The Nation Newspaper

Category: Emeka Omeihe

  • National census this year?

    National census this year?

    The senate appears bent on having a national headcount before the end of this year. Indication of this prospect emerged when the chairman, National Population Commission (NPC), Nasir Kwarra appeared before its committee on National Identity and Population to defend their allocation in the 2025 budget.

    During the session, committee members took turns to express serious concerns over Nigeria’s continued dependence on estimated population data even as they stressed the imperative for accurate census statistics for national planning. For the committee chairman, Abdul Ningi, the lawmakers will formally engage President Tinubu through the office of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio to discuss plans for the census.

    “Our committee will have to write the president through the office of the senate president to know his view about the plan to conduct the census. We are not going to rest on our oars until this census takes place”, he stated.

    Their preference for the conduct of the census this year is in part informed by the need to avoid holding it next year very close to the 2027 general elections. They cited past experiences when the exercise suffered postponements and cancellation due to their closeness to general elections.

    Kwarra told the committee that his agency was also thinking along the same lines and had taken steps to engage the president on the issue. He disclosed that the president has indicated his preference for a census conducted with biometrics to guarantee its reliability especially given the prevailing security situation in the country.

    He further explained that the type of census envisaged is not just all about enumeration but one in which biometrics will capture the face, the fingerprint and voice of those counted and sought the support of the senate to ensure the exercise comes a reality.

    The concerns of the committee are genuine and patriotic. Though the crucial place of accurate national census has long been recognised, it remained a sour taste in the mouth that past attempts were mired in avoidable controversy leading to the discarding or outright cancellation of their outcomes.

    Our policy makers have not been oblivious of the constraints inaccurate census data pose for national development plans. But attempts to redress the situation through headcounts had come out disappointing as efforts to have credible and reliable census were marred by controversy and disputations bordering on the credibility and integrity of the exercise.

     The United Nations’ benchmark is for countries to have periodic headcounts every five or 10 years depending on available resources and political will. The last attempt at national census since the return to democracy in 1999 was in 2006 during the regime of Olusegun Obasanjo. It produced a population of 140 million people.

    Before then, it was the 1991 census conducted under the military that put the population of the country at 88 million people. Like the ones before them, those attempts were not spared of the acrimony and allegations of figure inflation and manipulation. No thanks to the revenue sharing formula and representation into the national and state assemblies that are based on population.

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    The Muhammadu Buhari administration equally saw the need to give the country accurate census data. But the timelines the regime set for its conduct, raised questions about his commitment to the exercise.  Not a few Nigerians raised eyebrows, when Buhari in mid-2022 slated the census exercise a month after the general elections in 2023 and its pilot program before the primaries of the political parties.

    This column had then raised issues on the propriety of the timing. Writing under the headline “Census in crises” in April 2022, I had faulted the timing on two grounds. The first was the inappropriateness in slating the census immediately after general elections while the other revolved around the prevailing insecurity across the country.

    Fears were expressed that with the cascading insecurity that made it difficult for the federal government to establish firm presence in some local government areas and communities hrence slating the two serially rancorous and combustive exercises close to each other was a clear invitation to danger. It was inconceivable how a national census could hold a month after elections that are usually highly disputed leading to breakdown of law and order with huge toll in human and material capital. Unlike elections which could be gambled with or manipulated and results declared, a national headcount cannot lend itself to such gamble and manipulation without being rendered worthless.

    The exercise involves physical and meticulous headcount of all citizens wherever they live. So, they must be reached by enumeration officers without let or hindrance. It has to capture these vital statistics to be accurate, reliable and to make the desired difference. Such a task would be highly circumscribed in a situation where enumeration officers are prevented by insecurity to access the nooks and cranes of the country, it was further argued.

     The other plank of the argument had to do with the history of general elections in the country often characterised by violence and rancour that may take quite some time to settle. Post-election violence resulting in widespread demonstrations, destruction of properties and loss of lives are regular features of elections that may render any attempt to conduct a national census immediately after a near impossibility.

    But the Buhari government in its characteristic manner never gave any serious consideration to these. That government realised lately, the incongruity in the two exercises holding close to the other when in mid-2023 Buhari announced the cancellation of the 2023 census exercise only to leave it for the incoming government to handle.

    President Tinubu could not have possibly embarked on the census in his first year in office given the time it took to resolve litigations and manage post-election violence in keeping with predictions. The president is about to roundup his first two years in office and there are genuine fears that unless he commits himself to conduct the census this year, that exercise will possibly spill over to the next administration.

    That prospect is very high and seems to lend credence to the position of the senate committee on population on the desirability of conducting the census this year. Next year will be too close to the elections especially as various political parties prepare for their primaries. And the election year is completely ruled out for the same reasons that led to the cancellation of the 2023 exercise.

    But as attractive as the committee’s position is, it appears not to have taken into account extant challenges that may equally constrain the exercise and impugn its’ integrity – insecurity.

    Though the level of decrease in the intensity of insecurity in the country can be argued with varying degrees of plausibility, the fact remains that there are local governments and communities still in the hands of non-state actors and marauding gangs. Borno, Zamfara and Katsina have a host of them. Imo is not left out. And just recently the people of Shiroro in Niger State had cause to cry out about the sovereignty of the bandits within their domain.

    These do not exhaust the list of communities rendered unsafe and inaccessible by the devious activities of a coterie of bandits, insurgents and terrorists. It therefore remains to be conjectured how a national headcount that involves physical enumeration of all citizens will fare in the prevailing circumstance. Travellers are regularly kidnapped, dehumanised and made to pay ransom. Unlucky ones have had their lives terminated.

    Just recently, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released startling statistics on the embarrassing level of kidnapping and ransom payment in the various geo-political zones between March 2023 and April 2024. The ripples of the NBS data are yet to settle. But they highlight the daunting challenges on the road to a seamless headcount.

    It is good a thing the president is interested in the credibility and reliability of the exercise. He is routing for biometrics that will capture pictures, fingerprints and voice of those counted. This is the way to go given the rancorous and disputed outcomes of previous ones.

    Biometrics in a relatively safe and secure environment will make the desired difference by ensuring the accuracy and reliability of data so generated. But it should be a serious challenge to our leaders that elections have continued to stand on the way to credible census.

    It has remained so because of the credibility and integrity issues that dent their outcome. So as the imperative for credible national census continues to worry our policy makers, the serial inability of our elections to pass integrity tests should also be a serious cause for concern. Had our elections been credible and less rancorous, it may have been easier to conduct censuses without much disruption. Maybe we have to get our elections right to guarantee hitch-free and credible national census. But a census this year would seem highly improbable.

  • Soludo and criminal native doctors

    Soludo and criminal native doctors

    It would have been utterly absurd to expect that Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State will easily wage a decisive war against native doctors either of the genuine or criminal hue. Not with the pervading fear of the touted supernatural and diabolical powers associated with practitioners of that trade. The so-called supernatural or occultic powers of native doctors are enough to frighten the most hardened to contemplate engaging in any fight against them.

    When Soludo braced up for a decisive war against the evil dimensions of that business, he must have fully prepared himself for a risky and daunting engagement. He had during his 2024 Public Service Lecture stirred some controversy when he accused native doctors of helping criminal elements by preparing protective charms for them.

    “Diabolical native doctors are part of the forces aiding and abetting criminality in the state. They encourage and deceive hoodlums by preparing different kinds of protective charms. … Kidnappers are kept in the shrines of some of the native doctors showing that they work-hand-in-hand with the criminals” he had declared. He then vowed to root them out of the confines of the state.

    Soludo’s declaration of war against native doctors though visionary and pragmatic, appeared to have stirred the Hornets’ nest especially from the camps of practitioners of the trade. While it was seen as a difficult but worthwhile crusade against the evils associated with the trade, signs of opposition soon emerged from the ranks of genuine practitioners of that business.

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    They reasoned that the governor’s speech was guilty of overgeneralisation as it failed to make a distinction between genuine and criminal native doctors. The state commissioner for information, Law Mefor, had to quickly issue a statement to correct the wrong impressions read into that speech.

