By Tunde Olusunle

Sonny Togo Echono, the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, (TETFUND), would most probably have earned the sobriquet of “action administrator,” if Nigeria were in a military dispensation. Successive military regimes over several years and decades, profited Nigeria’s governance lexicon with sundry additions and infusions. “Action Governor” was one such sobriquet which gained and sustained prominence in public conversations in times past. It referred to military superintendents who were proactive, maybe also heavy-handed in their approach to public service. For their roles in advancing infrastructural development in their states of jurisdiction, Mobolaji Johnson, David Bamigboye, Robert Adebayo, Osaigbovo Ogbemudia, all Army Colonels who administered Lagos, Kwara, Western and Midwestern states, were garlanded as action Governors. Mohammed Buba Marwa, incumbent Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), a Brigadier-General who led Lagos State between 1996 to 1999, was similarly so decorated.

Marwa was upfront in road rehabilitation, revamp of health institutions and crime control. He initiated a joint military and police task force christened *Operation Sweep* as a crime containment strategy, which success was adopted by many other states. All of these were consummated by his honorific as an “action administrator.” Marwa’s precedence was emulated by several other states, notably Oyo under Colonel Ahmed Usman and his Kogi State counterpart, Bzigu Lassa Afakirya, who launched *Operation Gbale,* (gba’le being the Yoruba expression for sweeping), and *Operation Hot Chase,* respectively. Raji Rasaki, a former military administrator of Lagos State also earned the nickname of *akson* governor, from his Yoruba-accented pronunciation of the word “action.” He is remembered for the massive demolition of illegal structures which significantly cleared Lagos of shanties and slums. This would subsequently impact the real estate market in the state.

Since his appointment to his present brief a little over three years ago, Echono has demonstrated the ability to talk tough and follow up with similar resoluteness. At every opportunity, Echono has striven to harp on the fact that a new *Sheriff* is at work in TETFUND. He began his reformation agenda with sequenced encounters with entrenched cabals in the organisation who appropriated to themselves the rights to determine contract awards. To rejig our memories, Echono was one of the pioneer civil servants to be taken through the mills of a new public procurement and due process regime in the early years of the present democratic era. He has “preached the gospel” across his various “bus stops” in public service, which spanned several ministries before his present schedule. He has never been deterred, irrespective of the reactions of the establishment.

His insistence on reorientation and reforms earned him spontaneous adversaries. “Victims” of Echono’s new preachment responded by waging a ferocious media campaign against him, calculated to spin the narrative. The war was escalated to the national legislature which received several petitions alleging humongous fiscal infractions and malfeasance under Echono’s watch. Anti-corruption agencies, notably the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission, (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) took interest, expectedly, in the untoward information filtering in from TETFUND. To the consternation of Echono’s traducers, he received clean bills of health and glowing testimonials each and every time TETFUND’s systems, and his personal profile were put through the grindstone of serial integrity tests. Such has been Echono’s experience as he moved to stop the preexisting bazaar in TETFUND under his watch.

For academics who have benefitted from the generosity of government by way of scholarships and grants to study in foreign countries but have opted to “defraud” the state, Echono has since wielded the big stick. Certain lecturers and instructors across institutions have been privileged beneficiaries of government funding for further studies abroad. They are usually expected to return to Nigeria to give back to the system which availed them such benevolence, by way of continuing service to their primary employers. Conversely, in many instances, some scholars repay government their benefactor, with a bad coin. They abscond or “defect” as it were. In the face of the current economic situation in the country impacted by inflation and currency devaluation, Echono has since declared that government will no longer play the *Santa Claus.*

Rather, government will henceforth support in-country capacity building for its intellectuals and scholars. Military officers from many foreign countries for instance receive primary and advanced training in Nigerian military institutions. Almost every graduating set from the Nigerian Defence Academy, (NDA), or the Nigerian Defence College, (NDC), have sprinklings of foreign students. Why wouldn’t indigenous scholars also receive advanced training in retooled and recalibrated home-based institutions? Indeed, Nigerian academics populate the faculties of several universities and training institutions across the world. These include choice destinations like the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa. Nigeria can look inwards such that experienced Nigerian scholars and technocrats at home, impact their colleagues desiring retraining and advanced exposure, within the bounds of tolerable financial exertion.

