Midnight Sun

It was yesterday night
You made it light
My heart yawned
You made it hungry

Now it coughs
You've made it sick

I can see you
Even though you are not near
You're not far
It's not a glare
And if it were,
I would still dare

You drilled a hole in me
What did you mean?
You muzzled me by nine
Into a thinking spree
Now it's not a spree,
Nor is it a binge
But a full time session,
You'll make me spill

KASIMU ALI SPEAKS: Nasarawa State According To My Appraisal

Nasarawa State According To My Appraisal: Part 10
==========27 May, 2019=====

Insecurity is everywhere in Nigeria. Crimes and Criminalities are everywhere in the land. No amount of policemen or soldiers can stop terrorists, kidnappers, ritual killers, Yahoo boys, circumstantial sex workers, ethnic militias, religious bigots. These criminal gangsters were created and bred by Politicians and Elites of Nigeria. And these politicians and elites are criminal Predators of Nigeria's money, our Commonwealth. That is why poverty, unemployment and inequality are still ravaging our country and our people. And unless our Governors and elites  come to consensus to curtail their insatiable greed, and put Nigeria first,  we cannot make significant progress as a Nation and as a Developing Economy.

Lagos State is out of this. Its strategic plans have converted the deadly "Area Boys" to good citizens in full employment and revolutionised its economy and financials which transmuted Lagos to an Emerging City. Ogun State is coming out quite strong with a monthly internal revenue collections of about N5 billion. Industries are springing up with a robust employment possibilities. The Adirei/Kampala Industrial hub I appraised and advised Gov Aliyu Akwe Doma in 2009 (10 years ago) to site, as agreed, in Mada Station, Nasarawa State to be funded by the Bank of Industry has just been similarly commissioned for business by President Buhari in Ogun State. If not for procrastination and indecision, Nasarawa State would have, by now, become a subregional player in the Adirei/Kampala industry with employment not below 150,000 persons. Outgoing Borno Governor Shettima would have been the best Governor in the entire North but for Boko Haram insurgence. Yet, the man is leaving behind, a legacy of an Industrial hub that will create jobs, private wealth and Government revenues. Kebbi State has got it right. The revolution in rice production and processing has transformed the state in the areas of employability, wealth creation to its people, revenue creation to the state purse, eradication of crimes and Criminalities, among others. Many other states are yet to be on track; their Governors are more on the fautlines  of greed, rhetorics and semantics.

WORLD POPULATION & ECONOMY

The 7 (seven) most populous countries in the World and their Gross Domestic Products, GDP, are as follows:

1. China has a population of 1.39 billion people and a GDP of $14.1 trillion.

2. India has a population of 1.31 billion people and GDP of $2.716 trillion.

3. United States of America has a population of 331.88 million and a GDP of $20.4 trillion.

4. Indonesia has a population of 264.94 million and GDP of $267.56 billion.

5. Pakistan has a population of 210.8 million and a GDP of $277.2 billion.

6. Brazil has a population of 210.3 million people and GDP of $464.74 billion.

7. Nigeria has a population of 205.6 million people and GDP of $115.1 billion.

A simple analysis of the above indicates that the population of Nigeria is rising explosionally; yet, Nigeria remains a consumer country without producing nor manufacturing sufficiently, what it consumes. At 3% growth rate per annum, Nigeria's population will be over 500 million by the year 2050, just about 30 years ahead. And the country will beat Brazil, Pakistan and Indonesia  to become the 4th most populous country in the World but may still rely on imported goods & services for survival. This signals that a terrific danger lies ahead of our survivability. This means that unless Nigeria gets strategically industrialised, terrorism and banditry and all forms of crimes will rise to unimaginable magnitudes that will prove difficult to defeat.

Last year, Nigeria imported milk amounting to $1.2 billion which translates to over N360 billion. The country consumes 3.3 million metric tons of fish yearly but produces only 1.1 million mt thereby, importing 2.2 million metric tons of fish yearly worth over $6 billion; that's about N2 trillion. Nigeria still imports rice, sugar, refined crude oil products etc. Nigeria has about 567 varieties of plants, and the highest in the whole world; yet, we're not a nation of pharmaceuticals. South Africa has the highest of "pharmaceutical" plants in the world.

