The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • Nigeria and the drug war challenge

    Nigeria and the drug war challenge

    On Sunday, May 26, Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy of the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), issued a press statement giving details of the arrest of drug peddlers and traffickers and the busting of criminal drug syndicates and operations in different parts of the country in the month of May alone. One of the cases that enjoyed prominent reportage in the media was the arrest by operatives of the agency, on Tuesday ,May 21, of a 48-year-old self-proclaimed businessman, Emmanuel Okechukwu Orjinze, who was bound for Paris, France, from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja. He was nabbed for ingesting 111 wraps of cocaine, which was found to weigh 1.603 kilograms, after he had excreted the substances over six days in the custody of the agency.

    Again, this time at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, officers of the NDLEA uncovered and incapacitated another drug trafficking syndicate at the facility. This followed the arrest of four members of the network and the seizure of a total of 8kg of methamphetaine and 7.6kg of Loud, said to be a synthetic strain of cannabis with its origin in South Africa. According to the release by Babafemi, “The lid was blown off the syndicate when an official within the airport system was intercepted with a backpack and a bag at the departure hall of Terminal 1 of the airport by NDLEA officers with the support of Aviation security officers on Tuesday, 21st May, 2024. A search of the bags led to the discovery of the illicit substances”.

    He continued, “A swift follow-up operation at Ajao—Estate area of Lagos led to the arrest of two other members of the syndicate: Chris Nwadozie and Chinedu Nwosu. Further investigation led to the arrest of another member of the cartel working within the airport system on Saturday, 25th May”. The press statement gave details of the apprehension in the month of May of an assortment of criminals in the drug trafficking ring in various parts of the country including Ajao-Estate and Igbo Elerin in Lagos, Ukpada Utugwan village in Cross River State, Jabiri Funtua in Katsina State, Karu abattoir, Jukwali and Tora Bora hill areas of the FCT, Abuja, as well as Auchi town in Edo State.

    This is an indication of the pervasiveness and widespread nature of the illicit drug business in the country but also the significantly enhanced operational efficiency and capacity of the NDLEA to discharge its statutory responsibilities. But that had not always been the story of this all important agency saddled with the challenge of protecting society from the menace both of international trafficking in drugs but also local patronage and consumption of these substances which have been proven to be corrosive of the very fabric of communities. Before the assumption of the leadership of the NDLEA in January 2021 by General Mohammed Buba Marwa, the agency had been hobbled by bureaucratic inertia, debilitating staff demotivation, ingrained institutional corruption and vacuity of vision.

    In the last 38 months, however, the NDLEA has regained its organizational vigor and vibrancy and has fast become a model of how committed, focused and competent leadership can be an invigorating impetus for the resuscitation of hitherto largely moribund organizations. Upon his appointment a little over three years ago, there was widespread optimism that Marwa had the capacity to perform given his antecedent track record in public office but there were also those who felt that the treacherous terrain of combatting a menace as financially rewarding as drug trafficking could be tricky and Herculean even for the most determined leader.

    Thankfully and to the benefit of the country, Marwa has not disappointed. Of course, in his various interactions with the media, Marwa has been quick to credit the country’s leadership for the support and enablement that has facilitated the successes achieved under him so far at the NDLEA. The backing the agency received during the tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari has reportedly been sustained and intensified under the President Bola Tinubu dispensation.

    Thus, the feats recorded by the agency in May this year alone as pointed out in the introduction to this piece, which is a reflection of the sustained and continuously improving performance of the NDLEA under Marwa’s leadership. It has taken the reinvigoration and significantly improved organizational capacity of the NDLEA to expose how deeply immersed Nigeria had become in the illicit drug business both as a major transit route as well as the alarming growth in illicit drug use within the country. Reports by the NDLEA and international drug control agencies indicate that that about 14.4% of Nigerians, which is about 14.3 million people between the ages of 15 and 64 years abuse drugs.

    Statistics from the NDLEA reveal that between January 2021 and March 2024, the agency arrested 52,901 drug traffickers. What is particularly interesting is that this includes 49 barons indicating that the agency does not focus solely on the petty traffickers who are only doing the bidding of their powerful and well-connected paymasters. For the latter too, the fear of the new NDLEA is the beginning of wisdom. During this period, the agency seized over 7,561 tonnes or 7.651 million kilograms of assorted illicit drugs. The value of the seized substances including confiscated cash is estimated at over N958 billion. The dangers to the stability of the state of these kinds of humongous funds in the hands of criminal cartels is a major reason why the work that an agency like the NDLEA is doing is of such critical significance.

    Cannabis, Indian hemp, has been identified as perhaps the most common illegal drug used in Nigeria. It is thus not surprising that the NDLEA has paid particular attention to fighting its cultivation and sale in the country. In the period under focus, the agency destroyed 1,057.33348 hectares of cannabis farms and recorded convictions of 9,034 offenders in this regard. Of course, there is the ongoing debate on whether or not cannabis has beneficial uses and even some possible positive economic fallouts.

    But the agency has stressed its commitment to enforcing the law as currently stands which makes the substance illegal. It’s unceasing onslaught against the trafficking of heroin, cocaine, amphetamine and other no less dangerous drugs as earlier depicted shows that the agency is no less committed to combating the scourge that these noxious substances constitute. There have been suggestions that the death penalty should be introduced for convicted drug traffickers to reduce the incidence of the menace in the country. But this lies within the purview of the National Assembly which is currently reviewing extant laws on the matter.

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    There is no doubt that the new verve, zeal and efficacy of NDLEA operatives is a function of better motivation and the introduction of performance-enhancing reforms and incentives. A number of occasions on which I have encountered the agency’s operatives at work here in Lagos, I have noticed their smart and neat outfits, dignified carriage and professional disposition reminding one of the heydays of the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) under the pioneering leadership of Professor Wole Soyinka.

    During the period in review, the NDLEA introduced cash-backed awards such as Best Performing Commands Awards and merit-based commendations to motivate deserving officers and men. It has institutionalized annual promotion of staff as and when due to tackle the problem of career stagnation that had hitherto negatively affected morale. In addition to putting in place premium life and injury insurance cover for its officers and men, the NDLEA management under Marwa has also embarked on the provision of modern barracks for its personnel with the active support of the government. It is astonishing that this far reaching initiative is coming three and a half decades after the establishment of the agency given the sensitivity and dangers of the operations of its personnel in the context of the ubiquity of deadly and desperate drug cartels.

    Despite its impressive strides in discharging its mandate in the last three years, however, there is still a lot of ground for the NDLEA to cover in dealing with the increasing pervasiveness of drug use in our urban and even rural communities. In a series of exhaustively researched and meticulously crafted feature articles, one of this newspaper’s Associate Editors and columnists, Olatunji Ololade, has written extensively on the growing menace of drug use amongst youths in diverse communities. He reports that such dangerous concoctions as ‘omi gutter’, ‘gutter juice’, ‘Colorado’ and ‘pamilerin’ are widely used by children and teenagers across the country and especially in the Southwest.

    These concoctions, Ololade reports, are produced through a mixture of diverse ingredients including black currant juice, tramadol, codeine, cocaine, rohypncl, cannabis and he notes that “The result- a purple liquid with pungent smell – mimics the effect of injecting high-end cocaine at a fraction of the cost”. Furthermore, youths now reportedly increasingly abuse such household commodities as methylated spirit, glue, paint thinner, nail polish and fermented urine. Increasing drug addiction in communities is not only impairing the physical and mental health of victims but also contributing to the surge of crimes including rape, armed robbery, ritual killings, cultism and gang violence among others.

    In one of his reports, Ololade writes that “A Gutter Juice dealer with branches at Powerline in Agege, stated that some NDLEA officers come around to collect ‘settlement’ (bribe) from her and other dealers. “They come around every Monday morning” she said. This indicates that no matter the efforts of the leadership, every agency will always have its bad eggs who must be continually tracked, apprehended and flushed out.

    At the Lagos State Stakeholders Dialogue on Substance Abuse held at the Ikeja Youth Centre last week, the Lagos State Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Mobolaji Ogunlende, urged the NDLEA to expand its mandate “to include a health-Centered approach to enhance the effectiveness of drug demand reduction”. It would appear that the agency is already sensitive to its responsibility in this regard. Thus, in its drug demand reduction effort, it counseled and rehabilitated 32,402 addicts between 2021 and 2024, reached out to students and teachers of 2,459 schools in its sensitization efforts as well as reaching out to out of school children in 931 markets and motor parks and to other groups in 2,784 communities, workplaces and worship centers.

    But so gargantuan is the task that the NDLEA must comprehensively intensify its efforts in this regard while working closely with other stakeholders to achieve optimum results in the war against drugs in our society. Above all, the alarming dimension that the drug scourge is taking in contemporary Nigeria reinforces the urgent imperative to effectively tackle the pervasive poverty that provides a fertile ground for the menace to fester and thrive.

  • Finidi’s first shower

    Finidi’s first shower

    I deliberately took a hiatus from discussing any subject on the Super Eagles last week Saturday, largely because I was beginning to sound like a broken record. I also didn’t want to be seen or perceived as a seer of any kind when the results of the 2026 World Cup qualification matches started rolling in. It must be stated here that football is the opium of Nigerians, mostly the youth.

    I’m not also anyone’s lickspittle nor am I an attack dog seeking recognition, knowing that I’m gainfully employed by Vintage Press Limited, publishers of The Nation, SportingLife, and Gbelegbo titles. Indeed, Gbelegbo is Nigeria’s fastest-growing Yoruba newspaper without sounding immodest.