    According to him, the governor ‘never declared war on all native doctors but rather the doctors involved in criminal activities’. He said investigations by some concerned citizens had confirmed Soludo’s position that some native doctors are involved in preparing charms for kidnappers, armed robbers and are believed to be behind such evil practices as human sacrifice for money and protection. The state government said that these diabolical rituals have given rise to the belief in such practices as Ego-Mbute (access to money in huge quantities), Yahoo Plus and idolatry. The war is to root out diabolical practices and has nothing to do with genuine traditional medicine or native doctors who are truly serving God and humanity, Mefor further clarified.

    The devilish and evil practices pointed out by the governor for which he vowed to battle criminal native doctors are real and serious. Reports from across the country speak of the pervasiveness of such practices and the large patronage they enjoy especially among the youths. The belief in supernatural powers or the occultic prowess of native doctors to change the fortunes of people seeking easy access to quick money or power is responsible for the flourishing of such practices as ritual killings for money and human sacrifice.

    The story of our youths arrested across the country with human parts for ritual purposes speak eloquently of the degenerate level of the evil practice. Within the last two weeks or so, there have been three instances of such cases in the media space involving ordinary Nigerians including native doctors either caught in the process of selling human parts or about to dispose them in very questionable circumstances.

    And in all these instances, criminal native doctors feature very prominently either by direct involvement in human killings or receiving human parts for the preparation of concoctions touted capable of enhancing the fortunes of their customers.

     In Nasarawa State, a purported gospel singer who later described himself as a Cryptocurrency trader Timileyin Ajayi was arrested when he went to dispose of the decapitated head of a 24-year old youth corps lady he had killed in his apartment.

    Twins who double as carpenters and native doctors were caught in Ogun State for allegedly killing a sex worker who they had lured into their apartment for ritual purposes. They were arrested by the state police command while trying to sell the parts of their victim. In their confessional statements, they confirmed selling the parts for between N20,000 and N100,000.

    Yet, the Oyo State police command arrested and paraded a suspected ritualist, Mohammad Adekunle for allegedly killing and selling human parts in Ibadan. Four other people were equally arrested for buying different parts of the human body from Adekunle for money ritual. This is just a tip of the iceberg in the illicit trade in human parts that go on around the country with no signs of abating.

    When Soludo vowed to root out criminal native doctors from the shores of Anambra State, he must have been seriously worried by the evil practices associated with that trade. But it is going to be a hard task given the esoteric and mystic nature of the trade.

    The first challenge on his way is how to differentiate between the genuine traditional practitioners and the fake and criminal ones. The Traditional Medicine Practice Act 2000 established the traditional medicine practitioners’ council to register practitioners, licence them and regulate the preparation and sale of herbal medicines and provide for related matters.

    With the copious roles assigned to the council by the Act, it would appear Soludo will have no problem sieving the chaff from the wheat. It may be tempting to assume that all registered native doctors or traditional medicine practitioners will not get involved in evil machinations given the fact of their registration. But this is a highly limited view on the issue.

    Because of the secret, esoteric and mystic nature of the trade, you find that even the registered ones sometimes indulge in practices that do not lend themselves to empirical assessment. It is not uncommon to find them indulging in practices that promote the supernatural and the spiritual. But that is not to say there are no genuine ones amongst them producing herbal medicines with known therapeutic efficiency.

    But how many native doctors across the country find themselves within this list? What you find around the country is a coterie of shrines and worship places decorated in very frightening apparels. What goes on in those shrines and so-called sacred places is anyone’s guess. Yet, you get to hear well placed Nigerian speak of the desecration of sacred shrines and all that.

    A lot of Nigerians believe in the efficacy of the supernatural and the mysterious. They share beliefs in witches and wizards, and their powers to inflict harm on people. These beliefs are sustained and reinforced by the activities of native doctors and sundry religions. That is why you find people flock to any new church or shrine that is touted with the powers of miracles. So, the war against criminal native doctors must factor in the gullibility of our people to these belief systems. Criminal native doctors thrive in their illicit trade because of the greed and the criminal mind of their customers to procure through other means the good things of life that come with hard work and trust in the powers of the almighty God.

    That appears the real challenge in the war against criminal native doctors. Ritual killings or human sacrifice for money cannot thrive if people do not believe in them. So, we must get to address the psyche of the average Nigerian to achieve lasting results.

    There is another challenge emanating from some definitional issues in the Act setting up the traditional medicine practitioners’ council. The Act defined “practitioner” to mean a traditional medicine practitioner whose practice uses herbs and any other natural products.

    It also defined “Traditional Medicine” as practices based on beliefs and ideas recognised by the community to provide healthcare by using herbs or any other naturally occurring substances.

    While the definition of practitioner stated clearly the confines of the trade- using herbs and natural products, that of traditional medicine injected some complications into the trade. It spoke of practices based on beliefs and ideas recognised by the community to provide healthcare. Though it talks of herbs and other naturally occurring substances, issues of beliefs and practices may not really translate in practical items.

    There are spiritual and supernatural dimensions to them. That is the type of complications that may impinge negatively in the task the Anambra State government has set for itself. It is going to be a hard nut to crack. It is not just a problem peculiar to Anambra State but a national problem sustained and patronised by the high, the mighty and the powerful. Those usually arrested are the couriers and small fries. And like in other areas of high-stake criminality, their sponsors and patrons never get to be caught.

    Soludo has brought the mischief of criminal native doctors to the fore. But as worthwhile as the war against such criminality is, only a holistic perspective to it will achieve meaningful results. There has to be a national approach to it or whatever progress recorded by the state government will pale into insignificance.

  • Corruption in EFCC

    Corruption in EFCC

    The dismissal by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of 27 officials for corruption related offences again highlights integrity challenges on the part of those prosecuting the war against the malfeasance.  It struck as a typical case of corruption fighting corruption with counterproductive outcomes.

    A press statement by the commission last week said, the measure was in furtherance of its “quest to enforce integrity and rid its fold of fraudulent elements”. The agency affirmed its zero tolerance for corruption even as it promised to thoroughly investigate all allegations against its staff including “a trending $400,000 claim of a yet-to-be-identified supposed staff of the EFCC against a sectional head”.

    But the commission introduced a new angle to the issue when it warned the public against the activities of impersonators and blackmailers exploiting the name of its executive chairman, Ola Olukayode to extort money from suspects under investigation.

    It cited the case of two members of a syndicate being prosecuted at a Federal High Court for allegedly demanding $1million from a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority to ‘secure soft landing’ for him on a non-existent investigation. 

    The statement also contained an alert on alleged moves being hatched in some quarters to blackmail officers of the commission. It claimed that suspects being investigated for economic and financial crimes who fail to compromise their investigators go to any length to blackmail them.

    An appraisal of the press statement highlighted three salient but closely related issues bordering on the integrity and credibility of officials of the commission. While the first dealt with the punitive measures taken by the agency to deter corrupt officials, the second is a warning on the activities of those impersonating Olukayode to extort money from undiscerning public.

     The third strand is an alert on alleged penchant by suspects who fail to compromise their investigators to turn around and blackmail them. In all, they speak of the dire integrity challenges confronting officials of the commission in carrying out their statutory duties of stamping out economic and financial crimes. The issues highlighted are weighty. They hinge on the suitability and moral bearing of EFCC officials to wage a decisive war against corruption.

    It is good a thing the commission reaffirmed its zero tolerance for corruption which saw 27 of its fraudulent officials shown the way out. For an agency primarily established to aid the government prosecute the war against economic and financial crimes, the dismissal of 27 of its officials for corruption related offences in one fell swoop, is certainly unsettling.

    It conveys the image of an organisation whose officials largely work at cross purposes with its mandate, possibly for personal gains. Yes, the 27 officials implicated by the disciplinary committee have been dismissed. That may not have exhausted the list of fraudulent staff giving the organisation bad name.

    Ironically, just two days after the dismissal of the 27 fraudulent staff, EFCC issued another statement on 10 others detained by it over alleged theft of operational items they could not account for. The statement did not disclose the items of theft.

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    But a credible source within the system revealed that the officers allegedly broke into the exhibits’ room and stole foreign currency, gold items and other valuable exhibits. If officials could break into the exhibits’ room and steal items that will aid the prosecution of suspects, then the situation is that bad.

    All these speak of the rot in the system and a breakdown of values on the part of the staff of the commission. If syndicates can comfortably concoct stories of existing or non-existing investigations by the EFCC and swindle victims, then the commission needs to reappraise its operational strategies. There is everything to suspect that the EFCC is in the current predicament because of the existence in its fold of many fraudulent and dishonest staff.

