The Nation Newspaper

Category: Wednesday

  • C8: A country at war with itself

    C8: A country at war with itself

    By Tony Marinho

    The C8 War: CCCCCC: Covid, Country, Citizenship, Character (Federal), Corruption, Currency, Crippling Debt, Conflicts.

    COVID-19 records deaths approaching 700,000 infections 18,600,000, with around 45,000 Nigerian cases. Hand-wash, Social Distance and mask are essential.

    Country, Citizenship, Character War: Is Nigeria a country at war with itself and its citizens and abusing federal character, but refusing to admit it or take ‘war-like’ action? Let our leaders prove it is not.  Nigeria is a country -a piece of land within borders. Chief Obafemi Awolowo said in 1947, Nigeria was a ‘mere geographical expression’. Citizens make it feel like home for each other. Dominance and subjugation negate nationhood. Awolowo had no citizen ‘at home’ feeling. Have you- in 2020?

    That definition is step 1 in making a country. We citizens have a country name, passport identity to back-up the country assertion. But some ‘haves’, in Nigeria claim they feel we are a nation – a natural goal, but not always achieved. Look at Sudan and Ethiopia. So, Nigeria on the scale of nationhood is a new country searching to become that great moral entity- a nation. Nigeria is a ‘nation in evolution’! But there is a cost to delay – citizens’ bloodshed, loss of growth, life in despair, emotional dissatisfaction, disenfranchisement, and loss of a feeling of belonging, with no authority rectifying the devastating feeling.

    In football and many sports, all citizens, Nigerians discover their collective responsibility and camaraderie and unite as a nation behind the best Nigerians, but not daily.

    A nation is where the chest bursts with pride when challenged or on the first music note of the anthem, where heartbeats quicken and warmth glows through the head and hairs stand up on the neck at mention of the name ‘Nigeria’, with a tear shed at recall of the nation’s dead or at the heroic passionate singing of the inspiring Nigerian national anthem or at the unfurling of the Green-White-Green flag flapping musically in the breeze or at the swearing of the glorious binding Nigerian national oath and taking of the profound Nigerian national pledge. These are welcome tasks for the national patriotic citizen and carried out with easy love, concern, and commitment for a greater tomorrow.

    But at end of game, that burst of pride and nationalism are merely transient.  The grim reality is the powerlessness, potholes, corruption and insecurity of life and the trauma and difficulty of sewing the Nigerian multi-coloured doll together or keeping a fractured Nigeria together.

    We only partially succeeded after the Civil War (1967-1970) in the repair of the country but that war did not heal completely. Old war wounds caused by poor post-war progress causing delays have festered and re-opened as demonstrated by the still unfinished Second Niger Bridge, East-West Road and poor East West Railway and atrocious federal road network. But beyond the physical is the mental neglect and oppression with insultingly ethnic-biased appointments creating non-representation issues with dangerous effects on citizenship and polity. The breakdown of the principle of citizen involvement caused by the refusal to implement federal character in appointments and distribution of federal resources and also over-centralisation over peripheral activities through the Unitary Federal Exclusive List, a military coup relic, are the most glaring signposts that must be redirected to send citizenry in the ‘we are one country, one nation’ direction . But will the political class be bold enough to give and take enough for the country to change direction and become a true nation? There are millions of citizens pointing the way, but those with political sway, dangerously for Nigeria’s future, arrogantly ignore the route to confirming the nation has grown from a country. How myopic and malicious can they be? We grow, they grow. Get them glasses to see the children of every ethnic group, sex and family seeking one thing- a nation which loves them.

    With such war fronts on many sides, it still appears that the leadership cannot combat the multiple lethal conflict wars facing citizens daily. It takes few preventive measures. Why is government fast to sympathise, but   too slow to save the citizen from repeated bloody attacks by marauding herders, Boko Haram and ISWAP even in Maiduguri and its suburbs best manifest by conflicts in Northeast and Southern Kaduna with 4-5 million IDPs- neglected refugees in their own country.

    Add the Corruption War of ‘Most Nigerian Officials vs. All Citizen’ and undetected and un-resisted until there are over 50 different multibillion naira cases and thousands of multimillion naira cases of theft from repeated un-prevented assaults on every single MDA and state government budget by the politically appointed, workers, contractors demanding ‘20-100% Commission’ on everything?  Indeed, tell citizens that state officials have stolen more for their own tribal citizens than federal government greed.

    There is a Currency War from theft, fraud, lack of financial control and transparency, oil prices, poor sales, and fraudulent refineries. Another C is the Crippling Debt N33+trillion especially to China the old/ new husband of Africa- the beautiful bride with a cheap dowry to be paid with assets. Google ‘China Debt-Trap’. On our behalf, SERAP and NASS demand to see the documentation on this N33trillion debt.

    The attack on Governor Zulum convoy is another ‘isolated incident’. A further ‘Declaration of WAR’ against Nigeria while the armed forces court-marshals its finest! The violence on traffic in Lagos during the Third Mainland Bridge closure signifies government negligence. Who, what ‘C’ is next?

  • Nigeria and the Coronavirus vaccine race

    Nigeria and the Coronavirus vaccine race

    By Niyi Akinnaso

    As of today, Wednesday, August 5, 2020, there is still neither a cure for the coronavirus, code-named COVID-19, nor a vaccine against the virus. Our only weapon against the spread of the virus for now is the range of non-pharmaceutical measures, including the use of face masks to cover both the mouth and the nose; maintaining a physical distance of 2 meters (about six feet) from other persons around us; washing our hands frequently with soap under running water or using alcohol-based hand sanitizer; and maintaining overall safe hygiene habits.

    There is moderate to high hope, however, that a vaccine might be available soon. How soon may be several months, a year, or even longer. This hope is based on the keen competition among researchers all over the world to produce a vaccine against the coronavirus. At the time of writing, there are over 165 ongoing attempts to produce one.

    True, it normally takes years to produce a vaccine, but 27 of the vaccines are already in human trials, some already in the third and final phase. This feat is possible due to advances in technology, biotech, and pharmaceutical research in recent years. Besides, the unprecedented speed with which the virus is infecting and killing people across the globe invites a sense of urgency among scientists and politicians alike to produce a vaccine that could halt its devastating effects.