    Dear reader, as you read this column today, Nigeria would be preparing for her most difficult game against Bafana Bafana of South Africa inside the Nest of Champions Stadium in Uyo on June 7, with the team’s camp slated to open in Uyo, barring any new changes. Will Nigeria beat South Africa in Uyo?

    As a patriot and one whose livelihood is anchored on sports reporting, it is always my wish that Nigerians distinguish themselves since the active years of sportsmen and women is between four years and 12 years, barring career-threatening injuries. For the women, their spouses may not be willing to allow their wives to participate in sports fully, thus leaving the chores of the home front, especially the kids in the hands of relations or/and house helps.

    I’ve chosen not to discuss my views on the team list to prosecute the two games until after the second qualifier against the Republic of Benin in Cote d’Ivoire on June 10. The build-up towards next Friday’s game against South Africa in Uyo has its pitfall signs with the injury sustained by Osimhen wasn’t bad enough to sideline him, if you ask me.

    Osimhen’s exclusion from the two games in Uyo and Cote d’ Ivoire reminded one about the injury that shut out Victor Boniface from the Africa Cup of Nations in which the hosts, Ivory Coast returned from the dead seemingly as one of the lucky losers to lift the trophy, beating Nigeria 2-1 in the final game. The world had waited in bated breath to watch the Nigerian attacking onslaughts which would have had Osimhen pairing Boniface at a time when both strikers were banging goals with aplomb in their European clubs. It never came to pass.

    Again, it is Osimhen’s turn to miss out on Nigeria’s matches in Uyo. We look forward to how Finidi will deploy his players to produce the desired changes in the team against South Africa in Uyo, on June 7. Just as we were trying to live with the thought of playing without Osimhen, Bayer Leverkusen FC’s Nigerian defender, Nathan Tella pulled out of the two World Cup qualifiers citing family problems that needed urgent attention from him. I know for a fact that Finidi would appreciate what Tella is saying having gone through this football mill in the past. Again, Atalanta FC of Italy is holding back their Nigerian gem Ademola Lookman to play a Serie A game on Sunday. Hmmmm! Glad to know that Finidi isn’t talking about any club versus country brouhaha with the Italians.

    Pundits are, however, taken aback by Atalanta’s decision to delay Lookman’s arrival in Camp they are already in next season’s UEFA Champions League fixtures having beaten Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the Europa Cup finals. Yes, Lookman was spectacular in that game scoring the three goals that earned the Italians their first European title. It is Nigerians; fervent wish that the Super Eagles qualify for the next Mundial, having missed out of the last edition held in Qatar in the year 2020.

    The Italian side clearly have officials who enjoy flexing muscles with other nationals. Granted Atalanta pays Lookman’s wages, but the World Cup at the senior level is every country’s desire to attend, not talk about the spiral effects such attendance would bring to bear on those players who distinguish themselves by way of joining bigger European clubs. I digress!

    Finidi has two handicaps in his hands ahead of the Bafana Bafana tie, yet this could lessen his headache in choosing who to deploy in the attack where he has a galaxy of stars that did very well in the 2023/2024 football season.

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    But it is the defence that Finidi would miss Tella, especially in the absence of Ola Aina who appears to have mastered playing at left back using his right foot for both club and country. However, could this be the biggest chance for Enugu Rangers left-back Kenneth Obinna Igboke to function as a deserving replacement for Nigeria using his left foot?

    It is important to remind Finidi that the team’s defence has been largely depleted with most of the replacements lacking the experience to match those recuperating from injuries sustained playing for the European clubs. It is expected that Finidi knows the combination which would ward off the onslaught from the South Africans and the lads he would confront in Cote d’Ivoire.

    Interestingly, easily one of Nigeria’s most decorated players who played in Europe, Nwankwo Kanu gave Finidi something to think about when he tipped Okoye as the team’s best goalkeeper. Will Finidi take to heart things that placed Okoye above Stanley Nwabali? Or would he err on the side of caution by holding on to Nwabali to protect the ball from entering the net on June 7 and June 11? It is important to admit that Finidi would miss the towering presence and contributions of Troost-Ekong in both games. Troost-Ekong as captain at the African Cup of Nations helped to stabilise the team’s defence.

     The Eagles’ midfield is strengthened with the return of Wilfred Ndidi with Frank Onyeka, Alex Iwobi, and Raphael Onyedika in a four-man midfield, not forgetting Kelechi Iheanacho. Finidi would be ruing Moses Simon’s absence on the field and either side of the team’s attacking options. Eagles’ strikers distinguished themselves in various leagues in Europe. Finidi would have to dig deep into his bag of coaching tricks to pick his attackers for the two World Cup qualifiers. As  Finidi prepares for his first shower in public glare as Super Eagles Head Coach, it is only fair that this writer wishes him the best of luck for the good of the game in Nigeria.

    Well, talking about how the changes from the previous game would inform Finidi’s choice of players against the Benin Republic in Cote d’ Ivoire reminds me of the poser of disbelief by one of my colleagues in Sportinglife who couldn’t see the merit in picking Enugu Rangers FC of Enugu’s left back Kenneth Obinna Igboke to replace Osimhen instead of a striker. Even if Finidi wanted to use that opportunity to invite a home-based player, he should have gone for a striker so that the player would watch and rub minds with the other foreign-based players’ new tricks in the act of scoring goals. One must, however, applaud Finidi for picking one home-based player as Osimhen’s replacement.

    In the past, we would have asked Osimhen to report to the team’s doctors to confirm if he was really injured even when we saw on television how the SSC Napoli striker limped off the game against Leece.

    I hope the attackers Finidi picks for the two games can replicate their club form and deliver the games to Nigerians by scoring goals with aplomb.

  • The echoes of Biafra

    The echoes of Biafra

    Two scores and seventeen years ago, faced with the choice of freedom , survival and security on one hand and extinction and perhaps servitude on the other; together with the refusal of General Yakubu Gowon to implement the agreements reached at Aburi which was perhaps the last ditch attempt to give the then young nation of Nigeria some wriggle room and save it from collapse or further bloodshed, a young Colonel, by name Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu declared what was then the Eastern Region together with its continental shelf and territorial waters as “The Republic of Biafra”.

    What followed was a war that lasted for three years and its lessons thereof, the Federal Government which claimed that it had a mandate to keep Nigeria one quickly invaded Biafra attaining relative success despite the support it received from a number of global powers, who propped up Gowon while war ravaged the Biafra. These powers turned a blind eye to the numerous atrocities committed by Federal troops, exhibiting the hypocrisy that has become the trademark of the West on matters affecting the Third World. Save for France, where the French leader Charles De Gaule and his Adviser on African Affairs, Jacques Foccart readily sympathized with Biafra, matter of fact Biafra’s collapse came as a shock to Foccart who was allegedly preparing some military aid package to the defunct nation.

    The war resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of people and bore with it certain scars which are still with us today. These scars have reluctantly refused to heal and though the victorious Nigerian side declared that there was “No Victor, Nor Vanquished” the relics of the war and its effects on Nigeria remain a traumatic aspect of our national life that years on, even with the demise and aging of a number of players and participants in that struggle, Biafra as a thematic event, as a legacy, as a historical threshold and a warning that unless Nigeria as a nation avoids the pitfalls that led to the war, the ties binding this nation of nations and of hundreds of languages will untether.

    The legacy of Biafra is still a contentious issue in Nigeria today and it is what keeps fueling its echoes, the fact that there appears to be allegations of marginalization of NdIIgbo cannot be wished away, even by those hardened by belief in a free and fair Nigeria as myself but then there are allegations of marginalization of the Yoruba people, of the Niger Delta people, of the Kanuri people, of the Northern Christians and Middle Belters, even the Fulani who have held sway over the leadership of this country too have also cried marginalization in one way or the other, while these calls may baffle a number of onlookers, such Babel like allegations serve as a clear case for the need to restructure Nigeria!

    Asides having broader implications for the African continent as a whole. It exposed the fault lines of colonial boundaries and ethnic diversity in post-colonial states, raising questions about the concept of national unity and identity.

    There is no need to even serve as a sentinel here, as we are living witnesses to the resurfaced calls for a repeat secession and the restoration of Biafra as an independent state. Today the SouthEast is like a war torn zone with a number of groups claiming to be Biafran separatist groups emerging to demand its independence, clashes have occurred between the Nigerian security agencies and these groups resulting in the unnecessary deaths of civilians and security personnel. Thus while the memory of Biafra is kept alive and the nostalgia of what could have been had Biafra survived the Nigerian onslaught burns through, there is the need to heal the wounds and the scars of yesterday, the need to prevent another war and the need for Nigerians to discuss how we intend to live with each other, until we seriously address the latter, the nation will continuously be dogged by cries for its dismemberment:some germane , the others for pecuniary gains!

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    There also appears to be a renewed interest in the history of Biafra, with scholars, activists, and artists exploring its significance in contemporary Nigeria. Books, documentaries, and art exhibitions have brought the stories of the war to a new generation, sparking conversations about reconciliation, justice, and memory. There is nothing wrong with this after all till this very day, those states which were Confederates in the civil war of the United States still hoist confederate flags and engage in memorials which for many unborn Americans much enables them to connect with their past and its implications for their own identity and future. Same goes for the United Kingdom which has had to contend with Scottish, Irish and Welsh rebellions over the years, but these memories yet serve as a cultural renaissance and an avenue for learning.

