Category: Letters

Sir: It is high time the Lagos State government beamed its searchlight on the recurring incidences of building collapse in the state which has over the years claimed many lives and properties worth billions of naira. 

The latest one is a three-storey building under construction in Apapa which collapsed after a heavy downpour a few days ago. Thankfully, no lives were lost.

This happened about two weeks after a seven-storey building under construction collapsed leaving one dead in the Banana Island area of the state.

Lagos is the headquarters of collapsed buildings in Nigeria. In 2022, 20 out of the 61 buildings that collapsed in Nigeria were in Lagos. The Synagogue Building Collapse which occurred in Ikotun-Egbe, Lagos, in 2014, killed 116 people, many of them foreigners, and made headlines globally. There is hardly any year that the state doesn’t experience one building collapse or another.  The Lagos State government needs to be proactive if it wants to arrest this ugly trend.

Most collapsed buildings are a result of structural defects.  In the Apapa case, the government said the builders “ignored the stop work and seal up orders of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) and continued construction behind the scenes.”  The government reiterated its call for “responsible behaviour on the part of all stakeholders in the built environment.”

There is a lot of quackery in the building sector. People who are not structural engineers often pose as one and are hired by unscrupulous Nigerians who want to cut corners and avoid due diligence on their buildings.

 LASBCA needs to be up and doing. They should ease the process of getting building approvals so that people do not resort to putting up buildings without going through the necessary process to ensure structural integrity. The cost of building approvals should also be made affordable so as to enable more people to have access to it.

There may be a need to outsource the job of approval and monitoring of building projects in the state due to high demand. The Lagos State government can partner with professional associations in the building sector to prevent quackery and building collapse.

•Peter Ovie Akus,  

akuspeter@gmail.com

Sir: Since February 9th, 2023, when a young innocent Junior Secondary School student at Chrisland School, Lagos, Whitney Adeniran, died in a controversial circumstance during the Annual Inter House-Sports event of the school at Agege Stadium, I have resisted the urge to join the debate that followed the development for several reasons.  I imagined how the parents of the promising young girl who lost her life would feel. Of course, I also imagined the damage the death would do to the image and public perception of the Chrisland brand.

Two months after, the accusations, counter-accusations, varied public views and government’s action on the matter have confirmed my worries. Mr and Mrs Adeniran had lost their lovely daughter, Chrisland had lost its precious student and almost having its treasured brand smeared, teaching and non-teaching staffers of the school are temporarily jobless. Above all, students in their hundreds have, since the government wielded its big stick, remained at home.

Expectedly, the situation has attracted interventions from various stakeholders. I’m still emotionally down over the issue but reality appears to have dawned on me on the need for the government, and the parents of our dear late Whitney, to pause and consider the havoc the continued lockdown of the school could cause.  

A nongovernmental organization, Human Rights Monitoring Agenda (HURMA), observed: “Unfortunately, as Chrisland School and Whitney’s parents were mourning the loss of their beloved student and daughter, some unscrupulous elements took advantage of the situation to feed people on the social media with various distorted versions of the inaccurate accounts of the incident that resulted in the death of Whitney Adeniran.”

According to the NGO, there is available evidence that counters “the public uproars, sentiments and misinformation subsequent to the sad incident.”

 To me, the furore generated by the circumstances that surrounded the death of the young girl could have been properly managed by the major parties concerned, Whitney’s parents, the school and the government.

By all this sensationalism, the wound caused by the death has refused to heal, and the image of the esteemed Chrisland School is daily being battered.  By implication, the destinies of many other students are being toyed with because their school has remained under lock and key. The truth remains that no school, Chrisland or any school at all, will ever want any of its students to die. I am also concerned about the future of the other students.

HURMA argued that “closing the school is not in the best interest of the school or the government because such closure is seriously detrimental to the future of the students.”

