By Sodiq Adelakun

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has called for collaborations between the public and private sectors to address water resource management challenges in the state.

Speaking at the Fifth Lagos International Water Conference on Tuesday, themed ‘Financing Water and Sanitation for a Greater Lagos,’ Sanwo-Olu emphasised the need for innovative solutions to tackle the challenges.

He expressed disappointment that the Lagos State Water Corporation had not shown enough innovation in addressing water resource management issues, despite its staff receiving international training.

“We have had several World Bank best trainers.

“They have been trained in the best institutions but that has not put solutions on the table for us, that has not resolved the challenges that we have.

“Water, as Fela said, has no enemy, but it has got a lot of enemies because we are all not sincere or serious and true to ourselves.

“We all need to ask ourselves how well we are playing these roles. How well are we moving from lip service to being able to resolve the issues?” Sanwo-Olu asked.

Sanwo-Olu said that water remained important to the government and people of Lagos State.

“In the last five years, this administration has been dedicated to financing this conference with discussions as to how to straighten water resource management.

“Our focus includes regulating the water sector, promoting public/ private partnerships; we believe this will fill the gaps and foster operational efficiency of Lagos State Water Corporation.

“We want to move away from talk to action, we want to move to action.  It is the fifth year we are coming for the water conference. I want to see the outcomes and the outputs.

“We have increased our spending in this sector, we appreciate how Denmark and the Netherlands have collaborated with us.”

He said that if the state government had not been proactive, the recent outbreak of cholera  in the state would have become a pandemic.

Meanwhile, The Minister for Water Resources and Sanitation, Professor Joseph Utsev emphasised the importance of public-private partnerships in addressing water resource management challenges.

He commended Lagos State for its progress in this regard, stating, “I am proud of Lagos and its strides.”

The Minister stressed that collaboration between the private and public sectors is crucial to finding lasting solutions, saying, “We need each other to find solutions.”

He encouraged increased partnerships to tackle water resource management problems effectively.

The Director-General of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Adewale Oyerinde has issued a warning on the consequences of legislating on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

While speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Third Nigeria’ Employers Summit on “Economic Renaissance Harnessing Government Reforms and Private Sector Agility,” in Abuja on Tuesday, Oyerinde said, “I hear the representative of the speaker saying he’s going to declare open a public hearing on CSR.”

“It’s not a part of the issues we had. The House wants to legislate on CSR to make it compulsory. It is corporate social responsibility for God’s sake.

“It’s the prerogative of the business to say this is what I want to do. So you don’t legislate it. It’s another tax which we are also going to contest.”

Speaking further on the minimum wage, he noted that any approval of new national minimum wage that is above N62,000 the government and organised private sector agreed upon, will cause a crisis.

He lamented that it was painful to accept the N62,000 and that it was based on a certain premise.

When queried on whether he was satisfied with the waiting game on the national minimum wage, he said, “There’s no waiting game and I think we have to put all this in context. And all this misinformation, I think we are just creating unnecessary tension. There’s a process and we don’t seem to be on the same page. There’s a process of the Tripartite Committee sitting to recommend the national minimum wage.

“And that process, once the minimum wage, the figures are recommended, we pass it to the president, which we have done. And the president is the sovereign. They have to pick the recommendation of the committee, do I accept it or I don’t accept it.

“The President still remains the sovereign. That position is not contested. The employers cannot contest it.

“Labour cannot contest it. It is the sovereign that should pick a figure, then pass it to the National Assembly to go through a legislative process. That process, we can only advocate for it to be fast-tracked.

“We cannot put a gun to somebody’s head and say, look, you have to do this, it’s tomorrow, you have to do it. It doesn’t work like that. Now, for us, and we have said it and we’ll say it again openly, the 62,000 that the employers came up with, the 62,000 was based on some premise.

“It was painful conceding that we did. And it was based on a certain premise. And one of those, or two of those, or three of those is the new electricity tariff, the government has to suspend it.

“That is, one, that there should be an embargo on the introduction of new tax.

“So those are part of the conditions that we gave for us to agree on the N62,000 minimum wage. Now, if it goes above N62,000, you have created two or three different dynamics. One, you have set the tone for non compliance.

“Because if I cannot pay, I just can’t pay. Now, you have created a problem for the judiciary. Because all employees that are not satisfied, they have the right, according to the Act, to go to the National Industrial Court.

“Now, imagine 1,000, 2,000 employees, 5,000 employees across the country going to the National Industrial Court. How long will the Industrial Court take to dispense almost 5,000 cases? That is one.