    Biafra represents a complex and painful chapter in Nigerian history, but it also serves as a reminder of the resilience and strength of the Igbo people. Like I said, the struggle for self-determination and justice continues to resonate with many Nigerians who feel marginalized and oppressed by the current system, we thus must not fail to hear and hear clearly its echoes– emphasizing the importance of dialogue, inclusion, and the need to return to true federalism or restructuring!

    As Nigeria continues to navigate amidst its complex history and diverse society, the memory of Biafra remains a powerful force for change and reflection. It challenges us to confront the injustices of the past, to acknowledge the pain and suffering of those who were affected by the war, and to work towards a more inclusive and peaceful future for all Nigerians. Biafra is not just a historical event; it is an idea forever etched in our minds that even in the face of tyranny and oppression, mankind will always prefer the allure of freedom even when such appears to be costly eventually.

  • Kano Emirate and the irony of innocence

    Kano Emirate and the irony of innocence

    There is a ticking time bomb in Kano and President Bola Tinubu has to move in quickly in a statesmanlike way to diffuse it. If centuries of upholding the tradition have brought peace to the ancient city just as we have in Ibadan, why uproot hundreds of years of history? Of course, that’s why Abdullahi Ganduje, the immediate past governor of Kano State, has to accept responsibility because he triggered this crisis.

    Like it or lump it, Governor Abba Yusuf and former Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso also played politics. But then, Yusuf didn’t hide it, that he would remove Aminu Ado Bayero if he won the governorship election; and that promise enjoyed popular support among the people. For him therefore, he only sees Muhammadu Sanusi’s reinstatement as a fulfillment of a campaign promise and that’s what democracy is all about! Nonetheless, the irony of innocence is that nobody should be extricated from Kano’s current plight because they’re all involved!

    Ganduje shouldn’t have deposed Sanusi and upset an Emirate structure that dates back to 1805. If God has structured everything to be in the right place, the former governor ought not to have kept repeating the same mistake. Instead, he should have tolerated the Emir and his excesses – real or perceived – just as former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State tolerated Lamidi Adedibu. Had he done that, the nonsense currently on rampage in Kano would have been avoided. It’s a real shame and how the state is going to get out of the quagmire will obviously now depend on the courts. One just hopes that the courts would now behave sensibly and do the needful.

    The ‘wahala’ in Kano has again reinforced the urgent need for a constitutional court in Nigeria. Had there been one in place, the tendency is that it’d originate and get the matter resolved in a matter of weeks. Tragically however, the Akire stool in Osun State has sufficiently shown that only God knows the shape, size and duration of the search for justice. To put it succinctly therefore, unless God takes control, Kano is one case that’s destined to be rotating between ‘upandan’ and ‘dananup’ for a very long time to come.  This is where we are and it is unfortunate!

    The conflicting injunctions from the courts of concurrent jurisdictions and forum shopping by the counsels are also unhelpful as they have further de-marketed Nigeria’s judiciary which, already, is not taken seriously by the international community. One of the advantages countries like South Africa and Kenya have ahead of Nigeria is that the perception of their competitiveness is stronger than Nigeria because the world sees them as countries with very strong, independent judiciary.

    Now that the chickens have come home to roost, it becomes imperative for the gladiators to be cautious because it may be tempting for some people to contemplate a state of emergency in the state. Of course, that’d be dangerous because, unlike states like Plateau and Ekiti where a state of emergency was awarded and nothing to show for the show, Kano is a very politically explosive and threateningly sophisticated terrain. So, any government that will think of emergency rule in the state must first think of the country’s democracy which, even at 25, is still teething.

    Let’s get it right, what is currently playing out in Kano is politics; and it’s always like that! From the deposition of Alaafin Adeniran Adeyemi II in 1955, to the dethronement of Oba Olateru Olagbegi in 1966, even the reduction of Oba Samuel Akinsanya’s annual salary to one penny by the Ladoke Akintola-led government in Western Nigeria, politics in this part of the world has always been a platform by the bourgeoisies and the capitalists to grab power, secure the spoils of office and pay back the favours that got them (s)elected; and it is the resources of the state that they’re leveraging. In the case of Kano, the only culprit is ambition. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with ambition. However, when ambition drowns deep in dirty politics and vain desires, it takes on an identity of significant tensions, and, if left unmanaged, the representations of its subconscious may have nothing to do with humanity.

    Unlike Sanusi, that the dethroned Emir Bayero decided to return to Kano “amidst tight security” smirks of mischief and this is where Tinubu must rise above partisan politics by choosing the timing as well as what’s happening on the weather front before the crisis ultimately consumes everybody. Presently, it might look like a local Kano issue but a blowout is something that may ignite all kinds of hidden forces and, for a country already sitting on a powder keg, one cannot predict where or how it will end!

    Let it be noted that, in terms of population and all kinds of social forces, Kano is ideologically and politically divided. Thus, any violence in the state may be another problem to contain because the country is already fragile. There could also be a domino effect in neighbouring states. Regrettably, Nigeria’s security forces are already overstretched and overstressed. Added to this is the lack of sophisticated munitions to prosecute the kind of war that’s already in our domain. So, it is a dicey situation!

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    The effect of the perception of Nigeria abroad – that the country has very weak institutions that can’t contain and diffuse this sort of thing – is already dire. So, Kano provides an opportunity for the president to prove the naysayers wrong! A mass showdown in a key state like Kano will not help Nigeria’s investment ratings for no man will want to invest in a country where his investments are not safe. A credit risk analyst who sits in London, analyzing the prospects of investments in Nigeria will definitely factor in a situation like Kano and come to the conclusion that the country’s climate is not conducive for investment and the spiral effects will not spare even those in Ijebu-Jesa in Osun State. All the more reason a government trying to attract investors must nip the tussle in the bud before the enthusiasm becomes uncontainable.

    The beauty of the bash is that a template has already been set. But how have these ‘two-fighting’ distractions that politicians always use as a tool impacted the people and how has imposing or deposing monarchs improved the GDP level of our states? In Kano State, poverty level is very high and unemployment is also nothing to write home about. Come to think of it, state funds will be used to boost the egos of these monarchs, fight the battle in the law courts and underwrite security for those who have been deployed to keep the peace. So, what have the people gained? If Nigeria is truly a Republic, what are the roles of Obas, Obis and Emirs in this dispensation and what’s their centrality to the socioeconomic morass that is currently pushing the limit?

    In practical terms, Kano is just part of the political economy that has sprung up to give Nigeria a disheveled appearance. It is nothing but a diversion of issues from the real issues of sustainable development and that’s part of what led to the abolition of the Maharajas and the Maharanis in India by Indira Gandhi and heavens did not fall! Of course, that’s what happens when people push their luck. That’s how it has been throughout history. Yes, that’s why the Bourbons are no longer on the throne in France. Pray that, one day, a power-drunk leader would not get to power only to make mincemeat of these excesses. After all, nothing lasts forever!

    A word should be sufficient for the wise!

    May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, grant us peace in Nigeria!

  • Executive/Legislative independence : truth or farce?

    Executive/Legislative independence : truth or farce?

    “There can be no liberty where the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person or body”.

    -James Madison (father of America’s constitution).

    Democracy seems to be admired as a system of government because ideally it is a government of the people by the people and for the people. Elections seem to be the pillar of democracy because it is the process through which the people choose their leaders and the expectations are that each elected candidate is a deliberate choice of the people who might have considered certain variables before voting. This is why voting at elections is considered a civic duty of citizens. In some countries, voting during elections is made compulsory and failure to do so punishable.

    Only two arms of government, the executive and the legislature are the elected representatives of the people and their loyalty ought to be to the people. In Nigeria sadly, the political system is different and as such there is a flawed type of democracy and with this comes a myriad of other problems. When the loyalty of the elected is not to the people, there is a dysfunction that adversely affects the people.

    Nigeria claims to practice the American brand of democracy on paper but the structural practice seems to be purely ‘homegrown’ in ways that had stunted the growth of democracy. The political party structure is so dysfunctional that it affects the whole system. The political parties are not run in ways that the administration is properly structured to deliver politically viable processes. The financing of the political parties is often left to those who have the money and because he who pays the piper dictates the tune, there are often influences that impede the democratic processes.

    The Roundtable Conversation believes that there must be a restructuring of political party administration in ways that the financing of the parties would fall on the public and members of the political parties and donation of campaign funds strictly regulated. This brings accountability because stakeholders become the gatekeepers. The idea that ‘party chieftains’ fund political parties makes the parties vulnerable in ways that affect the whole political process.

    The Nigerian post-independence military incursions into governance seem to have negatively impacted the democracy practiced in the country. The authoritarian nature of the military, the lack of accountability in governance, the command and control structure seem to have damaged the foundation of Nigerian democracy and the impact continues even after more than two decades of  civilian democracy.

    The military after every coup first suspends the legislature and rule by decrees. This process seems to have weakened the legislature even as the country has practiced uninterrupted civilian democracy since 1999. The executive in Nigeria seems to have ‘inherited’ the military style of looking down on the legislative arm of government and this has been the case since 1999. The governors seem to wield too much power that it appears they control the legislature at all levels,

    Nothing since 1999 so eloquently points to this than the description of the 9th senate led by former senate president, Ahmad Lawan as a ‘rubber stamp’ assembly. These two words define the trust deficit the people felt about the 9th assembly. There was a feeling amongst the people that the 9th senate was not as independent as they ought to have been and in being so flouted the basic democratic principle that all elected people must maintain the separation of powers for democracy to really live up to its tag as a government of the people.

    The Roundtable Conversation has always maintained that there must be a general overhaul of the system if Nigeria can make progress. The political elite must make deliberate efforts to be self-cleansing. The independence of the three arms of government is sine qua non to development. Those who fashioned the democratic system understood that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The three arms of government are supposed to be independent and act as each other’s watchdog on behalf of the people.

