Hon. Samson Osagie

NIGERIA AT 61 – A CALL FOR FOCUS ON INDUSTRIALIZATION – Dr Samson Osagie

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October 1st 2021 marks Nigeria’s 61st Independence Anniversary with a never-ending quest for a direction that gives the citizenry a definite and tangible value for their collective investment in the Nigerian State.
At independence, the country rising from the ashes of colonialism looked forward to a great and prosperous nation, regional leader and a well global player in the international system.
However, government and governance have been most focused on power acquisition and power retention with minimal attention to Industrial and economic development of our nation.
With ravaging poverty, making the world poverty capital, intractable insecurity, making life worthless, religious and ethnic tension, tearing apart National leadership, corruption ravaging every facet of our national life and inflicting a cancerous blow on the fabric of the country and the insensitivity of the political elites to national malaise, etcetera etcetera Nigeria have continued to regressed on all fronts thus leaving the country to fate and chance.

Yet, the story can be reversed. With abundant human, natural and intangible resources a focus on Industrialization by governments at all levels can change the narrative. A radical and surgical move away from primordial and conservative approach to governance have the capacity to leapfrog the nation into harnessing its potential to produce what we need, reduce dependence on imports, retain capital in Nigeria and nigerianize the commanding heights of the economy.
What are we doing with few agricultural crops? What are we doing with our crude oil? What do we do with our various solid minerals- bauxite, limestone, gold, clay, gypsum, iron ore, salt, zinc, lead,
Cassiterite(tin ore), dolomite, tantalite, marble, Magnesite, kaolin, bentonite, oil and gas, uranium, lead, zinc, lignite,Phosphate, glass, sand, lead, lignite. wolfram, columbite, uranium, magnesium, barite, coal, gemstone, to mention just a few of them scattered all over the country? Many of these endowments are either exploited by foreigners with local comprados for Exports as mere raw materials or illegally mined for a few unpatriotic business persons for their personal enrichment.

We can recreate our sense of purpose by realizing that in the words of Dr Caesar Osaheni Iyayi in his new book The ABC of How To Industrialize Nigeria when he said :
” We must take urgent steps to transform Nigeria from an agrarian society to a manufacturing economy. There is no alternative. It is bend or break. If we fail to industrialise, we will never be able to defend ourselves and shall therefore be at the mercy of foreign powers that dealt ruthlessly with our forefathers. If we fail to industrialise, then we are doomed to suffer another wave of slavery or extinction on African soil”. He went further to posit and accurately so that there is no country in the world that was Industrialize(developed) by foreigners.
Consequently, methinks that the October 1st 2021 must therefore become a watershed for our leaders and citizens to move away from the unbridled quest for power acquisition to National Economic development and Industrialization. I like to see more debates on Industrialization models and strategies rather than power rotation. It will be most beneficial to Nigerians to see leaders compete on development indices rather than throwing banters on how to retain power at national and sub national levels. The people want to see which tangible progress rather than manufactured indices which translate to visible impact on their lives. It is the expectation of the people that government encourages more Nigerian private entrepreneurs to embark on industrial ventures by employing expatriates in areas of deficit of technical expertise.

Nigeria needs to Industrialize. Our country needs to move away from the realm of potentialities. Admirably, Mr President appreciate this in his Independence broadcast when he said “I fully understand the anxiety of many Nigerians on the inability of this country to go beyond a never-ending potential for becoming a great nation to an actually great one”

Nigerians, a resilient, hardworking, skilful and dedicated people with a propensity for positive advancement in am enabling environment needs a pragmatic political leadership to lead the way. Unless and until we have such a leadership that breaks away from the culture of unworkable governance model, extraneous matters of ethnicity and religion, unnecessary politicization of service delivery, building industries, infrastructures and workable institutions will continue to be a mirage. Today, we are witnesses to how the pragmatic leadership of the late Lee Kuan Yew and his successors in Singapore moved away the country to a first world. Singapore, with little or no natural resources developed its human resources to attain its current industrial status.

