Category: Tunji Adegboyega

Tunji Adegboyega

A FEW years back, it would have been unthinkable for the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to make any significant donations to any worthy national cause. This is because, for the better part of the years before the advent of Prof Ishaq Oloyede as registrar/chief executive of the board in August 2016, JAMB was like an orphan that was meant to be supported financially to  enable it meet its obligations. But Oloyede has changed all that. From 2017, he has been remitting to the Federal Government’s coffers nothing less than N7billion annually. The board has never returned one per cent of this since its inception in 1978. Cumulatively, JAMB has remitted about N28billion into the government’s  treasury in the last four years. This year alone, it has so far remitted about N8bn. This is despite reduction in the cost of ePIN sold to candidates from N5,000 to N3, 500 as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari last year.

“It had made the payment of over N3.5billion to candidates by way of reduction of N1,500 from the cost of each ePIN sold to each candidate as graciously directed by the President totalling over N3.5billion, bringing the total remittances this year to over N7billion, with the assurance to remit more as soon as its operations are concluded and proper audit of its books done”, the board said in a statement by its head of media and information, Dr Fabian Benjamin. Although the number of candidates sitting for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) has been growing, the truth is; it has never been static at any point in time. The difference between the pre-Oloyede era and now is the determination to make a difference, as well as the accountability and transparency mode activated and more vigorously pursued by the present management.

Not only has the board sustained the humongous remittances, it was able to go beyond that this year, by donating medical equipment worth millions of Naira to help in combatting the coronavirus pandemic. So much has been said and heard about this Oloyede feat, such that it was taken for granted when he returned the N8bn into the government’s purse this year; hence, there was no fanfare. This was unlike the 2017 experience when he awoke the nation’s consciousness to the fact that JAMB does not require a feeding bottle or crutches from government; and that the board could not only sustain itself but even make money for the nation.

JAMB recognised the difficult times we are in as a nation as a result of COVID-19, and urged  Nigerians, particularly people in its immediate constituency –  all prospective tertiary institutions’ intakes, students, parents – as well as the entire country to support the governments by abiding by all directives aimed at curtailing the spread of the virus. It appreciated the support and donations from corporate organisations and public-spirited individuals towards the worthy cause of not only containing the spread of the virus but also in treating those already infected.

In the past, when the board must wait on the Federal Government for handout, perhaps that was where the support would have ended. But for an organisation that has reinvented itself, as it were, JAMB proceeded a little further beyond the moral support, to donate its own  widow’s mite as we say (nowadays), even if this was not the spirit and letter of the biblical expression. The widow in question probably gave all she had, or she could afford.

But JAMB could not have given all it had; there are other things to do. Life must continue after COVID-19, unless the world actually comes to an end as some people are saying. Otherwise, the board must conduct the  UTME next year and perform its other responsibilities. It needs billions to do these. That is why it does not have to cut its nose to spite its face; or donate beyond its capacity only to take bowl to the government the next day for funds to perform its duties. At any rate, even the scripture does not enjoin us to love our neighbour more than ourselves. It says we should love our neighbour as ourselves!

That was why JAMB had to cut its coat according to its size in its philanthropy to the COVID-19 cause. According to Benjamin: “In the board’s little way of ensuring that government strategies and preemptive measures yield fruitful dividends, the board has donated two ventilators to the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, and one to the principal hospital in the board’s host community, the Bwari General Hospital, in preparation for any eventuality, and two to the Presidential Task Force.” JAMB also donated personal protective equipment (PPEs) worth about N11m to the same Bwari hospital. These donations are to strategically put these hospitals in a good stead to handle the COVID-19 cases in the areas and they were, in addition to other gestures by the board, to aid the fight against coronavirus.

One thing we should not lose sight of is the fact that JAMB, even though aiding a national cause, has also by these interventions helped itself because coronavirus would have made a mess of UTME this year but for the board’s proactive measures. Earlier projections had anticipated that the examination would run for about three weeks but the programme was reworked such that the exams were eventually rushed in time to beat the COVID-19 lockdown that was to follow, just a few days after the exam was over. It was eventually concluded on March 21. Indeed, the board said this much: “The board will continue to support the fight against the pandemic within its limited means and, by so doing, protect our teeming candidates who are the hopes of tomorrow”, urging all and sundry to stay safe even as we stay at home.

For sure, with its modest contributions, JAMB has joined the league of organisations and individuals that will not make our hospitals remain the same after COVID-19. Whatever the negative effects of the virus or the pandemic, the fact is that Nigeria is one of the beneficiaries of some of its positive sides. COVID-19 has made several things that one could not have imagined in our lifetime possible. When I see some of the isolation and treatment centres that have been springing up within weeks since the index case of the pandemic in the country in February, I keep asking myself whether these facilities are here in Nigeria or in what we call the ‘civilized countries’.

The average Nigerian, including even some medical personnel now know something about ventilators, PPEs, etc. Yet these are medical items that even kids in the ‘civilized countries’ know like they know the lines on their palms. I never knew anything could jolt us to move swiftly the way we have done to redefine what hospitals properly so-called should look like. COVID-19 did. Many people have said governments rose swiftly to the occasion because there was no opportunity of travelling out for medical tourism, a pastime of our leaders. So, they had no choice but to do the right thing, just in case they are also caught in the coronavirus web. The virus is no respecter of persons.

