The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

  • Protest: A call to patriotism

    Protest: A call to patriotism

    Sir: The call for a nationwide protest against hardship on Thursday, August 1, has caused anxiety among Nigerians. There are divergent views about whether the protest should be held or not. Using what happened during the EndSARS protests, which led to the loss of lives and properties, as a precedent, it will be difficult to predict the outcome of such a protest. There are fears it may be hijacked by hoodlums and become violent.

    The question arises: how did we get here? The economic policies introduced by the administration have brought untold hardship, though they were expected to be short-term and yield long-term economic benefits for the nation. Apart from the hardship, there is also an issue of trust in the government. The current level of unease and anger among Nigerians could have been avoided if the government had handled its affairs better.

    Words can start and end a war. Government officials and political office-holders should be sensitive, and avoid careless statements while communicating with the public through press interviews, press releases, social media, etc. Additionally, the Nigerian government should match its words with actions to build trust. Also giving timelines that cannot be met should be discouraged.

    The government, having promised Nigerians that their sacrifices will pay off; should also be seen to be making sacrifices and cutting costs. For example, political office holders should be encouraged to reduce the sizes of their convoys, the number of their aides, the number of foreign trips, and the size of their delegations. Flamboyance should be discouraged.

    Read Also: Surulere youths urge Nigerians to shun protest

    The approval by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the suspension of duties, tariffs, and taxes for the importation of certain food commodities, including husked brown rice, wheat, maize, and cowpeas through land and sea for 150 days, and the proposed importation of 250,000 metric tonnes of wheat and maize by the federal government should have come earlier. It is worrisome that weeks after the announcement, food prices are still soaring, as it seems full implementation of the food importation policy has not commenced.

    Nigerians should be made more aware of the achievements of the Tinubu administration and their significance. Some major achievements include the payment of the seven billion dollars in forex backlogs, the unification of the forex market, the student loans scheme, the consumer credit scheme, and the Renewed Hope Housing scheme. Ironically, many people aware of these achievements do not understand their significance and may therefore trivialize them. The National Orientation Agency has a big role to play in this regard.

    The Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative has dragged on. Nigerians still await the CNG buses promised by the federal government, aimed at reducing transportation costs, which have been a significant challenge. The high cost of transportation has made it difficult for people to commute to their places of work or business. It has also significantly impacted the prices of goods and services. Any government intervention that reduces transportation costs would be appreciated.

    The call for a nationwide protest is understandable given the hardship Nigerians are going through. However, it should be discouraged as it may result in a worse outcome than the EndSARS protest. The government has once again called for patience. The current situation calls for more patriotism from Nigerian leaders and citizens alike.

    •Kenechukwu Aguolu,Abuja.

  • Dangote Refinery and other matters

    Dangote Refinery and other matters

    Sir: Petrol and electricity are the oxygen of any nation. Once these two crucial resources are restricted, the nation struggles to breathe. Many Nigerians were surprised by the information that Nigeria’s petroleum importation from Malta surged significantly to $2.8 billion in 2023, up from zero importation between 2017 and 2022. On the other hand, the majority of Nigerians were unhappy with the news that the $19 billion Dangote Refinery is struggling due to poor supply of crude oil and other hindrances from government agencies that are supposed to support such a national asset.

    For most Nigerians, the Dangote Refinery represents hope and the expectation of lower petroleum prices. Regardless of the various opinions people hold about Dangote, he has accomplished what Nigeria as a nation has failed to achieve in decades. In fact, in the last 10 years, only six countries in the entire world have managed to build new massive petroleum refineries; one of them is the Dangote Refinery. The others include China, which has added multiple new refineries like the 400,000 barrels per day (b/d) Yulong Petrochemical Plant and the 300,000 b/d Shenghong Refinery; Kuwait’s Al-Zour refinery with a capacity of 615,000 b/d, which started operations in 2021; Saudi Arabia’s Jazan refinery with a capacity of 400,000 b/d, also operational since 2021; and Oman’s Duqm Refinery, with a capacity of 230,000 b/d, which commenced operations in 2022.

    Read Also: Shun planned protest, Lagos chairman Tijani begs youths

    Additionally, India has expanded its refining capacity with new units at the Ratnagiri refinery.

    Nigeria’s importation of petroleum products was initially intended as a temporary solution to address the insufficient supply from Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries. However, due to inefficiency and corruption, this temporary measure has become a permanent solution.