Nigeria has a land area of 910,770 square kilometers. If this land is divided among the population, each citizen will get less than one-quarter of a hectare; that is, below 2,500 square meters . By the year 2050, each citizen will have less than 1,250 sqm of land. This is, again, symptomatic of a greater danger in the years ahead unless Nigerian Leaders and Elites desist from stealing our money and get industrialisation into the country. What this further means is that Nigerians should begin to shun building of gigantic personal residential houses, sprawling bungalows and flats. Government can check these through countrywide  tax revenue drive on relevant land charges.

NASARAWA STATE ECONOMY

The State appears rudderless with no particular economic direction that one can say with conviction, precision or exactitude. Instead of the outgoing Governor al-Makura to get strategically busy to industrialise the State as his counterparts in Lagos, Kebbi and even Borno are focused on industrialisation, the  man is busily focused on creation of more Emirates and Chiefdoms even without those affected communities demanding for such creations. Today, Nasarawa State parades the highest number of titled, staffed Traditional Rulers in Nigeria and Africa, and perhaps, the whole World. And Gwandara, the outgoing Governor's ethnic group, has the highest titled traditional stools in the state, and also the only ethnic group whose traditional rulership cuts across 50% of the Local Government Areas of the State. He has cut-to-size and  weakened the administrative jurisdictions of the Emirates of Lafia, Keffi and Nasarawa and so also those of some age-long Chiefdoms. The wage bill and overheads of the State have jerked-up by these without proportionate  rise in revenues.

Nasarawa state generated N6.8 billion in Internal Revenue in 2017 and was announced by the state government as the highest since creation of the state in 1996. About 85% of this sum came from tax revenue (PAYE) from the salaries of the state civil servants. And the source of this salaries is the FREE money from Abuja, the Federation Account. This means that the state economy is sitting on quick-sand with zero fundamentals. This is dangerous! It means that if, for instance, crude oil production plummets notoriusly or shuts-down completely, or crude oil price crashes miserably, Nasarawa State will collapse. The past Governors including the outgoing Governor have failed the people, have breached the collective trust reposed on them and have demonstrated their clear cluelessness of the fundamentals for a budding economy.

The job of a Governor is not to sit in an airconditioner office like a "Village King", creating rhetoric thoughts and  ditching out fire-brigade orders. The job of a Governor is to sit under the sun, in the rain, in order to effectively utilise his constitutional and situational Authorities to envision, to inspire, and to take calculated risks that are anticipated, estimated, believed, expected, or projected to yield desired deliverables for the good of the society, in the service of the masses, and to the glory of God.

REVOLUTIONALISATION OF THE STATE ECONOMY

The biggest threat to farmers' activities in crop production in Nigeria today is herders' cows. But therein lies the biggest economic opportunity. Cattle Ranch is the ideal solution as being  practised worldwide. Here lies huge, varied revenues to Government, huge wealth to citizens, and huge employment possibilities. Nasarawa State should go into the business of a domesticated commercial cattle ranching. The climatics are favourable. The incessant rifts between crop farmers and cattle herders are not tribal nor religious but basically on economy.

These countries practice cattle ranching: South Africa, Australia, Netherlands, India, USA, Germany, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, China, Argentina etc. Export revenues of 2016 on beef are: Australia $5.6 billion, USA $5.2 billion, Netherlands $2.7 billion. Milk export revenue: Australia $27m, USA $1.4b, Netherlands $1.9b. In 2016, population of Brazil was 202 million and Nigeria 197 million. Brazil had 226 million cows in its inventory that period but Nigeria's figure couldn't be ascertained.

Lagos State statistics has it that 9,000 cows enter Lagos daily for consumption. Lagos population is 20 million people and is 10% of Nigeria's population. This means that 2,222 people consume one cow everyday in Lagos and Nigeria, totalling 90,000 cows daily. This means 2.7 million cows are eaten monthly and 32.4 million cows in one year. If the beef demand rises to about 750 persons per cow per day, the 32.4 million  cows consumed per year will tripple to about 100 million cows. 110 million cows can be ranched for dairy products of milk and cheese. Aside value-chain, these derivative industries will sprout: Meat processing, Leather (hides & skin), Milk, Yoghurt, Cheese, Organic Manure, Animal feeds, Grass Production.

