How to Calculate Corruption in Nigeria By Jennifer Ehidiamen

When corrupt political leaders or “escapade” of corrupt individuals is reported in Nigeria most of the time, the reports are usually punctuated with shocking figures. But these jaw-dropping figures will remain just figures unless translated in a way the average man on the street can understand.

A classic example of what I mean by translating the figures can be found on Ventures Africa’s news portal. In his article, “James Ibori And The Futility Of Public Office Theft,” Fisayo Soyombo wrote:

"Iboris’ confiscated properties, which he amassed through his ill-gotten wealth, amount to several hundred billions of naira! Imagine if Ibori had allocated just N10b to construction of roads in Delta and another N20b to upping the standard of education in the state; imagine if he dedicated N30b to creation of jobs, and, say, N40b to improving the pay package of public service workers. He could have effortlessly channeled N50b into developing agricultural productivity among his people."

Imagine a tool that allows everyone calculate the opportunity cost of corruption in Nigeria. Well, don’t imagine it for long! The tool is here!!

WANGONeT's Corruption Calculator  is a FREE application that helps individuals compute the opportunity cost of the funds siphoned by our leaders. By using the calculator, individuals are able to have contextual comparisons into the actual cost of the stolen and misappropriated funds http://antigraft.org/wangonet/corruptioncalculator.

To get started, click here: http://antigraft.org/wangonet/corruptioncalculator

A list of different corrupt profiles and the figures they are accused of stealing public funds are available here: http://antigraft.org/profilecase

I still maintain that kicking corruption out of Nigeria can only be successful if we start with self. If we are serious about winning the war and liberating our country and resources from the shackles of fraud and greed in all sectors then we must all stand up to the responsibility and start fighting corruption from the very level that we are.

Don't forget to report corruption http://antigraft.org/node/add/bribereports, no matter what form it is dressed.

Click here for more info: http://antigraft.org

 Spread the word! Take action!

Nigeria’s Education Conundrum

According to the United Kingdom’s Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), Nigeria was the third non-European Union country sending the highest number of students to the UK in recent times. In 2009/10, it had 16,680 students in UK higher institutions and in 2010/11, there were 17,585 Nigerian students in those institutions – ranking only behind India and China.

These figures hold different significance for Nigeria and the UK as it holds for different institutions and analysts within Nigeria. For the UK, this year-on-year growth is evidence that marketing efforts in Nigeria by its schools are yielding fruits and Nigeria is now one of the major sources of income for its higher institutions. For the Nigerian government, the UK, in addition to being a top destination for foreign exchange out of Nigeria, is also one of the top recipients of its students seeking premium education outside its shores. Other destinations include the USA, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Hungary and Ghana.

For the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), if as expected it monitors these outflows, this must represent a remarkable movement in the country’s current account and one that will impact the country’s balance of trade with the UK. Ideally, it should raise no eyebrows if there are significant inward returns from this expenditure. The trend, however, does not suggest that Nigeria’s economy significantly benefits from the resultant output. Some of the eventual graduates do not make it back to Nigeria and those who make it back have not been timeously absorbed into the productive sectors of the economy to justify the huge expenditure.

For the National Universities Commission (NUC), Nigerian universities and their administrators, it is an indictment and evidence of the failure to respond in sufficient measure to the demand for higher education in the country, such that Nigeria is now a marketing turf for foreign universities, including those from non-English speaking countries. The pretence and promises of the dons that run these institutions are now openly vulnerable to truth and experience – the reality is that “our best brains” can no longer provide sustainable succession plans in our higher institutions; would-be successors have increasingly looked beyond our shores without returning. It is now a cheap exercise to continue blaming governments in Nigeria for the near collapse of institutions and values. This is not as if any credible defence can be mustered by the various governments we have been blest with. Yes, we know we have been misruled, corrupted and abused by all sorts of pseudo-leaders who have either been unwilling or unprepared to rule right from independence to date, but what contributions or research have emanated from our ivory towers to stem the tide?