Echono has equally conducted forensic interrogations into the size of tertiary institutions, relative to funding accruable to them. In a milieu where the population of some citadels nestle in upper five figures, Echono finds it curious that the numbers of a few colleges are way below a miserable 100 students! An alarmed Echono once highlighted the specific case of a polytechnic which had just 30 enrollees, which had operated for four years and had continued to receive public funding. For him, such an example is anathema to the intentions of government as channelled through TETFUND. Accountability in the deployment of funding he noted is also paramount. Should unutilised funds be discovered in the accounts of benefitting institutions, such funds will be recalled and reallocated to schools with better performance indices. Equally strident is Echono’s regular admonition against abandoned projects in the nation’s public tertiary institutions. Such unsightly stumps in the landscapes of institutions, such monuments to waste will no longer be tolerated under his watch.

More recently, Echono warned institutions covered by TETFUND against abuse and misuse of intervention funds. At a two-day strategic workshop for Directors of Physical Planning, Academic Planning and ICT which commenced on Monday July 7, 2025 in Abuja, Echono warned that improper utilisation of resources allocated to errant institutions will culminate in the delistment of defaulting institutions. He restated government’s commitment to enabling the nation’s tertiary education system via addressing procedural gaps and ensuring that institutions fully understand the agency’s intervention guidelines. Underperformance and mismanagement, the TETFUND head noted will not be condoned. Echono reiterated that “institutions that fail to access, utilise or retire funds in accordance with TETFUND guidelines, or those that underperform in key academic or operational benchmarks, may be delisted.”

In a public service otherwise construed as dour, uninspiring and tepid, Echono has raised the bar with his well thought interventions. His approach to administration has been characterised by regular engagements and interfaces with key operators of the tertiary education mills. While Vice Chancellors, Rectors, Provosts at the helm in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education were hitherto sole regular guests at meetings with the leadership of TETFUND, the Echono milieu has expanded the scope of engagements. Other key stakeholders in the leadership crust of tertiary institutions, notably heads of administrative, financial and developmental departments, have equally earned the buy-in of TETFUND under Echono’s leadership. The conference hall within the Abuja headquarters complex of the organisation is ever busy with activity. All of these are geared towards a better performing tertiary education system to accord the country with the quality manpower necessary to drive growth and development.

For a dye-in-the-wool public servant who cut his teeth at the very core of the bureaucracy during which he grossed a glowing three and half decades before his current portfolio, Echono’s transformation will constitute the subject of future investigations. He joined the federal civil service in 1987 and retired early 2022. During his years in service, he traversed a string of ministries serving in various capacities and offices. The rule book of the civil service we are told is that “civil servants can be seen but their voices are not to be heard.” Echono evolved from that very same system. His present job description, however, has brought out the more vocal, more forthcoming persona in him, in continuing service to the nation.

*Tunde Olusunle, PhD, FANA, Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (FANA), is an Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Abuja*

By Sufuyan Ojeifo

An article in TheCable edition of July 4, 2025, entitled: “Lessons from Kenya’s e-procurement revolution,” examined the East African country’s e-procurement reforms and the rapid transformation in how it buys and spends.

It was a good read. And what it did, perhaps without meaning to, was remind us that Nigeria is also on a procurement reform journey of its own.

Quietly but steadily, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), under the leadership of Dr Adebowale Adedokun, is turning procurement into a national development tool. Just like Kenya, Nigeria is rewriting the rules. And the progress deserves to be noted.

As the Director General of BPP, Dr. Adedokun likes to point out that public procurement is the engine of national development. And it so happens that simultaneously, Nigeria and Kenya are revving up in style.

In Nigeria, procurement accounts for roughly 30 per cent of government spending, delivering roads, hospitals, and schools. Kenya, according to recent figures, saves KES 85.9 billion annually (about 0.9 per cent of its GDP) through its e-procurement system.

To call a spade a spade, both countries have battled procurement fraud and inefficiency. Nigeria, for instance, lost ₦2.9 trillion to fraud between 2018 and 2020 alone, with ₦197 billion flagged in procurement-related irregularities in 2023. However, both countries are now fighting back with bold reforms.

Under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, Nigeria’s procurement reforms are homegrown and purpose-built. They reflect Nigeria’s complexities, ambitions, and realities.