    In Nigeria, the prices of refined petroleum products are heavily influenced by import-related factors. There are over ten components contributing to the landing cost of petrol, including freight, port charges, the NMDPRA 1% levy, storage costs, marine insurance, lightering, the NMDPRA COQ and NOA, Q&Q analysis, letter of credit fees, and interest. Additionally, the high exchange rate further inflates the price of imported petrol. To eliminate these extra costs, local refining is the only viable solution. Nigeria’s only option for now is the Dangote refinery.

    Many Nigerians, both ordinary citizens and bureaucrats, view the $19 billion Dangote refinery as an asset and a blessing to Nigeria. It has the potential to liberate Nigeria from decades of dependence on petrol importation, which is one of the major causes of pressure on the Naira and scarcity of the dollar. The Dangote refinery will position Nigeria on the map of nations exporting both crude and refined petroleum products, as well as fertilizer. Dangote Fertiliser is one of the largest fertilizer plants in the world, with an annual production capacity of 3 million metric tonnes of urea. Nigeria’s annual urea fertilizer needs are only 1.5 million metric tonnes.

    Dangote has already demonstrated his capability in the cement industry. With Dangote Cement, Nigeria is a net exporter. Nigeria boasts one of the largest cement industries in Africa, with a combined production capacity of over 58.9 million metric tonnes per year among major producers. Due to Dangote’s significant cement production capacity, Nigeria not only satisfies its domestic cement needs but also exports to neighbouring countries, enhancing regional trade and economic integration.

    Let the Dangote refinery be! It will transform the Nigerian oil and gas industry into a net exporter of refined petroleum products.

    •Zayyad I. Muhammad,Abuja.

  • Why livestock ministry must not be

    Why livestock ministry must not be

    Sir: The announcement of imminent establishment of a Federal Ministry of Livestock Development raises two important questions. First, is creating a 49th federal ministry consistent with the advertised objective of Tinubu administration to reduce the cost of governance through the Oronsaye Committee Report Implementation Committee? Second, is enhanced role for the federal government in livestock development consistent with reducing federal government’s functions as promised in president Tinubu’s 80-page manifesto that was released in 2022?

     While the seriousness and urgency of tackling livestock-related problems in the country are unquestionable, the solution is NOT in creating a federal ministry. After highlighting the terrible consequences of farmers/herders’ conflicts – “over 60,000 deaths across 22 states since 2001” – the PUNCH editorial of July 15 proffered an eminently sensible solution: “The solution lies in commercial cattle ranches, which must be the prerogative of the states [subnational governments] and private investors…The government should limit itself to technical and financial interventions to support settled ranchers” (bold and italics added). The contrary plea in the editorial of THE NATION on July 23 – “Creation of Ministry of Livestock Development should be given a chance” – is wrong-headed.

    Read Also: AGF cautions law enforcement agents against detaining suspects unduly

    After the over-centralization of about 30 years of rule by brass hats had contributed hugely to the country’s persistent underdevelopment, a civilian president ought not to be foisting increased federal power on the country. The urgent first steps are: (i) immediate review of the distorted revenue allocation formular inherited from the military in 1999 by assigning 65 percent to subnational governments and 35 percent to the central government; and (ii) significant reduction in the central government’s legislative list that will be consistent with the new revenue allocation formular, similar to the provisions in 1954 and 1963 constitutions. At a stroke, an overpowerful and overreaching central government that is funding the establishment of Development Commissions for geopolitical zones and the creation of a new federal ministry will become history. 

    •Professor Ladipo Adamolekun, Fairfax, Virginia, USA

  • Much ado about minimum wage

    Much ado about minimum wage

    Sir: The recent adoption of N70,000 as the new minimum wage is not yet Uhuru for workers. We are all familiar with the unending economic dislocation of the country, which has continued to deteriorate and defy effective remedies. Particularly, the workers are always at the receiving end with their low income chasing highly priced goods and services. The fatalistic repercussion of this is workers’ low productivity in discharging public services and engaging themselves in corrupt practices. Eventually, it is the system that is made to become dysfunctional and consequently the nation is the final and major casualty.

    We need to remind ourselves that the bulk of the working class makes up the middle class phenomenon. This symbolic segment of the society can make or mar the success of the political climate of a country as postulated by Aristotle. The working class members are politically and economically downgraded and lack motivating power for national construction because the state of their economy is terribly poor. They are gradually becoming defenceless and hopeless when they are supposed to be the defence of the defenceless as well as the hope of the hopeless.

