Zuwy's Pandora

Now the NGF retreat is concluded a lot of issues raised, questions and complaints! I cannot say everything was addressed satisfactorily. It appears every one is talking of the blessings or curses of our oil wealth, to add to that the experts that were invited were all talking oil and nothing more. I heard Kayode Fayemi say he wants the oil to dry up, and I say sir, the presence of oil is not stopping you from exploring other sources of income, if anything it should enhance your exploring other sources. He also mentioned tax and how a few end up paying, while I agree completely with him as a source of income, but he can still look inward, government should not live by tax alone! Gov Chibuike Amaechi of course being from the oil region disagreed with oil drying up bit. He said there are enough resources in other regions and spoke of working the land enough to get 3000 hectares that can employ 3000 northern youths for instance, that would make it difficult for Boko haram to recruit a...

Impunity is the bane of our country! I say this because, corruption is in every country but it depends on how the system deals with either decisively or in a lukewarm manner. Now this is what sets Nigeria apart from many countries.  In other places like China,  corruption is dealt with decisively,  does it mean they are saints? No! It shows their commitment to bring it to the barest minimum.  In Nigeria however,  you become some sortof hero! A strange trend has taken over our polity in recent times. When people or public officers are are accused of corruption the ethnic tribe of such people come out in defence of the corrupt.  They forget however that the casualties of the evil deeds of those they defend are we the people! Now imagine? Why would Prof travel to Kano by road? Or if universities were in session would he even need to travel? I know deaths is inevitable but still it's painful when it occurs in a senseless and avoidable manner Who knows? Pr...

http://azdailysun.com/news/world/africa/nigeria-farmers-lose-million-to-uprising/article_1511fb1d-37db-55b2-b7ab-71aace370235.htmlBy Haruna Umar Farmers in northeastern Nigeria have lost 3 billion naira ($18.75 million) in food crops because of an Islamic uprising that has terrorized the region for the past three years, the chairman of a state farmers' association said Monday. Hundreds of farmers have been killed or forced to abandon rice and other crops ready for harvesting or just planted, Muhammed Namadi, the Borno State Farmers Association chairman said. He spoke in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital and a former insurgent stronghold. Without immediate relief, farmers in Borno, who already live with abject poverty, insecurity and isolation, could also face widespread hunger. "We have suffered a great deal as farmers in the last three years," Namadi said, asking the state to provide farmers with money and equipment. "Many young and old farmers have been forc...

The Growth Enhancement Support (GES) scheme is a wonderful idea which delivers farm inputs via electronic medium to pre-registered farmers directly through their phones. The fact that middle men have seemingly been eliminated from the system, thereby getting to the target of importance which is the farmer is commendable. However, I find some taking points interesting; 1.       The according to the minister, he said “Some people think that our farmers are uneducated and cannot use cell phones. The evidence does not support that”. Right! So if this is the case one would expect that these farmers would already have phones and don’t need one.  2.        There are farmers already registered on this scheme, does it register their phones or the SIM?   Because it is possible to affix the SIM on another phone and the number would remain the same. Or are these phones going to be equipped with special features that th...

The price of carbon hit a record low in Europe on Monday as the over-supply of emissions permits during the global economic downturn continued to undermine the carbon market. The price fell below 4.8 euros in early trading, before recovering to above 5 euros by late afternoon. Carbon permits are a mechanism designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, as companies have to pay to emit C02. A sharp drop in demand for energy has led to a massive oversupply of permits. Critics of the EU's Emissions Trading System also argue that the European Union issued too many permits in the first place. The EU has proposed freezing up to 900 million permits to tackle this oversupply. "There are too many permits because of the recession," said Isaac Valero, spokesman for EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard. The price of carbon recovered slightly on Monday after demand for an auction of 3.5 million permits was stronger than ...

By Emily Haves, Ashden Research Programme Coordinator Energy access is an increasingly hot topic in development circles, but what does it actually mean? We talk about it as if it’s a binary state – either you have it, or you don’t – but is this helpful? And how much is enough? Is hauling a car battery across town to charge it up so you can power a few lights for a few hours considered ‘access’?  Most people would say that being connected to the national grid means you have energy access. But what if this regularly cuts out without notice, as we saw dramatically in India last summer ? From my internet trawl, everyone writing about and working in this field is generally clear that ‘energy’ means electricity and clean cooking. Yet startlingly, few actually define ‘access’. The three attempts at definition I found came from the International Energy Agency  (IEA), a paper by UNIDO/The Earth Institute , and UNDP .  The first thing I noticed is that they ar...

In Defence of Performing Public Servants - Right of Reply - By: Nasir El-Rufai on ThisDay Back Page on 13 Oct 2012 The article entitled “The Bully Called Sanusi” by my brother - Dele Momodu on yet another brother of mine - Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is as evidently self-contradictory as it lacks objectivity. It also constitutes a disservice to the greater public good as to be expatiated in the course of this submission; hence the necessity for this rejoinder. Those who know me and read my Friday weekly column in THISDAY Newspaper know how critical I have been of the Jonathan administration, just as I was to its predecessor, the Yar’Adua administration; with the common thread being the lackluster performance of both administrations that has brought our beloved nation to its lowest ebb. Even so, there are exceptional public servants that have performed diligently with high level of intellect, uncommon integrity and outstanding record of public service that must not be rubbish...