OLALEKAN ADETAYO writes on the disposition of President Gooodluck Jonathan and indeed the Presidency to the decay in the facilities of the Police College, Ikeja and the deplorable state of some federal roads
Many things attract the attention of the Presidency daily. When such situations arise, meetings are held at the top echelon of the Federal Government by those whom the President has given the power to supervise such areas.
But when the President or his top handlers feel strongly that he must take personal charge of the situation, he attends such meetings and takes steps or makes pronouncements without delay.
Such was the case about the decay of facilities at the Police College, Ikeja, Lagos as reported by a private television station recently. Nigerians and friends of the country were held spellbound as the station beamed its searchlight on the sorry state of infrastructure in the over 70-year-old academy to various homes.
Public outrage followed the report with many concerned Nigerians calling for a government probe of how the college got to its sorry state. Rather than see the media report as a wake-up call that it was meant to be, some government officials, who have the ears of the President, felt it was meant to embarrass the government.
Penultimate Friday, President Goodluck Jonathan took the bull by the horns when he paid a surprise visit to the college apparently to have a firsthand knowledge of the situation. He indeed saw the decay.
The visit, said to be the first by a sitting President in the over 70-year history of the college, attracted commendations from people on social media, with commentators urging the President to cap the visit with actions that will turn the school’s infrastructure around.
The commendations were, however, short-lived when news spread that the President, during the visit, queried the authorities of the school on how the television station gained access into the premises.
Jonathan, who could not hide his anger during the visit, said the rot being televised as a documentary on the television was meant to tarnish the image of his administration. “This is a calculated attempt to damage the image of this government. The Police College, Ikeja is not the only training institution in Nigeria,” he was quoted to have said.
The Presidency has not come out publicly to deny the statement credited to the President.
That comment attracted criticisms with the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria accusing the President of chasing imaginary enemies, it added that what was expected of him was to tell Nigerians how he would uplift the college.
The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said, “Mr. President, those comments were totally unnecessary, and they put a damper on what would have been a great moment for you. A surprise presidential visit is always a good strategy for leaders to see things in their real state, without the usual window dressing that heralds scheduled visits. But it must be properly managed to achieve the maximum effect. Failure to make the best of that moment is akin to snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.”
There are fears that the report would lead to the sacking of some top individuals in the Nigeria Police as well as the Ministry of Police Affairs. It was, however, learnt that such steps might be taken later in a way that would not link the sacking with the television report.
Why was Jonathan angry with the decay he saw at the police college? If he was not aware of the rot in the college, as a President who means well for the country, shouldn’t he be happy that the media exposed everything? These are questions on the lips of Nigerians.
One thing is sure: the end has not been heard on the matter as horse-trading is currently ongoing in government circles. Even in the media, various interested parties are already flying kites in order to protect their interests. Time will definitely tell where the issue will end.
Another issue that the Federal Government is not taking with a pinch of salt is that of federal roads that are in deplorable state across the country.
When such a topic is discussed, the roads that easily come to mind are the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the East-West Road.
On the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, a lot has been written about the concessioning of the 125km road in 2009 by the administration of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua to Bi-Courtney Highway Services and the eventual termination of the contractual agreement.
The contract valued at N89.53bn for a period of 25 years, was announced by former Minister of Information, Prof. Dora Akunyili, in 2009.
Announcing the revocation in November 2012, the Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, had told State House correspondents that the decision was due to “serial breaches” committed by the firm.
The minister said the road had been handed over to Julius Berger to handle Section 1 from Lagos to the Sagamu Interchange, and Reynolds Construction Company to handle Section 2 from the Sagamu Interchange to Ibadan.
But authorities of the firm (Bi-Courtney) would not hear any of that. They blamed the Federal Government for the firm’s inability to deliver on the road.
Indications that all might not have been heard on the issue emerged when the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission in its 2011 annual report to the President identified three major possible reasons that led to the failure of the concession. The commission alluded to the fact that the implementation of the project was delayed due to various issues that were not addressed by both parties prior to the execution of the contract.