    Researchers are using a variety of approaches to arrive at a vaccine against the coronavirus. These approaches would yield five major types of vaccines, each using a distinctive method to provoke an immune response to the virus. Some use the virus’s own genes, while others use a coronavirus protein or protein fragment. Yet others use a weakened or inactivated version of the coronavirus itself. The two other approaches involve either the use of a virus to deliver coronavirus genes into cells or the repurposing of an existing vaccine for other diseases that may also protect one from the coronavirus. The hope is that one or the other or even all of these approaches may yield an effective vaccine.

    What is even more important, from a safety point of view, is that leading scientists from major universities around the globe are partnering with all known major pharmaceutical companies in the race to produce a vaccine against the coronavirus.

    The keenness of the race between leading universities is almost as keen as the race between nations in getting a vaccine to the clinic. This explains why nations are investing heavily in pharmaceutical companies and scientists within their borders. The United States alone has invested over $2 billion in coronavirus vaccine research and production, over $1 billion of it in Moderna, a US-based biotech company.

    So have China, India, Russia, UK, France, and even the European Union as a bloc invested heavily in home-grown vaccine research and production. The race among the US, UK, Russia, and China has become very keen as each has a company or two that has reached Phase III, the final stage of human trials. Already, the UK has accused Russia of stealing her coronavirus research data, while the US has accused China of the same thing.

    Nations are investing not only in research and production of a coronavirus vaccine, they are also cornering for their citizens millions of doses of the vaccines that are found to be effective.

    Against the above backgrounds, three important questions need be raised with the Presidential Task Force for COVID-19. First, with at least 27 coronavirus vaccines in human trials, why is Nigeria not involved in any phase of the ongoing trials?

    This question is very important for at least three reasons. One, Nigeria is the largest country in Africa with an estimated population of about 200 million. Two, Nigeria is the third most infected country in Africa after South Africa and Egypt, both of which are already involved in such trials. Three, how can Nigeria maximize its purchase of the vaccine, when it is not involved in the development of the vaccines on trial and is not even participating in any of the trials?

    Second, given Nigeria’s non-participation in vaccine trials, what effort has the PTF made in securing enough doses of a successful vaccine whenever it is available? Again, there is a strong reason why this question is important. Way back in April, our own Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as Chair of the Board of GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, repeatedly advocated a Vaccine Bond for Africa, while also recommending economic restructuring for African governments. Should Nigeria be the country not to take heed of this reasonable vaccine bond advocacy?

    Third, assuming that Nigeria is relying on a home-grown vaccine in which, according to the PTF, the government has invested through the Central Bank of Nigeria, what is the state of coronavirus vaccine research in Nigeria? Which Nigeria-based pharmaceutical or biotech company are our scientists working with toward the production of a coronavirus vaccine?

    These questions are all the more important given the widespread and rampant violations of the risk-mitigation guidelines provided by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control and emphasised over and over again by the PTF.

    Another reason these questions are important is Nigeria’s very low testing capacity vis-a-vis its population. After over five months, less than 30,000 samples have been tested among a population of about 200 million! Yet, we are already in the community transmission cycle. Mark you, we are still only in the first phase of the virus. What happens if and when we are hit by a second phase? Wouldn’t it be safer to be able to easily access a vaccine in case one is out by then?

    As indicated at the beginning, our best protection for now is to take the risk-mitigation measures seriously in the absence of a cure or vaccine for the coronavirus. A national mandate is now necessary, with appropriate enforcement guidelines and punitive measures across the country. It can no longer be left to states to do as they wish with these measures. The security of lives and property may be on the concurrent list. Nevertheless, the Federal Government bears the brunt of the blame as we are now witnessing with the United States government under President Donald Trump.

  • The Coronavirus diaries (15)

    The Coronavirus diaries (15)

    By Festus ERIYE

    One of the few positives about the COVID-19 saga is lots of worst case scenarios haven’t played out.

    In mid-April, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) projected 300,000 deaths in a best case scenario and three million in the worst case for Africa. But as at yesterday, there were only 859,930 confirmed cases on the continent and deaths stood at 18,177.

    These are not small numbers, but they are far removed from the apocalyptic figures predicted just two months ago.

    We have seen that continental pattern manifesting in Nigeria. Early in May, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, projected that Coronavirus cases in the state could reach 120,000 by July or August.

    But here we are on the cusp of August and confirmed cases are hovering around 15,000. Given that Lagos accounts for one-third of the recorded infections nationally, the model referred to in the preceding paragraph would suggest that Nigeria should be talking of 360,000 cases at this point. But the current national count is just over 41,000.

    Perhaps in the United States we have seen dire expectations become reality. President Donald Trump felt that the worst case scenario would be the death of 100,000 people. He did actually say if they could hold fatalities at that mark his administration would have done “a damn good job.” Well, that target was crossed well over a month ago and 150,000 Americans have now died from the virus.

    So what accounts for all the doomsday scenarios not coming to pass? Everyone has a theory. Some, with the benefit of hindsight, now argue that the Covid-inspired restrictions were unnecessary after all because of the numbers we’ve been seeing. That is assuming those numbers are credible given abysmally low testing.

    Their position also assumes lockdowns, social distancing, handwashing, wearing of face masks and other measures didn’t have an effect. Just as the world was feeling its way forward in those early months because of limited knowledge, very few can convincingly explain how the virus works. Indeed, if they could, the world would have a vaccine or cure by now.

    Oh, apparently a cure does already exist according to a certain Dr. Stella Immanuel, a Houston, United States-based medic. She was captured early this week in a viral video extolling the virtues of hydroxychloroquine as the cure for COVID-19.

    The Bali, Cameroon-born Immanuel has a Nigerian connection having studied medicine at the University of Calabar between 1984 and 1990. On her Facebook page, the pediatrician refers to herself as a “physician, author, speaker, entrepreneur, deliverance minister, God’s battle axe and weapon of war.”

    But it is her impassioned intervention over the treatment of Coronavirus that has arrested the world. She claims to have personally treated over 350 patients with COVID-19 – including those with underlying conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma. One of her patients, she claims, was 92 years old and most impressive of all, none of the hundreds she’s managed died from the virus.

    “This virus has a cure. It is called hydroxychloroquine, zinc, and Zithromax. I know you people want to talk about a mask. Hello? You don’t need a mask. There is a cure,” she declared.

    Her case was quickly undermined by the fact that she was part of a group of conservative and pro-Trump activists who appeared to have been mobilised to counter criticism of the president’s handling of the pandemic. Political stench very quickly overwhelmed any pretence that this was just about medicine and science.