 I commend the Lagos State government for allowing students in terminal classes i.e., the J.S.S 3 and S.S.S 3, to go back to school to prepare for their upcoming examinations.

Like others who have appealed to the government, I am also hereby humbly pleading that the school be fully reopened and other students be allowed to resume their studies.

•Jide Alabi,

 Ondo, Ondo State

Sir: It is high time the Lagos State government beamed its searchlight on the recurring incidences of building collapse in the state which has over the years claimed many lives and properties worth billions of naira. 

The latest one is a three-storey building under construction in Apapa which collapsed after a heavy downpour a few days ago. Thankfully, no lives were lost.

This happened about two weeks after a seven-storey building under construction collapsed leaving one dead in the Banana Island area of the state.

Lagos is the headquarters of collapsed buildings in Nigeria. In 2022, 20 out of the 61 buildings that collapsed in Nigeria were in Lagos. The Synagogue Building Collapse which occurred in Ikotun-Egbe, Lagos, in 2014, killed 116 people, many of them foreigners, and made headlines globally. There is hardly any year that the state doesn’t experience one building collapse or another.  The Lagos State government needs to be proactive if it wants to arrest this ugly trend.

Most collapsed buildings are a result of structural defects.  In the Apapa case, the government said the builders “ignored the stop work and seal up orders of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) and continued construction behind the scenes.”  The government reiterated its call for “responsible behaviour on the part of all stakeholders in the built environment.”

There is a lot of quackery in the building sector. People who are not structural engineers often pose as one and are hired by unscrupulous Nigerians who want to cut corners and avoid due diligence on their buildings.

 LASBCA needs to be up and doing. They should ease the process of getting building approvals so that people do not resort to putting up buildings without going through the necessary process to ensure structural integrity. The cost of building approvals should also be made affordable so as to enable more people to have access to it.

There may be a need to outsource the job of approval and monitoring of building projects in the state due to high demand. The Lagos State government can partner with professional associations in the building sector to prevent quackery and building collapse.

•Peter Ovie Akus,  

akuspeter@gmail.com

By Quadri Adeniyi Olorunfunmi

SIR: Domestic violence, also called “domestic abuse” or “intimate partner violence,” can be defined as a pattern of behaviour in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner. Abuse is physical, sexual, emotional, economic or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviours that frighten, intimidate, terrorise, manipulate, hurt, humiliate, blame, injure, or wound someone.

Domestic abuse can happen to anyone of any race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender. It can occur within a range of relationships, including couples who are married, living together or dating. Domestic violence affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels.

The United Nations also defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.” 

The ubiquity of domestic violence is arguably one of the top health concerns in the country. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that violence against women and girls globally is dramatically under reported.

 Domestic violence is unjustified unless done in self-defence. The following steps and actions can be taken in dealing with domestic violence:

-Tell someone. If you are the victim or are witness to violence, tell someone. It can be anyone you trust, such as a friend, parent, teacher, coach, brother/sisters, or a neighbour.

-Take all violence and abuse seriously. Remember that many acts of violence and abuse are against the law.

-Take a stand. If you witness any form of violence or abuse, stand up, step in, or shout out that the offender is actually the uncool one, and the violence has to stop.

-Be an individual. Think for yourself. Don’t follow the crowd and don’t give into peer pressure. Don’t participate in any forms of violence or abuse just because your friends are.

-Take back the power. Offenders act violently or abusively to gain power. By not participating, you take the power away from the offender and pass it to the victim.

-Remember, putting others down doesn’t raise you up. There is never a good reason to be abusive or violent towards anyone.

-Wrong. 24/7. Violence and abuse of any type that happens at any time is wrong. Period.

-Be a friend. Help the person who is being abused. This will take away the feeling of being alone.

-Spread the word. Comfort the person who was hurt and make it known that what happened was not fair or deserved.

-Stay cool. Try not to respond to violence with anger. Anger can make things worse.