But, would JAMB have been able to do all these if the Oloyede team had been doing business as usual? The answer is NO. This is why we should know that many of the people complaining that the board was not set up to make money for government are being mischievous. While a few may have genuine concerns for indigent parents, the question we should ask these critics who probably profited from the rot in JAMB in the past, and would therefore not have been happy that the honeymoon is over, is which one do they prefer: a JAMB that is helping government free funds for competing needs or one that people either deliberately did not run well or simply stole blind, making it impossible for it to meet its own needs not to talk of making  some money for government?

Ordinarily, such monies returned to government should be used to develop the educational system. If that is not being done, it is not the fault of those making money for the government but our fault as Nigerians who have a carefree attitude to how our money is being spent. We would still have been clapping for Prof Oloyede if all he has been able to do in less than four years is bring some sanity to bear in the conduct of the UTME, as he has done, because it used to be chaos galore whenever the exam was going on prior to his assumption of office. So, if he has brought to bear, as added advantage, the numerous innovations he has introduced, with the annual huge remittances as icing on the cake, we should appreciate him for it, not only to encourage him but to serve as elixir for others who might want to do same. His is a renaissance worth supporting. Of course there will always be room for improvement.

By Tunji Adegboyega

Just as well the Federal Government has intervened in the matter of some state governments that have directed the reopening of worship centres shut as part of the efforts to prevent an explosion of  coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country. The pandemic has taken a huge toll, both in terms of human lives as well as other areas which we may not be able to quantify. It was not funny that, at this point in time, such reopening could ever be contemplated. But ours is a country with so much religiosity without Christianity. The more churches and mosques we have, the more crimes and criminals multiply. Apparently the Federal Government cried foul because it was not consulted before the state governments took the decision.

One of the state’s that have lifted the ban on mosques and churches is Nasarawa State; it said this would be for only two weeks in the first instance. Commissioner for information, tourism and culture, Dogo Shammah, said “after the expiration of the two weeks, the government would review the situation to see the level of compliance with the conditions to ensure that members abide with preventive measures”.

Although this was cheery news to the Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the state who spoke on behalf of other religious leaders, and expressed gratitude to the government for being considerate and also promised to adhere to the conditions, how the worship centres will meet these conditions is yet to be seen, given their huge number, particularly mosques, in the state. We know that there are many mushroom worship centres all over the place, many of which can neither buy the preventive items nor be reached by the government which wants to give them out free.

Adamawa and Borno states that have also eased restriction on worship places and social gatherings insisted that they must ensure social distancing. Adamawa specifically said there must not be more than 50 persons at any worship centre, in addition to other preventive measures. Both states, alongside Gombe and Zamfara, unlocked the worship places on May 14, in one fell swoop. Gombe State Governor Muhammadu Yahaya said aid groups in mosques and Boys Brigade in churches would be trained to enforce compliance with the preventive measures”. He promised to reverse the decision if people did not comply. Borno State said it took the decision because of the progress the state has made in the anti-COVID-19 war.

Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State told the people in a radio broadcast that: “I want to commend the people of the state for supporting government in our effort to frustrate the spread of coronavirus in our dear state by complying with the lockdown orders.

“In the light of this, therefore, we are suspending restrictions on congregational prayers in mosques and churches while appealing to people not to converge in large numbers at the same time.”

One can understand the pressures being mounted on governors by some people, especially religious leaders, to reopen the worship centres. Although this is not the time for such lobbying, some of these people just do not want to understand the gravity of what has confronted mankind as a result of this novel virus.

Ebonyi State government which fell for such lobby unlocked religious activities for churches and mosques once a week, with effect from May 15. A statement signed by the state’s commissioner for information, Mr. Uchenna Orji, said “the governor of Ebonyi State, His Excellency, Engr Chief David Nweze Umahi FNSE FNATE has directed me to inform the general public that in response to the passionate appeal made by the  leadership of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ebonyi State Chapter and some of our reverred bishops that religious centres be re-opened for worship under strict observance  of COVID-19 policy and state laws, and having  prayerfully (emphasis mine) reviewed the request and in consultation with state leaders, he hereby directs that religious centres in the state do re-open for worship once a week effective from 15th May, 2020 under the following conditions: All churches are to observe their service only on Sunday from 9am to 11 a.m. Seventh-Day Adventist and  Muslim faithful are to observe their service on Saturday and Friday, respectively, from 9 am – 11 am.”.

No religious centre is permitted to have more than 500 members; they are to observe at least two meters social distancing as well as observe other COVID-19 preventive measures. The religious centres are also to use the opportunity to enlighten their members on COVID-19 while the state CAN is to ensure compliance with the measures.

Since coronavirus found its way into the country in February, the number of infections has continued to rise. As at Friday, there were 5.11 million confirmed cases worldwide, 1.9 million recovered while about 333,000 have died. In Nigeria, Lagos remains the epicenter of infections with 3,093 confirmed cases, 582 recovered and 40 deaths. This is followed by Kano State which had 875 confirmed cases, 123 recovered and 36 deaths. Others are FCT with 446 confirmed cases, 142 recovered while 14 died; Katsina with 303 confirmed cases, 51 recovered while 13 died; Borno 235 confirmed cases, 89 recovered while 24 died. Nasarawa had 38 confirmed cases ,18 recovered while two died. Ebonyi had 13 confirmed cases, one person recovered and no deaths as at Friday. Adamawa had 27 confirmed cases, 13 recovered while two died.

With the exception of Borno State, it seems other states that have permitted a reopening of worship centres have relatively low cases of infection. But then, we have to be careful because we know this could also be a reflection of the availability of testing centres in the states.