With the recent increase in tuition fees in the UK rising up to £9000 for Home Students per session and more for foreign students, average annual fees for Nigerian students would be about £10,000 with additional annual expenses of £2000 for feeding and accommodation. It then means that in the last two academic sessions, going by HESA’s figures, Nigeria has paid out at least £411,180,000 (N102,795,000,000 at £250 to the naira) in two years to UK higher institutions for the education of a tiny percentile of Nigeria’s student population. This is in addition to what is paid to other countries. I imagine these movements must be of concern to the irrepressible CBN governor, notwithstanding the depth or health of the nation’s coffers.

Figures from the Budget Office of the Federation in Nigeria confirms the proposed combined allocations in the 2013 budget to the five federal universities in Benin, Ibadan, Lagos, Nsukka, and Zaria at precisely N64,075,077,698 (£256,300,310). From figures available from the Universities Matriculation Examination Brochure 2000-2001, these five universities are about the largest in the country with a combined enrolment in excess of 116,000 as at 12 years ago. Current enrolment in these universities would have risen above 130,000.

The annual spend of N3,000,000 (£12,000) by each Nigerian student in the UK and the proposed allocation of about N500,000 (£2000) per head in the 2013 budget on each of the students from our five elite universities, going by the assumed enrolment figure above, will only best describe us as connoisseurs of irony – we will rather hand over more to foreign universities than we are prepared to cede to our own institutions. The best these universities can churn out on this budget would be generations of casually informed graduates. It would be pedantic to delve into the results these disparate figures will produce or the damage this poses to the future of Nigeria, and the prospect of employment of the country’s army of youth whose current unemployment rate is put at over 40 percent. Even if achievable, the government’s much bandied Vision 2020-20 would be no more than a mirage or a crinkle of papers in the same manner the year 2000 passed without the health for all or education for all promised in the decades preceding that particular year.

It is interesting to note that in the same 2013 budget proposals, the allocation to the National Assembly is N150 billion (£600,000,000), about a quarter of The Gambia’s GDP. As if lawmaking is an end itself and in continuation of the buffet politics Nigeria has bequeathed on itself, the country will spend that princely sum on its lawmakers for essentially what is a part-time vocation in most countries. A figure that dwarfs, by a ratio of 2.34:1, the proposed spend on the combined students of the five elite universities above. Lawmaking must be more important than those expected to implement these laws and build the country’s future.

Whatever laws these lawmakers enact will have little impact on the future of the country, as the key ingredient for the future is not being properly developed – the army of youths, the majority of the country’s demography that are expected to implement, make sense of or obey these laws will part with these laws like tug and tow in a marine misadventure. Nigeria’s current population pyramid indicates that the majority of its population is below the age of 35 years, a relatively young population even if not too far away from the country’s life expectancy of 52 years. Sadly, this majority is not likely going to be an efficient one in the future unless the country prioritises their education urgently. Every country gets what it rewards; our generous reward of lawmakers, even if good for politics, is bad for policy.  The future belongs to societies with the best solutions to the challenges of an ever-dynamic world we now live in.

culled from: BusinessDay

Nigeria emerges 3rd most profitable stock market in the World

Nigeria was the third most rewarding stock market  globally in 2012 behind Egypt and Kenya, as investors harvested 35.45 percent yield- to- date return on investment from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

According to a study by Meristem Research, the bulk of the returns came from NSE 30 selected stocks with 44.61 percent YtD return, Food and Beverages, 42.27 percent and banking, 23.91 percent. The companies that offered the returns, according to the study, included the Paints & Coatings Manufacturers Nigeria (PCMN), with 276.92 returns to close at N1.9 per share, Presco with YtD of 96.08 percent to finish at 17.00 , Airline Services Limited, with 92.63 returns and closing price of N4.18 per share, Zenith Bank 60.02 return and price of N19.49 and UTC, which rewarded investors with 50 percent at the price of N0.75 per share. The Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index finished the year at 28,078.80 with market capitalisation of N8.974 trillion.

The Egyptian stock market was the most profitable, with YtD of 49.56 percent, Kenya, second with 39.32 percent return to investors. YtD from the Ghana Stock Exchange was 35.45 percent, while South Africa returned 23.81 percent to investors.

The US Dow Jones Average closed the year with YtD of 6.40 percent, NASDAG Composite Index 13.95 percent, UK FTSE All share index 8.61 percent, France FAC 40 index 14.80 percent and German Dax index, 29 percent. YtD from China’s Hang Seng was 23.90 percent, India BSE 30 index 25.82 percent and Japan Nikkei 225, 22.94 percent. The return profile shows that African markets  were most attractive by return standard,followed by markets in the Asia/ Pacific regions. It shows that returns in matured markets of Europe and America are thinning out , a situation that leaves African and other emerging markets as viable alternative markets.