Revenue to Nasarawa State Government is projected to be in hundreds of billions per annum with total employment possibilities in excess of 500,000. The income of crop farmers will be diversified and grow all year round. Insecurity, crimes and Criminalities will go down.

Nasarawa State will top all the other 35 States in Internal Revenue Generation. Real economic development will place the state on the map of an Emerging Economy in the sub-region of West Africa. Nasarawa State; a budding economy of possibilities!
===End of Part 10====

CHRONICLES OF AN INEC AD-HOC STAFF

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) called for applications from students of tertiary institutions, members of the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) amongst others to be deployed at polling units for the 2019 elections earlier slated for 16th of February, 2019 and 3rd of march, 2019 for Presidential and National Assembly and Gubernatorial and State Assembly respectively.

I will be talking about what happened in the Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Area of Nasarawa state, where I applied as ad-hoc staff. As reports from other places have it, the situation across the country isn't any different from this one.

The first disappointment was in the application process itself. Before the commission announced an online application, student unions in tertiary institutions (such as the Students' Representative Council ( SRC) in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria) called for students to send some of their biometric details to their social media accounts. Thereafter, the commission's offices in Local Government Areas accepted applications which would usually consist of application letters attached with some credentials.

 

It was quite clear that the normal "who you know" aggrandizement would play a major role on who gets the job until the commission announced an online application. I was particularly delighted and hopeful since it would close the gap of nepotism and would try to close the equal opportunity gap for everyone. I was wrong after all. In the end, it didn't count for anything as it wasn't adopted at all.

A new lightening of hope and reassurance enveloped me when I saw different reports credited to big wigs in INEC that asked any interested and qualified person to be available for the training, which would eventually be a major basis for selection.

THE TRAINING
The training was simply a sham show. It spanned three ill days viz; Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We were divided into groups of undergraduate students, SSCE holders and graduates (NCE, BSc, ND, etc) and were required to sign the attendance everyday until the training was completed. On Friday and after few minutes of introduction to the ad-hoc job and what it entailed, we were asked to pay 10 naira each for photocopy of "pre-test" question papers. We were going to have a test! Anyone who answered those questions only on the basis of knowledge gained in the introductory part of the class must have failed woefully. Don't refuse to think that the tutors failed in that regard too. I had downloaded the manual from my school's whatsapp group two days before. Perhaps my school training made me not hesitate to skim through the 124 paged draft before going for the training. In my school, any good student would study course notes before coming to class for many reasons, one of which is "you simply don't know what would happen" and so we would always "prepare for the worse". After completion and submission of the test script, our tutor announced the answers which had me and those who trusted me enough to copy my answers score 9/10.

The training had more than 95 percent of trainees standing throughout the session; now try to imagine the circumstances of the test. I leave that to you, but not without an idea note that it was worse than a "short gun" in a faculty course lecture session in our government owned tertiary institutions.

On the last day (Sunday), we managed to see the Smart Card Reader (SCR). She had worked us through the functions, features and whatnot earlier on. So when it arrived, we were asked to touch, observe the key features and pass on to the next person. At the end of that exercise, my PVC was used to show how verification and authentication worked. At the surcease of the session, we wrote a post test which was unexpectedly an exact photocopy of the pretest. We had paid for photocopies on Saturday. To be fair to the tutor, she did her best with the resources available to her.

SHORTLISTING OF SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES
The list was pasted on the 12th of February, 2019 on the outside wall of the commission's office and all applicants thronged there to check their names. Some were happy while some where disappointed. Maryam Ahmad Turaki, a geology student of Federal University, Lafia with whom we went for the training confirmed to me that her cousin who was in fact, completely absent during the training period was shortlisted. It is balanced to think that she wasn't the only one in such a bewildering situation. While some of us saw our names, she and many others didn't. I felt sad for her particularly. Maryam was a very jovial friend and kind at heart.

DOCUMENTATION
A notice was also walled far beside the list of names. It was to the effect that all shortlisted candidates were to come back on Friday, a day to the elections for what they called "accreditation". I like to think of it as "documentation" as that gives a clearer description of what actually happened.

