The Nation Newspaper

Category: Hardball

  • Checkpoints on border routes

    Checkpoints on border routes

    Multiple checkpoints are a menace on Nigeria’s border corridors. We have the word of stakeholders in Southwest corridors to illustrate that.

    Ogun State House of Assembly recently called on police leadership to scale down 52 checkpoints erected on the Idiroko-Owode route, decrying the situation as oppressive and detrimental to the socio-economic wellbeing of residents and commuters in the border communities. The assembly made the call in a resolution, following a motion by member representing Ipokia/Idiroko state constituency.

    The member, Bisi Oyedele, had said the proliferation of police checkpoints on the route subjected residents, motorists and traders to daily extortion, intimidation and unnecessary delays. He noted that checkpoints along the 20-kilometre stretch increased from about 20 to 52 within weeks, saying: “A trip that should ordinarily last 20 minutes now takes almost two hours due to endless interceptions by security officers who often demand bribe from drivers and traders. Transporters are most affected, paying up to ₦1,000 per stop – a situation that has led to losses, protests and even a temporary local transport strike recently witnessed.” He added: “The proliferation of checkpoints has crippled local businesses, increased transport fares and worsened the prices of goods and essential commodities in Ipokia Local Government and environs. Perishable goods now get damaged in transit due to unnecessary delays, while traders are forced to factor illegal payments into the cost of their wares, making life increasingly difficult for ordinary citizens.”

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    The assembly, in deliberations presided over by Speaker Daisi Elemide, deplored the multiplicity of checkpoints, describing the conduct of some officers manning them as abuse of authority. Its resolution urged Ogun police commissioner to reduce the checkpoints to a reasonable number as would yet guarantee security without inflicting hardship on innocent citizens. It also called on Governor Dapo Abiodun to engage the police command so to address the matter swiftly. The house further resolved to transmit the motion as a petition to the Senate President, House of Representatives Speaker, Police Inspector-General and the National Security Adviser for investigation and necessary action at the federal level.

    Barely a week earlier, the Controller, Seme area command of Nigeria Customs, Wale Adenuga, said multiple checkpoints along Lagos-Badagry expressway were tarnishing the country’s image. Speaking at a stakeholder engagement with security agencies, traditional rulers, community representatives and business partners in Seme, he added that Customs would not rest until the checkpoints are reduced to the barest minimum  on the corridor. “The time wasting along Lagos-Badagry expressway is disturbing. You will see many vehicles queueing for checking by security operatives. It is embarrassing to see as many as 10 Immigration, 20 Police and 15 Customs checkpoints doing same work along the expressway.” He added: “We need  to tell ourselves the bitter truth. The more we facilitate legitimate trade, the better for our country. When trade thrives, crime reduces.”

    Those testimonies say it all.

  • Price of inaction

    Price of inaction

    Why did the Federal Government fail to take action to avert a strike by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) before the expiration of its 30-day ultimatum?

    Following the meeting of the association’s National Executive Council on October 25, its president, Dr Muhammad Suleiman, announced that the council “has declared total and indefinite strike action” starting November 1.  According to him, “there is no going back.”

    How did things get to this point? He said the association had made efforts to engage the government after suspending its five-day warning strike on September 14. He added that the two-week ultimatum was subsequently extended by 30 days on September 26.

    “This grace period has since elapsed, yet the Federal Government has failed to demonstrate the political will necessary to address the legitimate concerns of Nigerian resident doctors,” he declared.

    NARD has 19 demands, which he described as “minimum demands.”  Notably, he highlighted welfare issues, saying, “There are allowances of over two years, there’s 18 months, there’s seven months, there’s four months, there’s eight months.  There’s an allowance error that is over 10 years old. There’s a failure to review even the basic salary of doctors in this country for 16 years.”

     The figures he mentioned are astounding.  He said: “For all health care workers, I think the outstanding owed is about N35 to N38 billion. If it’s just resident doctors, we’re talking about maybe N400 million, but for all doctors in Nigeria, it could be N600 to N800 million.” Are these figures correct?