    Somehow, the executive over the years has acted as monarchy at different levels. The governors in Nigeria wield so much power that they often determine who gets elected to the to the state houses of assembly, local government chairmen,  the national assembly and who gets to be nominated as minister and other federal appointments in the spirit of federal character. They muscle their ways through the political space and do some undemocratic things.

    But it is curiously the norm in Nigeria that the executive often behave as though the legislators are only accountable to them. Sometimes when analysts point out the aberration, the politicians claim party loyalty or in some cases, executive/legislative harmony. The people however often see through the façade and try to call them out but more often than not nothing happens as self-interest often trumps patriotism with politicians.

    It is against this backdrop that what is happening in Rivers state should worry Nigerians. The no-love-lost between the former governor of Rivers state, now minister of the federal capital territory, Nyesom Wike and his anointed successor governor, Sim Fubara and the factionalized legislators come to the fore. Wike was a very ‘strong’ governor and an influential politician in his own right. His two term as governor of Rivers cannot be forgotten in a hurry and no Nigerian dreamt that there would be a fallout between him and his successor so early in the day.

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    The Rivers state house of assembly had a few week ago experienced a series of chaotic events, first was an alleged attempt to impeach the new governor, then an arson attack on the building, then the struggle over speakership, then decamping of about 27 members of the house of assembly from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressive Congress (APC) party. Then just yesterday, the state government allegedly  demolished  the state house of assembly building claiming it was due to a professional advise owing to the previous arson attack on the building.

    The two factional speakers of the house both claim to have a court judgment supporting their speakership, one from a federal high court and another from a state high court. There seems to be a judicial cull de sac at the moment. The governor  however present the 2024 budget to the few legislators supporting him in a venue different from where the decamped legislators sat. There seems to be total confusion in Rivers state.

    The question the Roundtable Conversation is asking however is, in this whole chaotic situation in Rivers state, how are the people being served? How does the fight between the two elephants, the former governor and his successor serve the interest of the people of Rivers? Both the legislators alleged to be loyal to the former governor and those loyal to the new governor are representatives of the people. How does the muscle-flexing fit into their legislative functions?

    These and other questions are hanging because there are fundamentals we seem to forget. This chaotic state of affairs is rooted in the type of democracy we have been practicing since 1999. How is it that we are talking of ‘legislators loyal to one personality or the other’? In other climes, elected individuals are accountable to the people and in the case of legislators ether at the state or federal levels, to their immediate constituencies with loyalty to party principles. Legislators hold regular town halls to give accounts to the people. It rarely happens in Nigeria.

    There are basic questions to ask, how is it that the executive elected by the people are not accountable to them? How do governors exercise so much power over the legislature at state and federal levels? Why do governors literally ‘install’ their successors across the nation and in most cases of incompetence goes from a predecessor to a successor and the people suffer the consequences.

    Nigerian democracy must be re-evaluated by all stakeholders if progress is to be made. The different arms of democracy must maintain their traditional roles for a cohesively functional governance to happen.  Power must not be abused by the executive and the legislators must understand that they are an independent arm meant to represent the interest of the people not themselves.

    If Nigeria has chosen the democratic system of government, they must be prepared to obey the tenets laid down for functional democracies. We could pretend  that we can ‘domesticate’ our brand of democracy by infusing our own traditional nuances but obviously they are not working. The country since 1999 has been struggling and is now the poverty capital of the world with 133million living in multi-dimensional poverty and more than 20 million out of school children with dilapidated infrastructure fueling insecurity and unemployment.

    Nigerian political class must not play the ostrich. The problem in Rivers has precedents and they were not tackled and here we are with the mess in Rivers. Each country with a functional democracy got there by working the ropes and obeying the democratic rules. The political elite must realize that destruction of the values of democracy in the name of ego and selfish interests is an ill-wind that blows anyone any good.

    There must be some efforts at returning the democracy to its original form where the people have the power to hire and fire. The era of imposition should be over and there must be a deliberate attempt to curtail the excesses of the executive and to get the legislature and judiciary to be functional. There must be an effort to restructure the political party system for positive outcomes. What the country presently practices cannot develop the country.

    ●This article was originally published on December 16, 2023

  • Which way Nigeria?

    Which way Nigeria?

     Browsing through the internet these days throws up interesting news stories from the educative to the bizarre ones, depending on which of these stories tickle your fancy. For this writer, stories on sports excite me with particular interests in football and cricket. A few times tennis, especially when the Williams sisters (Venus and Serena not forgetting their father), held court in the women’s game. One of my younger brothers introduced golf to me and I’ve taken an interest in watching the elite game with plenty of differences and a lot to cheer about, only if you know the rules.

    For soccer lovers, we are thrilled with fallouts from scenes not captured by the human eye, but which make for interesting reading for readers, with more videos to show how the game can be made beautiful with proper planning. Stories and pictures capturing how winners emerged and the losers made to rue their misfortunes during the 2023/2024 football season litter the internet.

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    Watching football being played the proper way albeit the Manchester City style can be entertaining. It can also be fascinating with the Cityzens having 83 % possession against West Ham’s 17 % at the Etihad Stadium, with some delusionary Gunners’ fans wishing that such a game could cause severe pain to the hosts. No way. As they say in pidgin English ”monkey no dey jump go back.”

    Watching soccer on television can be educative through live commentaries where we were told that since the 1889s we witnessed two teams qualify for the finals of the English FA Cup consecutively when it became apparent that Manchester City had won the Premier League diadem four times consecutively. Manchester City’s FA Cup final against Manchester United enters the annals of the English game at dusk inside the magnificent Wembley Stadium in England.

    No clash in dates with any other domestic games nor was there any postponement because one of the venues had been earmarked at short notice for non-football competitions. Dates, venues, and other logistics towards making the biggest two soccer competitions in England a spectacle to behold had been programmed since last season. Need I state here that the two competitions’ commencement dates and when they end have already been known? No club alters the timetable of the English game except in very rare cases. Even at that new dates are announced quickly and the postponed games are played as agreed. No club takes the game to the equivalent of a Sports Minister in England to adjudicate. Never. A clear case of government interference. Not so in Nigeria where we are experts in peddling influence.

    It is the reason the Premier League runs its calendar from the first week of August to the middle of May the following year religiously. The import of this adherence to the competition’s calendar is that it affords the players ample time to rest their limbs and treat nagging injuries that require urgent surgery before the new season begins. It is also the reason there are two transfer windows for European clubs to strengthen their squads by buying good players bearing in mind the pitfalls of the PPF rules.

    In Nigeria, we pay lip service to such adherence to the stipulated calendar, making the Nigeria Premier League perhaps the only domestic league in the world still in session, though the Spanish La Liga ends this weekend with Real Madrid proud winners for the 36th time.

    Back to the English game. Tottenham’s manager Ange Postecoglou was stunned to his bone marrow listening to Spurs’ fans urging their players to lose a crucial home game to the eventual Premier League winners. The manager couldn’t stomach the crass madness exhibited by the fans, he walked towards them to express his utter disbelief and disgust over the unsportsmanlike conduct. 

    “That’s probably the worst experience I’ve had as a football manager in a game,” Postecoglou said.

    “Once I realised I’d got it wrong in terms of what the atmosphere was going to be like and what people felt, I got a real anxiety within me of, ‘What happens if Man City, the best team in the world, who were disposing of teams quite easily in the lead-up, what if we play as well as we can but they beat us 5-0?’

    “I got cold sweats thinking about people questioning my integrity and the people I work with. Even watching the game back, there was a comment on the commentary, ‘Oh, Tottenham are having a real go here’.

    The pomp and ceremony associated with the events around the last day of the league explains why the corporate world fall over each other to associate their brands and services with the beautiful game in England. The last day of the EPL was such that Arsenal could dethrone the eventual winners Manchester City if the defending champions didn’t beat West Ham at the Etihad. Pundits had correctly tipped Arsenal to beat Everton at the Emirates Stadium in the same way as the champions.

    But Arsenal fans prayed fervently for Man City to slip off with many people wishing that Arsenal dethrones the champions. As the parlance goes ”if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” It didn’t happen. Arsenal and Man City won their last games. Yet, what struck this writer, not for the first time, was the ease with which the organisers prepared themselves for the trophy presentation to the eventual winners. It didn’t matter if the two matches were played in different cities. This was a spectacle that was worthy to behold as the two games in Manchester and London had their twists and turns for 98 minutes, extra time inclusive.

    Man City players enjoyed the ambiance around the stadium while celebrating with the trophy. Of course, sponsors of the league enjoyed more than a fair share of exposures from the telecast of the game and pictures and visuals captured by photographers and television cameras folks present at the stadium last Sunday.

    What stood the English game out on Sunday was the ease with which fans at one venue followed happenings at venues whose results affected the fortunes positively or negatively. In fact watching the Man City game against the Hammers, you could see if and when a goal was scored at the stadium where Gunners at a time the game were trailing by a deflected goal. Most fans were glued to their phones or other communication gadgets streaming the games of their interest.

    One wonders how NFF chieftains sell the domestic league to intended firms when matches are not live on match day or could be streamed online to be abreast with the trends and results anywhere in the world. The interconnectivity during such periods is massive and companies would want to leverage their goods and services on such platforms. Imagine the figures companies would be willing to splash for such global exposure of their products to their targeted audience – the masses.