     Or how else do we explain the narrative that 10 staff of the organisation allegedly broke into the exhibits’ room and stole cash and other valuable exhibits from there?

    Officials who go to this length can commit any other crime including supplying credible information to criminal syndicates to scam suspects under investigation. Little surprising the war against corruption has proved a daunting task.

    There was no information on the particular offences committed by the dismissed 27 officials. Neither were their names and other details disclosed. The possibility of extorting money from suspects or connivance with syndicates through information sharing to defraud unsuspecting members of the public cannot be ruled out.

    But the commission had no need raising alarm on suspects it claimed to be blackmailing investigators after their attempt to compromise them failed. That is something it can clearly investigate and handle conclusively. Though that tendency cannot be ruled out, there is the danger of fraudulent officials hiding under such cover to evade genuine complaints of corruption against them.

    The commission should keep to its promise to thoroughly investigate all allegations of corruption against its staff and not seek to hold brief for them. The way things stand, the greatest challenge confronting the EFCC in effectively carrying out its functions is the existence of dishonest and rogue staff within.

    There are many bad eggs within the organisation working at cross purposes with its mandate. The time has come for an urgent re-appraisal of the staff under the employ of the organisation to weed out those who give bad name to it.

    It is inconceivable how corruption can meaningfully fight corruption. Olukayode has a daunting task redeeming the image of the organisation. The way things stand, it will be difficult for the agency to make meaningful progress on its mandate with disoriented, morally depraved and fraudulent staff. For now, Nigeria has continued to post unenviable profile in the corruption ladder reflecting failures by various anti-corruption agencies to post positive records in that fight.

    But this should not be entirely surprising given the way the last administration toyed with the appointment of the leadership of the EFCC. That regime went ahead to appoint Ibrahim Magu as the acting chairman of the EFCC despite  a damning report by the Department of State Services (DSS) on his unsuitability for the job. 

    The DSS had written the senate not to confirm Magu as he would be a huge liability to the war against financial crimes. At least on two occasions his name was sent to the senate for confirmation but was rejected. But the president preferred to have him in an acting capacity until his uneventful exit after discernible signs of the predictions of the DSS had manifested.

    The EFCC is not the only anti-corruption agency contending with the crisis of integrity within its fold. Not long ago, Nigerians were shocked when a highly decorated Police officer DCP, Abba Kyari was implicated in the case of a social media influencer, Ramon Abbas, aka Hushpuppi who pleaded guilty to money laundering and other crimes in the United States of America.

    The list of officials charged with crime prevention but curiously implicated in abetting such crimes is endless. But it is reflective of the inability of the country to make reasonable progress in the war against corruption.

    In the Corruption Perception Index posted by Transparency International (TI) for 2023, Nigeria ranked 145 out of the 180 countries assessed. It shared that position with Liberia, Madagascar and Mozambique. In the 2022 assessment, it ranked 154 out of 180 countries also assessed. Though the 2023 rating marked a marginal improvement on the previous year, it is still reflective of the pervasiveness of the scourge within the system.

    Regime after regime touts the war against corruption as one of their cardinal programs. But they come and go without making reasonable impact in combating the scourge largely because those charged with the prosecution of the campaign have been the greatest obstacles to its prosecution. Is it surprising that corruption in public places has shown no signs of abating? No thanks to the seeming discriminatory handling of high profile corruption cases by agencies of the government, including the judiciary.

  • A Catholic priest and the gun

    A Catholic priest and the gun

    What could have led a Catholic priest to take up a gun and shoot into the air just to scare away some unruly boys during a New Year mass service? That is the puzzle the Imo State police command is set to untangle.

    Reports had it that the said priest, Rev. Fr. Joseph Enyinnaya was conducting the New Year mass on January 1, at St, Columbus Catholic Church Amaimo, Ikeduru Local Government Area, Imo State when some boys began to throw knockouts inside the church premises. Apparently angered by the refusal of the boys to heed warnings to desist from the act, the priest was said to have made for his double barrelled gun.

    On emerging, according to an eye witness, he shot into the air to scare away the unruly boys. But “the gun hooked up and while trying to check the firearm, it accidentally discharged and hit one of the boys”.

    Another resident corroborated  that it was a case of accidental discharge. He said when the boys continued with the knockout throwing, the priest went in and picked up his gun and fired a warning shot into the air. But unknown to him, a bullet left in one of the chambers hit one of the boys when he was lowering the gun and he died. Some other boys within the vicinity were also said to have sustained varying degrees of injury as a result of the shooting incident.

    It is still foggy whether the injuries were as a result of the gunshot or the stampede that occurred after the shooting. But those that were wounded were taken to the hospital where they are receiving treatment.

    Not unexpectedly, the incident threw the community into serious confusion and deep sorrow coming from the quarters it did. Imo State Police Public Relations Officer PPRO, Henry Okoye confirmed the story and the arrest of the priest. He said detailed investigations have been  initiated to ascertain the remote facts surrounding the incident even as he promised further update.

    But as the police probe goes on and the update eagerly awaited, the shooting cannot but come under serious public scrutiny. As annoying and condemnable as the throwing of knockouts inside the church premises while mass service was going is, it is doubtful whether the reaction of the priest was the most appropriate and rational response to the recalcitrance of the boys.

    Yes, the boys were unruly throwing knockouts inside the church premises after repeated warning. They could also be accused of disrespect to the religious sensibilities of the Catholic Church. Their persistence in disturbing the peace of the church is condemnable. But such behaviour is not different from the abuse to which knockouts are often subjected by our youths during such periods. That is why the police usually warn of its illegality at the commencement of such celebrations. But the practice has festered.

    Though details of the incident are still sketchy, it is unclear whether the said priest had started celebrating the mass service when the throwing of the knockouts started or he was still preparing to do so. It is also unclear whether the mass service was being conducted right inside the church building or outside of it.

     It is a huge puzzle that a Catholic priest celebrating mass or about to engage in one could abandon that ritual, go for his gun only to emerge by firing into the air just to scare away some unruly boys. That act of indiscretion took a toll in the death of one of the boys with others sustaining injuries. It was the most inappropriate decision in the circumstance.

    An innocent life has been lost with many injured during a mass service that was supposed to herald the New Year. What a sad way to commence the New Year for those who sustained injuries and are being treated in the hospital. The alleged offending priest is also spending the New Year in police cell. All these mortal consequences could have been averted had the priest exercised the degree of caution expected of his vocation.

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    The shooting incident brings to the fore the distinction between the corporeal and the ecclesiastical realms – issues of the material and the spiritual. Medieval philosophers like Thomas Aquinas had long drawn the distinction between the roles of the state and the church. Whereas the state exists primarily to minister to the material needs of the citizens, the responsibility of the church is concerned with issues of the spiritual. It is for the same reason that the state runs organised armies while the powers of the church lie in prayers. For the church, prayer holds the ace for much of societal challenges. Conceived this way, it is curious that the priest should see the gun as the most appropriate solution to the challenge of the boys’ misconduct.

    The priest was confronted with misconduct on the part of the boys. They were throwing knockouts into the church premises and disturbing the peace of worshippers. That could be annoying. But the solution can neither be found in gun trotting nor shooting in the air to scare them away. It was a social issue that posed no serious threat to the priest.

    It should have been exhaustively addressed through counselling. Alternatively, the church authorities could have moved in using their internal security systems to apprehend or disperse the boys. It was definitely not beyond them. At the extreme, the law enforcement agencies could be called in to disperse those disturbing the peace of the church.

    Ironically, the priest took resort to self help by making for his gun and releasing some shots into the air. It is unclear if he has license for the double barrelled gun or not. If he does not have license for the gun, he faces a possible charge of illegal possession of firearm. That will be in addition to whatever conclusions the police will reach regarding the cause of the boy’s death.

    The priest may have been provoked into the measure he took to address an emerging challenge. But it bordered on the extreme and out of tune with the values the church seeks to promote in the society. If a priest of the Catholic Church could take resort to the gun to resolve social misconduct such as the throwing of knockouts then, the larger society is in trouble.

    The belief by the church in the powers of prayers as solution to societal challenges is legendary. When the Muslim force was threatening to take over the Mediterranean Sea and position to attack European countries, Pope Pius V asked the Christian faithful to pray the Holy Rosary and seek the intercession of the Blessed Mother Mary to defeat them. Despite being outnumbered, the Christian fleet prevailed.