• Quadri Adeniyi Olorunfunmi, olorunfunmiquadriadeniyi@gmail.com  

Sir: The Nigerian National Assembly proposed a bill that sought to compel Nigerian-trained medical and dental practitioners to practise for a minimum of five years in the country before being granted a full licence. The bill is designed to address the issue of brain drain and the shortage of medical personnel in the country.

The proposed legislation seeking to amend the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act 2004 will require medical students to enter into a bond with the government, which would require them to serve in Nigeria for at least five years after graduation.

One of the most important principles underlying the argument against compelling medical doctors to stay in Nigeria is individual freedom. Every individual has the right to pursue their professional aspirations and opportunities, and it is not the government’s place to dictate where someone works or practises. This principle is enshrined in various international human rights instruments, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Nigeria has ratified.

As in any democratic society, protecting and safeguarding the basic or fundamental rights of the citizens is of utmost importance. By its very nature, a fundamental right is a right that stands out and above the ordinary laws of the land, and which in fact is antecedent to any political society. It is so described because the rights are guaranteed by the Constitution itself and other laws having international flavour.

Fundamental rights are guaranteed to all persons and any person who alleges that the provision relating to fundamental rights has been or is likely to be breached can approach the Court for redress. Section 46 (1) of the Constitution of the FRN 1999 (as amended) provides that: “Any person who alleges that any of the provisions of this chapter has been, is being or is likely to be contravened in any state in relation to him may apply to the High Court for redress.”

Thus, compelling medical professionals to remain in Nigeria would be a clear violation of their right to choose their profession and exercise their freedom of movement. It would be akin to forcing someone to work in a particular location against their will, which is a clear violation of basic human rights.

Another reason the government cannot legally compel medical doctors to stay in Nigeria is that any attempts to do so would be ineffective and counterproductive. The reasons medical professionals choose to migrate, such as low pay and poor working conditions, are often the result of systemic issues that require significant structural changes to address.

Moreover, medical professionals who feel forced to stay in Nigeria against their will may be less motivated and less productive, potentially harming the quality of healthcare in the country.

Another limitation to the government’s move to regulate the movement of medical professionals is that many healthcare workers who migrate do so legally. They obtain the necessary visas and permissions to work abroad, which means that the government would have little legal authority to prevent these individuals from leaving or to enforce regulations that require them to stay. In fact, some medical doctors have left the shores of this country while not identifying with their profession in their new country.

In addition, medical professionals who migrate may choose to do so because they are seeking opportunities that are not available in Nigeria. These opportunities may include access to advanced medical technologies, opportunities for research, and better compensation packages. Attempting to regulate the movement of medical professionals would therefore be futile, as it would not address the underlying issues that lead to brain drain in the first place.

As things stand, any attempt to regulate medical professionals to stay in Nigeria could violate their constitutional rights. The Nigerian Constitution guarantees freedom of movement and the right to choose one’s profession. It would be unconstitutional to impose restrictions on these rights, even if the intention is to address a societal issue such as brain drain.

The government’s role should be to create an enabling environment that encourages medical professionals to remain in Nigeria voluntarily. This could be achieved by implementing policies that address the root causes of brain drain, such as improving working conditions and pay, investing in healthcare infrastructure, and creating opportunities for professional growth and development.

 By doing so, they can create an environment that encourages medical professionals to remain in Nigeria and contribute to the country’s healthcare system, while respecting their fundamental rights to individual freedom and professional aspirations.

Medical migration is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that has significant implications for healthcare systems around the world. While there are challenges associated with medical migration, there are also potential benefits that should be considered in efforts to address the issue.

 Ultimately, the goal should be to create healthcare systems that provide quality care to all patients, regardless of where they are located, and that support the needs and aspirations of medical professionals.

•Victor Okeke, 

Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) Nigeria

Sir: The Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Ari, stirred the hornet’s nest during the supplementary election conducted on 15 April. Ari controversially declared Aisha Dahiru Binani of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election when the collation of the results was ongoing.