The BPP’s transformation is not only digital but also institutional and cultural. As Dr. Adedokun puts it, “For every inflated contract, a Nigerian suffers. That’s the pain we’re ending.”

● Digital transformation and smart systems

Kenya’s e-Government procurement system is already delivering results by integrating procurement with iTax and IFMIS platforms. Nigeria’s counterpart is the Nigeria Open Contracting Portal (NOCOPO), which aligns with the Open Contracting Data Standard. NOCOPO now allows real-time tracking of procurement activities, with monthly publication of contracts mandated for all MDAs.

To be clear, Nigeria’s systems go even further by leveraging artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies. These tools have been built for Nigeria’s mobile-first infrastructure, ensuring process integrity even in rural or low-connectivity areas. According to Dr. Adedokun, “Our systems are built for Nigeria’s realities, not imported solutions.”

● Efficiency gains

The referenced article in TheCable reported that Kenya had seen significant cost and time savings across counties. To be fair, Nigeria, through its decentralisation policy, has achieved similar results.

Only contracts above ₦5 billion for goods or consultancy and ₦10 billion for works now require Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval. This flexibility has reduced contract processing time by up to 300 per cent.

Additionally, the BPP now handles no-objection requests within 20 working days.

Moreover, from January to 17 June 2025 alone, the Bureau saved ₦173,762,059,693.19, $155,050,600.87, and €1,741,219.71 through price intelligence and cost benchmarking.

● Inclusion and local content

Kenya’s Access to Government Procurement Opportunities [AGPO] initiative reserves 30 per cent of contracts for youth, women, and persons with disabilities. Interestingly, Nigeria’s approach is similarly ambitious but tailored to its diverse procurement landscape.

Through the Affirmative Procurement Initiative and Community-Based Public Procurement, the BPP promotes participation by micro, small, and medium enterprises, women-owned firms, and persons with disabilities.

In tandem, the Nigeria First policy actively prioritises local manufacturing and services. This localisation drive is not merely patriotic; it is strategic. As Dr. Adedokun rightly says, “Every naira spent locally fuels Nigeria’s industrial revival.”

● Capacity building and professionalisation

While Kenya trains its officers through the Kenya School of Government, Nigeria’s strategy centres on the Nigeria Procurement Certification Programme (NPCP).

NPCP is delivered in partnership with six federal universities under the World Bank-supported Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) programme. Over 7,000 procurement officers have been trained, and mandatory continuous certification is in place.

It is worth mentioning here that in Nigeria, a key innovation is the Procurement Officer Management System, which tracks performance and links officers to specific projects. Procurement is no longer a faceless function. Officers are held accountable.

In this regard, the BPP is also initiating collaboration with relevant institutions to regulate the practice of procurement training in the public sector. This is to ensure that only credible and certified providers offer training that aligns with the national procurement framework.

Furthermore, ethical standards are being reinforced. The BPP is issuing appropriate guidelines that all procurement professionals, whether individuals or corporate entities, must follow. These ethical codes are aimed at professionalising the space and closing the loopholes that previously enabled unethical behaviour.

This effort is complemented by the BPP’s ongoing partnership with relevant professional bodies to embed principles of good governance and integrity within the procurement profession.

● Anti-corruption and accountability

In terms of accountability, while Kenya relies on audit trails, Nigeria combines real-time scrutiny with digital oversight.

The BPP works closely with the EFCC and ICPC, flagging contracts for investigation, recovery, and prosecution where necessary.

Contractors who have inflated costs have been made to make refunds. In Dr Adedokun’s words, “We found fully paid contracts that were inflated. Contractors refunded. It’s no joke.”

Digital tools allow pre-bid reviews, unannounced audits, and strict monitoring. Non-performing contractors are placed on a debarment list. The recently updated Standard Bidding Documents guarantee transparency and ensure fairness in evaluations.

Meanwhile, the BPP now operates squarely as a regulator, not a participant in procurement. All stakeholders, ministries, departments, agencies, and suppliers are required to operate within the framework being established by the Bureau. This is a significant shift and underscores the Bureau’s mandate as both umpire and standard-setter.

As part of the ongoing reforms, the Bureau is also deepening engagement with Nigeria’s Parliament and Judiciary to ensure procurement delivers real value for money. Through procurement surveillance, ongoing audits, and evaluations, and in collaboration with statutory oversight bodies, the BPP is working to institutionalise transparency at all levels of government.