     Some accounts also have it that the rhythmic repetition of the Rosary thoroughly frightened, demoralised and led to the defeat of the Turks in 1571 during the Ottoman Empire. And when countries are faced with dire socio-economic and political challenges, Christians take to prayers to seek divine resolution. It therefore came as a rude shock that a priest of the Catholic Church could deviate from this pristine tradition in an issue that could have been easily resolved through moral suasion.

    The mortal consequences of that act of indiscretion could have been avoided had the priest at the centre of the controversy exercised a higher degree of caution. He may not have set out to kill anybody since he shot into the air to scare away those throwing knockout. But his response was obviously disproportional with whatever offence the boys may have committed.

     He may have acquired the gun for self defence especially with the dire security challenges in the southeast. But there is something untidy in the excessive reliance by the clergy on the force of arms and ammunitions for their protection. Most of our key religious groups share common belief in the omnipotent God. God is all powerful and the powers of life and death lie with the Almighty. 

    Thus, the overall safety of humans lie in the hands of almighty God. These belief systems are challenged each time the clergy is seen in a convoy of vehicles with well armed security agencies guarding them. Sadly that has been the growing culture especially among some of rich clergymen. Ironically, these are people preaching divine protection, issuing  other holy ornaments that seek to protect adherents against all evil including the powers of man to destroy life. 

    They should be seen to be living by examples rather than precepts. The incident at St. Columbus Catholic Church is very unfortunate and avoidable. But it highlights the incongruity in reliance by the clergy on the powers of the gun to resolve social misconduct. May the soul of the young boy who came to celebrate his entry into the New Year but failed to make it rest in peace!

  • Bandits’ republic of Shiroro?

    Bandits’ republic of Shiroro?

    “They have so far succeeded in creating a republic within a sovereign nation. It can’t be worse than that”.

    That was the assessment by Concerned Shiroro Youths of Niger State of the current state of banditry within their locality. In a joint statement by the convener of the group, Sani Abubakar Kokki and secretary, Shuaibu Awaisu Wana, the group lamented that marauding terrorists “now wield so much power that they roam unsecured villages with uncommon gusto and impunity, moving from house to house to carry out their heinous activities. They now determine who to live and who not to live in their areas of strength and control”.

     The group was apparently piqued by the latest escapades of the bandits which involved the planting of bombs and landmines that triggered multiple bomb explosions in Bassa community within two weeks leaving in their trail, human casualties.

    Curiously, the heightened insecurity is said to have been exacerbated by the withdrawal of troops of the Nigerian Army stationed in the Allawa axis of Shiroro without notice to the villagers. This saw villagers scampering for safety as they fled the area, swelling the ranks of Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs.

    Before the latest development, another group, the Coalition of Shiroro Association in Niger State had last September, raised the alarm that bandits and terrorists had enslaved their people dispossessing them of their harvest and forcing them to farm for the terrorists.

    Their people were forced by the reign of terror to abandon their farmlands and ancestral homes for fear of being kidnapped or killed. They had also attributed the heightened insecurity to troops’ withdrawal from the Allawa community exposing villagers to the mercy of the marauding bandits.

    Then, the Niger State government while responding to their outcry had promised that arrangement were on to get the army back to the post following their withdrawal on the heels of the killing of soldiers and local vigilante stationed in the area by bandits. Troops’ withdrawal from the Allawa axis has been a recurring issue in the degenerating security challenge identified by the two Shiroro groups. It is central to their demands and goes to show how serious it is in restoring some measure of security to the area.

    It is now three months since the issue of troops’ withdrawal from Allawa was raised with the state government promising something was being done. With the issue resonating in the lamentations of Concerned Shiroro Youths, it is clear the matter is yet to be addressed. This has left residents at the mercy of the bandits. Little wonder the prevailing state of anarchy characterised by the Shiroro group as a bandits’ republic within a sovereign nation.

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     This categorisation is as serious as it is weighty. That the Shiroro groups have continued to raise serious alarm on the near state of anarchy in the area within the last three months shows the federal government is yet to establish firm authority in the area. In the absence of state actors to maintain law and order, non-state actors filled the gap by imposing their sovereignty over the helpless and hapless villagers. 

    So the predicament of Concerned Shiroro Youths can be understood. They have been compelled by the near state of anarchy within their domain to fall victims of the menace of the bandits. Its purport is that law and order have completely broken down in the area with the atavism of the law of the jungle reigning supreme.

    This may sound alarmist or unpatriotic especially given that the impunity with which bandits hitherto mounted mass abductions has been substantially diminished. The scenario portrayed by the groups, is the situation the people of Shiroro now contend with despite efforts by the government against all forms of criminality. They live in the area and they feel the pains. They suffer in the hands of the bandits and they are the ones that can tell the story.

    But the current situation in Shiroro should not come as a surprise. Evidence of the control of some communities by bandits and non-state actors imposing levies and sundry taxes has long been recorded. In many localities especially in the north, the enormous powers of control over villagers by sundry banditry groups are not hidden. In the absence of any serious challenge from security agencies, many communities were known to have entered into noxious agreements with the bandits to guarantee their safety.

    The recent unmasking of the Lakurawa terror group; the circumstance of their engagement for protection by some locals in Sokoto State against invading bandits from Zamfara State, says it all. So, there is really nothing new in the alert by the Concerned Shiroro Youths about the sovereignty of the bandits over their community.

    Perhaps, the value of the alert lies in drawing attention to the reality that despite government’s efforts and claims to have substantially restored law and order to all constituents, Shiroro is still in the firm hands of bandits. But the sovereignty of the bandits had long been predicted especially following their intense escapades in kidnapping and ferrying out hundreds of students from schools into hiding in the north without the security agencies having any clue as to their whereabouts.

    There was the Kankara abduction in Katsina State involving more than 400 school children on the very day Buhari was to arrive the state for rest as a sitting president. As the dust was about settling, Government College in Kagoro, Niger State fell victim when 42 students, staff and their relatives were abducted in similar fashion. Before the Kagoro incident, travellers in Niger State Mass Transit Bus suffered similar fate.

    That was not all, Zamfara which has been the epicentre of banditry, had more than 300 students of Government College, Jangebe abducted and ferried into thick forests with one of the students shot dead. Elsewhere in Kaduna, Plateau and Sokoto states, it was the same story. About seven states in the north were compelled to shut down their schools due to acts of banditry targeting the students’ population.

    The degenerate state of banditry and kidnapping for ransom was such that this column had in March 8, 2021 under the title, ‘A bandits’ republic’ alerted on the increasing slide to the sovereignty of the bandits. The thesis of that presentation was that the ‘reign of the bandits especially in the north is fast conveying the miserable impression that there exists a bandits’ republic within the federal republic of Nigeria’

    But the bandits’ republic conceived then was not a normal one where the rule of law and due process form the basis for political action. It was one that shared common traits with the Hobbesian state of nature where life had at once become nasty, short and brutish.

    Then, the lethargy of the federal government in taming the monster was rationalised on such puerile grounds as hostage taking being a complex engagement requiring extreme care not to harm the victims and the need not to disrupt the ecosystem. The then Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed even trivialised the matter when he contended that even the United States of America experiences banditry just as other developed countries. Is it surprising that banditry has since festered.

    Four years after the article on ‘a bandits’ republic’, it should be a thing of serious worry that Concerned Shiroro Youths have now drawn attention to a verity of that order. A prediction come true? The Shiroro case is a tip of the iceberg of the mortal fate many localities are made to face due to an assortment of security challenges.

    The Lakurawa phenomenon is another case in point. There are many communities and villages in both the north and the south where the reign of non-state actors holds sway. The existence of IDP camps for people displaced from their villages due to insecurity is a measure of the dominance of those areas by bands of criminals masquerading under various guises.

    In all, the reign of the bandits is not only a reality but a serious challenge to the authority of the government. Not only does its motivation not lend itself to precise understanding, it has been pretty difficult pinning them down for what they really are or the interest they represent. At one point, their modus operandi shared similar traits with that of the Boko Haram insurgents. And at another, the difference between them and the killer herdsmen portrays the image of two sides of the same coin.

