South South, South East Professionals of Nigeria (SSSEPN) President, Emeka Ugwu-Oju, bares his mind to Executive Editor, OGUWIKE NWACHUKU, and Reporter HENRY ODUAH on the state of the nation.
Ugwu-Oju, founder of Nigeria Entrepreneurship Summit and Honours (NESH), also speaks on plans by SSSEPN for the two regions, which are crying for an end to marginalisation to ensure economic growth.
Economic focus of SSSEPN
South South South East Professionals of Nigeria (SSSEPN) came into being roughly 10 years ago just before [Umaru] Yar A’dua was elected president of the country.
That was after we had a retreat in Calabar at which many professionals from the South East and South South came together. Then we looked at the state of the nation and that of the two regions.
After much brainstorming we decided that the way forward was for the South East and South South to come together as a form of regional bloc, to see how we can, even though we are a federation, take our destiny in our own hands through cooperation, regional integration and development.
These days people take the South East and South South almost for granted, which wasn’t the case before. It used to be about South East but now we see a lot about South East South South combined.
But more importantly we have tried to put our money where our mouth is. And the major thing is how to actualise the development we all want. That’s what the professionals have been working on.
We have tried to facilitate the 20-year development agenda for the South East and South South, and which, by the grace of God, will be unveiled this year after input and endorsement by all the stakeholders.
That’s one of the things we did in Port Harcourt – to look at the draft development agenda and try and actualise it after it has been approved by all the stakeholders.
Clamour for change, one year on
For the first time in Nigeria’s new democratic dispensation, there was a change in governance at the national level from one party to another. In this instance from the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) to the APC (All Progressives Congress).
That in itself was a major change because people were beginning to think that maybe the PDP was already thinking of governing for the next 50 or 60 years. But then something happened and it was shown the way out by the people of Nigeria.
One of the reasons for the change is that people felt that they needed something better and different. Maybe they looked at the standard of living and thought that it was not what it should be and that a change in government would ensure a change for the better.
The new government would have spent one year in office on May 29 and maybe the misery index of Nigeria, instead of improving, has got worse.
Whether it is the fault of the government is a different matter altogether; the reality is that people expected improvement in the standard of living but instead it has got worse at least for the first year.
But we know that the new government has four years to go and in the next three years people might actually get that sort of change they wanted and voted for.
But right now they don’t seem to be getting it with regard to improvement in the standard of living.
It took the government quite some time to put in structures needed to run – in other words, appointment of ministers and so on; also, getting the first budget on the ground took a bit of time.
All these have created that environment whereby people think there’s change but there’s not much change for the better.
We see a lot of action – real action – against corruption and also the fight against Boko Haram insurgents. Unfortunately, we are also seeing an upsurge in attack and massacre of innocent people by so-called Fulani herdsmen.
So it looks like what was gained from fighting the insurgents is being lost through the activities of the herdsmen.
Obasanjo’s jibe at Buhari on managing economy
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is entitled to his opinion. He is someone that can be described as subjective.
Since he and President Muhammadu Buhari were colleagues [in the military], he is in a better position to assess the strengths and weaknesses of his fellow combatant.
He has said [Buhari] is good at security but not at the economy. I don’t think he’s good at it.
But being president you don’t have to be a specialist in all fields, the most important thing is been able to take the right decisions and have people who know all areas that are important to the economy; having them work with you and been able to know the right decisions and take them.
Sometimes the problem could be when somebody has his or her own idea about how somebody should work and is not listening to people who know. That’s where we have a problem.
But if Buhari has people who know about the economy around him and listens to their advice, that shouldn’t be a problem. He doesn’t have to be an economic expert.
[United States President, Barack] Obama is not an economic expert, he is a lawyer, but he has people who know about the economy around him.
Implementing economic ideas
This idea of development is not owned by SSSEPN. What we try to do is facilitate; that is, get all the stakeholders to come together and take ownership of developing the region.
The development of the South East and South South or Nigeria does not lie with the government, it lies with the people. But then the government has a role to play. And that’s to provide the enabling environment.
That’s why progress has not been made in the past as it should. The government has a lot of impact on the economy. And if they don’t share the idea for integration and regional development, that would be a drag.
On their own, they’ve done something without waiting for SSSEPN to remind them, but how well they’ve done it is what matters most.
For instance, in the South South there is a commission and the South East has the South East Nigeria Economic Commission which in principle is supported by all the states but hasn’t been empowered as it should be.
Those two structures have already captured the essence of what we’re talking about. The government knows that’s the way to go. We’re trying to engage the government and other stakeholders to fine tune what they’ve started and do a bit more in terms of speed and what needs to be done.
But we are clear that this development lies with the people and that’s why in the last development forum, a major decision was reached and the people signed on the idea that we would have a private sector-led vehicle which we can use to aggregate funds to catalyse the development of the area based on what work has been done.
For instance, in the 20-year development plan, we have five pillars to drive development – oil and gas, agriculture, manufacturing, ICT, trade and tourism. These five pillars will drive the development and the funds should catalyse these pillars.
We said that for us to achieve that level of growth, we need $100 billion. If the South South can pool $10 billion, there are other sources of funding that can help generate the balance $90 billion.
The projects we are talking about are profitable and they are areas where we have comparative and competitive advantage.
Having said that, we should have up to 10 refineries in the two regions. We have already agreed in principle to sign an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) within the next couple of months with the group that has already identified key projects and has done some work with regard to the oil and gas pillar.