This must have been the fear of the Federal Government in asking for caution on this measure. Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed said: “We are always working together with the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF). We believe that the governors won’t do anything that will put in jeopardy all we have achieved in the last few weeks of lockdown. So, I think it is better that we continue the engagement and I am sure that the chairman of the taskforce who is constantly in touch with the governments will take up this matter and we hope that he will be able to give a feedback.” He assured that the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 which has been engaging the NGF would not relent in ensuring that they are all on the same page on the matter so as not to lose the ground already gained in the anti-coronavirus efforts.

It is possible that some of the state governments want to claim some autonomy in the way they run their affairs, but they should realise that this can only be if they also generate their revenue. To the extent that they still go cap in hand to Abuja every month end, that should tell them that they are not as free as they would want to. Even if and when our federalism is perfected, there are still some things they cannot do, especially if such could adversely affect other constituent parts.

Although only Ebonyi State confessed that its decision was based on representation from Christian leaders in the state, one can bet that it is  the same in the other states that have allowed worship centres to reopen, especially with a preponderance of them in the north, even if they did not say so expressly. Ebonyi is largely Christian while the northern states that have relaxed their measures to allow worship centres to open are mainly Muslim states. Could the relaxation in the northern states therefore have been timed to coincide with the end of the Ramadan fast?

Whatever it is though, that the Federal Government has  asked the states to reconsider their stance should gladden the hearts of many people. Although not a few persons would blame it for reacting now, when in actual fact, some of these states had given permission to the religious organisations to reopen as far back as May 15. The point our religious leaders should realise is that Saudi Arabia, in what could be described as an exceptional move to curb the spread of coronavirus, announced, as far back as March, that mosques would no longer be open for the customary five daily prayers or Friday congregations. As at that time the kingdom had only 171 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The U.S.-allied Gulf Arab states have registered more than 1,000 infections, many linked to neighboring Iran, which is an epicentre of the outbreak in the Middle East. Even The Vatican banned congregational services for more than two months because of the pandemic. The ban was only lifted recently. So, no one in Nigeria should try to be more Catholic than the Pope. No one in Nigeria should weep louder than the bereaved over closure of churches and mosques.

We should not lose sight of the fact that worship centres are veritable places to get infected with COVID-19 because of the way we do things in those places. We have sad tales from some churches abroad. I can hear some people say ‘what of the markets’? We cannot but go to markets if we must continue to live. Even at that, market days too are regulated now. We can keep praying in our homes because the church buildings are not the church. Our hearts are the temple of God. What the scripture tells the Christians is that where two or three are gathered in His name, He (God) will be with them. It does not matter where. It’s only for a while. This pandemic, like the ones before it, will also pass.

Tunji Adegboyega

Last week was a pretty busy one for Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, no thanks to the new coronavirus (COVID-19) that is ravaging the world. The governor assumed the role of what some people have referred to as ‘village headmaster’ in his effort to keep his state relatively free of the rampaging virus; at least so it seems. Mr Wike had imposed a five-day lockdown on the state from May 7, leaving residents with only two days of respite to restock and do whatever they have to do before lockdown begins again. The relaxation has however been extended by another five days, as a result of difficulties faced by residents in getting money from the banks. The lockdown resumes at 8.00 p.m. tonight. Indeed, to underscore his seriousness on the matter, the governor who personally moved around in the first three days of the lockdown to monitor compliance said he was satisfied that people were obeying.

No one who is aware of the havoc that COVID-19 has wreaked worldwide would blame Governor Wike for being hyper-sensitive in his anti-COVID-19 war. Whether we like it or not, COVID-19 is war of a kind. This is a pandemic that has claimed over 300,000 lives, with 1.6 million recoveries of the over 4.3 million confirmed cases globally. In Nigeria, we have about 5,162 people that have tested positive; with about 1,180 recoveries and 167 deaths. In Rivers State, specifically, 33 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported, with five recoveries and three deaths. This figure is low, compared with what obtains in many other states of the federation. But, should the governor wait before taking measures to stem the tide? Definitely no.

One other thing we should not lose sight of is the fact that some Nigerians cannot just obey simple instructions, even for their own sake. They need to be pushed or compelled as we have seen in the coronavirus directives. A simple thing as face mask many of them will not wear. It is still happening in Lagos where the five-week lockdown ordered by the Federal Government was relaxed about two weeks ago. Commercial bus drivers keep crowding their buses without regard to social-distancing rules. Many passengers also behave as if they are going to wear the face masks in some other people’s interest. Whereas inter-state travels are banned nationwide, some people try to be clever by half, by alighting from vehicles that took them to state boundaries and trekking to their destinations. This is at the core of the community transmission stage that is ballooning the number of people testing positive for the disease in the country. The situation is not different in many other states. And this is giving both the Federal Government and the respective state governments sleepless nights on how to respond to these cavalier approaches to the pandemic.

Confronted by these and other challenges, it is difficult to want to blame governments that punish these irresponsible attitudes with equally seemingly draconian measures.