    When fiery Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, visited some insurgents in Zamfara forests, he interfaced with the camps of the bandits and the Fulani. But when it came for them to present their grievances, they spoke of cattle rustling, attacks by the military and attacks on the Fulani by Zamfara indigenes as their grouse. There was no difference between the complaints of the bandits and that of the Fulani as they shared common characteristics.

    Could it be the reason for the lethargy by the federal government in branding the bandits a terrorist organisation even when it has continued to pose more lethal threat to the sovereignty of the country than events preceding the proscription of IPOB? That is the issue elevated to the fore by the outcry of Shiroro indigenes on the success of the bandits in creating a republic within a sovereign nation. It is that grave!

  • AGF’s threat to governors

    AGF’s threat to governors

    Warning by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi of dire consequences awaiting state governors enacting laws to tamper with local government funds says a lot about all that is wrong with this country.

    The AGF was piqued that some of the governors were prodding their state Houses of Assembly to enact laws to circumvent the Supreme Court ruling divesting local government funds from their stranglehold. He has threatened impeachment for governors standing against the financial autonomy of the local governments (LGs) and prosecution of elected local government chairmen engaged in similar misdemeanour.

    Fagbemi did not name state governors involved neither did he disclose the quarters from which the impeachment proceedings will be initiated. But his warning may not be unconnected with a recent declaration by Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State while signing the state’s Local Government Administration Law that “absolute autonomy to the 774 local government areas in the country is impossibility. In fact, it is a recipe for humongous chaos”.

    In a paper at the 2024 Conference of the Abuja chapter of National Association of Judicial Correspondents (NAJUC), Fagbemi said he was “aware that some states have embarked on promulgation of legislations which appear antithetical to the tenets or tenor of the judgment of the Supreme Court”.

    According to him, by the July 11, 2024 judgment of the Supreme Court granting financial autonomy to the LGs, it amounted to misconduct and impeachable offence for governors to tamper with local government funds. And since council chairmen do not enjoy immunity, they stand to be prosecuted for misappropriation or misapplication of LG funds, he further warned.

    This development is worrisome. The apex court had in that landmark judgement declared “a democratically elected local government sacrosanct and non-negotiable” and that the use of caretaker committee amounted to a state government taking over the control of a local government in violation of the 1999 constitution.

    The policy court further ruled that the state government has no power or control to keep local council money; local councils are entitled to local government allocation. “Justice in this case demands that LG allocation from the federation account should henceforth be paid directly to the LGs”, the court further ruled with an injunction restraining the defendants or their privies from spending LG funds.

     It is sad that in spite of the unambiguous rulings by the apex court ousting the powers of financial control over LG funds from the governors, some of them still embarked on a perilous voyage of seeking avenues to circumvent that judgment.

    But the development should not be entirely surprising given the high-wire politics in which local government administration has been enmeshed- politics that has left the third tier of  government a ghost of its former self unable to discharge on its statutory duties.

     If governors prodding their state Houses of Assembly to enact laws to get control of LG funds are not unsettling enough, the suspension for two months of chairmen and vice chairmen of the 18 LGs in Edo by the state House of Assembly strikes as a direct attack on the autonomy of the councils.

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    Their suspension followed a petition by the governor, Monday Okpebholo to the House of Assembly alleging refusal by the chairmen to submit financial records of their councils to the state government. For him, this amounted to insubordination and gross misconduct for which the house has to investigate them.

    Not unexpectedly, the chairmen have protested the suspension citing extant court injunctions including the landmark ruling by the Supreme Court. Okpebholo has just been in office for barely a month. He inherited LG chairmen elected under the platform of an opposition political party.  It is not unlikely that the lure to wield control over that level of governance is behind the suspension order. But for the judgement of the apex court, those chairmen and councillors would have been booted out and their places taken by caretaker committees.

    The game playing out in Edo State is another guise to curtail the financial independence of the third tier of governance. But the suspension order has been declared illegal by the AGF as only the councillors in that LG can exercise such powers. But the governors will not easily let go.

    With the state assemblies acting as willing tools, the length some governors can go to achieve through the backdoor that which the apex court curtailed, is a matter of educated guess. The way it plays out will have wider repercussions for the financial autonomy of the LGs and their capacity to discharge on their mandate.

     As unsettling as these tendencies are, the urge to abridge rules or cut corners for self-serving ends remains a huge setback to the politics of this country.  In that mind-set can be located the reasons for the failure of many well intentioned government policies.

    Peter Ekeh captured the conflict of orientation in his theory of the two publics-the private and public realms. The thesis of his presentation is that our citizens have different moral attachments to issues that impinge on the private and public realms.

    Whereas the individual has a high moral attachment to issues of the private realm; the ethnic union funds for instance, the same person has a negative disposition to funds belonging to the public realm – federal, state or local government. That is why it is a taboo to steal the funds of a village meeting but not government money. So, you may be considered a smart fellow if you exploit loopholes to defraud the government without incurring the wrath of the law.

    But the same attitude to community or union money attracts opprobrium. That is why a governor will goad a state assembly to make laws to corner LG funds even after the apex court had ruled to the contrary. It is for the same consideration that all the 18 LG chairmen were suspended in Edo for touted insubordination.

    Ours is a country where sub-national governments and citizens appear in a haste to exploit loopholes to circumvent well intended laws rather than seek to cooperate and strengthen them. This negative culture is evident in public reaction to, and perception of, socio-economic policies and our faulty political recruitment process. Searching for loopholes to exploit and sabotage well-intentioned policies of government has assumed dangerous and destructive proportions. You can find the tendency in reactions (governments and individuals) to the deployment of technology to enhance the integrity of elections.

     If technology cannot be sabotaged to gain undue electoral advantage, the resort to vote buying must be the way out. And this culture has come to permeate the entire fabric of our society.  The urge to disingenuously play outside box is evident in the current scandalous scarcity of cash even when the old and new notes are still circulating concurrently.

    The conduct of local government elections follows the same predictable pattern. That is why the ruling party in the states clears all the LG elective positions to the exclusion of other political parties. Circumvention of the rules is the game. And we all fold our arms in seeming helplessness. But we are not helpless. Why have our leaders not thought it wise that strict adherence to rules, principles is the way to national good?

    The threats by the AGF can find practical expression if the leadership at the centre musters the political will for strict enforcement. Obasanjo did a similar thing even to governors of his political party. If there is genuine commitment to rule enforcement, the temptation by governors to exploit the laws setting up state assemblies to circumvent the ruling of the apex court would be stymied.

    But not in George Orwell’s Animal Farm where all are equal but some are more equal than others. Not in a clime where the leadership seems to relish in exploiting loopholes to circumvent the law. That is the uncanny contradiction elevated to the fore by the threat of the AGF. All these continue to evoke Thrasymachus’ characterisation of ‘Justice as the interest of the stronger’.

    We must return to the drawing board and answer basic questions on the type of standards that can propel this country to greatness. Our concept of politics and democracy may turn out our greatest undoing. A system that relishes in rules’ abridgment or corner cutting to satisfy selfish predilections of the ruling class is a recipe for unmitigated disaster.

  • Unending cash scarcity

    Unending cash scarcity

    The House of Representatives had cause last week, to take on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the lingering cash scarcity that constrains the citizenry from accessing their basic needs. It directed the apex bank to urgently address the festering cash squeeze if it was not responsible for the shortage.

    The directive followed a motion by Uguru Emmanuel highlighting the economic and social implications of the cash scarcity that has left many Nigerians unable to access cash for their basic purchases. The House further directed its committee on banking regulations to investigate the cash crunch in commercial banks and report back within one week.

    The intervention of the House of Representatives brings back the sad memories of the naira redesign and cash swap policy of the last administration. The CBN had towards the last quarter of Buhari’s regime announced the redesign of the N200, N500 and N1, 000 notes with January 31, 2023 as the deadline for eventual phase out of the old notes.

    It followed the policy up with gradual withdrawal of the old notes to replace them with the new ones. Soon after, the apex bank enthusiastically announced it had withdrawn N1.9 trillion worth of currency outside the banking system within two months of its naira redesign and cash swap policy. Through that intervention, CBN said it had reduced the currency outside the banking system to N900 billion from a whooping N2.7 trillion before the new policy came into effect.

    The bank sold the new policy to Nigerians with a promise that it would combat counterfeiting, improve the effectiveness of monetary policy tools on inflation and mop up excess liquidity.