    As if to confirm this, Trump rushed to retweet Immanuel’s video as confirmation of his long-held position that hydroxychloroquine was the magic potion to deliver the world from the grip of COVID-19.

    Not so fast Mr. President, said Twitter and Facebook who have been battling to scrub the video from his thread – but not after millions of his followers had viewed versions of the clip. The social media sites also penalised the president’s son, Donald Jr, for retweeting Immanuel’s video which they considered misleading.

    Read Also: Ortom’s wife tests negative for COVID-19

    Many doctors around the world continue to treat COVID-19 patients with hydroxychloroquine and in some cases they get better – causing people to question whether the ailment is any different from malaria. Not too long ago AIT proprietor, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, was discharged from isolation after a positive diagnosis and went public with his scepticism as to whether he actually had the virus.

    The debate about the drug’s efficacy would continue until a definitive solution is found. WHO disputes claims about the efficacy of drugs like hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and chloroquine as treatment or cure for coronavirus.

    The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also recently revoked emergency approval that allowed doctors to prescribe hydroxychloroquine to COVID-19 patients.

    One major problem with coronavirus is the disruption. If you have malaria, it’s your headache. If a father is infected with the virus he’s likely to take down his family with him. When a governor contracts it, a good chunk of his team would be affected. Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi’s contracting the virus has snowballed to several cabinet members and close personal aides.

    Most times when people speak of worst and best case scenarios, they look only at the number of cases and fatalities – not factoring in the disruptions. Coming into 2020 no one could have predicted the deadly impact of the pandemic on livelihoods.

    In June, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo citing recent data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) projected that 40 million would lose their jobs by the end of this year, due to lockdowns and social distancing measures. With more companies downsizing and critical sectors of the economy struggling to adjust to life in this new era, those estimates could very well turn out to be best case scenarios.

    But it wasn’t all gloom and doom. Last week, for the first time in the past few months, President Muhammadu Buhari, ventured outside Aso Villa to attend a regional summit in Mali. In case you missed it, he made the trip with face mask firmly in place! And that’s change for a man who very few have caught wearing one in public.

     

     

  • Schools, children, and Coronavirus

    Schools, children, and Coronavirus

    By Niyi Akinnaso

    There are several strong reasons why I will not send my 10-year old girl back to school this year.

    First, there is an ongoing spike in positivity and hospitalization or home isolation rates in my state, where the number of confirmed cases jumped from 292 on June 30, 2020, to 1,103 by July 27, 2020. Within the month of July alone, many high profile citizens of the state, from the Governor and his aides to legislators, contracted the virus, while high profile deaths also occurred, including the former Commissioner of Health, who was in charge of the state’s fight against COVID-19.

    Yet, there is an abysmally low level of compliance with the Nigeria Center for Disease Control risk-mitigation measures throughout the state. Yes, you could find one or two persons among 100 wearing a mask, but there is neither physical distancing nor frequent hand washing in crowded spaces. Stores, shops, markets, motor parks, and religious houses are operating more or less as normal, as if there is no coronavirus in town.

    To complicate matters, the testing level is very low in the state and it is done only on suspected cases, unlike a neighbouring state where testing is being done, community by community, to detect cases, rather than wait for cases to come for testing. The strategy of taking the test to the people allows for early detection, isolation, contact tracing, and treating confirmed cases.

    Second, the state headquarters, where I am currently in hibernation, is the epicentre of the virus. Yet, this is where many parents live, who patronise my daughter’s school. My fear, therefore, is that coronavirus may accompany some parents, teachers, or pupils to the school and spread the infection. I don’t want my daughter to bring it home.

    Third, the outlook of the virus in Nigeria is dire at the moment, with the positivity, hospitalization, and death rates still rising, crossing the 40,000 mark on Monday, July 27, 2020. True, according to the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, more and more tests are being carried out, but if the virus is not present, there will be no positive cases. What the test results are revealing is the prevalence of community spread, especially within the top ten most infected states, where the positivity numbers are in the thousands.

    Not only is my state among the top ten, people have been moving in and out of the state since border closures were removed. I, therefore, fear that some of the parents, teachers, and pupils in my daughter’s school may have visited other hot zones of the virus and may bring the infection to school were the school to reopen in these circumstances.

    Fortunately, however, my daughter’s school has never stopped teaching their students by collaborating with parents to advance their curriculum online. I hope the school authorities carry on with this arrangement till the end of the year or until the pandemic is either in remission or over.

    Unfortunately, fourth, the global outlook of the virus shows that there is yet no light at then end of the tunnel and nobody even knows how long the tunnel is. As of Monday, July 27, 2020, there were 16,301,736 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 650,069 deaths reported to the World Health Organization.

    Worse still, most countries in which restrictions were relaxed are now struggling with new cases. In some countries, such as the United States, the surge in positivity, hospitalization, and death rates has reached alarming proportions in a number of states.

    The story is similar with countries, which rushed to reopen schools. From Israel and Iran to France and Germany, schools have had to be shut down again as in China and South Korea. What is troubling about these cases is the spread of the virus among schoolchildren.

    A recent study of nearly 65,000 kids by the South Korean Center for Disease Control showed that all children could spread COVID-19. Although children younger than 10 years old tend to spread the virus at a much lower rate, those in the 10- to 19-year-old age range could spread the virus within households just as effectively as adults. Young adults in their twenties could spread the virus even faster.

    Fifth, the initial assumption that children may not die of the virus has been dispelled. On June 18, the BBC reported that a 13-day-old baby with no underlying health conditions died of COVID-19 at Sheffield Children’s Hospital in England. In the same report, a 13-year-old with no pre-existing conditions also died from the virus in another hospital.

    Equally pathetic is the recent case of 9-year-old Kimora  Lynum, who died from Covid-19 complications in Floriday, USA, on July 18, 2020. Kimmie, as she was fondly called, had no known pre-existing conditions. Two days earlier, Bloomberg reported that at least 66 children younger than 20 had died of COVID-19 in the United States since mid-March.

    The above examples are from countries with established democracies and strong health systems, unlike Nigeria, where the health system is weak and the cultural attitude to government-run projects is negative due to perceived corruption and weak governance. This may well explain the high rate of disregard for the NCDC risk-mitigation guidelines and even disbelief in the existence of coronavirus.