But then, there are laws that govern behaviour in a democracy. Fair hearing is an indispensable right that should not be abridged by anyone, no matter how highly placed. Many of us merely made the governor an object of jokes on the social media when we saw how he personally assumed the role of monitor, asking people to identify themselves, giving some the right of way and ordering that others that he was not satisfied with their excuses for hitting the road in a state observing lockdown, should be driven straight to the isolation centre. As a matter of fact, some Nigerians felt the governor was doing the right thing even if somewhat high-handedly. Indeed, some people that I least expected to agree with the governor said they were beginning to like him. That was a few weeks back when he got two Caverton pilots arrested for flying into the state in violation of his Executive Order 6 and promptly arraigned them before a magistrate’s court. He also ensured the arrest  of 22 ExxonMobil workers only to back down in the face of opposition, with oil workers threatening to suspend work. But, I think rather than the commendation being a true reflection of their love for the governor, what those people were applauding was his audacity to confront the federal authorities that many Nigerians are beginning to doubt its capacity to take the country to the next level. So, in a sense, my enemy’s enemy is my friend.

But their position on the matter changed when Governor Wike ordered that two hotels, Edemete Hotel and Prodest Home, be pulled down last Sunday. The governor said the operators had flouted an order that hotels should be closed adding that people who had tested positive for the virus had been found in hotels across the state. But he did not say if any of them had been staying in either of the demolished hotels.

I have no issues with the governor being worried about COVID-19 as I mentioned earlier. As a matter of fact, I have no problem with governors, as chief executives, taking actions that they deem fit to bring sanity to bear on their respective states. But I have a problem with what I consider the waster spirit in some of these executive actions. This is not about Governor Wike alone. Our governors generally seem too excited to bring down. They are always in a hurry to demolish. Ours is a country where buildings are put down on executive orders that are standing on nothing, or over frivolous excuses. In a country where we have an acute housing deficit, this should not be the case. Those buildings should have been used for better purposes, following the rule of law.

Just last week or so, the Federal Government was asking people to donate their buildings as testing/isolation centres for COVID-19. Many Nigerians and organisations, including churches, have been responding to this call. Now, we have structures that the Rivers State government saw as possible hideouts for people who have tested positive for coronavirus and those structures were demolished with the governor personally supervising the demolition. There were no attempts to substantiate this claim. This was despite the fact that the owners of the hotels had been arrested. And despite the claim by the owner of Prodest Home that his hotel was not functioning at the time the COVID-19 team came and that the officials were asking for bribe to allow the hotel continue to function. The state government denied this, though.

Governor Wike’s decision to build a primary school at the site of Prodest Home would be an afterthought and more of a way to tone down the public angst against his demolition of the hotels. Still, it was a clear attempt to inflict a somewhat maximum pain on the home’s owner, apparently for allegedly unleashing thugs on the government officials that came to the hotel. No reasonable person would support unleashing thugs on public officials, especially when on duty. That one of the injured officials has died from injuries sustained during the attack has already compounded the woes of the hotel’s owner. Still, that did not justify pulling down the building. What stopped Governor Wike from refurbishing the hotels to serve as isolation/testing centres for coronavirus patients? The governor hinged the powers to do and undo on an Executive Order 6 which some residents of the state said they were not aware of. Even then, would that have legally granted the governor the power to demolish people’s buildings without fair hearing? As Ahmed Abass, a lawyer told the BBC, an executive order cannot give the governor powers to demolish a building. “An executive order is made by the president or governor in furtherance of existing laws,” he said, but this cannot go beyond the constitution which guarantees a fair trial. Where is fair hearing in all of these? The lawyer aded: “What (Mr Wike) should have done was to have arrested the (hotel owners), take them to court and the court would have prosecuted them.” As the lawyer rightly noted, demolition of the hotels is probably the height of “executive recklessness and an abuse of office”.

Granted that Governor Wike has been consistent in moving again anything that he considers an obstacle to his efforts to keep COVID-19 cases in his state very low, a thing we cannot crucify him for, the governor has to realise that rule of law, though slow, is still the way to go in this kind of circumstance. The point must be noted still, that there is no way such enforcement could be done without some people complaining. I have likened the battle against coronavirus in the country to the legendary tale of a father and his son that were travelling. It is one of the evergreen songs of Commander Ebenezer Obey. When they started, the man first mounted the horse and people wondered why he should have done that, leaving his son to trek beside him. The man dismounted and put his son on the horse while he trekked along. People still complained, wondering why it should be that way. The man then brought down his son from the horse and both of them started trekking, while the horse all alone followed them. Still, people were wondering what manner of father and son would be trekking when they could have mounted their horse!

While the people of Rivers State are asking for COVID-19 lockdown with a human face like that of Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), many others have said the lockdown relaxation in those places was premature. Such is life.

• Yes, we need a new anti-pandemic law but the Infectious Diseases Bill has to be reworked

By Tunji Adegboyega

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, must have overrated the ninth National Assembly to think that Nigerians would appreciate his railroading of his now controversial Infectious Diseases Bill into the House, and making it pass the second reading a few hours, same day. After running into a predictable storm on the rather contentious bill, Mr Gbajabiamila now decided to do what he should have done first – allow the bill to be discussed at a public hearing where stakeholders would have the opportunity of contributing to its contents.

This is the kind of issues faced when leaders want to initiate reforms from above without input from the beneficiaries. Mr Gbajabiamila is now trying to defend his action on what might truly have been in the best interest of Nigerians. Unfortunately, at this stage, it is difficult to make Nigerians see the bill in that light.

The bill is to provide an updated basis for the government’s anti-pandemic efforts by replacing the National Quarantine Act of 2004. More specifically, the Infectious Diseases Act is supposed to create a legal framework for the Federal Government to manage the special  circumstances surrounding infectious disease outbreaks, like the current COVID-19 pandemic, and prevent it from spreading.