    But what followed was a scandalous shortage of the national currency. Neither the old naira notes nor the new ones were available to Nigerians as acute scarcity set in. It was such a confused and hopeless situation that many families could not even afford to buy food due largely to the unavailability of cash.

    In the face of the acute and inexplicable cash shortages, Nigerians resorted to buying naira with naira at inflated rates from those who had them. Allegations were freely traded. The CBN claimed it was disbursing enough cash to the commercial banks even as the banks rationalised their inability to dispense cash on insufficient funds received from the CBN. So confused was the situation that the governors of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states, all members of the ruling party approached the Supreme Court to nullify the naira redesign policy.

    Before then, it had become clear that the January 31, 2023 deadline for the phase out of the old currency had become a near impossibility. Suffocating challenges compelled Buhari to extend the deadline to February 10, 2023. But that never brought any respite.

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    The Supreme Court in the suit filed by three governors issued an interim order suspending the enforcement of the deadline. It directed that the old and new notes should continue to circulate pending the determination of the suit.

    Curiously and despite the apex court ruling, the CBN insisted that the old notes ceased as legal tender after February 8. Buhari went against the ruling of the Supreme Court when he restored the validity of the N200 notes contending that the N500 and N1,000 notes had ceased as legal tender.

    It was a very confused situation as nobody seemed to know the high-wire intrigues and politics the naira redesign policy had been enmeshed. But partisan politics was easily fingered even as some top contestants alleged it was a subterfuge against their candidacy.

    The confusion snowballed into the general election. But the apex court settled the matter in its March 2023 verdict when it ruled that both the old and new currencies remain legal tender until December 31, 2023. It also nullified the naira redesign policy and declared it an affront to the 1999 constitution. The court declared Buhari’s disobedience of the Feb. 8, order as a sign of dictatorship.

    That was the situation before President Bola Tinubu assumed office and it subsisted after he was sworn in until November 2023 when the new Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi approached the apex court informing it that the federal government had not been able to print sufficient quantity of the new naira notes to be able to withdraw the old ones from circulation. He prayed the court to extend the deadline to enable the federal government print sufficient quantity of the new currency.

    In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Inyang Okoro, the Supreme Court ordered that the new and old notes should remain legal tender till further notice. It further ruled that the old notes would remain in circulation pending when the federal government puts a process in place after due consultation with the relevant stakeholders.

    That has remained the situation till date. It has been over one year since that order was issued by the policy court. Yet, the federal government has not finished its consultations with the relevant stakeholders. It has also not been able to print sufficient quantity of currency to approach the court to lift its indefinite order.

    That is why the old and new currencies have continued to circulate contemporaneously. But the cash squeeze has refused to abate even with the old and new currencies in circulation. Something must be wrong somewhere. It is curious that after more than a year and half of the current regime, the sad events of the Naira redesign and cash swap policy are still much with us.

     Nothing underscores the gravity of the situation more clearly than the intervention of the House of Representative asking the CBN to address the cash shortages if it has no hand in it.

     But the CBN has continued to assure the public that there is enough cash to meet their needs. Its governor, Olayemi Cardoso’s threat to fine banks not loading their ATMs with cash or hoarding them has failed to change the equation. CBN’s promise of spot checks across banks with a threat to impose penalties on underperforming institutions has been of no discernible effect as cash scarcity persists.

    More disconcerting is the reality that the cash squeeze has persisted even with the anomalous circulation and use of two sets of national currencies that present difficulties of recognition to the general public. Not only are the commercial banks unable to dispense cash, the Point of Sales Operators POS operators exploit the situation to fleece hapless citizens due to additional charges on cash withdraws. Nigerians are at the losing end especially with the excruciating cost of living accentuated by hyperinflation consequent upon subsidy elimination and the floating of the national currency.

    Recent random surveys by some national dailies indicate scandalous inability by the commercial banks to dispense cash either through their Automatic Teller Machines ATMs or across the counter. Those who manage to dispense, pay their lucky customers between N20,000 and N10,000. Others pay nothing even as their ATMs dispense no cash.

    This mocks the CBN cash withdrawal limits of N500,000 and N5 million for individual and corporate bodies respectively. The situation has taken a toll on citizens’ easy access to the basic needs of life and normal business transactions.

    Yes, the naira redesign policy encourages electronic transfers. But ours is still largely an agrarian and poverty ravished economy with a preponderance of illiterate population. Poverty and illiteracy are serious bottlenecks in embracing the modern technology of monetary transactions which electronic transfers entail.

    Even at that, the requisite technological infrastructure that should be in place for such modern transaction methods to operate unhindered is not just there. There are still no bank branches in some local government areas; making it difficult for people especially farmers who sell basic food items in the rural localities to embrace the banking culture. All these are constraints to the cashless policy implementation and they foretell the huge challenge posed by the cash squeeze.

    More seriously, the embarrassing situation has persisted because the federal government is yet to frontally address the challenges thrown up by the naira redesign and cash swap policy suspended indefinitely by the apex court. It remains largely inexplicable that after one year, the government is yet to finish consultations with stakeholders to come up with final policy solution on the issue. It is nothing to cheer.

    This is perhaps, the first time in recent memory a country is operating two sets of national currencies for that long even with dire challenges of recognition they entail. It is high time the federal government moved to resolve this national embarrassment.

  • Forfeited 753 Abuja duplexes

    Forfeited 753 Abuja duplexes

    Officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have been beating their chests on the final forfeiture to the federal government of a large estate in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja comprising 753 duplexes and other apartments.

    The order to that effect was issued by Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the FCT High Court, Abuja following an application filed by the EFCC. Before then, the same judge had on November 1, 2024 ordered the interim forfeiture of the estate.

    The anti-graft agency did not disclose the name of the owner or owners of the expansive estate measuring 150,500 metres located on plot 109 Cadastral Zone Lokogoma District, except it belongs to a “former top brass of the government”. The other clue was that the government official which fraudulently built the estate is being investigated by the EFCC.

    The agency was spurred to celebrate because the forfeiture in its calculations represents the largest single asset recovery secured since it was set up in 2003. Even as monetary value is yet to be placed on the 753 duplexes and other apartments, their magnitude and sheer number, stand the asset out in the recovery efforts of the EFCC.

    So, the mood of the agency can be understood. But as refreshing as this recovery effort is, the inability to name the characters behind this monumental fraudulent activity did not sit well with the public.  It was little surprising that allegations of possible cover-up and double standards have since been levied against the agency.

    When this ambivalence to full disclosure is placed side by side the fanfare the agency goes to town naming and publicizing suspects in crimes of even lesser magnitude, its position puzzles the more. It conjures the miserable impression that there is more to the fraud than ordinarily meets the eyes.

    But the EFCC sought to justify its position on the ground that, the proceedings for the forfeiture of the estate are in line with Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act, which allows legal action on a property and not on an individual especially in a situation of an unclaimed property.

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    It further contended that since the substantive criminal investigation is continuing, it will be unprofessional for it to go to town with the names of the individuals whose identities are not directly linked to any of the title documents of the properties. 

    The resort to legal niceties and moral appeal as the basis for not disclosing the identity of the suspect may sound appealing especially in climes where due process serves as veritable guide for public conduct. But not really here. Not with the reputation of the agency in handling fraud suspects in the past.

    Before now, the EFCC is known to relish in public parading and even medial trial of suspects in very minor cases even when they are yet to be brought before the courts of competent jurisdiction. In November last year, the agency broke into a private hostel occupied by students of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, Osun State and  arrested 69 students on suspicion of internet fraud.

    They claimed the invasion of the student’s hostel in the middle of the night followed credible intelligence linking it to internet fraud. But that was not all. They ferried the suspects to their zonal office in Ibadan, Oyo State and proceeded to publish the names of the arrested students even before profiling them.

    The publication drew the ire of the public leading to protests and ultimatum for their release from the OAU students’ union. After the intervention of the authorities of the university and subsequent profiling, 59 of the arrested students were released as no evidence of internet fraud was found against them.

    But the harm had been done by the publication and medial trial of the innocent students. This is not an attempt to justify arbitrariness or media trials. But the OAU incident represents a tip of the iceberg in the naming and shaming of suspects by the EFCC when criminal cases are yet to be established against them. So the agency is bound to run into murky waters if it now seeks to hide under legal sophistry and touted professionalism for not disclosing the owner of the estate. Even then, the court proceedings for the asset forfeiture were unambiguous on the top official suspected to own the estate. So, what fear is in there then?