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    NARD also noted that “The current unsustainable practice of spanning duties across several days poses serious risks to physicians’ well-being and patient safety.”

    The association complained that “Doctors continue to work excessive hours far beyond international standards without adequate rest, in clear contravention of established guidelines and international best practices.”

    There are other concerning complaints, which informed the association’s 19 demands. NARD called for President Tinubu’s decisive intervention. “You are the father of the nation. Come into this matter, weigh in on it, and solve it for us,” Suleiman said.

    The Federal Government should not have allowed the situation to deteriorate to this point. The government’s inaction has serious consequences for those who need health care services in public hospitals across the country. The people should not have to pay for the government’s failure to do the right thing at the right time.

  • Short-changed

    Short-changed

    Puzzling and shocking. These words aptly describe information revealed by Senator Ali Ndume, while raising a motion that was adopted by the Senate on October 21.  It was titled, “Urgent Need to Increase the Minimum Wage and Improve Conditions of Service for Members of the Nigerian Armed Forces and Other Security Agencies.”

     The lawmaker representing Borno South said, “The current minimum monthly wage for junior personnel in the Armed Forces ranges between N50,000 and N60,000, depending on rank.” He argued that the pay was “grossly inadequate in light of current economic realities, inflationary pressures, and the soaring cost of living.”

    Ndume said the country’s troops and security operatives deserved better compensation, considering the scale of risks they face and sacrifices they make to preserve national security. He noted that Section 217(2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) empowers the Armed Forces to defend Nigeria from external aggression, maintain territorial integrity, and assist civil authorities in restoring order when called upon.

    It is puzzling that the figures fall below the national minimum wage. President Bola Tinubu signed the N70,000 minimum wage bill into law in July 2024, after months of intense negotiations with labour leaders who had demanded a much higher minimum wage.

    The question is: Doesn’t the national minimum wage apply to the country’s armed forces and other security agencies?

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    Also, the senator cited the minimum pay for soldiers in some other African countries, where he said they were better paid.  “In Ghana, the entry-level pay for a private soldier is equivalent to about N180,000 per month; in South Africa, N250,000; in Egypt, N230,000–N280,000; and in Kenya, about N200,000, excluding operational allowances,” he stated.

    It is shocking that as Nigeria faces a security crisis worsened by terrorists and secessionists, the country pays the same category of soldiers far less. Banditry, herder-farmer conflicts, and oil militancy also contribute significantly to insecurity in the country, demanding the attention of its armed forces.

    The Senate adopted Ndume’s motion, and urged the Federal Government through the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, and the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission to review the pay and allowances of members of the armed forces.

    The Senate’s Committees on Defence, Army, Navy, and Air Force are to “liaise with the relevant ministries and agencies to determine realistic remuneration benchmarks for different ranks, taking into account comparative international standards.”

    It is condemnable and inexcusable that the authorities failed to act appropriately before this motion came up. They must not fail to do the right thing after the fact.  

  • Lisa, 20 years after

    Lisa, 20 years after

    How time flies! Wednesday, 22nd October, 2025 marked 20 years since Bellview Airline Flight 210 travelling from Lagos to Abuja crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 117 passengers and crew on board. The aircraft crashed in 2005 and the wreckage was located in Lisa, a community in Ifo council area of Ogun State that has since hosted an arcade in memory of the crash victims.

    Twenty years after, the memorial arcade and the access road leading to it are in utter neglect. The Onilisa of Lisa, Oba Oladele Odugbemi, and community leaders have taken up a campaign to get the Federal and Ogun State governments to rehabilitate the access road and renovate the memorial arcade that has become overgrown with thickets. “We are appealing to both the federal and state governments to restore this important site,” the monarch recently said, adding: “It is not only the resting place of 117 souls – Nigerians and foreigners – it is also a symbol of collective memory.”

    Oba Odugbemi voiced concern that the memorial arcade, once frequented by bereaved families and visitors, now stands largely abandoned. He described the 10.5-kilometre access road to the crash site as impassable, noting that the original surfacing lasted less than a year before being washed away by seasonal flooding. The monarch recalled the memorial inauguration by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and ex-Governor Gbenga Daniel when the site drew national and international attention and sympathy, lamenting that the contrast is stark today. He solicited government recognition of the site as a national heritage landmark and proposed its development into an aviation tourism and educational centre.