Analysts say if the trend continues in the New Year, increased migration of investors to emerging and frontier markets like Nigeria, other African countries and the Asia markets will be witnessed. Victor Ogiemwonyi, CEO, Partnership Investment and Investment Company, said the capital market growth momentum would continue in 2013. He attributed the growth recorded in 2012 partly to the regulators’ hard work. “They have put in place needed reforms that are now responsible for the gradual return of confidence to the market”, he said.

According to Ogiemwonyi, the outlook for 2013 is very positive. “I expect the market to do better than average in the New Year. The factors that will influence things include the rising confidence and the liquidity that will follow, especially with the year starting with an approved budget. The gradual return of investors will see the market rise in the first quarter and slowly correct any spike that may be too far from the average”, he predicted.

culled from: Business Day

Sub-Sahara Africa records decline in HIV infections & AIDS-related deaths in 2012

SUB-SAHARAN African countries, among which is Nigeria, have shown progress in the fight against Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) / Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) infections and deaths, a report recently released by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) shows.

UNAIDS Regional Fact Sheet 2012 shows a decline in new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths of about 25 and 32 per cent in that order.

In 2011, according to the report, there were an estimated 1.8 million (1.6 million- 2 million) new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa compared to 2.4 million (2.2 million–2.5 million) new infections in 2001-a 25 per cent decline. Between 2005 and 2011, the number of people dying from AIDS-related causes in the region declined by 32 per cent, from 1.8 million (1.6 million–1.9 million) to 1.2 million (1.1 million–1.3 million). Since 2004, the number of tuberculosis (TB) related deaths among people living with HIV have also fallen by 28 per cent in the region.

This achievement, however, stigma and discrimination continue to impede effective HIV responses in many countries. Women in sub-Saharan Africa remain disproportionately impacted by the HIV epidemic, accounting for 58 per cent of all people living with HIV in the region in 2011.

Data collected through the People Living with HIV Stigma Index between 2008 and 2011, show that more than half of people living with HIV in Zambia (52 per cent), Rwanda (53 per cent) and Kenya (56 per cent) reported being verbally abused as a result of their HIV status. In Nigeria and Ethiopia, one in five people living with HIV (20 per cent) reported suicidal feeling because of their HIV status. In Cameroon, 13 per cent of people living with HIV reported being denied access to health services, including dental care, on the basis on their HIV status.

Notwithstanding, Nigeria still got some credits because in 2012, a Lagos high court ended a 17-year legal battle between Georgina Ahamefule and HIV/AIDS discrimination. This gained her the reputation “Breaker of Silence” and won her an award at the Journalist Against AIDS Red Ribbon Awards in Lagos. More on the positive sides, the report also revealed that the Prevention of Mother-To-Child-Transmission (PMTCT) programme among others to safeguard mother-to-child infections is yielding dividends. This was evident in progress made in preventing new infections among children between 2009 and 2011, where the number of children newly infected with HIV fell by 24 per cent.

Specifically, in six countries of the sub Saharan region - Burundi, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Togo and Zambia - the number of children newly infected with HIV declined by 40 - 59 per cent between 2009 and 2011. Fourteen additional countries in the region reported declines of 20-39 per cent. However, 11 countries saw more modest declines of 1–19 per cent. In four countries - Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau - the number of new HIV infections among children increased.

In 2011, coverage of services to prevent mother-to-child-transmission (PMTCT) of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa reached 59 per cent (53 – 66 per cent). Six countries in the region achieved PMTCT coverage of more than 75 per cent: Botswana, Ghana, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia. Seven countries reported PMTCT coverage of less than 25 per cent, Angola, Chad, Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Sudan. On expanded coverage of HIV testing and treatment, surveys conducted between 2004 and 2011 in 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa found significant increases in the percentage of adults who had taken an HIV test in the previous 12 months and received their results. In Lesotho, for instance, an estimated 42 per cent of adult women reported that they had been tested for HIV in 2009 compared to about six per cent in 2004. In Rwanda, nearly 39 per cent of adult women were tested for HIV in 2010 compared to about 12 per cent in 2005.