    Not so in Nigeria because of parochial interests. Playing the league without television coverage amounts to winking in the dark. Perhaps, the NFF could instruct all the teams to record their matches and submit a copy of the tapes to the NFF’s secretariat for them to watch and give judgment where there is the need for such an action. The NFF President Ibrahim Gusau

    could reach out to all the parties to arrive at a workable template for television rights that would take cognisance of the interests of the true owners of the business. Court!

  • Thoughts and non-thoughts on minimum wage

    Thoughts and non-thoughts on minimum wage

    No one can doubt the critical importance of adequate wages for workers both in the private and public sectors for the optional functioning of any economy and the wellbeing of the majority of the people. Workers must be able to feed themselves and their families, afford appropriate healthcare, enjoy conducive shelter and means of transportation, private or public, among others to be maximally productive. Again, it is through reasonably adequate income that guarantees a minimally acceptable standard of living that workers and those who depend on them, a substantial proportion of the population, are able to buy commodities that, in turn, enables producers of goods and services to enjoy good patronage and make profit for reinvestment in further production.

    This is why employers of labour in the private and public sectors of the economy are not doing workers a favour when they pay living wages as the resultant effective demand on the part of the latter is also crucial to having a vibrant and thriving economy as pointed out by Keynesian economists during the cyclical recessionary crises that are intrinsic to capitalism.

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    However, in arriving at an appropriate minimum wage that, as much as possible, reflects living costs, the requisite authorities are also understandably not unmindful of the implications of exorbitant workers’ incomes for high inflation rates that effectively erode a substantial proportion of the increased remuneration accruing to workers. At the height of Nigeria’s oil boom opulence, the General Yakubu Gowon administration, sometime in 1974, awarded the Udoji jumbo salary increase bonanza to Nigerian workers. That was understandable in an era when the country’s leadership asserted that the problem with Nigeria was not the availability of money but how to spend it. Excited beneficiaries of the Udoji salary awards stormed the supermarkets to buy up assorted electronics and other household items in the euphoria of the moment. It was not soon after, however, that inflationary spirals caught up with the new wages, diminishing their real value with long term deleterious consequences for the economy.

    In the aftermath of the removal of the fuel subsidy as well as the merger of the parallel foreign exchange markets by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, reforms that it is generally agreed had become inevitable, cost of living particularly with regard to such essentials as food, drugs and general healthcare, transportation among others has escalated astronomically. Matters have not been helped by the removal of subsidy on electricity for a band of consumers even if that segment constitutes a minority of the population as argued by the requisite authorities.

    There is thus a broad consensus that, given current existential realities, an upward adjustment of the extant national minimum wage of N30,000 has become inevitable. The tripartite stakeholders of government, supposedly at all levels, the organized private sector and labour as represented by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have no disagreement on this. The contentious issue is, what constitutes a realistic living wage?

    Apparently because of the abrupt shock effects of the fuel subsidy removal on living costs and to demonstrate its sensitivity to the pains being borne by ordinary Nigerians, the Tinubu administration offered an immediate wage award of 35,000 Naira to federal government workers for an initial period of six months pending the determination of a new minimum wage, which the government promised would be a living wage. The implication was that added to the existing legal minimum wage of N30,000 and an earlier wage award of N12,000 given federal workers by the preceding President Muhammadu Buhari administration, this category of workers is going home with N77, 000 a month as rightly argued by eminent radical columnist, comrade Owei Lakemfa.

    A number of state governments had offered differing wage awards to their workers ranging from N10,000 to N25,000. The Edo State governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, announced a minimum wage of N70,000 to his state’s workers saying the state would make necessary adjustments when an agreement is reached on the issue at the national level.

    It is on the basis of the current minimum wage plus the wage awards that amounts to N77, 000 per month that labour insists that the federal government’s offer of N57,000 as at the last sitting of the tripartite committee is, in reality, a wage reduction.

    It is also in the same light that labour perceives the offer of N54,000 by the private sector. But I think the point is that labour’s initial request for a minimum wage of N615,000 per month for the lowest paid worker, which it later reduced to N497,000, should have been strongly objected to as unrealistic ab initio by the government team and the organized private sector. It should not have been accepted as a meaningful starting point for any reasonable negotiation by other components of the tripartite committee. Had that been done, labour would most probably have scaled down its expectations and moderated its demands thereby making current stormy negotiations less intractable.

    Labour argues that it arrived at its proposals based on a computation of how much, realistically, it would require for a family of six, a mother, father and four children to survive in a month on what is essentially a shoe string budget. It thus bases its demand on a conservative estimated cost of feeding, housing, healthcare and transport costs for the hypothetical family per month. But this is hardly a realistic way to proceed if labour is not bent on making negotiations impossible and industrial crisis inevitable.

    Going by its logic, then a minimum wage of at least not less than N200,000 per month would have been insisted on by negotiators on behalf of labour rather than the N30,000 agreed upon at that time almost ten years ago. Who does not know that the N30,000 agreed on then could hardly take any worker home? But the labour unions discount the factor of the extended family as a social security network in our peculiar circumstances and the cushion it provides in augmenting the income of those who work in the formal sector through diverse devices. That is the only reason that explains why majority of people are able to continue to work at current wage levels despite excruciating living conditions.

    But the critical factor is, what can employers of labour in the private and public sectors afford to pay without having to massively retrench workers or, in the case of private firms, close down operations completely thereby sending more workers into the unemployment market? As it is currently, many states are struggling to meet the extant minimum wage of N30,000. It is not surprising that governors who are expected to be members of the tripartite negotiating committee have reportedly not bothered to attend its meetings. Where do they begin negotiating from when labour makes N615,000 or N497,000 its starting point?

    In the same vein, the private sector, particularly manufacturing with a high labour absorptive capacity, is functioning significantly sub-optimally due to inclement operating conditions. This accounts largely for the high rate of unemployment in the country as there is a limit to which the public sector can absorb surplus labour. To force an unrealistic minimum wage on the country would compel both the private and public sectors to retrench workers substantially while not guaranteeing the sustainable payment of the suggested new minimum wage to the remaining workforce.

    Forced retrenchment will deepen overall poverty while worsening destructive social vices that have already assumed epidemic proportions. Meanwhile, spiraling inflation would have significantly eroded the value of the humongously enhanced wages. Again, a new minimum wage in Nigeria does not mean simply adjusting the pay of the least paid worker upward by the required margin.

    Rather, as former Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), aptly puts it in an essay in his book, ‘Nigerian Public Discourse’, “However, in other jurisdictions, the approach is to effectuate a modification in the minimum wage payable. Whereas, when Nigeria implements its own revisions, it affects everyone earning wages and salaries, leading to a consequential escalation to the most senior white- collar worker, thereby creating a fiscal challenge for the nation. This is the underlying reason why, even after the so-called minimum wage is increased, it is typically not disbursed. This is attributable to the fact that what has been executed is a base salary overhaul and augmentation of the minimum wage”.

    BRF in his exhaustive discourse on minimum wage in the essay notes that “As we have seen, the word clearly used in Item 34 of the Exclusive Legislative List is “minimum wage”. It does not talk about salaries”. He then submits that “Furthermore, as it has also been shown, wages and salaries are different and should not be conflated. Therefore, efforts to improve minimum wage must be that and nothing more. It must not translate into a salary overhaul by accident. While cost of living challenges support the need for wages and salary increases, these revisions, in my view, must be delivered by different vehicles with clear parameters as to who will benefit from a wage review and those that should get a salary review”. I think the senior lawyer’s view must be of interest to those currently working on a review of aspects of the extant 1999 Constitution (as amended).

    True, with the removal of fuel subsidy, more Naira revenues have accrued to the three tiers of government. But this should not necessarily mean recourse to an exorbitant salary award extravaganza a la the catastrophic Udoji awards earlier referred to. Rather than that undesirable and unproductive route, the federal and state governments must continue to invest surplus resources and innovate towards optimal electricity generation, provision of massive road and rail infrastructure, particularly rural-urban transport network, to create the requisite environment for businesses to flourish.

    The private sector, especially micro, small and medium enterprises, are estimated to have a higher job generation capacity than the state sphere. Governments at all levels must also pump sufficient resources into boosting agricultural productivity to force down food prices through ample supply while also substantially reducing food imports, saving foreign exchange and enhancing the strength of the Naira. This will also entail investing even more resources to ensuring greater capacity to secure lives and property across the country so that thousands of displaced farming communities in the food basket zones can return to their farms.

    But then, Labour is on point in its strong condemnation of evident continued waste in government at all levels and the provocative opulence of some appointed and elected officeholders. It is heartening that the Tinubu administration is not unaware of the imperative to ensure more efficient, prudent and transparency in the management of public resources as demonstrated by Mr. Wale Edun, Minister for Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, in his speech at the recent opening of the Fourth Internal Auditors Retreat on “The role of internal auditors in public financial management reforms” which held in Abeokuta.

    Edun stressed the need for an effective and efficient mechanism of administering public resources in the context of dwindling revenue profiles and resultant cash flow challenges. This has become more important not only to achieve more productivity in governance but also make the administration’s call for patience and sacrifices from Nigerians morally justifiable.               

  • Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, GBV and the spoken silence of legalese

    Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, GBV and the spoken silence of legalese

    I was disgusted when I did it, I’m disgusted now. I went and sought out professional help, going to therapy, going to rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry, but I’m committed to be a better man”– Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.

    May 24th marked the one year anniversary of the death of Rock & Roll music legend, Tina Turner. Coincidentally, just a few days ago, one of music world’s most recognizable faces, Sean Combs, otherwise known as P.Diddy, an entertainment mogul, a rapper, record producer and record executive was seen in a CNN-released hotel CCTV video physically abusing his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.