● Citizens as watchdogs

Kenya promotes transparency by making procurement data accessible. Nigeria is doing the same. NOCOPO is public; whistleblower hotlines are active, and civil society is involved. Citizens are encouraged to monitor implementation. Indeed, NGOs have audited major projects such as the Lagos-Calabar Highway.

It needs to be said that procurement is no longer the business of government alone. It is now a shared civic duty.

● Sovereign control and African context

Unlike off-the-shelf systems, Nigeria’s reforms are sovereign and context-specific. The BPP’s collaboration with sub-national governments ensures alignment. Political interference, long a problem in procurement, is tackled not after the fact but at the point of implementation.

The Bureau’s rebranding, which includes the motto “Driving National Development”, reflects a cultural shift. As Dr Adedokun says, “My dream is to make Nigeria the Dubai of Africa through our reformed procurement processes.”

At every step, the BPP is aligning Nigeria’s procurement regime with global best practices. From data standards and open contracting to ethical compliance and digital traceability, the goal is to bring Nigeria’s system in line with the world’s most effective and transparent frameworks.

The confidence in Nigeria’s reform process is also being validated externally. The recent additional funding support from the World Bank and other development partners is a testament to growing international trust in the direction of Nigeria’s procurement evolution.

As a follow-up to that, under the SPESSE programme, the Federal Government, through the BPP, is expected to share its experiences and success stories with other African countries. Nigeria’s reforms are not only for domestic benefit but could also help shape procurement best practices on the continent.

● A shared path forward

Nigeria and Kenya have a lot to learn from each other. Nigeria could scale up digital infrastructure at the sub-national level, like Kenya has done with county governments. Kenya, in turn, could adopt Nigeria’s use of blockchain and AI for process control. Both countries are well positioned to co-lead procurement reforms under the African Continental Free Trade Area.

By 2027, Nigeria plans to deploy sector-specific procurement portals in oil and gas, healthcare, and infrastructure. The journey is far from over, but the signs are promising.

In rounding off, Nigeria, like Kenya, is embracing procurement reforms. The measures being implemented by the BPP are homegrown, ambitious, and anchored in the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu. With savings of ₦173 billion in the first half of 2025 alone, the results are measurable, and the commitment is visible.

Without equivocation, let it be clearly stated that this is not just about contracts in the abstract sense. It is about functional classrooms where students can actually learn; it is about roads that last beyond the next rainy season, and hospitals that heal those who go there when they are unwell.

As Dr. Adedokun reminds us, “For every inflated contract, a Nigerian suffers. That’s the pain we’re ending.”

It is important that Nigeria stays the course because reforms are never one-off events but continuous processes.

■ Sufuyan Ojeifo, MNGE, is a journalist, publisher, and media consultant based in Abuja.