Under the Act, the president, the health minister and particularly the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) can make regulations on quarantining, vaccination and prevention of infectious diseases in Nigeria. Indeed, some of the public officials or those delegated by them would have the power to convert any building into isolation area and the police will also be empowered to arrest anyone who, in their view, flouts the law, without warrant of arrest.

Unfortunately, Mr Gbajabiamila got more than he bargained for when criticisms began pouring in, with Nigerians saying they were not ready for such a law that would not only make them guinea pigs of foreign drug makers but also curtail their freedom. The speaker had to step down the bill, which had, curiously, passed the second reading in what could pass for the speed of light in legislative matters.

In truth, the Quarantine Act has been overtaken by events like many of our other legislations. But then, if it must be replaced, it must follow procedure because of its highly sensitive nature. How Mr Gbajabiamila could ever have imagined such a proposed law would pass without scrutiny beats my imagination. It is not one of those run-of-the-mill legislations, given its wide implications for the health of Nigerians, their fundamental human rights and even especially in the light of what the speaker himself called several conspiracy theories. Nigerians have not forgotten so soon, the price they paid for the civil   rule in the country, they therefore would not fold their arms and watch  their hands and legs manacled, consciously or unconsciously, through a law which looked like forward march to the past.

If anything, certain actions taken on the bills both in the Senate and even the House of Representatives are enough to make the kind of insinuations that have trailed them gain currency. It would interest Speaker Gbajabiamila to know that his defence of rushing the bill  because of the exigencies created by the new coronavirus (COVID-19) which is currently ravaging the world cannot resonate with Nigerians. In the first place, Nigerians have been hearing such from their governments from time immemorial (as some historians say). Indeed, such statements have become cliche in public speeches and the people are hardly persuaded by them any longer. As the saying goes, “once beaten, twice shy.” Nigerians have been beaten countless times such that any  public official making such claims now must be ready to show more than proof. Mouthing it is not enough.

Apart from the rush to get the bill through, it would appear that even in the Senate too, not all members had seen a copy of the upper legislative chamber’s version of the bill titled The National Health Emergency Bill, sponsored by Chukwuka Utazi, as at the time it passed first reading last week. Thanks to the former deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, who called his colleagues to order and announced that he had not seen a copy of the proposed bill. Apparently, many other senators had not sighted the bill, yet it had passed first reading! Ekweremadu said he was concerned because he did not want the kind of bashing the House of Representatives’ bill had received to trail their own version of the law.

Although Senator Utazi said his own proposal did not contain one of the most knocked aspects of the House’s bill, which is compulsory vaccination, the fact that senators, like the House of Representatives members did not have copies of such proposed legislation in advance leaves room for suspicion. We know all manner of legislative charades had taken place in our hallowed chambers, especially in the past, we do not want such things under the present government.

The legislation in question is too important to be toyed with or passed through the back door. When these observed lapses on the procedure to gift the country a brand new law to be able to combat pandemics such as VOVID-19 are added to the fact that even the man at the centre of the fight against coronavirus, the NCDC director-general, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, said he was not aware the House was proposing such legislation, then you begin to wonder whether even hyssop soap can wash anyone claiming he means well for the country by proposing the law, clean. Granted that Speaker Gbajabiamila is a lawyer, the truth of the matter is that the legislation he is proposing is not only about law. It’s all about healthcare, politics, religion, law and what have you. There is no way you can do any law in this regard that the NCDC boss’ input would not be useful. Pandemics don’t happen all the time. We may not witness another in a very long time from now.

At any rate, if Nigerians are opposed to some of these proposals, it is because they know our problem in the country is not necessarily the absence of laws but more about enforcement. Are we saying we could not have done better in our handling of COVID-19 even with our present moribund laws? The truth of the matter is that it is more of impunity and recklessness in high places. For instance when the former chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mallam Abba Kyari decided to be moved to Lagos from Abuja after testing positive for coronavirus, and against laid down procedure, was that because there were no procedures to guide such conduct? Worse still, was it also due to lack of processes that his mourners decided to break the social-distancing procedure at his funeral? One must note the Federal Government’s apology here; but while that is noted, it does not necessarily erase what happened.

So, the average Nigerian knows that leadership is the issue. There is so much impunity at the top; too many king’s goats. I reviewed a book, The joy of Service: An Autobiography for former Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Aliyu Atta, about two months ago. I was so fascinated with an aspect of the book where a cadet officer stopped the entourage  of the Sardauna of Sokoto, the then Premier of Northern Region, to inspect their vehicle particulars. This infuriated some of the usually overzealous security men on the entourage but the Sardauna ordered them to let the officer do his job. How many of today’s lesser big men will do that?

This is why some Nigerians are asking the lawmakers to make themselves available first for the testing of whatever vaccinations their makers (that those Nigerians believe are the ones sponsoring the bill) are trying to market here, due to both our huge population and lackadaisical governance. Coronavirus came into Nigeria not because we don’t have laws but because some people did not do their work at the points of entry and nobody is asking questions. The virus was even promoted by a top government official who had it and also came in from abroad and continued business as usual.

We cannot afford to give such wide powers envisaged by the speaker’s bill to individuals in a country where people are not only in government; they are also in power! We are living witnesses to what people have done with power in this part of the world. I have always believed that while power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Power intoxicates. Ours is a country where many governors are more or less emperors. They dispense public funds as if they are spending their personal money. Some of them will tell you “I can’t spend my money (public funds o) on this or that”. I learnt, reliably, that the Late General Sani Abacha whose loot we are still repatriating decades after his death once told the managing director of the now defunct Daily Times ” so you are the MD of my paper, and I don’t know you?” (Another way of saying the man was not coming to pay obeisance to him).