So for us, it’s ‘let’s start doing instead of talking’, and the most important thing is knowing what to do; and we have people who know what to do and have started doing it.
We are hoping that in the next 10 years, the South East and South South would be different from what we’ve known in the past.
We also agreed in the last forum that the government must create an enabling environment in terms of security.
Everybody knows for example that Anambra State is the safest in the South East and South South. We encourage other states to do what Anambra is doing right.
Getting the message to the grassroots
Let me repeat that there’s nothing SSSEPN intends to do; we facilitate and catalyse others on what needs to be done and then help with a road map on how to get the job done.
These are the things that will be contained in the development plan. We’re trying to make it project-specific.
For instance, we could say that all local governments should own farms, that would help us achieve sustainable development in agriculture.
With this, you don’t need to go far in search of a model; the farms will serve as a template for young entrepreneurs to go into agriculture. And they would be told where they can get funding and support services.
Investing in refineries
State governments have no business building refineries. Their business is to provide security first and foremost.
Although security is in the hands of the federal government we’re trying to see how we can cooperate.
State governments can invest but they don’t have the money to run refineries. They should provide the enabling environment for investors and then earn money through income tax on investment in their states and so on.
They have to make their states attractive to investors. Some sort of investments are beyond state control, and that’s why even the private sector – until now that Aliko Dangote is doing something – has not invested in refineries.
Diversifying the economy
Right now Nigeria is a mono-product economy, that’s why there’s a clamour for diversification so we don’t depend on one product.
Oil production has gone from 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) to 1.4 and that’s due to activities in the environment like sabotage, pipeline seizure, and bombing of production facilities pipeline. It will be tough on the economy because we’ve not diversified yet.
In SSSEPN, we handle issues from a professional manner.
We wrote to the president saying that from what we can see in his first three months or thereabout in office that some of his actions or inactions make the majority of the South East South South to feel that they’re not part of his government.
In the case of the Nigeria Delta Avengers, it’s not something you deal with by crushing, as the British said. You might end up crushing both the Avengers and the facilities and have zero product.
If the Avengers are operating on behalf of the Niger Delta people, not for selfish reasons, then they need the sympathy of a lot of people. It’s for us to make them feel that they have a stake in the government and the country.
One major solution is for the government to put the resolutions made at the National Conference to work and stop making it look like it is Goodluk Jonathan’s affair. It is not. It is something decided by credible representatives.
If you put their resolution into law, I’m sure the enabling environment for the Avengers will not be there anymore. That would be a major antidote to disarming the Avengers.
Fuel price increase
Basically, we are not backing fuel price increase but deregulation of the oil and gas sector and allowing market forces to drive that sector. And if the market price as of today is higher than what it was before, so be it.
What we are totally against is this idea of [fuel] subsidy.
The government, if it can afford it, should subsidise but it should be based on what is best for the people, not picking one product to subsidise. If it is more beneficial to subsidise education or agriculture or health then let it go there.
Pump price regulation
That’s what Labour should be asking the government. If the government did its numbers and it thinks the price it should sell the product not at a loss is N145 per litre, it does not have to announce any price.
Luckily they have outlets, retail stations where they can sell at the price they think and others would do their own.
What we don’t want is having the NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) sell below cost, that would mean we are subsidising the NNPC.
Anti-corruption fight
Every right thinking person would support the fight against corruption. But some people have issues with the way it’s prosecuted.
Fighting corruption is good but the best way is to attack it at the root. You don’t create an environment that encourages corruption and then keep on fighting it.
For example, if you put a policeman at the gate and what he needs to take care of his basic needs is N50,000 a month and then you give him N10,000; what you’ve done is to tell him to find a way to bridge the gap. So, you’ve created an environment where he can do something corrupt to bridge that gap.
When people know that the living wage is N50,000 and one is paid N50,000 then one does something corrupt, one’s punishment will be just.
But what we have in Nigeria is an environment that encourages corruption and then we keep fighting it.
Herdsmen killings in Nimbo
What happened there shouldn’t have happened; the massacre of innocent people, whether it’s in Nimbo or Agatu or in Lagos.
As it has happened it is now to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.
My only regret is how on earth did we have an environment that makes it possible for such a thing to have occurred. In other words, people did not do their job. It’s a problem of insecurity.
We need to make our environment more secure, and address the root cause which is cattle rearing. They should have no business going there in the first place if they have no ranch.
With ranching they would have their land and perimeter and there won’t be any issue of villagers fighting, whether it is retaliation or not.
Let’s have people do their ranching but as a business.
Grazing reserves
I haven’t really had the opportunity of seeing the [Grazing Reserves] Bill and being able to digest the content.
But without seeing or reading the bill, what I would say is that cattle rearing, being done the way it is done all over the world as a business, means that if I want to rear cattle, I would rather have to do it in a ranch.
And that means I would have to acquire a ranch where I would breed my cows and sell for a profit because it’s a business.
The idea of cows moving all over the place is not for the modern times. So, I hope the bill is saying, ‘let’s stop having cows moving all over the place and if you want to go into the business of cattle rearing then you have to rear your cows in a ranch.’
And maybe the government can support [cattle rearers] because we still have the Land Use Act which bestows ownership of the land on the state.
In that regard, it’s just like any other business whereby if state A wants to encourage ranching, it can do a PPP (public private partnership) with the cattle rearers and probably get some benefits from it, but if the idea of the government is to give [land] to some people just like that, it doesn’t really make sense.
If the bill is trying to promote ranching as the way to go about cattle rearing and provide some parameters on how you can go about that, it’s fine with any reasonable person.