On the Kogi-Dangote Row

By Sam Adenuga 

These are definitely not the best of times, compounded, still, by the economic buffettings that millions of Nigerians have to contend with. It is already too much that Nigerians have to deal with the failures of leadership. With disasters such as the floods ravaging some states especially Kogi state, it is an entirely different conversation. Whether you put up the argument that the disaster is a direct consequence of climate change or poor planning, you cannot excuse the other glaring fact of ineptitude at the leadership level. What is at stake is beyond cheap political rhetoric or quasi-sympathetic posturing, we are talking about the lives and livelihood of people. This is why the updates coming out of Kogi is much more troubling, with respect to the controversy on the ownership of the Obajana Cement Plant. 

Under normal circumstances, the preoccupation of the responsive government should be to restore the fortune of citizens displaced and dispossessed of all that is precious to them, under the shortest possible time. It is understandable that a humanitarian crisis of this nature would demand the total attention of the government and development partners. But these are not normal circumstances, and the government appears to have other priorities. When the report of an alleged takeover of the Obajana Cement Plant in Kogi State Government, made the news some days ago, I was not sure what to make of it. My simple reaction was: where is this coming from? The reports have it that the plant was invaded by vigilantes under the supervision of ranking government officials, with the mandate to shut the down, perhaps by all means necessary. And then, one asks: is this how it is done? There is this off-putting arrogance that has become the norm rather than an exception, for so-called leaders to find joy in their antagonism towards the private sector an extra feather on their barren crown. The ripple effect  is that agents of governments then try to out-do themselves in trying to please ‘Oga’. This is then demonstrated in the tactless manner that the business of government regulation is done. There is more satisfaction to be derived in the number of businesses that are compelled to close shop under very suffocating demands. Disappointing. 

The government claims one person was shot. The company claims 27 people were shot in the process of the siege by vigilantes. Of course, it would be difficult to take the government for its word in this circumstance. But the point really is; did matters have to take this turn? How we have come to develop a penchant for absurdities is something that continues to beat me. To my mind, it is worse that anyone is willing to justify what is clearly objectionable.

On the part of the government, it claims that serial attempts have been made to get to sit with the leadership of Dangote Cement over the last six years to discuss the Obajana plant ownership controversy. It is difficult to see how setting up a meeting with any employer of labour in the state would be an impossibility. Something is clearly not adding up. The move to invade the Obajana plant follows the submission of the report by the special technical committee set up by the state governor. The committee recommended, among other things, that the state “should take steps to recover all accrued dividends from profits made over the years, including accrued interest on the same…Kogi State Government should take steps to cancel the existing seven Certificates of Occupancy in the name of Dangote Cement Company.”

What a way to support businesses! 

This is largely characteristic of overall government disposition. You are happy to choke businesses with multiple taxes and other stifling regulations as a sign that someone is doing their job. This disposition is not fit for our development aspirations. The government, at federal and sub-national levels, should be the key mobiliser of support for businesses to thrive in these times. In the final analysis, what is critical is not a disagreement that the government has one of the players in its private sector, it is what happens when the government is the only thing standing in the way of progress in the interest of those it has the mandate to serve.