WATER and SANITATION

You won’t see or fully appreciate the excruciating pain and paralysis Rural-Nigeria goes through in search of WATER unless, and until, you go live with them. I have been and I feel so sad, so sorry and so powerless in the face of their agony that I must sadly APOLOGIZE on behalf of us all to them all. Dear Nigerians (I mean those of us with our conscience in place, plus those of the ruling class still left with any conscience at all!), please join in in this perplexing apology. Even if you are waterless like most of us, or live in Rural-Nigeria like most of our folks, let’s just APOLOGIZE.

Commonsense dictates that without water, talk not SANITATION. Nigeria’s government says only 35% of Nigerians have access to safe water (read potable water) - after 50 years of independence, and being in the tropics, surrounded by numerous water bodies! Then there is the small matter of 37 MDAs with regular and irregular annual budgets in the WATER sector. Repeat that in the HEALTH sector, in the AGRIC & RURAL DEV sector, in the MDGs Portfolio, in the DEBT-RELIEF Portfolio, and in several DEV-ASSIST cum DONOR-SUPPORT Programmes. It is simply unconscionable! And, yes, we must APOLOGIZE.

In all conscience, we must now resolve this issue once and for all. Any governor or local government chairman that cannot or will not provide safe drinking water to their citizens MUST be recalled or impeached by the people! Note I did not include the president? Yes, because I see little business of the federal government in water supply - except of course in mega dam projects and selected regional schemes. Yes, because I say we must review the revenue allocation formula to give more resources to states and local governments for sustainable development. Yes, because right now the federal government is collecting obscene sums and simply squandering same!

We speak of Water & Sanitation today because the world just celebrated World Water Day. Nigeria observed its rituals but not its rigours!

To do it right, we must use Election 2011 to clear the deck. Vote right, folks, vote the right people this time!

TIME For Ministry of FAMILY Affairs and SOCIAL Development

When we got the National and State Commissions for Women during the IBB Regime, no-one knew a real revolution was afoot. Then we had the Ministries of Women Affairs during the Abacha Regime, and we thought the revolution was afoot. Then we went to Beijing for the UN Conference on Women, returned with the Beijing Platform for Action and its attendant euphoria, and we thought it was settled. This is 2011 and, alas, how wrong we were!

There are various points of view as to how we got to this pass. Talk to the mothers of the crusade and you will be depressed. Talk to the flavours of the moment and you will be alarmed. Talk to those between and you be left aghast! The cumulative consequences were on display during the various party primaries - huge losses for Nigerian Women! Is there a truth to the popular charge/belief that most people just hustle to get on the women development bandwagon, milk the system, and move on? Or is there a more fundamental problem?

I have been thinking. My conclusion: We need a complete overhaul/restructuring of the system and its outlook. Urgently. We need to amend the constitution to consolidate my proposed solution. Courageously.

I have been tinkering. My solution: Let’s set up a Ministry of FAMILY Affairs & SOCIAL Development. This will help us focalize the Gender Agenda at the bedrock, building block, level of society - The Family.

I have been constructing. My structure: It will be a super ministry. A minister, a minister of state, a perm-sec, senior director(Family Affairs), senior director(Social Development) and other directors - as appropriate. These top five will be balanced by gender, meaning that the ministry can be led by either male or female appointee!

I suggest that this should be a policy organ with capacity for cross-cutting intervention, pilot & gap-filling projects, crusading & advocacy competences, as well as enforcement muscle with the tri-sectors - public, private, civil society.

May our next president have the courage to do this. And one more thing: Stop the ministers and commissioners from milling around wives of their appointers! They are cabinet members with official budgets & portfolios. They should let the first ladies run as it should be: Charities!

If the president fails to act, let forward-looking governors take the lead. We would partner with them. We must rescue the Beijing Platform for Action this 2011.