    They know the top official under their investigations. They know the funds with which he acquired the estate were not his legitimate earnings but proceeds of unlawful activities, corrupt enrichment, receiving gratifications, kickbacks and abuse of office. All required to unmask the identity of the owner are readily available. The affidavit named him as Godwin Emefiele, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    So those who read meanings to the reluctance of the EFCC to name the estate owner have strong reasons to do so. Sadly, issues of this nature often nurture public suspicion and mistrust against those in positions of authority. Lack of trust and confidence in public office holders and institutions account largely for the reverses that characterised policy implementation on these shores.

    But that is beside the salient issues raised by that fraudulent transaction. It baffles that such expansive and massive property development program could go on within the seat of the federal government without being noticed by any of the arms of the country’s security architecture. Admittedly, the expansive property was originally meant for mass housing development.

     But the prying eyes of the security agencies should have spotted the time it changed hands especially with the massive movements in human and material capital involved in such huge construction projects. It was either a case of total failure of intelligence or official compromise.

    Curiously, all these happened during the last administration that touted the fight against corruption as one of its cardinal objectives. But how could the fight against corruption have proceeded credibly when the candidature of Ibrahim Magu, the first acting chief executive of the EFCC under Buhari’s regime was twice refused confirmation by the senate?

    That was sequel to a letter from the DSS informing the upper legislative chamber that Magu failed integrity test and would constitute a clear liability to the anti- corruption war.

    Buhari refused to listen to credible intelligence on the unsuitability of Magu’s candidature and allowed him to operate for years without senate confirmation. The fears raised by the DSS were later vindicated by the abrupt and unedifying manner he was arrested from office and detained by the same DSS following mounting allegations. Magu never returned to that office after that arrest.

    That should say a lot on the integrity of the anti-corruption war during that regime. It is not just enough for the anti-graft agencies to wait for financial crimes to be committed before arresting, prosecuting and recovering stolen funds and properties. That is the snag in the current strategy of the relevant agencies.

    The emphasis should be on detection and prevention of crimes. The huge sums of public funds carefully stolen and stashed away by rogue officials masquerading as leaders, signpost failure of fool-proof mechanisms for detecting and preventing crimes before they are committed.

    It is not just enough for the anti-graft agency to brandish statistics of the 3,455 convictions it secured and over N248 billion recovered during the first year in office of its current chairman. These may be relevant but credible intelligence leading to the detection and prevention of crimes will save even more.

    This calls for systemic and institutional reforms that will substantially address the relative ease with which government functionaries loot public funds at their disposal unnoticed. Sadly, Nigeria’s standing in the corruption ladder of Transparency International in the last two years, has continued to indicate the pervasiveness of the malfeasance.

    It is getting increasingly clearer that many of those presiding over our collective patrimony cannot be trusted with public funds. Or, how else do we rationalise the criminal love for money and unbridled quest for property acquisition by one man in a country populated largely, by hewers of wood and fetchers of water?

    It assails public sensibilities. That has been the disconnect accounting for suspicion and lack of trust in government policies entailing sacrifice from the citizenry. That narrative must change for this country to make reasonable progress.

  • IDPs of Southeast

    IDPs of Southeast

    A worrisome picture of the humanitarian crisis engendered by violence and ecological challenges in the Southeast was laid bare last week by Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives (DSP), Benjamin Kalu.

    In a roundtable discussion with representatives of International Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), the Kalu reeled out startling statistics on Internally Displaced Persons IDPS from the southeast region.

      Titled “Through Their Eyes: A Call to Action, Addressing Humanitarian Challenges in the Southeast”, the aim of the roundtable was to explore collaborative strategies to address humanitarian, ecological and systemic challenges affecting the zone.

     By the figures released at the event, there are more than 268,000 IDPs spread across 158 camps and affected communities in the southeast zone of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states. Kalu threw further insight into the nature of the humanitarian challenges characterised by displacement, violence, ecological problems including gully erosion that has destroyed homes and left many without shelter.

    “Shelter, in particular remains a pressing concern. Families live in makeshift camps or overcrowded host communities, exposed to health risks, insecurity and loss of dignity…This crisis demands not only immediate intervention but also sustainable strategies to restore stability and hope.” he further stressed.

    Midway in the discussions, a documentary on the grim humanitarian crisis arising from violence, displacement and ecological challenges was shown to the audience. It brought close the reality of the displacements and huge ecological challenges confronting the zone. 

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    It was perhaps, the first official attempt to recognise and document the existence of IDPs and their make-shift camps in the southeast. The sheer number of displaced persons and the reality of the existence of IDP camps in the zone must have altered preconceived notions on the issue.

    Before now, the impression was that there are neither IDPs nor their camps in the southeast region. That notion may have festered due to the absence of federal established and funded IDP camps even in the face of the dislocations arising from festering insecurity and ecological displacements. The attitude of the federal government overtime to issues affecting the zone may also have had a hand in sustaining that notion.

    All that have been dispelled by the chilling statistics reeled out by the Office of the Deputy Speaker in conjunction with Peace In South East Project (PISE-P). The reality of IDPs and their camps (no matter the shape they take) in the region is no longer in doubt.

    What should be of utmost concern is how to galvanise and pull efforts by governments at all levels to provide humanitarian interventions and sustainable development solutions to the challenge. The humanitarian crisis in the southeast is real. It is not just a regional issue but a national challenge that requires collaborative action.

    The military operations in the zone, constant attacks and killings by the so-called unknown gunmen and violence often ascribed to the IPOB have all led to huge displacements and relocation of a host of communities fleeing to safety.  Many of the displaced persons are scattered in overcrowded villages considered relatively safer, make-shift camps, shanties and the state capitals.

    Due largely to the itinerant and mobile nature of people of the zone, the full weight of the displacements is not being properly felt by the authorities. But that does not in any way whittle down the enormity of the crisis as the displaced contend with the challenges of shelter, health risks, insecurity and overcrowding in host communities.

    Displacements as a result of insecurity and organised violence have equally taken a serious toll on the cultural practices of the people of the region. It is commonplace these days to see the Igbo organise traditional wedding ceremonies and bury their dead ones outside their ancestral homes due to insecurity. These are cultural practices hitherto considered abnormal by the people. Perhaps, the burial of a university professor from Orsu Local Government area of Imo State in his Owerri residence just two weeks ago reinforces the gravity of the displacements.

    The southeast is also home to devastating erosion that has over the years led to displacement of families from their ancestral lands with no hope of return. Communities and entire farmlands have been completely washed away. The major cluster of gully erosion sites are in the highland regions of Imo State: Ideato North and South, Orlu, Njaba and ihitte-Uboma. Gully sites in Anambra State are located in three sites in Nanka rated as the largest in Nigeria at 66 metres deep, 2,900 metres long and 349 metres wide according to American Journal of Geographic Information System.  Oko-Ekwulobia, UruOkpala-Ozubulu and Agulu-Ezechukwu erosion sites are some of the few to mention.

    Isuochi in Abia State, Udi in Enugu State and others in Ebonyi add up to the 2,800 active erosion sites recorded by the World Igbo Environmental Foundation (WIEF) in the zone. A breakdown of this figure shows Anambra has 1000 active erosion sites, Imo 300, Abia 500, Enugu 500 and Ebonyi 500.

    When these sites are aggregated, the enormity of the risk faced by the zone consequent of erosion menace becomes very frightening. That is why the recent intervention by Kalu comes in handy. No doubt, a lot of effort was put into documenting IDPs and their camps as well as the mortal threat of erosion in the zone.

    These figures highlight the utter neglect of the humanitarian and ecological challenges plaguing the southeast region. The focus on the peculiar security and ecological challenges of the southeast is a patriotic and worthwhile effort that deserves commendation. The challenge has been identified thus softening the ground for its solution. What remains is for the various levels of government in collaboration with NGOs to take up the initiative.

    The National Policy on IDPs provides for assistance and protection of affected persons in the areas of food security, sanitation, hygiene, shelter, health services and non-food items. Curiously, there have been no efforts by the federal government working alone or in conjunction with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to tackle the humanitarian challenges of the southeast region.