    Against the above backgrounds, it remains unsafe in Nigeria to send schoolchildren back to school. This is particularly true of millions of public primary schools throughout the country, which lack the necessary infrastructure to comply with the PTF guidelines on school reopening.

    Clearly, the Federal Ministry of Education took the right decision not to reopen primary schools at this time. However, the decision to allow SSS3 students to resume for the purpose of the WAEC exams in August is much too soon. Moreover, the time frame given to schools to comply with the PTF guidelines is insufficient and it is unclear how compliance will be ensured throughout the country.

    To be sure, many schoolchildren are losing out by being locked out of school for months. Nevertheless, they can only be educated if they are alive. So long as the coronavirus stands between them and their classrooms, they should be kept at home.

  • Faster Contracts; Stopping MDA corruption

    Tony Marinho

     

    COVID-19 records deaths approaching 660,000 infections 17,000,000, with around 42,000 recognised Nigerian cases. ‘Social Distancing’ and masking are essential.

    More mindless killing of 31 citizens, unarmed farmer families by Fulani militia in Southern Kaduna??? Yet we have satellite, drone and helicopter surveillance. Can Nigeria survive this constant unmourned blood loss? Who next?

    Government contracts are slow, killing business. Six-month Third Mainland Bridge closure?? No urgency!! Expressway 15 years repairs and counting.

     

    Has government opened the BRT lane on Ikorodu/ Funso Williams Road to allow 1/3rd more vehicles access, relegating the BRT lane to the access road where it should have been all along?

    With unemployment more could be trained for work even divers from Niger Dock or Niger Delta? Make 20 gangs, not one or two.

    Employ psychologists to lecture, monitor and mentor uniformed officials from traffic, military and police to cut police harassment and abuse of women seen in video last week. George Floyds exist in Nigeria.

    Forensic accountants and HND accountancy are yearning for ICPC, Reformed-EFCC, and MDA jobs. The amount of theft in MDAs also suggests need for psychiatric evaluation as a reformed-EFCC strategy.

    Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile 1995- 2020 dubbed ‘Bandit Slayer’, first female combat fighter pilot was laid to rest, after being victim of a freak accident involving classmates.

    Anyone who has known any air-force pilot, and I have my life-long friend former Squadron Leader J.B. U  as reference, knows that it is a paradox of major proportions that a person with such highly precision, positional and tactical local and international training and fundamentally special brain skills is killed by a driver reversing on a slow road.

    Maximum competence meets maximum incompetence with catastrophic consequences. Phone records, contacts, visitors will help exclude conspiracy theories like ‘Make it look accidental’. She was walking 400metres. Did she have a car, and why not if she did not?

    The NDDC, NNPC, NEDC, EFCC corruption and other accusations remind us that all MDAs and organisations are buildings and immune to corruption.

    Nigerians in those organisations, with children, choose non-corrupt or corrupt dealings with visitors also with children!

    Blame leaders and workers and sack, suspend, move to ‘suspended animation jobs’ any ‘unsackable’ leaders or staff who cannot stop being corrupt ‘with immediate effect’.

    There are five months left in 2020. We cannot afford to lose 30-50% of our budget to corruption or by January there may be nothing. Nigeria is sick from corruption disease.

    We must stop this for it to recover enough before stealing starts again next year, abi no be so? Theft in any organisation above 10% of total budgetary allocation will kill the business e.g.

    Nigeria PLC. ‘Cause of Death’ may be put as Corona’ or even ‘Boko Haram’ but the underlying condition will be’ Systemic Corruption’. ‘What Is In It For Me-WIIIFM?

    How can I make money beyond my salary from today’s work?’ asks every ‘gateman to GM’ as they arrive at work. Many honest Nigerians dismiss the thought.

    The dishonest get caught by the corruption bug. They create, innovate or participate in pre-existing office schemes pretending and spreading the myth that it is the organisation that is corrupt.

    On Saturday /Sunday, the building is not corrupt! Only Monday to Friday when humans are present!! Who withholds and delays documents and ‘’disappears’’ files to be miraculously found when ‘something for the boys and girls’ is paid? Was it ‘prayer’ or ‘envelope’ that recovered the files?

    We must change the narrative from ‘NGO accusatorial’ to ‘MDA aggressive compliance’. Anti-corruption should be normal not imposed.

    The Oath and Pledge force serious personal responsibility on the taker. The anti-corruption fight needs leadership leading from inside out.

    Don’t take an MDA or NASS office if you will not fight corruption. Let us blame everyone in every MDA office for the seething cesspool and river of corruption at federal, state and LGA levels.

    All management running public office is holding that office in anticorruption trust for the people. One element of trust pacts is the ‘Anti-corruption Strategy’.

    It is not nuclear physics to expect daily oath taking in every office in MDAs – a call to be ‘FLH-Faithful, Loyal and Honest’ through 1] Specific, 2] Publicly Articulated and 3] Demonstrable Successful Anticorruption Strategies beyond posters in the foyer of a known corrupt organisation.

    Both MDA leadership and followership need to salvage the value of government to society by ramping up their anti-corruption strategy which they execute on our behalf.

    MDAs must exonerate themselves one person at a time. If any single government agency has examined its systems, identified its flaws, plugged corruption loopholes and published audited accounts, it should be shouting for forensic auditing.

    Let that organisation step forward for ‘Anti-Corruption Compliance Testing’. It is social and political science 101. Why is no Nigerian happy visiting MDAs?

    Corruption can be stopped today nationwide if we stop each our personal corruption. We account to God as individuals, not political parties or cabals.

    An IGP stopped checkpoint corruption nationwide. MDAs hold that ‘STOP CORRUPTION TODAY’ meeting today.  Nigeria depends on you, too.

    Nigeria is not yet reliant on NASS politicians in the anti-corruption fight. Every organisation including NASS needs demonstrate internal ‘Anti-Corruption Strategies’ not just ‘Aggressive Microphone Denial Strategies’ for legitimacy.

    MDAs, NASS look inward and clean out any corruption rot you have got. Do not shout critics down. Show them around clean MDAs, NASS.  No smoke without fire. Brandish your anti-corruption strategically proven credentials.

     

  • NDDC: The gift that keeps giving

    NDDC: The gift that keeps giving

    Festus Eriye

    If ever there was a contest, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) would win the ‘most generous parastatal’ prize hands down.

