AS BPE COMES UNDER SCRUTINY
PRESIDENT Jonathan’s declaration that the presidency will henceforth closely monitor the activities of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) is a welcome development capable of turning around the prospect for industrialisation in Nigeria. The president is worried by the poor performance of many privatised companies and “directed the BPE to ensure competence, capability and capacity in all privatisation decisions.” The president further directed that “no other consideration like politics and influences should be admitted in privatisation decisions”. In addition, the presidency offered to ensure creation of a framework of assistance to stabilise privatised firms but will monitor closely and firmly the operation of BPE in future.
THE decision to force the BPE to become responsible is long overdue given the consistent and seemingly irredeemable failure of the sold public enterprises due to obvious incompetence and lack of transparency in the operations of the BPE. The transition from the former Technical Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation (TCPC) to BPE in 1993 was expected to bring significant reform into the privatisation process in Nigeria, but we are somewhat worse off now. The operation of the BPE has in most instances been “cloudy” as the institution continually serves as a platform for successive government to defraud the nation through acquiring national wealth cheaply. The bureau has consistently undervalued public enterprises to create avenue for rent seeking and in the process transferred those enterprises to incompetent hands.
UNDER the right atmosphere, privatisation is a means to wealth and job creation, as privatisation is supposed to foster efficiency leading to high productivity, industrial expansion and resource inflow to the government in the form of taxes. It is however a shame that in Nigeria the result of privatisation is the opposite with the process being enmeshed in undeniable corruption which has led the privatised companies into wrong hands and thus poor performance. Looking at its catalogue of failures, one will be forced to be sorry for Nigeria. Some of the enterprises privatised through the BPE but which failed, include the Electricity Meter Company Nigeria, Zaria; Daily Times; Nigerian Paper Mill, Jebba; Osogbo and Zuma Steel Rolling Mills: Ajaokuta Steel Complex; Iron ore and Mining Company, Itakpe; Aladja and Katsina Steel Mills, Peugeot Automibile Nigeria, Kaduna; Nigerian Sugar Company, Bacita; Federal Superphospate Company, Kaduna, among others. Added to that, there was significant renewed outcry in recent times, specifically relating to the unbundling process of the PHCN, among other public enterprises, under pre-privatisation valuation. The PHCN staff union are, among other issues, worried that the company, apart from being grossly undervalued by the Bureau, may end up the way of other privatised but dead enterprises in Nigeria. According to the union, the value placed on PHCN by BPE is equivalent to its monthly revenue only, thus amounting to undervaluation of the company.
WE are glad that the President is taking serious steps to steer the privatisation process in Nigeria away from the excessive misconduct of the BPE that has been condoned by successive administrations over the years. Although the Yar’ Adua administration attempted a re-evaluation of some of the enterprises privatised by the Obasanjo administration, the bold step was cut short by reasons or interests unknown till date. Some of the enterprises listed for re-visitation due to non-transparency associated with BPE process included NICON Hotel, now NICON luxury Hotel, and NITEL/Mtel currently being re-processed after an initial mess in which BPE is the arrowhead. It is an irony that Nigeria, whose telecoms sector is the fastest growing in the world, is unable to position its own telecoms company, though it has assets the multiple of all existing private companies in the sector put together.
TWO of the most important elements of successful privatisation, transparency and accountability, are currently missing under the BPE. Therefore, every deal in its process should be thoroughly investigated. We encourage the presidency to commence a concrete review of the process leading to the privatisation of all the comatose former public enterprises in order to expose the right actions taken, and the wrongs in the process for the sake of Nigeria’s future. Also, the legislature must realise that the process leading to economic stability, growth and development is part of its oversight and must therefore wake up to its responsibility on this matter. Finally, everyone that has contributed in one form or the other to distorting the process towards the emergence of the industrial prosperity of Nigeria must be questioned.
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