It is in this same country that governors would wake up from the wrong side of the bed and decide that the building of someone whose face they do not like should be demolished in ungodly hours overnight, ostensibly for blocking drainage. Meanwhile, that structure had been there whilst they were in the same camp but they never saw it was blocking drainage then.

We are living witnesses to how a minister of the Federal Republic manning a portfolio of life and death was asked to be reporting to another minister manning ‘stomach infrastructure’ by someone who hadn’t the power to make such order, and heaven did not fall. Indeed the minister of life and death lost his opportunity of a return ticket because he had been blacklisted by the powerful man in the same government! As a matter of fact, I learnt, reliably or otherwise, that even after the death of the person who made the order, that ‘Fatwa’ is yet to be lifted!

Mr Gbajabiamila must realise that we already have enough thin gods in Nigeria; just one more will be too many. I implore everyone with objections to the bill to avail themselves the opportunity of the window of public debate whenever it opens. For sure, and given the benefit of hindsight, the Infectious qDiseases Bill cannot pass as is. Otherwise, it could itself infect otherwise sane Nigerians who would in turn become something else with the kind of sweeping powers the law wants to place at their disposal. Countries with such legislation have inbuilt institutions with checks and balances. We don’t.

So, let whoever is desirous of truly gifting us a better anti-pandemic law follow the due process and flee from undue haste to avoid unsavoury allegations. Otherwise, all the angels in heaven swearing on his behalf would not make a dent on Nigerians who naturally believe that their leaders can only travel at the speed of light when they want to spoil themselves, not when matters affecting the people are concerned.

Tunji Adegboyega

I HAVE never been comfortable with the Latin phrase De mortuis nihil nisi bonum meaning “Of the dead, [say] nothing but good”, abbreviated as Nil nisi bonum, indicating that it is socially inappropriate to speak ill of the dead. So, I crave the indulgence of those who believe in it to spare themselves the agony of reading this piece. But I must quickly add that whatever I say here about the Late Mallam Abba Kyari, chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, is  not in any way about whether he is going to heaven or hell. Only God almighty has that prerogative. What I have done is only an attempt to put things in perspective about Abba Kyari’s role in the Buhari government for historical purposes. I suspect this Latin expression to have emanated from the elite in those days. Or, better still, may be it is the rest of us that have stood its meaning on its head.

If we say we should not speak ill of the dead, then we are saying that we have to deodorise what villains did while alive so as to make them look like saints in death. Where then is the fidelity of a subject like History? The same people (am I really sure of this?) who say we should not speak ill of the dead have recorded many accounts of ancient rulers all over the world who they said ruled with iron hands, chronicling what those rulers did and whether they were popular or not among their subjects. Even here in Yorubaland, we continue to talk about kings who ruled and there was peace and prosperity, as well as kings who had to commit suicide (in line with traditional demands) as a result of their growing unpopularity. Till tomorrow, we continue to talk of Efunsetan Aniwura, described by some as the most powerful woman in Yoruba Kingdom, and all the atrocities she committed. She was not only powerful, she was very vicious. Aniwura was subsequently killed in 1874 (some accounts said she committed suicide). So, where is ‘don’t speak ill of the dead’ in all of these? If we call a spade a spade (and not just a farming implement, because there are many farming implements), when those who have the privilege  to rule die, perhaps it would convert incumbent rulers from their wicked ways to seek to do good. I know you would chuckle at the efficacy of this idea! So, back to Abba Kyari.

Kyari died on April 17, aged 67, a few weeks after testing positive for coronavirus (COVID-19). He had been chief of staff since 2015 when President Buhari assumed office.

It has been interesting to read what some Nigerians have been saying since his demise. I concede to them the right to describe the man as they saw fit. What I noticed though is that most of the sweet nothings said about him were borne of private experiences. But, at this point in time when we are x-raying the man, it is not about how he humbled himself by drinking tea with people when he invited them or visited them at home, or wherever. It is rare to experience anything contrary in such situations. By virtue of my job, I have had private encounters with some of the people in power and I can tell you, they were pleasant experiences. Even those who knew the late General Sani Abacha in private capacity would tell you he was a nice man.

But when we are giving a final report, something of a historical importance about a man like Mallam Abba Kyari, we should do so from the point of view of his official capacity and how, for good or for ill, he impacted our lives. After all, many of us would not have known him if President Buhari had not placed his presidency, and by extension, our lives, on his laps. So, the question should be what manner of man was Abba Kyari, the man with whom the president was well pleased and therefore asked his cabinet members to listen to, instead of coming to him?

It is curious that Kyari, as chief of staff to the president, also put himself on the Board of Directors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). As a lawyer; he should know that clearly, that was conflict of interest. He equally presided over the lopsided appointments into his principal’s government, contrary to the federal character principle. We should not forget his role in the recall of fugitive Abdulrasheed Maina, who was declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over monumental pension fraud. Moreover, Kyari was supposed to be chief of staff to the president, yet he was the one who had to travel to Germany over power project for the country. Should this have been his business?

These are not all. There are sundry other issues like procurement of security equipment for the police in which Kyari was accused of meddlesomeness by the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno. Until Kyari died, the matter was never resolved and mum has been the word from President Buhari, in spite of the implications for national security. We can go on and on, including other allegations, some bordering on bribe taking and sheer avarice. As a matter of fact, Kyari’s hands in virtually all areas of the Buhari presidency were like that of the proverbial tortoise. It continually reminded me of one of the things my father used to tell me that it would only take a short while for someone who wants to be seen everywhere all the time, to disappear from the radar. His was a typical example of power that corrupts; and absolute power corrupting absolutely.