 It took the intervention of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters, Abuja, to douse the tension that would have snowballed to political crises in Adamawa State and painted the commission in a bad light.

 INEC described Ari’s action as null and void, and usurpation of the returning officer’s duties. It later invited the REC to Abuja and subsequently ordered him to stay away from the Adamawa State supplementary election.

Since Ari’s shame, or false declaration of the result, many political pundits have continued to question the rationale behind his actions. The questions begging for answers are: Did Ari receive an order from above to declare Binani? Was he financially induced to make such an unconstitutional or illegal declaration? Interestingly, INEC’s call for Ari’s investigation will reveal the truth of the matter sooner than later.

 With the various reforms by INEC in order to conduct free, fair and credible elections in the country, the likes of Ari are not helping matters and are giving the commission a bad image. He is a lawyer, and was expected to know what the electoral law says, and that his actions violated the law.

Ari’s declaration came at a time opposition parties expressed doubts and rejected the outcome of the last presidential election which Bola Ahmed Tinubu won. Both Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), who objected to the result have taken their case to the election tribunal.

Little wonder, the INEC leadership swiftly countered Ari’s improper conduct in order to save its integrity.  The unprofessionalism displayed by the former Adamawa REC should serve as a wake-up call to INEC to continue to monitor its officers. Some of its officers can compromise the system in anticipation of financial rewards.

   There is the need to flush out the likes of Ari. Since 2015, the conduct of elections has changed in the country. Whoever wants to drag us back should not have a place in the present Commission. Election is a serious business, which people with dubious character should not be allowed to supervise. The action of Ari has nearly eroded the gains recorded by INEC in the last election.

•Ibrahim Mustapha Pambegua,

 Kaduna State

Sir: Drug trafficking is a global phenomenon. According to a 2012 report by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), Nigeria tops the list with the highest trafficking and drug use in West Africa. The report further indicates that in the last 15 years, West Africa became the new transit hub for cocaine coming from Latin America and heading for Europe with Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos, emerging as the most active centre for air trafficking of cocaine.

The report indicates that close to 50 percent of Africa’s drug couriers arrested in Europe in 2011 were citizens of Nigeria. Nigeria, however, topped the list of major transit routes of heroin going to Europe. Nigeria is reported to have featured prominently among West African states that produce and export cannabis to countries in Europe.

Greed and lust are two major forces driving young people into drug trafficking, it can even push a man or woman to stake their life to traffic drugs even to countries in Asia and Middle-East, which have capital punishment for both drug traffickers and users. These definitely are persons who place the lust for easy money above the value for life.

Drug trafficking is considered a fast and easy way to make money, and remains a thriving business and a serious problem in Nigeria. Some other factors that fuel drug trafficking include peer pressure, financial burden and unemployment.  

Sometime ago, a Lagos pastor was arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, over drug trafficking. The suspect, Daniel Lanre Akintola, 43, was caught with 1.978kg of heroin concealed in the false bottom of his luggage. This is a clear example of desperation and lust, looking at the fact that a clergyman was involved in this kind of ungodly activity.  

Another example is the recent arrest made by the operatives of the NDLEA of a 34-year-old South American man from Suriname, Dadda Lorenzo Harvy Albert, who was arrested at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, for bringing into Nigeria 117 parcels of cocaine concealed in extra-large latex condoms factory packed inside bottles of 100ml body spray.

I wonder how the NDLEA officers were able to uncover such a mode of concealment and arrest the suspect. For me, this is clear evidence that they are doing their job properly.  Kudos to the Buba Marwa-led NDLEA for the beautiful job they are doing in order to keep drugs off our streets. 

• Nanzem Nkup,    

 Jos, Plateau State

SIR: Scientists’ latest attempt to create a human being through Ectolife, which is an artificial womb in a stationary facility, propelled by advanced technology, is food for thought.