It identified the issues as approval for the design of the road, financial model and environmental and social impact assessment. On approval for the design of the road, the report indicated that Clause 6.1 of the concession agreement identified the concessionaire as responsible for the preparation of the preliminary design for the grantor’s review and approval.
It added that approval for a final design was granted in May 2011, two years after the execution of the concession agreement. “It is evident that the scope of the work was not fully documented and outline design provided before the concession was awarded,” it observed.
On the financial model, the commission observed that the cost of the project as included in the concession agreement was not based on necessary studies. The report read, “Without an agreed design and scope of works based on the grantor’s performance and output standards, there cannot be an agreed fixed cost for the project. Without a financial model setting out the expected project costs and revenues, financing costs cannot be determined. The cost of the project as included in the concession agreement was not based on the necessary studies (e.g. traffic forecast) required for the implementation of a road project through DBOT model.”
The dust raised on the revocation of the concession has yet to settle.
The East-West Road led to public altercation last week between Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe. The deplorable state of the road despite Federal Government’s repeated assurances led to the open disagreement.
Amaechi might have drawn Orubebe’s ire when he reportedly expressed the readiness of governors of the South-South states to take over the construction of the road following the failure of the ministry to do so.
Orubebe saw the governor’s comment as an affront and disrespect to the office of the President and he did not hide his feelings.
“Port Harcourt used to be the Garden City of this country. Today, Port Harcourt is a slum; you cannot move in Port Harcourt. I think he (Amaechi) should concern himself with utilising the resources that are in there to develop Rivers and the people of Rivers.
“I expect him to talk, if he is performing like (Akwa Ibom Governor Godswill) Akpabio. If today the governor of Akwa Ibom is talking about those things, I will listen, sit down and reason with him; but not the governor of Rivers. He is only talking. Almost all the roads he is talking of are abandoned. Nothing is going on in Port Harcourt; the people are crying. He should think of doing that.
“Unfortunately, the man has forgotten that it was by the grace of God that he became the governor of Rivers. He has forgotten so soon. He has arrogated to himself powers that he does not have. It is God that has powers,” Orubebe had lashed out at the governor.
In his reaction, Amaechi accused the minister of trying to divert attention from his gross ineptitude and abysmal failure to deliver on the deplorable road as minister of Niger Delta Affairs.
“Orubebe should please tell us what respect, regard and show of love is bigger than that (leading Rivers people to overwhelmingly vote for the President in the 2011 election). Orubebe’s attack on the person of Amaechi is a dubious, but obvious attempt to divert attention from his abysmal failure to deliver on the East-West Road as minister of the Niger Delta,” the governor had replied through his spokesman.
President, Campaign for Democracy, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, in an interview with our correspondent, said the President only succeeded in tarnishing his image with his utterance at the PCI.
Okei-Odumakin added that the statement credited to the President was in flagrant violation of the Freedom of Information Law enacted by his administration.
She said, “The President is just tarnishing his own image; he abhors free flow of information and transparency which shows why he has not declared his assets.
“Corruption has become the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which explains the rot the police college is experiencing. We applaud the television station for being the conscience of the nation.
“His statement was also a flagrant violation of the FOI law. They are just playing 2015 politics. Our people should not be hoodwinked. No one can ever play political chess game with us again.”
While commending the President for the unscheduled visit to the PCI, a former governorship candidate of the National Conscience Party in Ogun State, Mr. Lanre Banjo, denounced Jonathan’s comments.
He said, “The President was elected to focus on jobs and the television station has helped to direct his attention to the job. The President’s role is to applaud TV station, reward it and not to wonder how it got into the police college.
“The President must understand that the role of citizens in our democracy does not end with our votes. It continues after elections by keeping vigil over the performance of those in government and how our budgets at various levels are executed. It’s about what can be done by everybody through the hard and frustrating, but necessary work of self-government. That’s the principle of democracy.
“Among those duties are love, charity, duty and patriotism as exhibited by the TV station, and the President must applaud it.”
Punch Nigeria
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