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    There are efforts being plied to draw national attention to the Lisa arcade. At the House of Representatives, Deputy Chief Whip Ibrahim Isiaka confirmed that a bill seeking recognition of the site as a national monument has been presented. Meanwhile, community advocacy is intensifying for government intervention to restore the neglected site and fix the access road. Also, the 20th memorial commemoration was used as a focal point to celebrate the community’s resilience and renew calls for urgent action to restore the memorial site. Ahead of the anniversary, Oba Odugbemi urged the National Assembly to accelerate the bill seeking federal recognition and development of the arcade. “Nearly two decades after, the once-hallowed ground has been abandoned to bush and erosion. We ask the NASS to give this site the national attention it deserves by transforming it into a tourist and educational landmark. Let the memories of the departed be honoured with dignity, and let our communities benefit from the infrastructure that was once promised,” he said at an event where the Reps’ Deputy Chief Whip was present.

    The fate of the Lisa arcade is a sad reminder of the fragility of life and the necessity of enduring national memory.

  • Mental health of inmates

    Mental health of inmates

    Incarceration should not be an impediment to proper healthcare for inmates with mental health issues. However, many people who are incarcerated in the country lack access to mental health professionals because they are in short supply.     

    “We have 8,246 inmates with mental health conditions in our custodial centres,” according to the Assistant Controller General of Corrections in charge of medical services, Dr Glory Essien. She gave this figure during the third public hearing of the Independent Investigative Panel on Alleged Corruption, Abuse of Power, Torture, and Other Inhumane Treatment by the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), held in Abuja, on August 12. 

    From her explanation, the mental health of these inmates had been impacted by their incarceration. She said: “From the moment someone is brought in—those who have seen a custodial centre know what I mean—the police escort them to the gate, it’s opened, they’re admitted, and then that gate locks behind them.

    “That instant loss of freedom can trigger something. Some begin to show signs of disturbed behaviour almost immediately, as if something in their mind has shifted.”

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    When this happens, the shortage of mental health workers complicates the problem.  “If you’re in a facility housing 500 to 1,000 inmates, and you’re the only attending doctor, nurse, or psychologist, it’s simply not possible to monitor everyone individually,” she observed.

    The prison system, therefore, trains some inmates to assist the staff in identifying those showing signs of poor mental health, she added. According to her, they are “trained to alert the staff when they notice concerning behaviour. They might say, ‘This inmate seems dazed, hasn’t eaten, hasn’t spoken to anyone.’  Such observations help the staff to “intervene early,” she said. But she noted that these efforts are inadequate in dealing with the scale of the problem. 

    Two other speakers at the event gave further insights into the issue. The Assistant Controller General of Corrections in charge of pharmaceutical services, Mohammed Bashir, said there were 81,122 inmates in 256 correctional facilities nationwide, adding that specialised consultants “usually go to about 12 designated custodial centres that have a large number of these cases.” This is concerning.  Correctional centres with a small number of such cases also deserve attention.

    The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Dr Magdalene Ajani, noted the maldistribution of mental health professionals, saying, “Let them not only be centred in Abuja and Lagos; we need them to go out to the fields. Because if we even put two in the states, it will help them.”

    The authorities need to address this aspect of conditions in the country’s correctional centres. 

  • Momodu’s strange doctrine

    Momodu’s strange doctrine

    Dele Momodu, the famed publisher of Ovation magazine, isn’t getting much ovation, over his controversial theory, on the abiding confusion in the opposition camp — or is he?

    Momodu, a former left-of-centre political player, who once was a Labour Party (LP)/ National Conscience Party (NCP) presidential wannabe (2011), and also received no less crushing failure, scoring zero vote, in his right-of-centre PDP presidential primaries for 2023.