    In the last two weeks a parade of its past and present executives have had Nigerians in stitches over their shenanigans. At the same time their lurid tales of squandermania have horrified even the most hardened among us.

    Take your pick. Is it the revelation of how this 19-year-old organisation was still spending N200,000 per day hiring vehicles? Is it the little matter of N1.3 billion spent on Covid-19 palliatives for the staff – one of whom pocketed a tidy N10 million to comfort him from coronavirus stress?

    The former Acting Managing Director, Joi Nunieh, through whom a lot of the tales of sleaze have emerged, told a House of Representatives committee how she came under intense pressure to share N10 billion as ‘Christmas palliatives.’ She baulked at the proposal.

    On Monday, Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, revealed how the Interim Management Committee spent N4.2 billion in one day – something they accomplished using the tried and tested method of paying the amount in tranches of N49 million so as not to breach their N50 billion limit.

    The current Acting Managing Director, Professor Kemebradikumo Pondei, fainted dramatically while facing forensic questioning from Representatives. Cynical Nigerians argued he was simply living up to his title of “Acting MD,” but the evidence of my eyes told me he wasn’t just exhibiting thespian talents.

    Who wouldn’t have a health crisis when the members were methodically pointing out to him that he had breached regulations by spending unbudgeted funds?

    As he sat slumped in his chair, he symbolised the humiliation and helplessness of the institution he headed. Such is the opprobrium that has attached itself to the NDDC arising from ongoing revelations that no amount of billion naira ‘reputation management’ contracts would wash it clean in a hurry.

    Bear in mind that these crazy numbers are the product of activities in just the last eight months. Imagine what the forensic audit of nearly two decades accounts would throw up!

    Some estimates put the amount that has flowed through the coffers of the NDDC in 19 years at about N15 trillion. It is scandalous that administrations came and went and no one thought to demand the audited accounts of an agency through which such humongous amounts were being channelled.

    People have been more fixated on some of the more explosive parts of Nunieh’s testimonies, overlooking other poignant things she’s said about the organisation she headed so briefly.

    For instance, she blamed its problems on three groups – management, staff and people of Niger Delta. “This story that we are all calling embarrassing stories cannot be complete without saying that the people of the Niger Delta region are responsible for what has happened – the fraud and corruption that have taken place in the NDDC. I’m speaking from personal experience,” she said.

    It is noteworthy that all who have headed the commission are from the region. ‘Enemies’ haven’t been imported from the North, East or West to punish the people. Representatives of the local elite are the ones perpetuating the sufferings of their kith and kin.

    Nunieh’s remarks underscore a recurring theme about public office in Nigeria. Those who get involved come under incredible pressure to engage in corrupt practices. It takes very strong characters to stand up to such pressures from friends, family and associates. Unfortunately, such individuals are in very short supply.

    On Monday, Akpabio talked of a fourth group who have been a headache for the NDDC: National Assembly members who he claimed controlled the bulk of contracts coming out of the commission.

    Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has taken umbrage over the minister’s claim, giving him 48 hours to name the beneficiaries. But this isn’t an accusation directed against him personally and he shouldn’t be seen to be browbeating Akpabio.

    It’s not the first time that legislators would be accused of harassing ministers and MDAs for contracts. What should worry us is whether we would ever get to the point where members of the National Assembly are content to limit themselves to just legislating. But given the pressures politicians face from constituents that may not happen anytime soon.

    That said, it’s okay that government has ordered the audits. It is equally fine that in pursuit of its oversight responsibilities, the National Assembly has been holding these revealing and entertaining hearings. But as is often the case, a couple of individuals would be used as scapegoats and everyone moves on with business as usual.

    To ensure the long-suffering ordinary folk of the region actually get to experience rapid and sustainable development as envisioned by those who thought up the commission, the current probes and forensic audits must not be an end in themselves.

    Let’s not forget that former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration established the parastatal to correct the inadequacies of its precursor – the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC).

    That body was dissolved based on widespread claims of non-performance by contractors who received mobilisation money but failed to deliver. Following the sacking of its board, five different panels probed allegations of corruption, uncompleted projects, and debts owed by contractors with very little clarity in the end.

    OMPADEC was established in 1993. Out of its ashes and lessons from its failings, the NDDC was born. But look where we are today. Twenty-seven years after, another series of probes have been launched to investigate the same sort of allegations that destroyed the old intervention agency.

    The 2020 investigations would not amount to much unless they are followed by root and branch reforms of the organisation, such that funds voted to it get to the grassroots and local communities.

    The reforms have to be implemented in such a way that parasitic politicians – be they local godfathers or legislators – who have been milking the agency for years are surgically separated from it.

    That is easier said than done, but it should be the goal if government is to revive the worthy mandate given to NDDC which, sadly, its leaders through the years have failed to deliver on.

  • Politicians, MDAs pledge: Stop stealing NOW             

    Politicians, MDAs pledge: Stop stealing NOW             

    Tony Marinho

    COVID-19 records deaths approaching 620,000 infections 15,500,000, with around 39,000 recognised Nigerian cases. ‘Social Distancing’ and masking are essential.

    Nigeria’s Diplomatic Corps and CBN must engage government and the National Assembly (NASS) on the dangerous Lebanon situation [pop 6.8m] before we fall into the same irreversible financial and insecurity cycle on a huge scale. Governance is not a joke but a heavy yoke, requires daily adherence to the abandoned National Pledge and Oath which should end ‘or let my children be punished’. He may be happy to have his wife punished.

    Last week’s column reported that every dollar stolen is a dead Nigerian baby, mother, child- for real. Ask the Nigeria’s illegal migrants risking dangers and deaths in the Sahara Sun, Mediterranean Sea, razor-wire fence, organ donor threats or prostitution in Fortress Europe. Ask the disillusioned doctors whose country failed them, forced them to think ‘abroad’ and leave Nigeria to the greedy political class. Nigerians derisively remind every single politician, official and contractor that they would have long since fled Covid-19 with their families but for cancelled flights. We must sincerely build up Nigeria’s infrastructure particularly the health service from LGA to state to federal government level. Who asks why Nigeria’s migrants risk their lives? Nigeria’s corruption is causing their migration and murder. The murderers – the politician, MDA and civil servant and contractor thief. Politicians say they do not see people eating out of dustbins or dead children. They are CAC- ‘Cause and Consequence’ and ‘Ignorance is no excuse’ -a popular NASS insult.  But politicians do see tomorrow’s dead the urchins at every street corner through bulletproof glass in the NASS jeeps each paid for by depriving street corner urchins of boreholes and classrooms.