    Workers in Nigeria have been living in serious economic crises which affect their behaviour and working ethics in negative ways. The ‘old’ worker with a patriotic mind is crumbling rapidly. A ‘new’ worker with a disgruntled mind is emerging. Yet, we pretend not to understand the economic security needed by this ‘new’ worker.  A worker that is grossly underpaid stands the risk of becoming an open rebel against the code of conducts of civil service operations. A ‘new’ worker influenced by the inordinate desire for survival only is a threat to the statutory functions of the civil service practices and existence. An underpaid worker will never think of harmonising national interest vis-a-vis the mandatory functions of the civil service for nation building.

    We are now moving to a frightening point where a civil servant in Nigeria does not enjoy the fruits of job satisfaction. The worker is forced into the ailing system because there is no alternative. Apart from poor salaries, the working conditions of workers especially at the state and local government levels leave much to be desired. The average worker in many states is not guaranteed of his entitlements after service. Thus, there are deficits in creativities, imaginations and innovations by the new worker, who is perpetually afraid of the day of retirement.

    To enjoy a new minimum wage that stands the test of time, a well-structured mechanism should be developed to ensure that workers’ salaries are not consistently threatened by inflation. This should be done so that before tomorrow comes, the joy of today’s minimum wage will not be the pains of its fall. For instance, to boost the work ethics of civil servants and ensure the safety of his or her economic well-being, governments at various levels should devise a functional and reliable system whereby workers buy foodstuff and essential commodities at affordable prices.

    Read Also: MURIC demands ban on movie portraying women in Niqab as criminals

    A frustrated civil servant is a potential risk to the public service. When the public is not served with diligence and honesty, there will be a breakdown of facts and figures and the process of policy making is greatly hindered. Also, the crisis of poor salaries has paved the way for the consolidation of ‘office politics’. This uncharitable and self-serving politics has rendered potential civil servants to become great merchants of gossip, sycophancy instead of agents of dedication and commitment. The motivating factor for the entrenchment of this mini politics is to win the heart of the ‘boss’ for financial and social gains.

    From the foregoing therefore, it is often believed that the rise of a new minimum wage is probably the beginning of its own fall as evidently dictated by persistent economic turbulence. Thus, all hands must be on deck to preserve the new minimum wage so that it will not go the same dilapidated trend and reverse to the old condition.

    •Abdu Abdullahi, Ringim, Jigawa State.

  • On the new lease of life for LGs

    On the new lease of life for LGs

    Sir: A recent Supreme Court judgment granted financial autonomy to Nigeria’s 774 Local Government Areas.  The judgment which stressed that Nigeria’s 774 local government areas should control their finances was ground-breaking in many ways. It was also a judicial attempt to correct a historical injustice.

    Despite the valiant attempts of the drafters of the constitution, the flaws inherent in Nigeria’s federal structure have hit the local government especially hard. Local governments have remained at the receiving end of executive recklessness and legislative cowardice in many states.

    Working closely with state legislators, many governors who desire to govern their states as they deem fit, recognise the danger posed to their greed by the local government.  They are also acutely aware that they cannot properly line their pockets with state funds without suppressing the local government areas.

    So they usually rig local government elections to put their stooges in office or refuse outright to conduct elections, filling local government positions with their stooges as caretaker chairmen. .

    The result of this chilling chicanery is crippling underdevelopment that has continued to mire the grassroots in poverty and underdevelopment despite their undeniable status as the livewire of democracy in Nigeria.

     In many ways, the Supreme Court judgment is a victory for Nigerians at the grassroots, who have long been victims of the shameful failure of Nigerian leaders to get their acts together. The judgment has renewed hope that with better resource control and allocation to local government areas in the country, Nigeria’s prodigious resources will pour into areas where they are needed most. 

    Read Also: MURIC demands ban on movie portraying women in Niqab as criminals

    However, this surge of optimism must be tempered by the fact that though a battle has been won, the war is far from over. A key cause of Nigeria’s lethargic national development is executive disregard for judicial decisions. This often manifests in either ignoring court judgments entirely or obeying them only partially or in breach. Judgments that compel the executive to act in a particular way are frequently ignored or obeyed only in part, often with no serious consequences. The fear is that this far-reaching judgment which seeks to finally free local government areas from the shackles of state governments will be met with disdain.

    To prevent this from happening, Nigerians must maintain resolute vigil against the pseudo-democrats and despots they have as governors who constitute the greatest threat to the local government system in Nigeria. This should be done in salutary recognition of the place of the local government areas in Nigeria as the government closest to the grassroots and rural areas.