The impunity that defined Abba Kyari’s days in power dogged him to the very end. On returning from Germany, he continued business as usual, instead of self-isolating for 14 days as required by the COVID-19 processes. Yet, he was the one who told lawmakers returning from abroad to self-isolate. He was supposed to receive treatment in Abuja after testing positive, to minimise the risk of transmission; yet he insisted on coming down to a highbrow hospital in Lagos. This same mindset of only the expensive was good enough for someone like him! If the foreign countries had opened their doors, he would have insisted on travelling abroad for cure. Yet, many lesser mortals with the disease have survived in those not-good-enough for Abba Kyari public facilities. Even after his death, his corpse had to be transported back to Abuja for burial. This was against what Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, told us earlier: that corpses of COVID-19 patients would be buried by government to minimise risks. It took Abba Kyari’s death and burial to change all these protocols. Even those who attended his burial behaved as if the social distancing refrain was only for the hoi polloi, a thing the Federal Government felt sufficiently embarrassed about that it tendered an apology.

Read Also: My last contact with Abba Kyari

Abba Kyari might have attended some of the best schools abroad, this did not reflect in his handling of Nigeria’s affairs. His brilliance was instead dysfunctionally applied in the service to the nation. Indeed, with such a good man like Abba Kyari, this country does not need any bad man with such awesome powers in government. And, if as President Buhari said, Abba Kyari was the ‘best of us all’ (those of them in government, apparently), then we need not look too far to understand why we are the way we are, still looking for where cows will lay their ends at a time serious countries are searching for a cure for coronavirus. I wonder how the yesterday’s omni-powerful man would feel in his grave seeing the long list of people (some of them must have held him in awe as chief of staff), jostling for his job as soon as it was clear he would not make it. Such is life.

Yet, this is one important point many people forget once they get into power. It is Kyari today only because he was about the latest example of people in that category. There are many other Kyaris who are still in power or in the corridors of power. Unlike Abba Kyari though, they have a second chance. They can still mend their ways.

Death, they must continue to remember, is a debt we all owe. But some of us forget this reality once in government and in power (apologies to former self-styled president, General Ibrahim Babangida). If it was possible to bribe Death, he would have been bribed to take someone else and spare Abba Kyari.

But if other public officials would not learn any lesson from Abba Kyari’s sudden death, President Buhari must. He must realise that he has to take his destiny and that of over 200 million Nigerians in his care in his own hands henceforth, because God that gave him the rare privilege of ruling this country twice did not make a mistake. God saw Abba Kyari before making Buhari president. Nigerians did not elect a surrogate president; they elected Muhammadu Buhari. Moreover, it is not mere coincidence that Kyari died when he did. In the same vein, God literally brought him (the president) back from the dead when he assumed office and was shuttling between Abuja and hospitals abroad, for a purpose. He must resolve to fulfill that destiny. The Ramadan period should afford him the golden opportunity of seeking Allah’s face for correction of his mistakes, direction and the political will to do good for this country. Only himself and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo have had the rare privilege of ruling Nigerians twice. God will ask what they did with the people’s lives on both occasions.

President Buhari would do well to ask Chief Obasanjo about the lesson of the parable of the talents. Unto whom much is given, much is expected. Mr President, remember six feet.

Tunji Adegboyega

PERMIT me to start by saying that this headline is not my idea. I got it from a WhatsApp post. Nigeria has known no sleep since the Italian index case jolted it to the reality of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on February 27, 2020. Before then, Nigerians had thought the disease was only for people eating live rats and lizards, or people who engage in immorality far beyond the ‘little sins’ that we commit in the country. What we all conveniently forgot was the fact that the world is now a global village where whatever happens in a place, for good or for ill, should necessarily be of concern to people, even in seemingly far-flung places.

How we conveniently forgot this principle is baffling though, when a few decades before the advent of the international network (Internet), national events in some countries, including African countries, were more or less precursors to what to expect in contiguous countries. For instance, a coup in Nigeria was warning that the same could follow in our neighbouring countries. That, however, is not where I am going today.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused by a strain of coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) not previously identified in humans. It was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WH) on December 31, 2019. That it was first noted in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 would seem the only fact that is generally accepted about the virus or the pandemic. The other thing close to that is the number of confirmed cases which stood at 1,601,108 infected, 354,972 recoveries and 95,718 deaths as at April 10. Most other things that we know about it are subjects of all manner of conspiracy theories. Some of these are woven around science and technology, some around the politics of the international political system, and even some around religion. While people are generally being warned to be wary of swallowing the information they receive on the pandemic, especially in these days of the ubiquitous and highly intrusive social media (a point that I somewhat share because at a time, I too became confused as to what to believe or what not to believe about the pandemic, given the sheer avalanche of information that all kinds of ‘experts’ push as the truth, indeed the gospel truth, on the internet about the virus).

I am however somewhat comfortable with the school of thought urging caution on what we come across on the subject than outright rejection of all of the theories and potential cure for the disease. This point becomes pertinent because at some point, some of the theories seem to be making sense. Take for instance the theory that coronavirus is a fallout of the 5G network. But that would appear settled with the revelation that there is absolutely no correlation, not to talk of causation, between coronavirus and 5G since radio waves are only said to be capable of spreading computer virus, not human virus. We cannot blame our people, especially when people in a developed country like the United Kingdom have had cause to pull down 5G masts as a result of the widespread misconception.