    In his new camp — PDP or ADC: aren’t both different sides of the same troubled coin? — he’s dabbling into political punditry, albeit of a most primitive hue.  Seeing the route to the Presidency being radically changed, with mass anti-PDP defections in both the South East and the South-South, Momodu now roots for a “northern” response.

    In his grand opinion, President Bola Tinubu, ahead of 2027, seems to be sewing up the entire South, with defecting PDP governors, the latest being Enugu’s Peter Mbah and Bayelsa’s Duoye Diri, though the exiting Diri has not quite said where he would berth.

    Momodu, himself a flamboyant southerner from Edo, is urging the “North” to retaliate, and also back a “northern” candidate of their own!  His campaign is for ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, of course.  Atiku had declared himself the candidate of the “North” in his failed run of 2023.  But now, Teflon Atiku isn’t so sure!  But to Momodu, Atiku, as adopted “northern” candidate, is a “sure banker”, as pools betters would say!  Well, we’ll see!

    It’s curious though how Momodu verbalizes the sheer panic in the PDP/ADC camp. PDP tries to put a sheen on its long-running nightmare, envisioning some strange utopia and rebirth in its November convention.  But the route to that haven is paved with nothing but tempest. 

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    ADC, on the other hand, after what in the streets they call “initial gra-gra” — o that picturesque phrase! — is settling down to a crippling monotony.  Why, even Atiku, said to have committed cash and goodwill to snatching ADC as special purpose vehicle for his umpteenth run, is yet to fully commit by formally joining ADC!

    Less than two years to destiny time in 2027 may well be near-eternity in politics.  But Momodu’s panic-stricken bluster just shows vanishing hopes in the opposition camp!

    Still, Momodu’s theory, of a northern tribal response, echoes the second US-Iraq War.  The doomed Saddam Hussein laid much store by his Republican Guard, formidable in all its analogue might!  But before Saddam could mutter Hussein, he saw the elite guards blown away by an elite digital force!

    Those that plotted base, mass, northern bad-mouthing of others are finding out you can’t step in the same river twice: with the rapid political changes in the old Eastern Region.  In panic mode, maybe Momodu evokes more pity, by his emotive punditry.

    As they say, in the pidgin high street, “jungle don mature”!

  • Where are the saboteurs?

    Where are the saboteurs?

    Dangote Refinery has added a twist to its controversial internal reorganisation, which reportedly led to a conflict with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN). It was reported that the trouble arose following the company’s alleged sacking of 800 workers.

    But a different narrative by the Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, changed the picture. He told journalists on October 17: “They said we have an issue with PENGASSAN; it is totally false news.”

     He presented a completely different story during a media briefing at the Dangote Refinery in Lagos. He said: “When we had a meeting with the minister and security agents, I made it clear that we don’t have any issue with PENGASSAN.”

    He revealed shocking information, saying the company “started facing incidents of sabotage,” and that they had documented 22 such incidents.

    According to him, “There were attempted fire incidents. We have the dates, the unit where it was done, and when it was done. All are documented with us. Because we went to the master control room, you know that all the data is completely captured there. And in the same way, they are trying to bring down the equipment.”

    He added: ““Fortunately for us, by the grace of God, it’s a very ultra-modern refinery. So, when somebody starts a fire somewhere, the fire protection system is so good, it is immediately controlled.”

    In essence, his narrative shifted the reason for the staff dismissals, which the company had described as a “small number,” from a labour dispute to a critical security issue aimed at protecting the multibillion-dollar facility from internal threats.

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    News reports had said there was a mass sacking due to unionisation. PENGASSAN had responded by declaring a nationwide strike, including directives to halt crude oil and gas supply to the refinery. The dispute was eventually resolved following government intervention.

    Tagged as the largest single-train refinery in the world and the seventh-largest oil refinery in the world, the Lekki-based facility in Lagos was inaugurated in May 2023. It is expected to ease availability and affordability of petroleum products in the country, and help end Nigeria’s reliance on fuel imports.

    The refinery is, therefore, vital for lowering fuel costs, which is expected to ease the country’s cost-of-living crisis.