     Many rural communities in Nigeria are without basic infrastructure, clean water, decent healthcare or quality education. Neither do many of them have any access to decent employment opportunities. To add insult to injury, insecurity has compounded the woes of those who live in rural areas. Indeed, many who live in rural areas can argue that Nigeria rather than give them anything has taken all they had.

     The Supreme Court judgment is a historic opportunity to bring good governance to local government areas. It is a rare opportunity to breathe new life into the grassroots, which have contributed more than other areas to the growth of democracy in the country. It is time to repay those who live in rural areas for their unwavering faith in Nigeria’s democracy. The debt owed them for the invaluable contributions to the growth of democracy in Nigeria can only be repaid by good governance.

     To achieve this, free and fair elections must become the norm at all local government areas. This would ensure the transparent administration of local government areas. This would also bring about accountability in the use of public funds available to local government areas.

     Nigerians must prevail on state governors to abstain from usurping the powers of local government areas within their states. Now that the constitutional authority and autonomy of local government areas in the state has been reaffirmed, the powers, and duties of the local government areas can no longer be subject the whims and caprices of state governors.

     It is also another achievement for Tinubu administration which obtained the judgment in court and is showing signs that Nigeria may yet get it right.

    •Kene Obiezu,keneobiezu@gmail.com

  • Kidney disease: Who will Save Gashua residents?

    Kidney disease: Who will Save Gashua residents?

    Sir: For years, the people of Bade Local Government Area in Yobe State have been grappling with a mysterious and deadly kidney disease that has claimed thousands of lives. Despite the alarming rate of mortality, the Yobe State government’s efforts to address the issue have been insufficient.

    The government’s provision of free kidney dialysis is a welcome step, but it is merely a drop in the ocean compared to the scale of the crisis. The dialysis treatment only serves as a temporary solution, and many patients require ongoing treatment, which can be costly and inaccessible to many.

    Yet, the government’s research into the disease is a positive step, but the failure to make the findings public has only added to the frustration and despair of the affected communities.

    The people of Bade LGA are eager to know the root causes of the disease, and it is the government’s responsibility to share this information with them. Without knowing the causes, it is impossible to develop effective prevention and treatment strategies. Furthermore, the lack of transparency and communication from the government has meant that the affected communities are left in the dark, unsure of what is being done to address the crisis.

    Read Also: Oba of Benin urges aggrieved Nigerians to shelve planned protest

    The impact of the disease extends far beyond the individual, with entire communities affected by the loss of loved ones and the economic burden of caring for those affected.

    Meanwhile, the disease has also had a significant impact on the local economy, with many families unable to work or engage in productive activities due to the illness.

    The social fabric of the community is being torn apart, and the government’s inaction is only making things worse. It is imperative that the government takes concrete steps to address the crisis, including making the research findings public, improving healthcare facilities, and providing support to those affected by the disease.

    The Gashua Kidney Disease is a crisis that requires immediate attention and action. The Yobe State government must take responsibility for addressing this crisis and ensuring that the people of Bade LGA receive the support and care they need. The government’s failure to act will only lead to more suffering and death. It is time for the government to put the needs of its people first and take concrete steps to address this devastating disease.

    The people of Bade LGA cannot afford to wait any longer for their government to respond to this crisis.

    •Kasim Isa Muhammad,Damaturu, Yobe State.

  • A call to reflect before protest

    A call to reflect before protest

    Sir: This is just to remind our fellow youths what life would be like if the enemies within and outside succeeded in mobilizing innocent young people to bring down Nigeria under the guise of protesting against government policies they perceive as unfriendly to their well-being. If people eat once daily now and move freely in some areas within the country, chances are that some would spend days and nights hungry and unable to move freely even within their vicinities if the protest held as planned, thereby slimming down to graves in hundreds and thousands. This is something I would never wish for my enemies, let alone my loved ones.

    In a viral video I watched on Facebook, the acclaimed leader and organizer of the planned nationwide August protest, Comr. Murtala Garba, said that he had withdrawn from the planned protest after realizing that some unpatriotic power mongers and anti-peace agents are the ones financing the protest at the expense of peace and unity of the nation.

    He said: “Everybody knows that we are pro-North and we are always ready to stand for the interest of the region. We started planning for the protest during the Ramadan period when we went to the market for shopping and realized that the price of a bag of sugar had unbelievably increased. That was when we realized that the removal of subsidy by this government would predictably lead to a high cost of living, so we started criticizing it on various social media platforms across Africa. We started getting support from Nigerian diasporans, largely from America, China, and other Arab countries.”