    He founded a record label in 1993 known as BAD BOY RECORDS

    Words!

    Comb’s ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, was signed to his label in 2005 and they started dating in 2007 and for ten years.

    Cassie in November 2023, filed a federal lawsuit  alleging that Combs was “prone to uncontrollable rage” and subjected her to “savage beatings, plied her with drugs, forced her to have sex with other men, and raped her in her home as she was trying to end the relationship in 2018”.

    P. Diddy through his attorney “vehemently denied” the accusations.

    With what appeared with the speed of lightening, the sexual abuse allegations lawsuit was SETTLED THE DAY AFTER under confidential terms.

    “We have decided to resolve the matter amicably” Combs had said in a statement.

    Two more women filed sexual abuse lawsuits on the eve of the ADULT SURVIVORS ACT, a New York law permitting victims of sexual abuse a one year window to file civil action regardless of the statute limitations.

    A lot of other allegations have been surfacing and Combs had to step down as chairman of his television network, Revolt due to the plethora of accusations of sexual abuses.

    He had power and influence and was in a position to come in contact with many vulnerable women especially in music/entertainment.

    A male music producer equally filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against combs. He alleged being forced to have sex with prostitutes.

    At some point, Combs denied all of the allegations against him. His attorneys termed some of the lawsuits and their accusations to Forbes as money grabs, “baseless” or “sickening”.

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    Fast-forward to May 17th 2024, CNN releases CCTV video evidence of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs clad in a white towel dragging and kicking Cassie Ventura his then girlfriend along a hotel doorway.

    There has been a global outrage.

    A few days later, a ‘seeming video apology’ by Combs as quoted above surfaces in the media.

    He appeared somber, devoid of the glitz and glam he is associated with both in countenance and dressing.

    Body language and psychotherapy experts have been analyzing his body language in the video.

    But there are dire observations.

    Wither his earlier ‘vehement denials’ through his attorney?

    What if CNN journalists did not dig out that hotel CCTV video?

    The content sounded very much like a Public Relations journey to redeem a sagging public image .

    It was mainly about him, even though the legal import of the ‘settlement’ was the duo not mentioning each other or details.

    The video message was ‘Ventura-specific’.

    What of others?What of others out-of-hotel CCTV abusive incidents being alleged?

    There was almost zero reference to the enormity of the criminal implications of his actions.  There was no direct address of the incidents. It was more about him and going for therapy, rehab and taking ‘responsibility’.

    His “I apologize” sounded too understated and patronizing.

    Curiously though, not much focus has been on the acts of Gender Based Violence (GBV) as seen in the viral video especially by men with influence or financial power.

    Not many men have poured the energy they apply in other breaking political or conflict/war news on this GBV issue.

    There are too many Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in all sectors and in all countries.

    Not many in the media have focused on the real essence of the video or the victims.

    This reminds one of Shakespeare’s saying that,

    “There’s no art to see the mind’s construction on the face”.

    Combs public persona placed side by side the hotel CCTV physical abuse video speaks to a varied life realities and the illusion of grandeur and public perception of influential figures.

    GBV is a very under-reported and under-acknowledged part of our global community especially amongst Africans in the continent and in the diaspora according to research statistics.

    There is widespread abuse of power expressed through sexual/physical violence in all sectors by powerful, (in financial and influence terms) men. The #Metoo movement has succeeded in putting people like Harvey Weinstein, R. Kelly and Bill Cosby etc., some of the powerful men in the entertainment world behind bars for similar offences.

    More needs to be done both socially and legally to protect more women and men victims.

    Combs’ victim, Cassie Ventura recently put out a statement thanking her family, friends and others around the world for their support following the release of the graphic physical abuse video.

    But the question is, without overlooking the trauma from the abuses and the societal unspoken pressure for silence by victims, why did she quickly accept an “amicable settlement”? What if the CNN didn’t show the hotel CCTV video?

    Was it not possible for her to have pursued more legal grounds even if the specific issue was status barred?  Why did she not report much earlier? Are there socio-legal issues of the fear of being victimized even as a victim?

    May be, just may be circumstances were different. We might discover with time.

    In any case, her lawsuit has made the required impact and she must be commended for the courage to speak out.

    Now the veil is seemingly off. There are more Venturas everywhere in the world!

    Again why are other crimes not time-barred but sexual abuse cases are? Is this not a subtle protection of sexual abusers? Here’s hoping the legislators in the cities concerned or at the national level can review this! It appears like a gag attempt for victims and an empowerment for sexual abusers of both genders.

    As we celebrate the first anniversary of Tina Turner’s passing on this day, this tragic issue brings to mind her abusive marriage to her then husband/manager in what today is metaphor for gender based domestic violence by an influential entertainment/music mogul. Tina had to run away from Ike but told her story much later in books and films. Is the world learning?

    We must realize that GBV is pervasive and defies; race, class, age, status and gender. The human proclivity to perpetrate evil under cover is universal but the human community must make a decision to curb that through laws and strict implementations.

    Women as the worst victims must begin to raise their voices urgently.

    There should be more women going to school, educated ones getting involved in politics especially in the legislature where just and equitable laws can be made that can help disempower men in authority from abusing legitimate powers.

    Women and men must realize the power to say NO, to LEAVE abusive men at home and in the offices or entertainment/music production outfits where most atrocities are hidden under the glitz and glam that distract. Career and pursuit of fame should not come at the expense of self -dignity and the sacrifice of the value of women globally.

    Tina Turner left an abusive Ike Turner and through bravery, hard-work and determination became successful more than any other in the Rock & Roll hall of fame selling hundreds of millions of albums and still found love and lived life on her own terms.

    If a man tries to take advantage of your femininity, stop him because you will be protecting other women by so doing.

    Will more men call out male sexual predators in their midst as a contribution to this war against gender based violence?It is only by having the courage to prevent, fight back through legal tools that GBV can be eliminated.

    Many women have been killed, maimed, traumatized for life and silenced through varied gender based violence.

    Women control a huge part of the informal sector and GBV is a great disruptive behavior that impacts on the socio-economic productivity of women. The impact of this on world economies is too great to ignore.

    Sadly though, men dominate both the political, economic, security and legal sectors that are the key routes to making policies, laws, checkmating and implementing laws that can reduce GBV. The solution can then be for governments to be more sensitive and inclusive considering the overall socio-economic implications of GBV on the entire global economy.

    The Roundtable Conversation believes that not enough attention is paid by governments and society to the impact of GBV on victims and the implication for the human race in general. Women who even though not the only victims are nurturers and when they are traumatized, both the perpetrators, children and other members of the society suffer the consequences.

    The Sean ‘Diddy’ Comb present situation presents the world, given his public status with a vivid picture of the violence many women suffer especially in their efforts to either pursue a career or sustain a relationship. The world nations seem to play the Ostrich in handling gender based violence at home and in the work places. The hope is that this stirs more actions, away from mere rhetoric in working to prevent, rather than reactive actions after incidents when the impact on victims have been established.

    Better inclusion through education and social re-orientation of gender roles can help. Implementation of prosecution with no status-bar would help bring justice to many victims. The world is watching how other high profile perpetrators’ cases of GBV can be handled without pandering to flawed legal technicalities that subsumes justice in favour of perpetrators.

    ● The dialogue continues…

  • The Banex affair

    The Banex affair

    In a democracy like ours, one which has suffered from being an avid militarized society and much possessing the relics of 29 years of military rule in the minds of a majority of Nigerians repeatedly highlights or seeks questions about the complex relationship between the military and civil liberties in Nigeria. 

    The recent event at Banex Shopping Mall where two soldiers were reportedly harassed and beaten by persons who were infuriated by actions of the soldiers over the issue of a phone and the eventual shutdown of the shopping mall by the army is one too many a clash between the members of the military and their civilian counterparts, which shouldn’t be in a country where the armed forces has repeatedly held its own and should rather be  a source of pride and identity for its citizens.

    I like many of us grew up with the military in power, we were used to glorification and deification of the khaki boys, at a point I even applied as a seventeen  year old boy to join the army, I remember my journey to Jos and my exam day in Rukuba Barracks, the military simply awed and terrified us at the same time and many like us believed that the fastest way to salvaging the Nigerian nation was to join the military.

    Now, how the military which has performed a number of heroics for this nation, including its performance in a number of peacekeeping missions, earning the nation a number of embellishments is at same time earning the wrath and condemnation of the civilian populace is indeed puzzling.

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    Yes, the nation has never liked soldiers, particularly  those who served in Lugard’s Army, the West African Frontier Force, WAFF, in the Eastern Region then, the saying “Onye nwere onye agha  ka nwata enweghi nwa” which when readily translated means “ That one who has a soldier as a child does not have a child” . They were seen as the brutes of the colonialists and many well to do families did not wish to see their own join its ranks, a clear example was the efforts put by Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu to stop his son, Emeka Ojukwu , including disowning the latter day helmsman of the defunct state of Biafra from joining the army!

    One obviously wouldn’t blame these “bloody civilians” for such a stance after all the atrocities of the army are forever entrenched within the psyche or the soul of our nation. The bloodletting of the coups of January and July 1966, the civil war and the atrocities committed by both sides, the numerous human rights abuses, the killing of university students, the detentions, state sponsored murders , free and advanced looting and in summation the ‘dog eat dog’ revelations that revealed how despicable a number of those who had donned the uniforms actually were! Then there is the annulment of June 12, where one general gave in to fear and threats and preferred to plunge the nation into chaos and long suffering.