    In this context, the company’s claim of 22 incidents of sabotage is a serious one and must not be glossed over.  Since the company also claimed to know the alleged saboteurs, it should expose them and they should be prosecuted.  What is it waiting for, if the information is correct?

  • Arms and rank indiscipline

    Arms and rank indiscipline

    Every time that personnel of different security agencies turn on one another in violence, it is like worms in a decaying body feeding on themselves and worsening the putrefaction. Their role under Nigerian law ordinarily is to keep the society safe for the unarmed public. But when they use the arms entrusted to them for that purpose in supremacy battle against one another, they not only grossly misapply the equipment funded with taxpayers’ money, they hazard the very public safety they were enlisted to preserve. And so, they themselves  become security risks.

    A clash was reported between soldiers and policemen in Bauchi metropolis last weekend, resulting in the death of a Constable. The soldiers attached to Operation Safe Haven in Jos, Plateau State, were said to have opened fire on a police patrol team at the Bayan Gari area of the Bauchi State capital following an altercation. Bauchi police command spokesman Ahmed Wakil, a Chief Superintendent of Police, made known that the confrontation occurred last Friday night.

    Wakil said the command received a distress report at about 10:35p.m. concerning a serious altercation involving a patrol team led by Inspector Hussaini Samaila during a routine operation. “The patrol team encountered an assault on one of its members, Constable Ukasha Muhammed, by two individuals in front of Padimo Hotel. The remaining members of the team responded swiftly, resulting in the apprehension of one suspect while the other escaped,” he explained in a statement. The apprehended suspect, he added, was later identified as Private Usman Mubarak, a soldier attached to the Joint Task Force, Operation Safe Haven, in Jos.

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    According to the command spokesman, the situation escalated when two other soldiers — Private Yakubu Yahuza and Private Godspower Gabriel — arrived on the scene armed and partially dressed in military uniforms. “They approached the team and fatally shot Constable Ukasha Muhammed in the left chest before fleeing the vicinity,” he said, adding that the injured policeman was rushed to Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital where he was pronounced dead by medical personnel. Meanwhile, the command apprehended the assaulters and they are currently being held in police custody. “The Commissioner of Police, CP Sani-Omolori Aliyu, has constituted a team of seasoned homicide detectives to conduct a professional, diligent, and timely investigation aimed at ensuring that justice is served,” Wakil stated, as he called for restraint among officers and men of the command pending the outcome of the investigation.

    The Nigerian Army has not spoken on the incident though detailed identity of soldiers concerned, including their service numbers, were indicated in the police narrative. And it wasn’t an isolated incident of inter-agency clash in Bauchi. In August, a police officer on escort duty with a mining firm shot a soldier at a checkpoint in Alkaleri area of the state. It is high time the authorities of the security agencies called the ranks to order so they don’t hazard public safety.

  • ASUU and strikes, five and six

    ASUU and strikes, five and six

    “Obuko de, oorun de!” is that picturesque Yoruba jive that speaks to the notoriety of the goat and its over-powering smell — “obuko de, oorun de!”

    You can very well say that of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).  It’s new executive appears anxious to prove its Aluta bona fides!  That’s clear from the latest warning strike declared by new ASUU President, Chris Piwuna, from October 13.

    To boot, on TVC, Prof. Piwuna appeared in full strike camouflage — a Nigeria Labour Congress-branded top, in all its organized Labour imperial majesty! His Excellency, the Aluta President of university egg-heads, was on air: Aluta yesterday, Aluta today, Aluta forever!  Aluta continua, victoria ascerta!

    By the way, shouldn’t university dons belong to the upper-suite Trade Union Congress (TUC), and not the shop-floor NLC?  In old Rome, that would have been patricians passing off as plebeians — a democratic choice, no crime!

    Still, pray: what’s that quip about madness — doing the same thing all over but expecting a different result, right?  But that must have been the last thing on the mind of the garlanded “strikers”, Piwuna and comrades! 

    Otherwise, shouldn’t there have been a troubling, tugging sense of deja vu?  Haven’t we seen these ill-thought strikes before?  What did they achieve? 