    Read Also: Oba of Benin urges aggrieved Nigerians to shelve planned protest

    The activist confessed that a high-profile individual from the southern part of Nigeria had invited him and 52 individuals to Port Harcourt for a meeting on the planned nationwide August protest.

    “We spent a day in Port Harcourt and then moved to Delta State, where we spent six days. We planned for the peaceful protest to take place across the 36 states of the federation, but they started telling us that they only want us to do it in selected states of the North comprising Kaduna, Abuja, and Jos because they trust us. They went on to tell us that they want us to block roads, adding that they will link us up with. That was what got me thinking as to who those youths are that are better than us in the country and yet we don’t know them?

    “Honestly, they gave us money and we collected it, returned to our region, and some of our elders started talking to us about it, and succeeded in convincing us to suspend the protest, not because we are happy with the government’s policies but because of its foreseen consequences considering the forces behind it.”

    Garba did not list the names of the people who invited him to Port Harcourt perhaps due to fear of the unknown. However, he concluded by asking the government to heed the calls to reconsider the fuel subsidy removal, mentioning that some powerful Nigerians are planning to topple the government.

    “They revealed the total number of police and other security forces in the Villa and promised to provide adequate manpower to support them and overwhelm the security forces. The protest is shaky and cruel to the nation. Therefore, I distance myself from it.”

    Those of us who are from Maiduguri will never want to experience the taste of war. It is obvious that some people want Nigeria to go into war, forgetting that no West African country can accept us as refugees if we break, due to our overwhelming population that surpasses half of the entire population of West Africa.

    Coming to the North, those Kano TikTok influencers are ignorant of the protest they were calling for because they seem to be unaware that Kano remains the only state in the North where people enjoy relative peace despite the power tussle going on between Emir Sanusi (enthroned) and Emir Bayero (dethroned). Businesses are going about smoothly, and farmers access their farmlands fearlessly, unlike Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, and Borno, where farmers write their wills every day before going to their farms.

    Some readers may ask about the solution to the economic hardship facing Nigerians since we unapologetically condemn the planned protest and urge like-minded individuals to shun it.

    In my opinion, the solution is near, as our Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries will start operations soon. This will reduce the cost of production and transportation, thereby lowering commodity prices by default. The inflation is largely caused by the cost of transportation, which currently costs marketers twice the purchasing amount.

    Therefore, I kindly call on the government to expedite the realization of the refinery projects and commence operations as soon as possible because it is the only realistic and achievable approach to ameliorate living standards in the country.

    •Lawan Bukar Maigana,Lawanbukarmaigana@gmail.com

  • Tunji Adegboyega’s tribute to Prof Dare

    Tunji Adegboyega’s tribute to Prof Dare

    Sir: I can’t wait till next Sunday for the concluding bit of Niyi Osundare’s piece celebrating the 80th birthday of Professor Olatunji Dare. Let me begin by accusing you of ‘pilfering’ my thoughts or impressions last Sunday in your celebration of our professional mentor’s life-in the person of Professor Olatunji Dare.

    Nevertheless I must honestly admit that you made my day in your almost exhaustive celebration of this intellectual prodigy’s landmark birthday.

    So in writing this my rejoinder to your last Sunday’s piece, I need to introduce myself as one of  Prof. Dare’s 1975/76 Mass Communication diploma students on Radio Nigeria in-service training. I was in the same set (co-sponsored) with our dear late Remi Oke (later Mrs Remi Oyo) the chief spokesperson for former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Remi was also a Radio Nigeria’s staff then.

    Little did I know at that time that God was using Prof. Dare to shape me up into becoming an instrument In God’s hand  as a gospel writer when I later found myself in the Anglican Communion priesthood.

    Your reference to our 80-year old celebrant as a satirist immediately reminds me of one of  my books- The Gospel According To Your Sense Of Humour billed to be launched in a few months’ time. In the book I acknowledged the influence of my Unilag’s Functional English teacher vis-a-vis the inspiration I received that enabled me come up with the compilation of the gospel messages.

    A paragraph under ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS to the book states inter alia:

    Read Also: APC leader warns Nigerians, says protest may have negative consequences

    “I wish to also place on record the influence of my ‘Functional English’ teacher at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Olatunji Dare who later, as chairman, Editorial Board of THE GUARDIAN shook the political firmament of late 70s and early 80s (the Shagari era) with his weekly Tuesday column in the newspaper as a master satirist “in every material particular”.