    At the end of 2023, data put together by the UNHCR said Nigeria had an estimated 3.3 million IDPs representing a slight improvement in the 2022 figure of 3.6 million. About half of this figure was generated from Borno State fraught with Boko Haram insurgency.

    The rest was made up by IDPs from other states in the northeast, northwest and north-central plagued by Boko Haram, banditry and the insurgency of the herdsmen. Data from the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), a program that collects and analyses IDP data in Nigeria indicated that as at December 2023, the number of IDPs in Benue, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Nassarawa, Plateau, Sokoto and Zamfara states stood at 1,092,196 persons in 183,437 households.

    It is therefore not surprising that Nigeria is rated one of the 10 countries with the largest number of IDPs in the world. When the UNHCR figures are paired with the 268,000 IDPs of the southeast, the enormity of the challenge is better conjectured. The figures could even be higher given the difficulty in generating accurate and reliable data on these shores.

     The federal government maintains IDP camps in many of the northern states plagued by sundry violence and the Federal Capital Territory FCT. It also works with international NGOs as part of the humanitarian response to provide shelter, non-food items, blankets, cash assistance apart from supporting water sanitation, health and education as priority areas.

    But the same measure is yet to be extended to the southeast. Rather, our leaders opted to live in denial of the reality that the festering insecurity, violence and killings in the zone are bound to lead to displacement of persons in their numbers.

    Kalu pledged the commitment of his office to champion the legislative and policy frameworks that will address the issues most comprehensively. This gives hope. It is not just about immediate humanitarian support but sustainable strategies to restore peace, order and stability to affected communities.

    That is part of the durable solutions’ component of the National Policy on IDPs. It entails addressing and eliminating factors that accentuate the displacement of persons from their home such as insecurity, violence and ecological factors.

    With this achieved, issues of return, sustainable reintegration and resettlement can then progress in earnest. It is hoped the new reality presented by the existence of IDPs in the southeast region will henceforth be factored into federal government’s comprehensive policy response to the issue. This should ensure all sections of the country are carried along in evolving immediate and long term solutions to factors that incubate IDPs.

  • Reprieve for UNIZIK, others

    Reprieve for UNIZIK, others

    Reprieve came last week for two federal universities embroiled in internecine leadership crises when the presidency weighed in. Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) Awka, Anambra State and Federal University of Health Sciences, (FUHSO) Otukpo, Benue State had of recent, been entangled in internal crises that threatened the peace and orderly conduct of academic activities.

    The crisis in UNIZIK followed the appointment of Prof. Bernard Odoh as the vice chancellor and Rosemary Nwokike, registrar in very controversial circumstances. That of FUHSO, Otukpo was sequel to the illegal suspension of the vice chancellor by the pro chancellor and chairman of the institution’s governing council, Ohieku Muhammed Salami. The unilateral suspension pitted Salami against ministry officials.

    The senate, stakeholders at UNIZIK and the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU had kicked against the appointments; raising a number of flaws in the manner the governing council led by Ambassador Greg Mbadiwe went about it.  They alleged that the procedure for the appointments was deliberately skewed to exclude key stakeholders of the institution in utter breach of the laws. Some aggrieved staff of the university had even gone to court to challenge the contentious appointments.

    There were also other allegations regarding the academic qualifications of Odoh to head that institution. Interestingly, the Federal Ministry of Education was quick to respond to the situation, nullifying the appointments for being in “gross disregard for constituted authority and not in line with extant provisions”.

    The letter from the permanent secretary had asked the pro-chancellor and chairman of the governing council to hold on other appointments pending the resumption of duty of the newly appointed minister of education.

    But this did not change anything. Rather, things seemed to have headed for the worse when the governing council issued a seven-day ultimatum to aggrieved staff to withdraw all court cases arising from the appointment of the vice chancellor and registrar or face disciplinary action. It was thus, a matter of time for the chicken to come home to roost.

    In the case of FUHSO, Otukpo, the unilateral and illegal suspension of the vice chancellor of the institution by the pro chancellor and chairman of the governing council was at the centre of the crisis. He had also carried the action in contravention of extant rules. All efforts by the ministry officials to get him retrace his steps were said to have been rebuffed leading to tension in that citadel of learning.

    So it did not come as a surprise when the presidency dissolved the governing council of UNIZIK and sacked the newly appointed vice chancellor, Prof. Odoh and the registrar. A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga said the “sacking of the governing council and officials followed reports that the council illegally appointed an unqualified vice chancellor without following due process”.

    It noted that after the controversial appointment, the federal government stepped in to address the tension between the senate and the governing council. Apparently dissatisfied by the failure of the governing council to heed the initial advice of the ministry of education, the presidency was left with no other choice than to act in the way it did. The dissolution of the governing council and sacking of the controversial appointees were therefore logical outcomes of that intransigence.

    The presidency did not also spare Salami, as he was relieved of his position as pro chancellor and chairman of the governing council of FUHSO. The decision followed Salami’s illegal actions including suspending the vice chancellor without following the prescribed procedures.

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    The presidency also noted that despite the interventions of the ministry of education to have the illegal suspension revoked, Salami refused and instead resorted to abusing and threatening officials of the ministry including the permanent secretary.

    There was also a presidential order for immediate swap of the positions of pro chancellors and chairmen of the governing councils for the Federal University of Oye-Ekiti and Federal University of Lokoja. This saw Victor Ndoma-Egba serving as the pro chancellor of Federal University of Lokoja taking over at the Federal University Oye-Ekiti while Kayode Ojo who previously held a similar position in Oye-Ekiti assumes the new role in Lokoja.

    The change is said to be “part of President Tinubu’s initiative to foster diversity and national cohesion in the management of the country’s universities” It is not clear why national cohesion and diversity could not be achieved with the duo in their previous positions or their actions that impinged on those national objectives.

    But the swapping of the two positions would suggest something went wrong with the initial choice of Ojo as the pro chancellor of federal university, Oye-Ekiti. His geo-political zone gives this out.  Ndoma-Egba is from the South-south. So diversity or national cohesion could also have been served by his retention in any of those institutions. But not with Ojo in Oye-Ekiti. It is not unlikely there may have been issues in Ojo’s tenure at Oye-Ekiti that accentuated the imperative for ‘balance and national cohesion’.

    Overall, it is good a thing the presidency took steps to restore order and decorum at UNIZIK and FUHSO. The warning to the councils not to create distractions in the universities that will obstruct the focus on improving the standards of education in the country says it all.

    Not a few Nigerians were embarrassed by the show of shame at UNIZIK and FUHSO. If a vice chancellor could be appointed and sacked at will by the councils without regard to clearly established procedure, then all the grounds for the decapitation of the university system would have been set.

    The universities being human organisations are not immune to disagreements. But the challenge in such situations is not in the existence of disagreements as such but their resolution in keeping with established rules and regulations.

    That is one area the conduct of the pro chancellors at the two universities will continue to confound keen observers. It is reassuring that when controversies arose in both universities on the procedure for appointing and sacking a vice chancellor, the Federal Ministry of Education (the supervising ministry) took appropriate measures to redress the anomaly. Unfortunately, those efforts were rebuffed.

    Both pro chancellors trudged on as if the ministry had no statutory role in the matter. Salami was even alleged to have gone as far as abusing and threatening directors of the ministry including the permanent secretary. What emboldened him to act in that manner exposes his unsuitability for that high profile position.

    But the two incidents raise issues on the choice of people appointed as pro chancellors and members of the governing councils of the universities. The universities are very key in the development matrix of any country. The aphorism that no nation develops beyond its level of its education says it all. The universities should not just be seen as another set of parastatals for the patronage and compensation of politicians after elections.

    It is vital that those with the requisite expertise, experience and maturity in managing complex organisations are engaged in such positions. The brazen impunity that manifested in the appointment and sacking of the two vice chancellors are symptomatic of all that is wrong with our national politics.

    This rot is manifest in the leadership deficits that hold this country down. It is evident in the amateurish, incompetent and ill-educated people that suffuse leadership positions at all levels of our national life. It can be discerned from the indecent haste to cut corners and abridge rules. You can also find its manifestation in the rancorous elections that shut out experienced and capable people through organised violence.

    You cannot continue to place nothing on something and expect good outcomes. That is the leadership dilemma the country has had to contend with. It is high time we reformed our political recruitment processes ensuring competence, integrity and credibility in all appointments. Political expedience over merit and track record will continue to be our albatross.