The Sun News On-line/politics

President, Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN), Moses Olubunmi Ajayi, has criticised the leadership style of President Umar Yar’Adua, describing him as a man who is ‘silently stubborn,’ without a sense of urgency.

The renowned town planner of 34 years standing, says the delay in signing the 2008 budget into law was bound to have some negative effects on the nation’s economy, especially as it relates to road construction and foreign investments.

The man, who presides over 24 professional bodies, says neither government nor the professionals should be held responsible for the incidents of collapsed buildings in Lagos State, and other parts of the country. Rather, he says, Nigerians should take the collective blame.

On the on-going probe of the nation’s power sector, Ajayi says it’s an eye-opener to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. According to him, it will show him the extent to which those he trusted had betrayed him.

APBN and government
Every year, we hold pre-budget seminars, where all the professional bodies meet and assess the budget implementation. During the seminars, all the professional bodies meet; they assess the budget implementation in the year and advise government on the next budget. And when the budget is eventually passed and it becomes an act of parliament, we then hold a meeting we call post-budget evaluation and make our advice available to government. You know that we have four different sectorial groups within the APBN. Each of these groups take a subject, do a critical study and put up a report, which we, in turn, present to government as a body. For instance, the housing sector is presently looking at the issue of mass housing for Nigerians and we are looking at reinventing the Nigerian health sector.

We maintain a cordial relationship with government; we advise them on these national issues. This is why we do not go about criticising government on the pages of newspaper as a body. We are happy that they take our advice.

For instance, the Nigerian Building Code we have today is the baby of the APBN. Right now, we are in partnership with the EFCC, to work with them in the anti-corruption war. This is because we know that a lot of corruption is involved with the inflation of contracts. The lawyers only talk on the pedestal level. They don’t know the havoc corruption wrought on the system. They don’t know the value of any particular corrupt act; it is only we, the professionals, who can tell you what a particular contract should cost; whether it is inflated or not. We are in a position to determine these things because we have been so-trained. So, we have met with the EFCC officials and we are in collaboration with them in the fight against corruption. By the time we are fully involved, people will then know that if you inflate a contract, some other persons are around to revalue it, then they will check themselves.

Delayed budget
Whenever a budget is delayed, it is usually not in the interest of the economy. President Yar’Adua is silently stubborn. For real or good, he has not got the kind of sense of urgency, which General Olusegun Obasanjo has. The budget was not signed until the second quarter of the year. It was only signed into an Act mid April. So, what are we budgetting to operate? Now, the rains are here. How do you start awarding contracts and mobilising contractors to do roads in the rain. I wonder what will happen to such contracts? Like in the Niger Delta region, what will happen to all the construction work scheduled to be executed this year? There is little they can do under the rains.

Foreign investors will hold on, waiting to see policy direction and financial regulation of the government as contained in the budget breakdown. This include the tax regime and all that variables. As I said, it is unfortunate that we have a president, who has no sense of urgency.

Collapsed buildings
The problem is simple; Nigerians used substandard human beings and substandard materials. Everything they use in building structures is substandard. So, there is nothing wrong with government and nothing wrong with the professionals. Rather, the problem is with Nigerians themselves. I am proud to say that all the cases of collapse buildings so far recorded in Lagos State and other parts of the country, not one qualified professional has been found culpable.

That is why we still hold up our heads and walk tall in the midst of all this noise. At the end of the day, what you hear is that the man responsible for the collapse say that he was only a bricklayer, and somehow he got his company registered with government and turned around to claim to be a registered contractor of Category ‘B’ with the ministry of works.

The way out is simple. The criteria for registration of contractors in the ministry of works and at the CAC should be reviewed. Most of these contractors should not have been registered more than mere suppliers; that is category ‘A’ contractors. Anybody without a professional qualification or who has not employed a professional should not be registered outside of Category “B.”

When he bids for contracts and tenders a certificate of Category ‘C,’ he is given a contract worth N30 million. The fact of the matter is that the man does not know, yet, he won’t employ somebody who knows.

That amounts to double calamity
This is why the Lagos State government now made it mandatory that any building that is more than one floor, the contractor should place his signboard on it so that the public knows who is doing what. That is one of the reasons we support the government on this thing, so anybody handling a building more than one floor must be a registered builder or he must have registered engineers as supervisors.

Probes
I am happy with the on-going probe of the nation’s power sector, but I want members of the panel to keep open minds to what they are doing and not play to the gallery over Nigerians’ negative mindset. The first positive thing I see in it is that it helps Obasanjo to see clearly how people have betrayed his trust. As a president, he did not go about doing these things himself. That was why he appointed aides, ministers, special advisers, special assistants and others.

Because of his sense of urgency to get things done fast, he cut short most of the red tapes and bureaucratic bottlenecks so that they can get money fast to execute these jobs. All these he did with good intentions and trust of these aides. This probe will show the man how much damage the people he has put in charge did and how they betrayed his trust. This is one good thing about the probe, as it will serve a lesson to Obasanjo himself and also to present and future leaders of this country at all levels of governance.

The second lesson is that Nigerians will now know that all those given national honours, like Member of the Order of the Niger (MON), stole their money and engaged in acts that tended to pull back the country. How do you say you are fighting corruption when you are honouring corrupt people?

The third lesson is that God is still in charge of the affairs of this country. How could anybody in his wildest imagination believe that such a probe could ever happen in this country and broadcast live? Nobody will ever believe that a group of people can ever rise up from the National Assembly and embarked on such probe. We have been having lawmakers in this country that have been compromising on such issues. They are offered inducements, which they pocket and turn their eyes the other way. With this new set of lawmakers, at least some of them, one can happily say that a new dawn is cracking through the ominous dark cloud of the past.

However, the critical issue now is who are the people behind all these odious run of corruption. They must be unmasked. To start with, let’s collect our money from them and prosecute them. Until we start unmasking enemies of progress in the society, they will not allow this country to grow. Some of them are amassing great wealth because they want to enslave us. In fact, some of these people are richer than their state of origin.

I will advise Obasanjo to appear before the probe panel. Even if they refuse to invite him, he should go there and clear himself. A president appoints ministers to be in charge of various aspects of governance, to help in the running of the country because he cannot do it alone. Generally, he might not have awarded a single contract himself. The ministers take contract proposals to the Federal Executive Council, (FEC) for discussion and approval. So, effectively, it is the FEC that awards contracts and not Obasanjo as the president. The allegation in general was that the president waived one or two of the due processes. But let us wait and see the full facts as they emerged at the panel.

For instance, you know some of these international firms are funny. When they give you grant, they tie it to something and supervise the disbursement of the funds. Why should that be the business of due process in Nigeria? Again, Nigerians forget so easily. They should know that Nigeria was a pariah nation when Obasanjo came to power in 1999. That was why the man was in a hurry to develop this nation and bring it out of that state of shame.

Couple with his military background, he did certain things in a hurry, with military dispatch, all in the interest of the country. Look at what due process has done to this year’s budget, for instance. A budget passed in November 2007 was never signed into law until second quarter of 2008.
Look at what due process has done to the beautiful work of the EFCC and the ICPC. Since then, how many governors have they been able to prosecute successfully? It is really sad. I will appeal to members of the panel not to look back now that they have summoned the courage to do the job. God is on their side.