    The last time I had the grace of meeting this my great influencer was in Bauchi in year 1989 at a Federal Government-sponsored conference organised by DIFRRI-the then Directorate of Food Roads and Rural Infrastructure which was one of Gen. Babangida’s pet projects. I was then still in Radio Nigeria.

    Allow me then to add mine to the harvest of compliments Baba (Prof) Olatunji Dare must have received over the landmark birthday event last week.

      Congratulations and many happy returns of July 17 Sir.

    •Ven.Tayo Adebayo (rtd),Idi-Ayunre, Ibadan.

  • SEDC and the rest of the Southeast

    SEDC and the rest of the Southeast

    Sir: President Bola Tinubu has signed the South East Development Commission into law, signalling the federal government’s recognition of the pressing need to develop the Southeast beyond relying solely on the state leaders.

    Despite the responsibilities placed on the governors for governance, their performance has been lacking over the years. The commission’s primary objective is to crystalize development in the Southeast and I hope it will be implemented with strict adherence to the Act’s content.

    There is no disputing the fact that the aftermath of the Biafran War severely set back the Southeast by decades. This much was alluded to by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, who spearheaded this discussion alongside other Southeast lawmakers.

    The Southeast, despite its wealth in natural resources, has faced prolonged underdevelopment and degradation such that it is struggling to catch up with other parts of the country. There is renewed hope for meaningful progress with the establishment of this commission.

    Read Also: Oba of Benin urges aggrieved Nigerians to shelve planned protest

    This commission’s efforts must be directed towards sustainable development projects in key areas- healthcare, agriculture, infrastructural development, and ecological and environmental challenges.

    This commission must avoid the pitfalls of corruption and inefficiency that have plagued other similar entities, such as the NDDC and OMPADEC of the Babangida era. The NDDC, in particular, has become synonymous with monumental corruption, leaving the Niger Delta in a state of severe underdevelopment, fostering militancy, youth restiveness, et al.

    By learning from past mistakes and focusing on genuine development, this commission has the potential to transform Ala Igbo. This commission must not become another instance of “food for the boys.” This commission must establish transparent processes, ensure accountability, and prioritize projects that directly benefit Ndi Igbo. If these goals are achieved, the Southeast can finally overcome its historical setbacks and move towards a brighter tomorrow.

    •Chiechefulam Ikebuiro,Chiechefulamikebuiro@gmail.com

  • Still on the Jos tragedy

    Still on the Jos tragedy

    Sir: In the annals of Nigerian history, events in Plateau State have made often made some of the more horrific headlines. This proved the case yet again when a two-storey school building belonging to Saints Academy in the Busa-Buji area of Jos, the state capital, collapsed, killing about 22 people and injuring many others including students on July 12.

    Buildings have freely collapsed in the past to bury helpless and hapless people in rubble. Lagos State has been an epicentre of collapsed buildings as has Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, which has witnessed many episodes of what is a nightmare for masons who typically escape the squalor of their villages to make a risky living from building in the cities.

    With quack contractors who have no qualms about lowering standards, and complicit regulators who have no compunction about looking away when their palms are generously and sufficiently greased, many of those who labour as builders always sit on  ticking bombs until everything literally comes down burying them alive.

    Read Also: No need for protest because I’ve heard your call – Tinubu tells Nigerians

    According to experts drafted from the University of Jos, the collapse, which a survivor of the collapse described as ‘seeing the ground open to swallow them’, was as a result of a compromise to the physical integrity of the building. It means substandard materials were used and inferior labour and supervision employed in the building.

    Today, Nigerians are unanimous in their agreement that corruption which corrodes good leadership is the force behind many of their problems. At the level of everyday Nigerians, corruption milks minutiae of daily events. The lecturer who asks students to pay to pass with either money or sex, the contractors who use inferior materials to build, and the students who alter their results to gain undue advantages are all complicit.

    While those who have occupied positions of power in Nigeria must come under the fiercest scrutiny, the fact that they always pooled from Nigerians should provoke a deeper reflection. Since it appears that this pool is fetid, no saints can be found in Nigeria. If children who offer a glimmer of hope that a desperately stranded country can find its course are forced to eat the fruits of corruption right in the place where they are being formed to confront a deep malaise, hope is far away.

    The school children, and all those who lost their lives in the tragic incident, deserve to know from wherever they are that building standards in Nigeria are enforced to ensure the safety of the living. The knowledge is the least that can be given to Nigeria’s latest victims.

    •Kene Obiezu,

    keneobiezu@gmail.com