    Buying cars with the people’s money in the near depression budget is a crime and punishable! Our doctors and other health professionals have frustratingly stood, like me, in needlessly shed blood, lamenting the dead, prescribed out-of-stock drugs, been attacked by relation’s thugs, operated without gloves and used a torch in operating theatres infested with bacterial bugs, and having to strike to get rights for their patients and themselves. Yet, such ‘rights’ are wrongly harvested by politicians wallowing in outlandish ‘Salaries and Perks’ which are SAPing us dry and which should be cut by 75%, to meet much lower international standards political renumeration.  Their new avalanche of LGA taxes in the time of Covid will kill more. LGA thugs will anger more when LGAs are greedily expecting fattened direct allocations from federal government. Their greed knows no bounds.

    When greeted, remember you are not ‘surviving’ as many politicians, officials and contractors do by manipulation and even stealing billions from NSITF, NDDC, NNPC and most MDAs which would never survive forensic audits. They apparently read the pledge to be ‘Unfaithful, Disloyal and Dishonest’ to Nigeria My Country!!!! Fellow Nigerians and Nigeria itself are not ‘surviving’.  ‘We are dying’ and will die -dead- if we do not stop corruption and act our pledge daily ‘Today July 22 No Corruption in this Ministry, MDA or Contract’ and stop corruption for six months at least. We will not die because 58 or 200 doctors leave. Try to get a decent paying job in government as a doctor or specialist consultants! Endless waiting, connections, insults, and corruption!! They refuse to fill vacancies, divert the salary ‘elsewhere’. And when you get the job and request modern equipment, they answer ‘Are you the first doctor in Nigeria? Go and manage’. You then ‘manage’ government lapses and consequent suffering and untimely death. And when you strike- since the 1960s ‘they’ only listen in a strike, you are derided by PPP-patients, press and public- as selfish!

    Problematically the politician is now ‘know all’ replacing all other professionals but has largely become incompetent in solving citizen’s needs, particularly patient needs, and nationwide insecurity. Politicians consider medical treatment as a waste and non-productive, consumptive. Did they approve the State Health Insurance Schemes to raid the warehoused funds as was done with salary and pension funds?

    In Nigeria there is a sinister scam to fit every sincere scheme! And we mistakenly blame 419 and yahoo-yahoo boys while ignoring their seniors. Governments mostly do not want to pay doctors, preferring ‘almost free’ NYSC doctors, keeping their own general hospitals as 19th century colonial medical outposts and glorified referral centres to nearby teaching hospitals or the recently introduced Federal Medical Centres. Which governor would go to a state hospital? Yet annually each and every state has had mega-enormous funds, enough to annually propel citizens into ‘better than federal’ 21st Century education, health, roads, water and sanitation and other infrastructure for all corners of their own ethnic citizenry enclaves. Hatred of self. Governors in particular and LGA chairmen must be seen to love citizens.

    A thief if caught will stop stealing immediately. Zero corruption for ministers, officials, and contractors, is their decision. My good friend Niyi Osundare reminds me of my Guardian article titled ‘Wanted: Genuine ten percenters’ 9/2/1984. In 1960-70s, 10% corruption was the norm, divided among all involved. Now we have at least 10 levels each demanding 10% – leaving little for execution! My article on 21/2/1984 was ‘Wanted: A watchdog on drugs’. Eventually NAFDAC happened in 1993/4. Today, Nigeria demands we live up to our pledge of zero corruption. Why must we settle for 10% corruption? Any higher and we all die. No country or business can develop with corruption above 10%.

  • Why COVID-19 may not go away soon

    Why COVID-19 may not go away soon

    Niyi Akinnaso

    It is a foolish man, they say, who does the same thing over and over again, and expects a different result. True, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, the Federal Ministry of Health, and the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 have repeatedly emphasized the need for personal responsibility in containing the coronavirus pandemic, but they have been locked into a cycle of repetitions. In briefing after briefing, the message is the same, save for information about new confirmed cases and deaths. As a result, the few reporters in the briefing room, who happen to be the same faces, keep repeating the same questions. The admonitions and reporters’ questions notwithstanding, the positivity and mortality rates keep going up.

    At the same time, citizens, most of whom are not even privy to the briefings, are like the proverbial foolish man: They keep flouting the non-pharmaceutical measures of containing the virus, and expecting that either they will not contract it or that it will simply go away. Many still do not believe that the virus exists at all, while others, especially in the rural areas, have little or no idea about its existence. Yet others, who know about it, believe that it is not “their portion”.

    One of them, another Wild Christian (apologies to Professor Wole Soyinka) even told me that coronavirus was God’s punishment for our sins. However, she continued, God has heard our supplications, led by her deeply religious Church, and He would make the virus disappear on July 14, 2020. She told me a few days before the due date. I nearly lost my cool, as I scolded her profusely for believing in the pastor, who told her such an anti-science lie.

    July 14 came and passed. The following morning, I sent the NDDC data of new infections and deaths to her. There were 463 new cases nationwide and 14 in her own state. I added the following caveat: “Let’s give today to God and expect zero cases tomorrow. It is possible your church leaders didn’t hear Him well”.

    The following morning, July 15, 2020, I sent her another message: “Seriously, please tell me what God says we should expect today so I can plan my day accordingly.” Her response is a further demonstration of her faith in God’s ability to stop the virus. Hear her: “What I can say is that God has taken us over this pandemic”.

    Needless to say, the infection rate keeps rising. So are the positivity and death rates. As of the time of writing, Nigeria had recorded 37,225 cases, that is, 3,609 more cases than the 33,616 cases of July 14, when the virus was predicted to disappear. Yet, neither the NCDC nor the PTF has shied away from emphasising that Nigeria has yet to reach the peak of infection.

    Unfortunately, the distance to the peak will get longer and longer with the so-called partial relaxation of restrictions and the opening up of religious houses, where some pastors and imams are deceiving their followers about the virus. Unfortunately, churches and mosques are getting fuller and fuller. Engagements, weddings, birthday parties, and funerals are returning to normal scale.