    But this is the same military where a serving officer refused to leave the side of his commander in chief and guest, even when that commander in Chief was of a different ethnic group and that officer could have gone on to live his life to the fullest. This is the same army which introduced a number of impressive policies, projects and infrastructure which we still enjoy today. This is the same army which is still giving its very best in keeping the nation safe battling insurgents, bandits and even criminals, haven replaced the Nigerian police in a heavy number of internal security operations, one analyst once praised the same Nigerian Military as the cement holding our splintered nation together, so how is it that an army which has given so much to the country is detested?

    The truth is that the military particularly members of the Nigerian Army are still hung on the days when they governed Nigeria and cared little for the rights of their civilian counterparts, maybe its in their training or maybe the fact that the Nigerian society is still heavily militarized, the fact that the military still believe that they can effect arrests, discipline their civilian counterparts and defy all forms of civilian authority even in a democracy where the inverse should naturally be the case is quite worrisome. Let me state that the beating of soldiers or their killing in Okuama and all other events where the men and women of the armed forces have been murdered stands condemned, but the armed forces itself must understand that this is a democracy and the military rather than becoming a tool of authoritarianism or a threat to civil liberties can help safeguard and give expression to such liberties.

    No matter how angry the military may have been at such an affront in Banex, shutting down the business complex was a wrong move from its playbook, rather than curry sympathy from such the military will only receive boos from such a show of strength which is only suggesting that they are a law to themselves.

    One will readily recall the recent invasion of a police station where a soldier was reportedly detained which led to the killing of an inspector, or the effrontery displayed by a soldier who threatened the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu for leading the arrest of an army officer who was violating the traffic laws of the state. Truth remains that while the army isn’t the only culprit as other agencies such as the Nigerian Police, Department of State Services, DSS and even those with “Ogas at the top” the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC are also guilty of such, the army takes the chunk of such a narrative.

    In the wake of the shutdown of Banex Plaza, calls  have been made by stakeholders for the Army to reopen the plaza, for clearer guidelines on the circumstances under which the Army can intervene in civilian affairs.

    Likewise, this incident much underscored the need for improved coordination between security agencies and civilian authorities to address how they deal with their civilian counterparts while upholding the fundamental rights of citizens.

    The shutdown of Banex by the Nigerian Army remains a contentious issue that continues to spark debate and controversy. It serves as a reminder of the delicate balance between security and civil liberties in a democratic society and the importance of ensuring that officers and men continue to respect the rule of law and the rights of all citizens.

  • Our survival battles, by female plastic scavengers

    Our survival battles, by female plastic scavengers

    • Say we work under severe conditions for plastic action but we’re not appreciated’

    ASSISTANT EDITOR TAIWO ALIMI captures the heart-rending tales of Nigerian women in the forefront of plastic pollution battle, who unfortunately find themselves in dire conditions of work characterized by disdain, neglect and inhumane treatment. Government and Financial institution, which are critical to the growth and sustenance of the industry, have not been left out in the discrimination.

    She had no intention of being involved with old plastic, let alone falling in love with it.  Nasirat Onaselu, a 2005 graduate of Marketing, was a fabrics seller in Ketu Market, Lagos State until 2021 when she began to experience a decrease in patronage and income.

    She sought advice from her younger brother, “and my brother advised me to look in the direction of recycling. He told me ‘it’s a dirty job, but if you go into it, you won’t regret it.’”

    Taking his advice seriously, she left the comfort of a grand shop in the heart of Lagos Mainland for the filthy and rural Ibafo, an Ogun community on the Lagos Expressway, to learn the ropes of recycling.

    Known as “Mama Haliyah”, the 40-year-old wife and mother left behind her diploma from The Polytechnic Ibadan to become an apprentice under experienced but unlettered masters.

    However, she did not start her venture with plastics. “When I began, I did not know anything about plastics recycling. I contacted a woman who specialised in paper and cardboard recycling, and she took me under her wing to learn the trade.”

    After some time, Onaselu realised that the business was going out of fashion. Despite looking everywhere, she could barely find any paper to buy. In three months, she only managed to get one large chunk, and the profit was not much.

    Next, she tried her hands on CD plate recycling, but to her disappointment, the business also did not yield good profits. But while looking for CD plates, she stumbled on the Kara Ibafo Recycling Centre – a hub for waste recycling in Ogun State. The centre is frequented by scavengers from Lagos and its environs, and Onaselu hoped that she would find lots of CD plates to buy from there. But instead, she discovered that it was plastic waste that was in high demand.

    “Every day, scavengers and ordinary people bring mammoth heaps of plastics of different dimensions and sizes to be weighed and sold to middlemen in recycling business,” she said.

    This realization led Onaselu to venture into the business of plastic waste.

    “People from Northern Nigeria dominate the Kara Market, and for a start, language was a barrier. Even so, they refused to yield to my requests for business direction,” she said.

    Onaselu was again left with no choice but to become a learner.

    “For one year, I learned the ins and outs of the business,” she said.

    Onaselu started from the lowest rung of the value chain; from waste-picking, to sorting, washing, labeling and delivery to the recycling company.

    Initial challenge

    As soon as she got her business off the ground, her hosts became hostile. “Sometimes, they will use their local dialect to instruct customers not to sell goods to me,” she said.

    The problem, she noted, is that the male-dominated marketplace is not used to a woman calling the shot. Women are kept at the base of the business life cycle. They are pickers, sorters, and washers. No woman had aspired to become a buyer and supplier within the market. They are men’s domain. 

    Yet the challenge was the adrenalin she needed to  propel her vision; the tonic to mount the next level. So, she put her body and soul into finding a solution.

    Read Also: Five Northern monarchs deposed in Nigeria

    “I knew my time at Ibafo was over. I had to look for a new location to expand my business,” she said.

    Not long after, she found the right place.

    Said she: “There is a mechanic village in Magboro, about 15 kilometres from Ibafo, where I fix my car, and they are friendly people.

    “I told their leader, Gafar Adeniyi my plight and he took pity on me. He allocated a space for me where I could keep my goods, and since then, business has been good.

    “The thing about washed-out plastic is that the market is inexhaustible. No matter how much plastic you have, there are always recycling companies willing to purchase it. Once you deliver your plastic, it is weighed and you are paid instantly.”

    From scavenging to collecting

    Yet she said it is not as easy as it might sound.

    “I started my journey into plastic waste collection by picking up disused plastics around my neighbourhood, which was my comfort zone.

    “To expand my reach, I began encouraging my friends and family members to save their plastic waste for me, which I would then purchase from them.

    “From there, I began to assemble my team. Now, I have people working for me, including a good number of women.”

    “There are more than 20 women on my payroll. Many of them are cleaners in establishments, and I have trained them on how to gather and keep used plastics. They bring their hoards regularly and I pay them appropriately.

    “As soon as I have enough merchandise, I will deliver it to the recycle company and collect my money.” 

    Onaselu said proceeds are impressive and she’s earning well to sustain her family, and at the same time help other women to sustain theirs.

    “Business is good. But what makes me happy the most is that I am helping other women like me to boost their income and put food on their tables.

    “Last week, I paid a woman N48, 000 for wasted plastic generated. Another got N17,000, and yet another I paid N5,000. Whenever I give them money I’m happy and they are happy too. 

    “There are women who are not doing any meaningful work. Plastic scavenging is an ideal business for them. And they don’t have to look far; plastic wastes are everywhere.”

    Like Onaselu, Mrs. Kemi Ayandade also supplies damaged plastics directly to the company. The 48-year-old had dropped teaching and catering to embrace the plastics business.

    “I’ve been doing it for two years. It is tedious but lucrative,” she said.         

    Women scavengers

    Laide Bakare is one of Onaselu’s regular suppliers. She works as a cleaner in a popular faith-based establishment located in Magboro but says she earns more from the plastics hustle than her normal job.

    She said: “I’ve been bringing plastic waste to her for more than six months. I used to throw away the plastics until I learned I could make a steady income selling them. With the earnings, I can buy things in my home.”

    Laide has gone beyond picking used plastic bottles around her workplace and now goes out to fetch them.

    “On my way home, I pick worn plastics wherever I find them. It is no longer a thing of shame because I know that I’m making money from it. In a month, I earn an average of N30,000 from disused plastics to augment my income,  because as a cleaner, I earn just N25,000.

    Adedayo, a road cleaner working for a contractor with the Lagos State Government, narrated how she became a champion of worn out plastics.

    “As a road cleaner, I earn very little and work so hard. Sometimes, I have to beg passers-by for money just to transport and feed myself,” she said, adding that she had stopped begging for money since she started collecting and selling old plastics.

    “As a road cleaner, I come across plastic bottles every day, which were previously just gathered into a corner for the truck to take away. But now, I’ve become a plastic collector and takes the plastic to Mama Haliyah in exchange for money.”

    She said her income from this side hustle is more than her salary.”

    Bigger stake

    For Ibrahim Usman, 19, the stake is even higher. A professional waste collector, he is also one of Mama Haliyah’s regular plastic depositors.

    Born in Borno State, he had migrated to the Ogun State town of Mowe in 2020 and first worked with a refuse collection company before starting his own collection business. All he needed to stay in business was a locally made iron cart used to gather waste.

    Speaking in Pidgin English, Usman said he goes from house to house putting out their waste bins for money.

    Watching Usman at work is quite an extraordinary sight. His expert hands work like a machine: quick and intentional. He would sort the unwanted from the wanted with deft touches at the same time picking the wanted pieces out and apart.

    Due to the extra money he earns from collecting disused plastics, his primary target is plastics of different kinds, sizes and shapes. Sometimes, he feels the plastic before his eyes could even sight them.