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    The last time, it was a grinding eight-month affair (14 February-14 October 2022), with the “strike heroes” nearly kissing bye-bye their salaries.  President Muhammadu Buhari (God bless his soul!) had enforced the no-work-no-pay rule — and rightly so!

    Though President Bola Tinubu came in and halved that liability, the Federal Government has already asked Vice Chancellors of federal universities to strictly apply that rule yet again — deja vu?  To think ASUU, which already added that four-month forfeited pay as “unpaid salary”, in its eternal agitation, is already threatening another “indefinite” strike!

    Will ASUU yet add pay for work not done for months — however this present action pans out — to its already rich stock of “unpaid salaries”?  Blessed — or is it blasted? — are this generation of delusional academics, for Aluta answers all questions?

    Not so, insist other unions on the academia.  The Congress of University Academics (CONUA) said no to the strike.  So has the National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) which, after decades of stomaching ASUU’s strikes-or-nothing rigidity, decided to opt out of the body.   Gradually the realm is melting but ASUU is too far gone to notice!

    Still, there are always two sides — or even more — to a story.  Between the ASUU and the Federal Government, hardly do you know who to believe. Nevertheless, the government should do everything within its power to ensure the strike is not prolonged.

    As for ASUU, no matter the merit of its case, its members ought by now to realize that they labour under a “strike” cabal.  That’s scandalous for academics that should think through problems, and not glory their lack of rigorous thinking with strikes.

    Dons in Denmark just gave the world “living” cement. Dons in Nigeria are luxuriating in strikes as cutting-edge thinking!  The earlier ASUU threw off the strike cabal undoing its destiny, the better for the Nigerian academia — and everyone!

  • When protectors turn aggressors

    When protectors turn aggressors

    Residents of Akinlalu community in Ife North council area of Osun State are crying for justice over the killing of at least three of their members and injury of many others by operatives of Amotekun Corps in the state. Amotekun is the local security outfit raised by governments of South-west states to foster security at the grassroots in complement to operations of the Nigeria Police.

    Akinlalu residents said an unprovoked attack on their community by Amotekun personnel 30th September resulted in four fatalities, with eight others – mostly women and youths – severely injured. Among those killed were three children of the Aro of Akinlalu, Chief Kamorudeen Oyebamiji – two from his younger wife and one from the elder. “Hooded Amotekun corps killed my three children in a single day,” he was reported lamenting. Community ruler, Alakinlalu of Akinlalu, Oba Oluwabusola Oloyede, demanded justice for the slain and denied claims by Amotekun that persons killed were bandits. According to him, it was innocent residents attacked at the market square. He implored community youths to stay calm and trust in government’s ability to bring erring corpsmen to justice.

    The Osun Amotekun had in a statement claimed its operatives acted in self-defence after being ambushed by hoodlums, and that the encounter left three people suspected to be hoodlums dead. “Our men were ambushed while attempting to retrieve two rifles forcibly taken from them during an earlier confrontation with suspected thieves. In the exchange of gunfire that followed, three of the attackers were neutralised,” its statement read in part.

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    But community members insisted it was wild cat aggression perpetrated by corpsmen suspected to be under the influence of drugs. Akinlalu Youth Leader, Musbau Adeboye, said: “We heard there was theft of farm produce at Abaoba, a village under Akinlalu. Amotekun men went there and arrested suspects. Later, we learnt two rifles were seized from them by the sons of a retired soldier. The next day, they returned heavily armed and started shooting indiscriminately. By the time I arrived, it was a gory sight. The whole community looked like a slaughter slab.”

    Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke expressed shock over the violence and said he had ordered full-scale probe. “This matter is being investigated and any infraction will be dealt with within the context of the law,” he said in a statement by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed.

    The police said they would ensure those involved in the mayhem were apprehended and prosecuted. Last week, police personnel stormed Amotekun Corps’ operational bases in Oke-fia, Osogbo, and Ife Central division in Ile-Ife where they arrested a number of corpsmen and sealed off the facilities.

    The Akinlalu incident raises the red flag again about allowing secondary security outfits to bear lethal arms without worsening the challenge of misuse.