    With the increase in scale came the collapse of social distancing. Face masks, once worn by a few are now completely jettisoned. Last weekend was particularly troubling for me. Governor Yahaya Bello came to Akure, where I have been hibernating since March. He came to supervise the Ondo state governorship primary election for the All Progressives Congress. He lodged in a hotel within 300 meters of my residence. One of the aspirants lives about 100 meters away from me. Along our street was a teeming population of Bello’s aides and the aspirant’s supporters for two days running. My gateman kept reporting that he did not see anyone wearing a face mask! I told him to locked our gate with key!

    Ondo, of course, is a special case. There was never a lockdown. Only a temporary curfew, which was breached more than it was observed. The Commissioner for Health in charge of coordinating the state’s response died of the virus. So did a former Chairman of the state branch of the Nigeria Medical Association, who owned a vibrant hospital in Akure. The Chief Medical Officer of the University of Medicine Hospital Complex also contracted the virus. So did the state Governor, his wife, and some members of the State House of Assembly.

    Nevertheless, if you go through Akure today, all you see is business as usual. No face masks. No physical distancing. Some stores, which initially mandated face masks and hand washing before entry have since given up.  Yet, the infection curve in the state is on a steep rise. But that is the subject of another day.

    Against the above backgrounds, the NCDC and the PTF have more work to do. I commend the tact with which they dealt with the recalcitrant governors of Kogi and Cross River states. All governors have to work with their local governments and wards as well as community leaders in those units to organize coordinated responses to the pandemic. I had earlier provided some guidelines (see Community transmission: Individual and community responsibility, The Nation, May 20, 2020).

    This is essential because Nigeria will be in deep trouble, if this pandemic were to spread into the hinterland in the Southern states, where over 60 percent of infections have so far taken place. By hinterland, I mean the rural villages of which there are millions in the seventeen Southern states, which are used primarily as farming outposts. The consequences of the virus spreading into the villages for agricultural production will be incalculable.

    It is good to increase bed capacity for Covid patients, by building more isolation centres, especially in states experiencing unusual spikes. It is also good to ramp up testing. But these moves will be meaningless without the adequate supply of PPEs, testing kits, and reagents. State after state bemoans the shortage of these necessary supplies.

    Finally, the NCDC has done a good job of providing detailed information on testing figures and results per state on its microsite. State coordinators of the pandemic should be encouraged to publish all necessary figures in their state on a daily basis in order to further educate an incredulous public about the reality of the virus.

     

  • A comedy of scandals

    A comedy of scandals

    By Festus Eriye

    It’s been a double – even triple – whammy of scandals for the Muhammadu Buhari administration that leaves its much trumpeted anti-corruption credentials in tatters.

    The nation is transfixed by the sight of Ibrahim Magu, the very symbol of that crusade, on a cross of sorts awaiting crucifixion for his alleged sins.

    Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, says the dramatic probe into his activities as EFCC chairman, is evidence there are no sacred cows. But Magu isn’t just any ordinary ‘cow’: he came to personify the administration’s commitment to fight graft.

    So much so that when the Senate under Bukola Saraki declined to confirm him, the government hitched itself to him – allowing him to continue in acting capacity for five years – rather than put the assignment in the hands of a lesser character.

    It is therefore a bit late in the day to make the argument that the anti-corruption fight isn’t about one individual. The government created the impression that only Magu could pull off what it wanted done. In the process it downplayed institutional effort. To now imagine that the damage done to his reputation would somehow not rub off on it, is to play the ostrich.

    To compound matters, popular belief is this is part of a power struggle as Buhari begins his long walk to Daura.

    As a result of the vicious infighting, all sides are briefing against one another in the media. We now know enough about Magu’s alleged sins just as we are learning about what his nemesis, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, may or may not have done wrong.

    While the embattled EFCC boss is having to explain his management of recovered billions and hundreds of houses, we now know that Malami approved the sale of seized crude by a company that is facing trial for theft of the same item! His defence? The company had not been found guilty.

    Whatever happened to conflict of interest? If the firm is eventually found guilty, how would his approval of this awkward transaction then look?

    We are also fast discovering that modesty as a lifestyle isn’t an article of faith subscribed to by all in government.

    Those who are angry at Malami’s move against Magu have flooded social media with videos and images from his son’s wedding, complete with guests arriving by private jets and ‘spraying’ naira like there was no tomorrow.

    Surely, it is embarrassing that after the Central Bank criminalised such abuse of our national currency, the activity was on full display at an event associated with the nation’s chief law officer.

    Whichever way the Magu matter ends, it’s bound to impact the activities of the EFCC. A new man would spend the next year trying to impose his style and personality and weed out loyalists of the ousted boss. Whatever momentum had been built would quickly evaporate as the agency is transformed into another of Abuja’s somnolent monuments to failure of government.

    This isn’t to say Magu shouldn’t face the music if found culpable.

    As if the EFCC show wasn’t bad enough, the Nigeria Delta Development Corporation (NDDC), is serving up another fine mess. An unprecedented soap opera exploded upon us with Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio and erstwhile Acting Managing Director of the parastatal, Dr. Joi Nunieh, as protagonists.

    It would have amusing if wasn’t a replay of a very Nigerian abuse of position and public funds of tragic proportions.

    The NDDC was set up to develop a region that has suffered criminal neglect for decades despite providing the bulk of the nation’s finances. In this cause trillions of naira have been funnelled through its coffers over the years.

    But instead of development, a coterie of rapacious officials have fleeced it so much so that the region is no better than it was before it came into being.

    Courtesy of the ongoing National Assembly probe we hear tales of how billions have evaporated. Nunieh swears she only spent N8 billion during her tenure and not N22.6 billion. So what happened to the outstanding?

    The Interim Management Committee (IMC) has been asked to respond to claims it misappropriated N40 billion in the short time it has been in office. Its leaders were floundering when they appeared before the Senate ad-hoc committee and couldn’t account for N183 billion at the last sitting. They even managed to award themselves N1.5 billion for coronavirus relief.

    These amounts aren’t exactly peanuts. The bulk of Nigeria’s 36 states don’t have annual budgets of up to N180 billion.

    Nunieh has also made very grave allegations of corruption, abuse of office and improper conduct against Akpabio. She even claims he sexually harassed her – a misadventure for which the one-time distinguished senator reportedly received a dirty slap.

    Afforded the opportunity on television to respond to the wide-ranging allegations of misconduct, the minister dismissively pointed out Nunieh had had four husbands as well as an attitude problem.