In Ethiopia, an estimated 21 per cent of adult men were tested for HIV in 2011 compared to approximately two per cent in 2005. Approximately 23 per cent of adult men in Kenya were tested for HIV between 2008-9 compared to about eight per cent of men in 2003. Among countries surveyed, HIV testing rates tended to be higher among women than men, this may be due, in part, to increased availability of HIV testing in antenatal settings.

“Increases in HIV testing coverage can be linked to the scale up of antiretroviral therapy programmes and investment in a broad array of HIV testing strategies, such as provider-initiated testing and counseling, rapid testing technologies and home-based testing campaigns,” the report stated. The agency further noted that HIV treatment had also recorded significant progress. For instance, in 2011, an estimated 56 per cent of people eligible for HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa were receiving it- compared to a global average of 54 per cent.

Five countries have achieved more than 80 per cent coverage of HIV treatment, they are: Botswana, Namibia, Rwanda, Swaziland and Zambia. Benin, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe achieved more than 60 per cent coverage of HIV treatment. Coverage of antiretroviral therapy in three countries -Madagascar, Somalia and South Sudan- is less than 20 per cent.

“Wider access to treatment is saving lives: since1995, antiretroviral therapy has added approximately nine million life-years in sub-Saharan Africa. Available evidence continues to highlight the urgent need to improve retention rates for people enrolled in HIV treatment and care.” Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most heavily affected region in the global HIV epidemic. In 2011, an estimated 23.5million (22.1– 24.8 million) people living with HIV resided in the region, representing 69 per cent of the global HIV burden.

In 2011, 92 per cent of pregnant women living with HIV resided in sub-Saharan Africa.  More than 90 per cent of children who acquired HIV in2011 live in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite an overall shortfall in domestic AIDS investments, some countries have assumed a greater role in funding their own national HIV responses

In 21 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, external funding sources account for more than 50 per cent of HIV investments. However, some countries in the region are assuming a greater role in funding national responses to HIV.

For example: Botswana and South Africa cover more than 75 per cent of their national HIV responses through domestic public sources; Namibia, Gabon and Mauritius fund more than half of their national HIV responses. Kenya doubled its domestic HIV spending from 2008 to 2010; Togo doubled its domestic HIV spending from 2007 to 2010; and Rwanda doubled its domestic spending from 2006 to 2009.

culled from:Guardian

Niger State To Engage 10,000 Youths In Farming

The Niger State Government has concluded arrangements to engage 10,000 youths across the state in farming activities as part of its employment generation programme.

According to the Commissioner for Economic Planning, Mr Idris Ndako said that the state has already acquired 6,000 hectares of land for the programme which is expected to kick off in February 2013. He also noted that each of the 25 local government areas in the state are expected to also engage about 1,000 youths in farming to complement the effort of the state government in tackling youth unemployment headlong.

The Commissioner explained that the aim of the programme is to encourage youths in the state to see farming as a productive venture and also an avenue to take the unemployed youths off the street so as not to make them a ready tool for trouble makers.

Source:Channels TV

Pro-Chancellor Support Use Of Social Media In Academic Learning

In a call to improve the educational sector, Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council of Crawford University, Igbesa, Ogun State Prof. Peter Okebukola,implored stakeholders in education sectors to embrace social media as one of the means of teaching students. He said this during the 4th convocation ceremony of the institution where 253 students were convocated.    

According to Okebukola, instead of advising youths to stay off from Facebook and twitter, Nigeria educational sector should look inward and improve knowledge and skills through these social media. He added that most educational communities in the world improve their student's knowledge and acquire new skills by using social media which most of youths are addicted to. Okebukola further urged various stakeholders to look beyond negative aspects of networking and leverage on the positives of social media such as how it will improve learning, acquire new skills and students spend productive time.

"Facebook and Twitter are emerging global communication standards especially among the youth and anybody advocating that our youth should stay off such should ask the Anopheles mosquito to stay off the sucking of blood. In most advanced countries, teachers supplement their lessons with assignment given to their students on Facebook. It has been confirmed that students relate in an exciting way to their Facebook lessons and studies which has led to improved performance in school and public examinations," he said.

Link-ALL AFRICA