We arrived on Friday only to be notified that another list was again, pasted, but this time, at the secretariat which was a few meters from the commission's office. On my arrival at the secretariat and out of the corner of my eye, I espied the colorfully dressed Khadijah Musa, a 3rd year student of the gutsy University of Maiduguri. We had met during the training. She is truthful, honest and suspiciously shy.

The list at the secretariat was more detailed. It showed the respective positions of the shortlisted candidates and their exact polling units. But the list didn't come without disruptions. Some had their wards changed while some claimed that they didn't see their names, despite seeing it in the earlier list.

On ascertaining the presence of their names and respective wards, candidates were to report at the commission's office for documentation. The process involved is topic for another day. Suffice to say that we were a crowd compared to a stampeding herd of wild-eyed cattle, making wild, uncontrollable noises like some unfortunate swarm of angry bees.

WELFARE
We hung around in waiting, while documentation went on. We had been told not to leave the venue. When it was 11pm, I and a few others had made up our minds to pass the night there. What was the point in going back home when election was in few hours and there would be no movement of vehicles from 6am, we brainstormed. It was bright-line unwise to leave at that time.
In all the time we spent there, not even sachet waters were given. Nay, they didn't even speak kindly. When it was time to sleep, they made it clear through their body language, that everyone one was on his/her own; just find a place to catnap before dawn.

For me and Ahmad Balarabe, one of the commercial danfo buses had been our resting garden. We thought it wouldn't make a bad place to spend the night either. Alaji and another person joined us soon after we made that decision. Then came a lady; "abeg I fit sleep for that back seat?" she asked, confidently. Deep inside, I had reservations. "You're welcome" I quickly said. We stepped down to allow her go inside. The girl slept and snored away - the strongest evidence that she didn't give a damn. She woke up very early in the morning (well before 5am), thanked us for the hospitality and left.

News of possible postponement had started to creep in since 12am. But another news credited to one of INEC's commissioners debunked and dismissed it. This rekindled some hope. At about 2:50am, I was woken up by obstreperous noises buzzing out in inconsistent ranges such as to make one ponder about how far the noise makers were to his/her coordinates. I asked and was told that the elections had been postponed. Knowing fully, what people can do and how some people's happiness thrived on spreading fake news, I assumed they acted based on the earlier news I saw; so I asked if the person had seen it himself. His answer was negative. My mind dismissed it even more until I saw buses which were parked since morning and painted with INEC stickers vamoose. I started nursing doubts as well. Fast forward, I confirmed my self and left for home when I found a car that would go my way at about 4:50am. Many others did the same.

ALLOWANCES
On the 20th of February, 2019 we went to the commission's office to collect a 7,000NGN stipend. The news got me thinking why they would ask that we show up to collect money after they had collected our account details during documentation. Some of my friends proposed hypothesis; they claimed that from experience, it would be very difficult for us to get all the money allocated for us and that posting monies to our bank accounts was as a result of the sinister motives, bad business. 

They had asked us to come for the stipend a day before. The news had been spread by word of mouth and it reached me through the same channel. The allowance comprised of 4,500NGN training allowance and 2,500NGN feeding allowance. We had waited for very long before we were granted permission to enter the gate; if opening the already pressured gate can be termed like that.

We queued up according to our respective wards with our media of identification. The Supervisory Presiding Officer (SPO) would verify information by cross comparing our ID's and the list with him. He would then make a mark against our names and hand us two forms to append our signatures.

Some people had problems with verification; some had problems of valid phone number but distinct names while for some, it was the reverse. This category of people were asked to standby for some more time. They cursed the SPOs as they harangued. I left after I had collected mine.

For me, it was an experience worth passing through. I learnt a lot of things and made new friends. On this note, I urge the commission to seek to improve the welfare of their ad-hoc staff. Crowd control is also very important.