Our survival as a Nation depends on our ability and commitment to Industrialize Nigeria. We cannot wait any longer.
The time is now!

Dr Samson Osagie, is a Lawyer, Governance & Development Expert

Central Hospital Project, Benin City

Re:Central Hospital Project, Benin City

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Obaseki seeking to diminish Oshiomhole’s achievements

– Hon Samson Osagie

The recent statement by the Edo State Government through one Crusoe Osagie, who doubles as the Media Adviser to Governor Obaseki on the Central Hospital Project, Benin City has elicited varied reactions as the statement contained a litany of falsehood.

Ordinarily, it would not have mattered so much for many observers of the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole led government in Edo State between 2008 and 2016, an administration in which the incumbent Governor was a integral part , been a member of the State Executive Council, which approved the award of the Contract for the supply, installation,Training and Maintenance of Hospital Equipments for the New 200 Bed, Accident and Emergency Complex of the Central Hospital, Benin City at its 267th meeting held on the 12th of January, 2016 following the recommendations of the State Tenders Board.

It is indeed a thing of regret that the state government could attempt to turn truth on its head in a matter that the Edo State House of Assembly has investigated and came out with extensive findings and far reaching recommendations.

It is important to note that the attempt to castigate the Oshiomhole administration and many of its well thought out policies and programmes by the Obaseki administration has been well orchestrated to the chagrin of many who voted for the Governor on account of the sterling performance of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as Governor of Edo State.

The Accident and Emergency Complex of the Central Hospital Benin City from available records was Constructed by A&K construction company after the contract was revoked from the initial contractor on account of the unsatisfactory work that was been done by the company. Interestingly, A&K Construction Company which completed the job has remained a contractor which the current government is still using. If there are defects in the construction work, the company still has a duty to correct them rather than attempt to create the impression that it was fraudulently carried out.

It is also on record, that from the investigation carried out by the Edo State House of Assembly and other available documents from the office of the Edo State Auditor General ,the contractor which was given the responsibility to supply the equipments had supplied equipments in excess of the seventy five percent advance payment made to it by the Edo State Government as at 2016.

To demonstrate the bad faith in which the statement was released on July 4, 2019 by the State

Government, its immediate past Commissioner of Health Dr. David Osifo had reported to the Edo State House of Assembly committee that investigated the reason why the hospital was not put to use that “the issue of how to manage the Central Hospital had not been resolved by the Edo State Government that was contemplating a Public Private Partnership(PPP) arrangement to run the centre”. This was as at December 2018. Why then is the state Government labouring to portray the project as a product of fraud?

Perhaps it is sufficient to restate the fact that the Central Hospital Project; Benin City was one of the very people oriented projects executed by the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole led administration as a mark of his deep seated commitment to provide affordable healthcare services to the people of the state and it behaves on every responsible government to pursue this social service to the people without playing politics with it.

Ironically, contrary to the intention of the Oshiomhole administration, this government has engaged a private consulting firm – Ciuci Consulting as the official operator of the New Central Hospital now called Edo Specialist Hospital. How this will serve the health needs of the people of the state in terms of cost of health service services, time will tell. In fact the firm has acknowledged that the company that supplied the equipments “ played a pivotal role in the supply of cutting edge equipments in line with the vision of the Hospital “ This is coming from an appointee of the same government that is trying to portray the execution of the project as shoddy and substandard.

It will not be out of place to remind the Edo State Government that those who lives in glass houses ought not to throne stones. Edo people understands perfectly the shenanigans of the present handlers of the commanding heights of the state economy and that in the fullness of time, the hen will come home to roost.

The Adams Oshiomhole administration in Edo state cannot be wished away by the fabrications of falsehood of unimaginable proportion by a government he stake his goodwill and integrity to enthrone. The beauty about democracy is that it holds elected representatives to account for their stewardship.

While it is convenient for this State Government to malign the administration of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on the altar of politics, the people remains the ultimate judge in the final analysis.