Coming back home, if there is any country that must learn any lesson from the pandemic caused by this tiny virus that is shaking the entire world, Nigeria is it. Unfortunately, we are in a country where our political elite do not learn any lesson. For them, it is more of hype than action; more of motions in the legislative houses without movement. They are usually tall in words but short in action. Indeed, COVID -19 has once again exposed the underbelly of our shambolic healthcare system. It has exposed the impunity that reigns supreme, especially in high places, among other things. We should just thank God for God. I have always said that Nigeria is one of the countries where the Almighty has remained faithful to His promise not to test human beings beyond our capacity. If we had been hit by a third of the COVID-19 cases they have in Italy, the United States, Spain, etc., only God knows how many Nigerians would have been singing their Nunc Dimittis by now.

If ours had been a country where leaders learn, our prisons would have been better than they are. After all we had Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who literally moved to the presidential palace from prison. He had first hand experience of what the prisons were like before 1999 when he became president. He should have sworn never to leave them worse than they were when he was an inmate. Reason being that he should have been humbled that a man like him that many of us had thought was an ‘institution’ could ever be a prisoner, political or whatever.

Look at our incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari too. This was a man some people, particularly his political detractors, had written off as a result of his frequent travels abroad for medical treatment when he came to power in 2015. In a clime where leaders learn, such a man ought to be keen on leaving an impressive mark on healthcare and our hospitals. President Buhari would be celebrating (or marking) his fifth year in power on May 29. Since he is entitled to only a two-term tenure of four years each, he would leave the scene in 2023. It is doubtful if such is on his priority list. This is particularly sad given that the same Buhari had cause to condemn our hospitals as ‘mere consulting clinics’ in 1983 when soldiers sacked the corrupt and inept Shagari administration. It is doubtful if the hospitals that the president would be handing over to his successor would not be worse than consulting clinics. Even lesser mortals have had cause to establish foundations for ailments that claimed the lives of their loved ones or stretched them beyond limits. How much more people who have the power to make things happen. Well, maybe we should not castigate President Buhari yet; perhaps he has other priorities. We will find out in the next three years.

By the way, what has happened to all the scheduled and unscheduled medical trips of our public officials since the outbreak of COVID-19? Does it mean that none of them would ordinarily not have travelled for medical checkup these past weeks? This is doubtful, given their propensity for medical tourism. The funny part of it is that even when poverty-stricken Nigerians with their fecund sense of imagination offered to sponsor such medical trips for the rich from the little that they are able to make from the crumbs falling off the tables of the public officials, none of them has come forward to benefit from such facility! It is that bad; so bad that the foreign countries that these officials could never imagine living without suddenly became like pariah nations to them. For once, they suddenly realised that there is no place like home.

This should be enough lesson to jolt them to begin to do something for their country. But that is in a clime where people learn any lesson.

But if they still have not learnt any lesson to make them turn a new, then the fault would not be in them but in us (the followers). When people bribe their way to political offices, the result is what we are seeing. I have heard people say they took as low as N1,000 at polling booths to vote for certain candidates and they were satisfied because, at least they have got something and that it is better because that was the only time they would ever see the politicians. That once the candidates get to office, they become elusive.

This kind of mindset will continue to shortchange the country. It is a thing like this that would make supposedly elected lawmakers to share cars worth millions of naira among themselves only to say they are donating pittance (which is what their pay slip income is) to alleviate the people’s suffering as a result of COVID-19. And this at a time when the country’s revenue has taken a plunge; such extravagance would have been seen as obscene where the lawmakers were truly the people’s representatives.;

But this kind of nonsense will not stop until Nigerians begin to insist on good governance. I have said it before, and I am restating that politicians would always concede to Nigerians’ request for new minimum wage than the request for good governance. We saw that during the agitation for new minimum wage last year. Even some of the states that we thought were too poor to pay eventually agreed to pay. The public office holders would have been forced to be accountable, considerate, transparent if Labour’s agitations are always geared toward good governance. I do not know how many countries hike wages in the name of salary review the way we do simply because we have not learnt to do it periodically as we should.

Ours is perhaps the only country where public officials would run down public schools, public hospitals, etc. and prefer to go abroad to enjoy such facilities at the taxpayers’ expense, leaving the taxpayer to his own device.

Concerning religion and COVID-19, I laugh when some of the pastors started lamenting that the lockdown is a device by the anti-Christ to take charge of global affairs. I laugh not necessarily because they are wrong, but because I am sure many of them are worried more not because of the souls they cannot harvest for God or the loss of the ones already in the fold, but essentially because of the negative impact of the lockdown on their bottom line. The truth of the matter is that many churches have adopted ‘cash and carry’ approach to their operations. They have therefore shut out many genuine sheep who should be in but lack the financial muscle to attract recognition that such financial muscle commands, while throwing their doors open to moneybags who have neither the passion nor the time for God, just because of the hefty sums they drop at church services or functions.  (To be concluded next week).

QUOTE: By the way, what has happened to all the scheduled and unscheduled medical trips of our public officials since the outbreak of COVID-19? …The funny part of it is that even when poverty-stricken Nigerians with their fecund sense of imagination offered to sponsor such medical trips for the rich from the little that they are able to make from the crumbs falling off the tables of the public officials, none of them has come forward to benefit from such facility!