NASARAWA STATE ACCORDING TO MY APPRAISAL: part 8

KASIMU ALI SPEAKS
        ==============
================Feb 5, 2019=

The Politics of Nasarawa North:
       """"""""''.  """"""''. """"""""
The Politics of Akwanga zone (Nasarawa North) has always been domesticated, streamlined and shaped in consonance with its anscestral divides. These divides are Nasarawa Eggon LGA, Akwanga LGA and Wamba LGA. The elective politics of "Turn-by-Turn" has always guided the zone. But, the forthcoming 2019 General Elections are likely to go against this spirit, and, this may reshape to produce a new template for the zone. This may erode the political brotherliness in Akwanga zone particularly as regards Senate and House of Representative.
   As it stands at the moment, and unless a new strategy is done, Chief Michael Abdul PDP, will win the Senatorial Election and Engr Audu Sule APC, will become the new State Governor. Both of them are from Akwanga LGA. House of Reps calculations have already slipped past the stars of Mr Musa Umaru ADC, and now in the forehead of Hon Abdulkarim Ombamas PDP. The two of them hail from Wamba LGA.
   Nasarawa Eggon LGA has 4 (four) Governorship Candidates and ALL the 4 are likely to lose the election. Two of them are Hon Labaran Maku APGA and Hon David Ombugadu PDP. There are 5 (five) Senatorial candidates for Senate in Nasarawa Eggon LGA. They are Hon Sam Alu APGA, Sen Patricia Akwashiki ADC, Hon Godiya Akwashiki APC, Mr Inusa Mohammed Umbugu-Anga SDP and Ms Rhoda Kutsa. While Inusa is from Mada Station electoral ward, the other 4 are from the same ward, Kagbu Ward.

  NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SEATS 1999 - 2019:
Senate 1999-2003 went to Nasarawa Eggon while House of Reps got to Wamba. The beneficiaries are Sen Patrick Aga and Hon Idris Yahuza Yakubu.
  Senate 2003-2007 rotated to Akwanga while House of Reps to Nasarawa Eggon. The beneficiaries are Sen John Danboyi and Hon Patricia Akwashiki.
  Senate 2007-2011 rotated to Nasarawa Eggon; House of Reps to Wamba and the beneficiaries are Sen Patricia Akwashiki and Hon Isa  Ambaka.
  Senate 2011-2015 went to Sen Solomon Ewuga of Nasarawa Eggon. While the electorates infact voted Hon Idris Yahuza of Wamba to House of Reps, the Courts gave it to Hon David Davematics Ombugadu of Nasarawa Eggon who never campaigned.
   Senate 2015-2019 rotated to Akwanga and Reps to Nasarawa Eggon with the holders as Sen Philip Gyunka and Hon David Ombugadu.

2019 PROJECTED VOTING PATTERN
Nasarawa Eggon votes will not be less than 54% while Wamba and Akwanga 46% combined together in the forthcoming February 16, 2019 National Assembly elections. Nasarawa Eggon will split its votes among the 5 candidates of its Area. Akwanga will give bloc votes to its only candidate Michael Abdul, PDP. Akwanga is already into sound alliance with Wamba to vote its son so that, in turn, Akwanga will vote Wamba's Abdulkarim of the PDP.
   Some wards in Nasarawa Eggon will fall to PDP for obvious reasons. Alushi Ginda Ward is where Sen Solomon Ewuga hails from. Ikka Wangibi ward is where the PDP Governorship candidate David Ombugadu comes from. National zonal chairman PDP Jacob Ali hails from  Ende ward. These are bloc votes for the PDP. And the PDP will pull not less than 15% votes in the remaining 11 wards. So, by simple arithmetic, PDP will have 50% votes  flexed across not less than 6 wards. Nasarawa Eggon LGA has 14 electoral wards.
   Accordingly, John Michael Abdul is likely to win the senatorial election while Abdulkarim Ombamas is likely to win the House of Representatives in Akwanga zone (Nasarawa North).
  As for the Governorship election, there is the likelihood that Akwanga LGA will fall to APC and Wamba LGA also to APC. Nasarawa Eggon LGA will have its votes split to PDP, APGA and APC. The projection in Lafia zone (Nasarawa South), combined together, APC will lead the vote count.
 
SUMMARY
The 2019 General elections will likely hit Nasarawa Eggon LGA with heavy blows.
  The Senate seat is tilting towards Akwanga LGA and to John Michael Abdul of the PDP. The seat of the House of Representatives is favouring Wamba  LGA with Abdulkarim Ombamas as beneficiary. The Governorship is likely to be won by Engr AA Sule, APC, who hails from Akwanga LGA.
=====End of Part 8======