“Two, you have also set in process another dangerous pattern. We already have businesses leaving now. All of us are not interrogating, where are our brothers and sisters working in those companies? Where are they? So, a figure beyond what the private sector can pay may also lead to loss of jobs.

“Now, we complain about insecurity. So, we have to put all those together. And a fundamental, lastly for me, on this minimum wage issue, a fundamental element in setting up national minimum wage that you cannot take away is the ability to pay.

“If you take away the ability to pay, then you have just set a stage for crisis,” he said.

U.S based Nigerian economist, Dr. Samuel Enajite Enajero, has identified past-binding and future-binding as factors retarding   economic development in Nigeria.

“Two Types of Ceremonial Encapsulation that retard economic development in Nigeria are Past-Binding and Future Binding.  In past-binding ceremonial encapsulation, the existing value systems are a source of pride that binds a community. There is every attempt to preserve the existing ceremonial values because they support a distinct symbol of the community. Traditional values, ethnic competition in the use of resources, suppression of women in communities, and religious beliefs exemplify past-binding ceremonial encapsulation in a society.”

Enajero stated this in a paper titled ‘Socio-Economic Development of Nigeria,’ particularly Okpe Kingdom delivered at the 94th Anniversary of Okpe Union in Lagos.

“In Europe, the separations of ceremonial and instrumental values date back to 500 A.D through 1700 AD. The period could be divided into the Dark and Middle-Ages. The Dark Ages witnessed feudalism, sorcery, witchcraft, rituals, mystical powers, and superstitions. These practices were a common way of life across Europe. “

While European leaders recognised the barriers these habits placed on scientific enquiries, Enajero said concerted efforts were made to exterminate these behaviours and replace them with instrumental values.

“It took three stages: First, Christianity initially eliminated ceremonial practices through ex-communication and persecution, and later by Parliamentary Acts. The Acts made witchcraft, and other pagan practices punishable by death through execution and burning.

“Second, however, the church that assisted in ending paganism, as those practices were referred to, suffered its fate in the Middle Ages during the movements to separate secularity from spirituality.

“Third, this was followed by a series of social revolutions aimed at aligning the desires (ceremonial behaviours) of the peasants and wage earners with the national objectives (instrumental behaviours) of the upper class.”.

The leading expert on public choice/public finance noted that the monarchies were relegated and restricted to their palaces to play ceremonial roles.

“The Church in Europe was a symbol of spirituality, and the monarchy was a vestige of traditional European values. Both should not interfere with scientific thinking and the secular schemes of things. History indicates that it was a tough battle in England and Rome. The church was ultimately separated from science and secular issues; the monarchies were relegated and restricted to their palaces to play ceremonial roles.”

He attributed strong European influence in the world today to the displacement of ceremonial rationality in their culture.

“Many of these ceremonial values ‘displaced’ by Europeans and elsewhere in the Dark and Middle-Ages are still prevalent and visible in Africa in the 21st century.  For example, during the colonial days, the British governed Nigeria by ‘indirect rule.’

“That is, governing through the local Emirs, Kings, and Chiefs. The colonial authorities meant no ‘double standards’ (displacing traditional values at home but using them in the colonial territories). The method was intended to make the British authorities look authentic at the grassroots in Nigeria.

The author of the book ‘Collective Institutions and Industrialized Nation’’ said indirect rule resulted in a complete ceremonial encapsulation of every instrumental institution Nigeria inherited from Britain.

‘’However, the main responsibility of local Kings and Chiefs is to promote and sustain traditional values in their domains. The Kings and Chiefs are the roots of ceremonialism (traditional values, several local religions, and two competing imported religions) heavily entrenched in the long-term memories of the educated and uneducated indigenes.

“Therefore, behaviours of politicians, government officials, military, scientists, educators, and managers in the country are heavily adulterated, such that instrumental institutions in Nigeria do not thrive.”

Enajero advised the federal government not to strip off the titles of the countless Nigerian monarchies but their role in secular society, if any, should be made clear.

”I must say that the modern British Monarch is not completely ceremonial. The British Royal Family symbolises virtues, glamour, acceptable protocols, mores, and spectacles. If emulated by the public, these behaviours become public goods.

“Moreover, the Royal Family attracts visitors to Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, among others, and these have become tourist attractions that generate, on average, $715 million per year for the U.K. economy. The Royal Family is resourceful and instrumental in the U.K., yet there are cries among the Brits for it to be abolished.

