service, AVS, popularly known as ‘Bakassi Boys’ have arrested 24 market women hidden in a container truck, at Ekwereazu Ngwa, the boundary community between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.

The market women, said to be  from Akwa Ibom State, were on their way to Aba, when they were arrested with the truck driver and two of his conductors for violating the lockdown order by the state government.

Driver of the truck, Moses Asuquo, claimed he was going to Aba to purchase stock fish, but decided to assist the market women, because they were stranded.

A vigilante source told Sunday Vanguard that the vehicle was impounded while the market women were sent back to Akwa Ibom State.

Commissioner for Home Land Security, Prince Dan Okoli, who confirmed the incident, said that  smuggling of people into the state poses great threat to the state government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID- 19.

 

Sourced From: Vanguard News

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Nigeria News

Woman Kills Her Maid Over Salary Request

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Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba of the Lagos State police command have arrested one Mrs Nene Steve for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Adole

The maid was allegedly beaten to death by Nene for requesting for her salary at their residence located at 18, Ogundola Street, Bariga area in Lagos.

Narrating the incident, Philips Ejeh, an elder brother to the deceased said that he was sad when they informed him that his sister was beaten to death.

He explained that the deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent and started working with her as a maid  in January 2020.

‘’She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary she will start beating her.

She was making an attempt to leave the place but due to the total lockdown she remained there until Sunday when her boss said she caught her stealing noodles and this led to her serious beating and death,’’ Ejeh said.

He called on Lagos State Government and well- meaning people in the country to help them in getting justice for the victim.

The police spokesman, Bala Elkana, stated that the woman and her husband came to Bariga Police  Station to a report that their house girl had committed suicide.

Detectives were said to have visited the house and suspected foul play with the position of the rope and bruises all over the body which confirmed that the girl had been tortured to death and the boss decided to hang up the girl to make it look like suicide.

He said: “The police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of sign of violence on her body that she has been tortured before a rope was put on her neck.’’

He added that the police removed the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary for autopsy to further ascertain the cause of the death.

Elkana said the matter has been transferred from Bariga police station to Panti for further investigation while the couple have been arrested and will be charged to court.

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Tribune

Boko Haram Attacks: Buhari Summons Urgent Meeting Of Service Chiefs

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President Buhari and the Service Chiefs in a meeting. (File photo)

Ostensibly alarmed by the latest killings of dozens of soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an urgent meeting of Service Chiefs to find ways to stop the trend. 

He has also dispatched the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to the neighbouring Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with President Idris Deby and his defence counterpart. 

Knowledgeable sources said in Abuja on Friday that the president is worried by on the deterioration of security situation on the Nigeria – Chad Border that has led to the recently increased Boko Haram terrorism in the area.

The sources which did not want to be named in Abuja said: “Nigeria has a Chad  problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) put together to secure the Lake Chad basin areas and repeal the Boko Haram terrorist attacks against all the countries neighbouring the Lake.”

The sources noted that Chad is believed to be having their own internal security challenges and this has reportedly led to their pulling away their own troops manning their own border around Lake Chad,  saying: “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch terrorist acts.  This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”

When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the Defence Minister is going to Chad but said he is unaware of the purpose. 

Meanwhile, the military authorities are said to be in the process of identifying the families of the latest victims with a view to making contact with them. 

Credible sources revealed that it is the reason the president is yet to make any pronouncement on the matter. 

“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs, as well as the fact that families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” the source said. 

 

Sourced From: Tribune

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