 Scientists say that they are replicating the ‘exact conditions’ that are prevalent in a woman’s womb during pregnancy in EctoLife. They remark that it will help solve problems associated with pregnancy and childbirth as well as infertility, among others.

Once they fertilise an egg in their laboratory, the embryo therefrom is then put in this artificial womb called EctoLife to continue its growth. And at  ‘full term,’ according to them, with a push of the button the baby is delivered from the artificial womb to the parents to take home.

‘This is fantastic,’ I can imagine many people exclaiming while many others, I sense, are already fantasising about it.

  Although no baby has come out of EctoLife as yet, scientists and other experts in related fields are optimistic that it could become a reality in some ten years’ time.  They assert that they have been able to ‘crack’ the later stages of pregnancy in that they are able to nurture premature babies (who stayed only 20 weeks in their mothers’ belly) in an incubator where they continue to grow to maturity before they are taken home by their mothers alive and well.

They would also say they have been able to figure out the beginning in that they are able to create an embryo from where a baby develops, in their labs, through In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF). So, what remains for them to figure out, according to the experts, is about the first 20 weeks, from the time the embryo is formed. Pregnancy lasts for about 40 weeks. And for them the complete solution is this EctoLife, artificial womb powered by latest technological innovations. It is notches higher than the incubator in their inventions.

 One must commend scientists and others for the efforts they have been making over the years to invent, develop things that help facilitate life here on earth.   And they shall continue to make steady progress in this respect, as evidenced in technological and other technical advances. In fact, there shall be no end to such advances and discoveries for the ingredients for them are already at hand. The foundation for them had been set.

 Now what these scientists have been excelling at, and will continue to, relates to inanimate things which also include artificial intelligence. They cannot step beyond the bounds of what is earthly, physical, because their brain is limited to earthly issues only.

 With regard to the human being, the origin of whose core lies beyond this earth, what scientists have been focusing on over centuries is the physical body only. The best of the world’s scientists cannot create a human being. What they can create, or rather develop, is a physical body without life.

 The human being comprises the physical body and the soul/spirit within which is what animates the physical body, gives it life. When the spirit within the body leaves it which we call death, the body decays because it is of matter while the spirit journeys to the higher realms above, spiritual realm, heaven.

  In the first four months of pregnancy, what a woman carries in her womb is a developing physical body. And in the middle of pregnancy the spirit/soul incarnates (enters) into the physical body. This is when the woman feels the twitches (first movement) of the baby. As soon as the spirit/soul enters the little body, it simultaneously animates it; the blood within the baby begins to circulate. Note that at death the blood stops circulating because that which animated the body, that is the spirit/soul, has left it.

 Now it is only the special radiation of a woman (let us call it a kind of ‘power’ imbued her by the Almighty GOD) that enables her to attract a spirit/soul into a growing body in her womb. Therefore, even if a man has reproductive organs, he cannot produce a baby because he is not imbued with that special radiation needed for attracting a spirit/soul into it. And that is why in the case of IVF, for it to achieve the desired goal, scientists have to put into a woman’s womb, the little physical body they have formed in a lab, for a human spirit/soul to be able to incarnate into it and hence birth a human being.

 So, in the case of this latest development of an artificial womb called EctoLife, a human spirit/soul cannot possibly enter into the little physical body that is developing there because there is a missing link, the natural radiating process within a woman that can form a ‘bridge’ that enables a human spirit/soul to incarnate into it, thereby animating it and bringing it to life.

Note that in the case of premature babies that are nurtured in an incubator, incarnation had already occurred, these are hence already human beings.

 To conclude, what the advanced scientists with advanced technology are forming and developing is a lifeless physical body in which a human spirit cannot incarnate. This can only happen with a woman, in a woman’s womb, with her special radiation for attraction. They are only creating human-like models, not a full-blooded human being.

•Victoria Ngozi Ikeano,

 victoriangozii@gmail.com