By Sonny Aragba-Akpore

Early last week,the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) announced a temporary suspension of Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card services nationwide to address concerns raised by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) on migration of SIM related services to the national platform.
In a statement issued on Tuesday July 1,2025 and signed by ALTON chairman, Gbenga Adebayo an engineer and publicity secretary, Damian Udeh, a lawyer,said the transition, which affects processes such as SIM swap, SIM replacement, new SIM activations, and Mobile Number Portability (MNP), has introduced unforeseen technical challenges, temporarily disrupting real-time identity verification services nationwide.
Although it claimed it was giving such directives on the instructions of NIMC,there are also strong indications that the steps were being taken to forestall and minimize further congestion on the various networks which have continued to experience outages leading to uncomfortable customer experience.
Poor services have been traced to tired and sometimes decaying infrastructure as Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) are believed to have been traumatized by rising foreign exchange rates,dwindling revenue occassioned by customer aparthy to subscriptions as a result of a comatose economy and unrealistic purchasing power.There are also issues of right of way challenges created by local government and state officials.
While operators emphasize services in the urban and semi urban areas where the economy appears resilient,rural dwellers have been left to bemoan a fate that makes them resort to their own devices to communicate.
Even in the so called urban centres,there are several black spots so much that no urban dwellers can lay claim to robust services and as a result,subscribers are plagued constantly by incomplete calls,drop calls and poor data services.
Except for those who may pretend that all is well,the situation is not as rosy as we imagine.
Strangely,ALTON and its members are helpless.
Even the regulator,the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) appears handicapped as it cannot go beyond dishing out guidelines to improve service delivery in an economy guided by business decisions.
Beautiful as such guidelines and policies may seem,the operators are clearly the ones to determine how fast and far they can run especially since any race or decision is based on funding more so when foreign direct investment (FDI) has been on a steep decline in the last few years.
Although not generally discussed, one critical factor is the shortage of foreign exchange in Nigeria.
Due to paucity of local funding,operators rely heavily on foreign exchange for imported equipment and services—ranging from base stations,towers and routers to software licensing and satellite connectivity, and so foreign exchange sourcing remains a nightmare and operators face delays in importing vital infrastructure components;Costs of equipment rise, especially when they have to source foreign currency from the parallel market at higher rates;Payments to international vendors are delayed, straining business relationships and slowing maintenance or support services; and expanding projects are stalled, as the deployment of 4G and 5G networks is hindered.ALTON stated last week that“this disruption (of SIM service suspension)follows a recent directive from the NIMC, mandating our Mobile Network Operator (MNO) members to transition to a new identity verification platform. The migration process, which is central to the verification required for SIM registration and other services, has unfortunately impacted service availability,”In 2024, the NCC) established comprehensive Quality of Service (QoS) thresholds to enhance the performance of telecommunications services in the country. These standards, outlined in the Nigerian Communications (Quality of Service) Regulations, 2024, and the accompanying Business Rules, set clear expectations for telecom operators across various network segments.
These were enshrined in the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Thresholds specifically for operators’ guidance.
The regulations define specific KPIs for 2G, 3G, and 4G networks, focusing on critical metrics such as:
.Drop Call Rate: The percentage of calls that are unexpectedly terminated.
.Call Setup Success Rate: The percentage of calls successfully connected.
.Traffic Congestion: The level of network congestion affecting call and data services.
Operators were required to meet these KPIs to ensure optimal service delivery.
Penalties were also prescribed for failure to comply .
These penalties include a fine of ₦5 million per infraction, plus an additional ₦500,000 for each day the violation persists .
The regulator categorized the country into three priority reporting areas to tailor service quality efforts:
For instance Priority 1 Areas including Lagos, Abuja, Rivers State Require 100% compliance with QoS KPIs.
While priority 2 Areas: Require 80% compliance.
Priority 3 Areas: Require at least 70% compliance.
“This tiered approach ensures that regions with higher demand receive focused attention .”Telecom operators were expected to submit monthly QoS reports to the NCC, detailing their performance against the established KPIs.
“The NCC employs various methods to assess compliance, including drive tests, consumer surveys, and data from Network Operating Centres (NOCs).”
Although the NCC has the authority to impose administrative fines on operators who fail to meet QoS standards but it is not clear how this could be done especially when the operators are handicapped .
The NCC fines range from ₦5 million to ₦15 million per infraction, with daily penalties of ₦500,000 to ₦2.5 million for ongoing violations .
“These regulations aim to improve the overall telecommunications experience for Nigerian consumers by ensuring consistent and reliable service delivery across the country” NCC documents submit.
In reality,poor quality of service is traceable to a myriad of factors including Inadequate Infrastructure which are
Poorly maintained or outdated network infrastructure leading to frequent breakdowns and service interruptions.
There are also insufficient investments in expanding network coverage, especially in rural areas.
The recurrence of poor and
unreliable electricity supply forces telecom operators to rely heavily on expensive generators, increasing operational costs and causing downtime.
High subscriber density without proportional infrastructure expansion causes network congestion, leading to dropped calls and slow data speeds.
Regulatory challenges especially in delays and inconsistencies in government policies and regulatory frameworks hinder timely upgrades and improvements in telecom services.
Lack of efficient customer support and service management contributes to unresolved complaints and customer dissatisfaction.
Frequent vandalism of telecom equipment and theft of cables disrupt network services and increase maintenance costs.
Scarcity of adequate frequency spectrum allocated to operators restricts network capacity and quality.
There is deficiency in expertise through Shortage of skilled technical personnel that affects the maintenance and optimization of telecom networks.
Above all high operational costs and economic instability limit the ability of operators to invest in quality infrastructure.
“Difficult terrain and dispersed populations make infrastructure deployment costly and challenging, impacting service consistency” operators lament.