    Even if you paint her as a woman scorned, she’s created serious problems for Akpabio that are not going to disappear with one flippant answer. She has laid charges of criminal misconduct that impinge on his integrity and they need to be addressed.

    It is noteworthy that both are lawyers and understand the implications of throwing such charges around in public. The lady has dragged the minister’s name in the mud, yet he hasn’t threatened to sue her.

    Now fair is fair. If Magu is suspended while charges against him are being probed, can the same administration turn a blind eye against torrid allegations against other senior cabinet members that are damaging its image?

    This is bigger than one person’s fate – whether that individual is Magu, Malami, Akpabio or Nunieh.

    Buhari isn’t running for re-election but I imagine he’s concerned about his legacy. He campaigned twice on an anti-corruption slate. But what difference has been made if the same stomach-turning tales of sleaze are being churned out by the system in a manner that keeps pace with the regime he replaced?

    Just a little food for thought for the president.

  • As Akinkugbe goes to sleep

    As Akinkugbe goes to sleep

    By Niyi Akinnaso

    ‘The name Akinkugbe itself connotes ‘the warrior that does not die in vain’, either as vanquished or as victor. But that spirit of rugged determination to succeed even against major odds is richly reflected in the Akinkugbe mantra’

    Ladipo Akinkugbe (2010), Footprints and Footnotes, An Autobiography, p. 263.

    When people go to sleep, they normally are expected to wake up and be up and running thereafter, all things being equal. However, when sleep is used as a euphemism for death, it is understood that the sleeper is gone forever. In such a case, sleep is eternal. Christians have a language for the situation. The person is said to have slept in the Lord.

    However, in the case of Professor Oladipo Olujimi Akinkugbe, he not only slept in the Lord on Monday, June 15, 2020 (about a month shy of his 87th birthday), he will wake up everyday and talk to us through the records of his medical prodigy; legendary teachings; clinical practices; and research findings, which will continue to guide doctors on how to treat various ailments, notably heart disease and kidney problems.

    As I point out below, these records exist in books, journals, and conference proceedings. The records derive from a variety of experiences in the medical field, including his elevation as the first Black African Professor of Medicine at age 35; Head, Department of Medicine; Dean, Faculty of Medicine; Chairman of the Board of the University College Hospital, Ibadan; and founder of three specialty clinics—one on hypertension and another on renal disorders, both at UCH—and the third, the Ibadan Hypertension Clinic, which he ran for 20 years.

    Similarly, as the founding Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, the fourth Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and an exemplary manager of clinical practices, records and tales of Akinkugbe’s services as a pioneering and astute administrator will also continue to mentor administrators on how to manage universities, colleges of medicine, hospitals, and specialty clinics. His invaluable contributions to the establishment of the University of Ilorin were not lost on the Federal Government, which seconded him in 1978 to strengthen Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria as its fourth Vice-Chancellor. This was at a time of great upheaval in university administration in the country, leading the Olusegun Obasanjo-led military government to reshuffle university Vice-Chancellors, by moving them out of their ethnic enclaves. Nigeria’s religious diversity and ethnic politics made it an unfortunate experiment.

    But, even more importantly, Professor Akinkugbe’s legacies continue to thrive in the medical students he had trained over the last half century, many of whom have since become Professors and Vice-Chancellors of various universities and produced students of their own.

    As indicated earlier, these enviable legacies abound in a dozen books he (co)authored or edited; numerous book chapters; innumerable articles in refereed academic journals; and many conference proceedings.  They also exist in recorded lectures and numerous press interviews.

    Above all, in lucid tell-tale manner and in fascinating details, Footprints and Footnotes, an Autobiography, published in 2010 when he was 77, chronicles his life, education, career development, professional achievements, and challenges up to that time. Three years later, at 80, he also published two slim volumes, titled Strands from the Fabric of Mind.

    The two volumes of Strands are collections of excerpts from nearly five decades of lectures on health and higher education. The lectures amplify the illustrious professional experiences narrated in Footprints. They also demonstrate a mastery of scholarship beyond medical education as they cite or re-echo leading philosophers, economists, political scientists, social theorists, and world leaders.

    At this juncture, I must confess that it is with a heavy heart that I write this, my fourth column, on or about Professor Akinkugbe, because I will forever miss face-to-face meetings and telephone conversations with him. Unlike the first two columns, which were celebratory, being appraisals of his works and achievements, the present one is only a sombre tribute, containing only a sketch of his achievements and legacies.

    I was always invited to his Little Summit residence at the Iyaganku GRA, Ibadan, in a reflective chit-chat with him over sumptuous snacks and choice drinks, either about my past columns or about the subjects of the columns I was going to write about him. One was on the occasion of his 80th birthday (Akinkugbe: 80 years of footprints and still going, The Punch, November 5, 2013) and another on the occasion of hanging his stethoscope after half a century of medical education and services (As Akinkugbe hangs his stethoscope, The Punch, October 23, 2018).

    The third piece resulted from a joint request by him and the late Dr. Lekan Are, his close friend, and patriarch of The Punch family, on their concern with the declining fortunes of Government College, Ibadan. Instead of being lured into snacks on arrival at his residence, Professor Akinkugbe took me through his gardens, where he pointed to a tree, booming with moderately wide green leaves. “That’s cocoa”, I said. “You’re right. Governor Mimiko was once here and he suggested that it would nice to have a cocoa tree in the garden to represent Ondo state”.

    We thereafter drove to Kakanfo Inn to meet with Dr. Are, who was waiting for us. They both related their experiences as students at GCI and their recent efforts to restore the quality of education they received there. The meeting was conducted partly over a feast of pounded yam, ila alasepo, efo elegusi, fish, and protein varieties.

    I shared their concerns with late Senator Abiola Ajimobi, then Governor of Oyo State, and his Chief of Staff, Dr. Gbade Ojo, when we met at Osogbo. The governor confirmed that they read my article and that the matter was under consideration. Months later, I received an email from Dr. Ojo with an attachment, detailing the government’s efforts to involve the GCI Old Boys Association in the management of the college. This was precisely what Akinkugbe and Are had been advocating.

    On January 19 this year, I sent this message to Professor Akinkugbe: “I’ve just returned from the US to the sad news of Dr. Lekan Are’s eternal rest. Please accept my heartfelt condolences.” Little did I realise that Professor Akinkugbe himself would leave five months later. He may be gone. But his legacies will live on.

    Truly, this warrior did not die in vain.