“How much do myriads of monarchies in Nigeria generate? I am not saying the countless Nigerian monarchies should be stripped of their titles.  However, their role in secular society, if any, should be made clear.”

The world class economist who spoke on changes in habits and values said Nigerians need not bother themselves on past behaviours.

“Under institutional economics, development does not rely on past behaviours; it requires changes in habits and values. One could argue that habits and values change because of economic development. The counter argument is that habits and values cannot change if they are stuck in the past.

“Technological innovation is a problem-solving process that exposes further problems. For example, The United States’ Central Business Districts (CBDs) were heavily congested at the turn of the 19th century.  The suburban communities emerged, which exposed another problem––the time it took to commute to the CBDs using horse-pulled carts.

“An entrepreneur developed a gasoline powered internal combustion engine that resulted in a new era of vehicle transportation industry. Freeways and highways were constructed so that cars could reach their destinations faster. Other vehicle-related technologies surfaced including safety issues.”

To solve the problems of Nigeria, Enajero said the people must be instrumental.

“Yet another problem emerged––the destruction of the ozone layers by vehicle emissions. To solve the problem of emissions, electric vehicle (EV) technology was developed. Why can’t Nigeria acquire technology and development by solving visible food shortage problems, housing construction, security and education? To solve social problems, people must be instrumental.

“Of course, after spending sixteen centuries destroying ceremonial beliefs and practices, and mopping up the remnants with a stringent rule of law, such societies could comfortably embrace development models centred on single-mode rationality.”

Enajero, however, complained about the end-products of institutions in Third World Countries.

“What differentiates institutions are the rules governing the institutions. What is their way of thinking, the mode of valuation, rationality, and acceptable norms? Institutions emanate from values based on beliefs. Beliefs and values are essential structures of institutions.

“Thus, different countries may practise the same economics, government, education, healthcare, and military, but these institutions’ end-products may differ from country to country.”.

The university lecturer said the problem in the country was more of an institutional one.

“Why? In institutional economics, institutions are arranged in order: zero-order, first order, and second-order institutions. Zero-order institutions produce ceremonial outcomes, leading to regressive societies, and second-order institutions are the backbone of socioeconomic development.

“The first order is the economic order, social structure, and stabilisation of rules. Mainstream economics, where 95-98% of economists, including World Bank and IMF economists are trained, believe in a single institution (one rule). That is a single-mode valuation. Meaning, all economic agents are rational, and mainstream economic development models are constructed around the tenet of single-mode rationality. Institutional economists, however, vehemently disagree with a one-sweeping rationality in a society.”

He listed institutions instrumental to social changes.

“Traditional rulers are carriers of culture entrenched in spirituality (rituals), and along with religion (churches and mosques), they have identical ways of thinking. These are classified as traditional/habitual institutions (zero order). Whereas institutions such as universities, research, technology, unions, governments, etcetera are established for a purpose and empowered to improve the capacity and general social welfare of a group, community, or nation. These latter institutions are instrumental to social changes and are classified as second-order institutions.”

Enajero criticised some Nigerians for doing things their forefathers’ way.

“Thus, institutions are dichotomised into two values: ceremonial and instrumental values or rule-following and purpose-seeking. Rule-following in the sense their logic relies on unmodified past rules. The logic behind the reasoning for the two institutions is different. The justification or logic behind ceremonialism allows one social class to exercise power over another.

“Our forefathers lived in a time when there were no lamps, electricity, calculators, vehicles, airplanes, computers, internet, or Google, and you want to do things their way? The herdsmen in Northern Nigeria, for example, are running around the bushes killing farmers and raping the women.  The logic behind this behaviour is, ‘We do this because our religious leaders did it in the 17th century.’ Ridiculous!  Or we do things this way because ‘God says so.’

“The mode of valuation for zero-order institutions is fixed; it does not change. If economic development arises from institutional changes, (habits, norms, values), zero-order institutions will not be the answer.  Zero order institutions are accepted based on their ‘ceremonial adequacy.’

More importantly, Enajero echoed the instrumental values.

“The second mode of valuation in the institutional space is instrumental values. This mode of valuation requires deliberative, methodological, and calculative actions in which relevant knowledge, tools, and skills are applied in the problem-solving process of a community or nation.

“This mode of valuation, unlike the ceremonial mode, is not fixed; it is subject to changes through scientific enquiry and technological development. New sets of behaviours and habits must change to adapt to new technologies. The dynamic problem-solving processes inherent in instrumental value change the habits and behaviours of the community or nation. Therefore, economic development is a consequence of changes in the habits of thought,” he noted.