    Usman does not wear gloves or any form of protection, whether on his hands or on his face. Ferociously working with his bare hands, he fishes out plastics from dustbins, gutters, bushes or anywhere he can.

    “I make more money from old plastics than other wastes,” he said.

    Whenever Usman enters a street, he looks out for concealed areas and bushes harboring human waste and goes to work. He gets occupied fishing out tatty plastics that have been carelessly disposed on the road, bushes, and gutters.

    Usman no longer cares about what he gets on waste from individual homes. His priority is plastic waste.

    On a particular day after taking out a house waste, Usman spent extra time combing the small bush near the house. He was rewarded handsomely with over 100 empty plastic bottles which he packed in a special net and delivered to Mama Haliyah.

    Sometimes, I make up to N10,000 from a single delivery. The amount I get depends on the weight of the plastics, but it always comes without delay.

    Plastic Menace

    Like Onaselu and Adedayo, scores of other women who have keyed into plastic action are helping the environment by saving the country from the menace of plastic pollution.

    Although Mama Haliyah’s initial motive was profit, she knew she was also saving humanity by saving the earth with every plastic salvaged and recycled.

    “I’m aware of climate change and know that the work we are doing is beneficial to the community and the world at large.

    “Aside from making a living from plastic picking, we are also helping the earth to breathe well and protect the ocean and fishes. In the long run, we are helping ourselves because we bear the brunt of climate change. I’m happy that I can do something to make my world better,”she said smiling.

    Facts and Figures

    It is estimated that Nigeria generates about 2.5 million tons of plastic waste annually, and plastics account for 15% of the total waste generated in Lagos State-Nigeria’s economic hub and most populated city. Of that, over 130,000 tons of plastics make their way into water bodies, putting the country among the top 20 contributors to marine debris globally.

    Olumide Idowu, Executive Director for International Climate Change Initiative, said there is no exact data on their number or capacity to handle large volumes of waste sufficiently. So, waste has visibly caused blocked drainage and pollution.

    Climate change-induced floods have also become a recurring decimal in more than 20 states of Nigeria, washing away humans, crops, animals, houses, and properties.

    Walking through the streets of most Nigerian urban and rural communities, the sights are not comforting. Plastic wastes are everywhere, and they find their ways into rivers, lakes and oceans.

    The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) predicted that production and incineration of plastics would add 850 million metric tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere – equivalent to 189 coal-fired power plants. By 2050 this could rise to 2.8 gigatons of carbon dioxide per year – or 615 coal plants’ worth.

    CIEL contended that if the trend continues, plastics will account for 20% of oil consumption by 2050.

    Llorenç Milà i Canals, Head of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP’s) Life Cycle Initiative, said the impact of plastic in the world is catastrophic. “Many people aren’t aware that a material that is embedded in our daily life can have significant impacts not just on wildlife but on the climate and human health,” Canals said.

    To find an enduring solution, in 2022, UN member states agreed on a resolution to end plastic pollution. The plan is to focus on measures to alleviate plastic pollution throughout the entire life cycle of plastics; from extraction and product design to production to waste management.

    Meanwhile, while Nigeria government is yet to find a practical and enduring solution to plastic menace, Onaselu  and company (other Nigerian women) have taken the bull by the horn. They are at the forefront of Nigeria’s plastic action without support from government, agencies, and corporate bodies.

    Logistics

    Onaselu said a major challenge they are facing is the logistics of moving their product.

    Plastics are cumbersome product, and to move tons of it around without a functional and spacious vehicle can be burdensome. But for her courage and perseverance, she said she would have quit.

    “I don’t just sit on my ass waiting for plastics to drop from the sky. Many of my clients don’t have the resources to bring their waste to where I am, so I have to go to them. To accomplish this task I need a good truck, which I don’t have and cannot afford now.”

    So, how does she get the job done?

    Onaselu is not only industrious, she is also brave. To get her goods to the company at least once every week, she put her only car, a Toyota Camry, to work.

    Although the car is not designed to carry such heavy loads, she fills every available space from the front and back seats to the trunk and top of the vehicle with old plastics. The only space spared is the driver’s seat.

    To secure her goods, she ties them with lose ropes to every part of the car. That done, Onaselu’s fragile frame drives up to 70 kilometres on the ever-busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

    It is quite a sight to behold as the size of the loads dwarfs the lightweight car.

    She said: “I cannot afford cargo bus. It will eat into my profit and send me out of business. If I use my car I will make more money to reinvest into the business.”

    Has she encountered difficult road enforcers in her voyage?

    “I do all the time,” she answered. “They flag me down all the time, and once they look at me, they just burst into laughter.

    “They know I’m doing this to put food on the table and fend for my family. We are all hustlers, aren’t we?”

    Has she ever been fined? She answered in the negative: “They all know me now and don’t disturb me.”

    Sadly, she is not alone in this quagmire. The situation is the same with Mrs Adedayo. “I have a Toyota Camry which I use to run the business. I will keep using it to carry used plastics until I save enough money to buy a truck,” she said.

    Onaselu added: “Many of us use our cars to deliver goods. We are driving ourselves too hard. If we get help from government, bank or agency, life will be easier for us.

    Once in a while, I hire a truck to take the goods. But it is only when it is more than my car can take. I simply don’t have the kind of money that would buy a truck.

    “It is dangerous business using a car to transport plastic wastes on the highway. If I get help, I will buy an articulated truck. It is more comfortable and convenient.”

    Asked if she would engage a driver, she waved the suggestion aside,  saying “I will drive it myself until I have grown the business.”

    Onaselu’s car is dirty, weather-beaten, and falling apart.

    But for how long will they be neglected? In 2023, the Nigerian government commissioned researchers, Priscilla Achakpa and Katherine Gilchrist, through the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), to conduct a national analysis of plastic pollution in Nigeria with a focus on gender, equity and inclusion. Their findings confirmed Onaselu’s complaint of neglect.

    According to the researchers, Nigerian women who lead plastic action initiatives are often not acknowledged; they are stigmatised, and have to work under strenuous conditions. This is similar to the proverbial goose that lays the golden egg but is not recognised for its valuable contribution.

    According to their report based on consultations in communities of five states from North to South, women have historically not been included in the management of household waste at the policy level. Despite the fact that women are responsible for the majority of generation, storage, and collection of household waste (81%, 96%, and 91%, respectively), they have not been integrated into waste management policy-making.

    “Itinerant waste pickers of whom 78% are internally displaced persons, mostly women and teenage boys who fled Boko Haram and settled in informal settlements and slums, do the everyday job of picking up discarded plastics on the roadside and dump sites and washing and sorting each piece of broken and discarded plastic. They have been doing this, often stigmatized and dangerous work, without recognition, decent pay, or security for generations.

    “They face harassment, lack social security and other protections, and rarely receive support related to childcare and unpaid domestic work.”

    “Their lived experiences uncovered the need to treat the plastic crisis as a human one, considering the experiences, needs, and obstacles faced by the most affected communities.”

    Harsh conditions of work

    The place Onaselu refers to as a workplace is nothing more than dirty, barren land. She is at the mercy of sun and rain and her goods are not spared too. When there is a rainstorm, her plastics are washed away.

    For instance, there is no kind of facility to aid their work situation. There is no form of electricity,  pipe borne water or decent work room. There are no restrooms: toilet and bathroom and the surroundings are smelly.

    She said: “We don’t work in a clean environment. It is dirty and I don’t have a roof over my head. It is a physical job, sorting, watching, and putting dirty plastics together.

    “It is not a work for a woman. We are praying for the government to recognise us and the work we do so as to lighten our yoke.”

    Access to loan

    Access to loan facility is a mirage to these superwomen. And Onaselu is not happy that she is not getting help from the bank.

    “I have the desire to grow my business. I’m not lazy and I can say the same for all women in this business. What is lacking is financial assistance.”

    Mrs Ayandade said she had been to the bank to seek business loan and was turned back.

    “The financial institutions are not helping us, and they and the government are the ones that can give us the kind of money to expand,” she said.

    Financial institutions not kind to women

    She said there is a disparity in how financial institutions treat women entrepreneurs seeking loans to grow their businesses.

    Obi Charles Nnanna, founder of Kaltani, a big player in Nigeria’s plastic industry, can’t agree more.

    He said: “I think that the Nigerian government needs to make policies that will support women driving plastic initiatives in the country.”

    He noted that the plastic industry has not even scratched the surface yet.

    “The market for plastic recycling in Nigeria is worth $10 billion, and it has the potential to create a significant number of employment opportunities.

    “The sector is currently dominated by informal businesses that cater to many Nigerians across the country.

    “The federal government must recognise the sector’s potential and develop policies to support its growth.

    “Additionally, the government should invest in the core group of women who are driving the sector forward and provide them with the necessary resources to continue their work.”

    Battle with stigma

    Rather than getting recognition, plastic superwomen are stigmatised. They are looked down upon and face harassment in the course of their work.

    “Before I left Kara Plastic Market, I was discriminated against because I’m a woman among men. Because I have ambition,” Onaselu said.

    Family, friends and the society at large are also not kind to these heroines of plastic action.

    She refused this reporter permission to use her face in the report due to the perception of friends and family.

    “I don’t know how my family, children, and siblings will react to it,” she said.

    Laide said whenever she is out picking plastics people look down on her as if “I’m less than human.”

    Instead, Nnanna said, they should be treated as champions of plastic action.

    “Nigerian women are building a sustainable plastic economy and improving waste management systems in Nigeria. They are heroines of the land,” he added.