Category: Opinion

By Cosmas Odoemena

SIR: According to reports, the Lagos State Police Command said it arrested more than 200 suspects for looting COVID-19 palliatives. Across the country, there have been similar arrests of those who carted away these palliatives.

After the #EndSARS protests were hijacked, people took laws into their hands to destroy public and private properties and to loot.

But there is now the argument that the mass arrest and detention of these people across the country “threatens the federal government’s plan to decongest correctional facilities’ detention centres.”  Some are also saying people who are “hungry” should help themselves to the palliatives, after all there are many of our politicians who are looting our collective patrimony and getting away with it.

But, is that why people who have stolen should be freed? Is that justice? And if we allow that won’t it set a bad precedent?

Stealing is stealing, whether it’s by politicians or by ordinary people. Even the Good Book says in Proverbs 6: 30-31 “Men do not despise a thief, if he steals to satisfy his soul when he is hungry; But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.”

It’s true that the country has left many impoverished, but that is hardly a plausible reason to now become a thief overnight. We saw people who drove their cars to go and steal COVID-19 palliatives. Are these ones also poor? Some uniformed men encouraged them to go and loot. Even the uninformed men themselves grabbed whatever they could lay their hands on.

A woman who had come with her son after helping herself to the “loot” forgot her son!

A man had hired a taxi to go to pack his own “loot”, and after fully loading the taxi, the taxi man who had other ideas zoomed off with the booty, leaving the “thief” in shock.

There was also the okada man who parked his okada to go help himself with the palliatives. He came back carrying cartons of noodles, to discover to his shock that his okada had been stolen. In the confusion, he dropped what he was carrying on the road to go look for his okada. But after searching for a while he walked back with his hands on his head. But when he got to the spot where he packed his “loot” another “thief” like him had made away with them, indeed, a “double wahala”.

I know some people who will never steal, no matter the situation they find themselves. As the past weeks have shown in this country, the line between a palliative “thief” and criminals who steal and destroy public and private properties is blurred.

Government should better the lot of the people, and Nigerians must remain responsible and law abiding. Anything to the contrary will cause anarchy and put everyone in danger.

Stealing remains a crime, no matter where you go. Stealing cannot be decriminalized because of moral issues. It means our value of life is about what we can steal. It also means we value what we have stolen more than our character.

• Dr Cosmas Odoemena, Lagos.

By Abdullahi Mahmud Gaya

SIR: Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) was introduced to the National Assembly in 2007. The Bill, in its wholesale form, has survived three presidents and four convocations of the National Assembly. Before PIB was tabled before the National Assembly in 2007, Nigeria did not have a comprehensive law for the administration of the sector but has about 16 Petroleum Acts many of which overlapped in functions and responsibilities. Even though a splinter legislation named the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), which was passed in 2018 by the 8th National Assembly, failed to receive the prerequisite assent of the president and thus could not become law.

It is a fact that Nigeria hosts the world’s 10th largest petroleum reserve at about 25 billion barrels with gas reserve of 166 Trillion Standard Cubic Feet (TSCF). The country has the largest reserve in Africa with significant untapped hydrocarbon potential available to advance its economic goal.

Looking at OPEC projection that by 2040 oil industry sector  is going to be playing less and less a role in global energy usage. If the projection comes true in the next 20 years from now the world’s dependence on oil would have reduced to 50 percent. So, whichever way you look at it, it appears that the days of crude oil are numbered.

Regardless of this projection, the nation’s oil and gas industry needs a comprehensive legislation that will help the country to generate more revenue because   Nigeria has lost so much revenue that could have accrued to government coffers, as existing investments are stalled and potential investors are scared of coming.

The bill seeks to address the problem of administering petroleum resources in line with global best practices, and to provide for efficient and independent sector regulation.  PIB is also to promote safe and efficient operation of the transportation and distribution infrastructure for the petroleum industry and the framework for developing third party access arrangements to petroleum infrastructure.

PIB seeks to protect and hasten the development of host communities. In fact, Section 234 clearly states that it would enhance peaceful and harmonious coexistence between licenses or lessees and host communities, and create a framework to support the development of host communities   and foster sustainable prosperity within host communities.

Finally Petroleum Industry Bill will create efficient and effective governing institutions, with clear and separate roles and to establish a framework for the creation of a commercially oriented and profit-driven national petroleum company in addition of promoting exploration and exploitation of petroleum resources in Nigeria for the benefit of the Nigerian people and the efficient, effective and sustainable development of the petroleum industry.

• Hon Abdullahi Mahmud Gaya, House of Representatives, Abuja. 

Prof Ben A. Onunwor

SIR: The piece published on page 11 of The Nation of Wednesday, October 28, on the above subject refers.  The author did not show understanding of effective and efficient decision-making. He indicated three factors that should direct decisions. One was that the total power generation fell from 3,776.5 to 3,474.5 MW on Sunday. Second was that 11 out of 27 generating plants were idle, and third was that “It is understandable that we operate on agreements which bring in regular payments and allow us unfettered territorial access to River Niger and other continental Rivers that we share with our neighbours”.

By virtue of the third reason, it is wrong to break the agreement and attend to our own need. So, it is NOT unreasonable to give priority to the electricity needs of other countries over and above the national need. Government should not compromise an existing agreement, no matter the cost to us. Africa looks up to us in spite of our constraints.

Asset reliability management professionals are not surprised that 11 plants out of 27 were idle. The problem is lack of adequate technical know-how, caused by the dearth of experienced engineers. Rotating equipment maintenance is a challenging task globally. Those involved must follow the improvement trends from 1945 to date. In order to meet local electricity demand without compromising commitments to our neighbouring countries, we strongly recommend that the federal government through the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) change the method of oversight on the operators by driving them to explore and exploit engineered strategies that optimize costs. This would be achieved through improved oversight on the generating and distribution companies (GenCos/DisCos). Government should invite professionals to review the technical template that was used to qualify them originally.

A professional colleague told a story of how the old National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) requested them to inspect the plants and recommend solutions. Their team discovered the plants only operated at 25% of installed capabilities because the machines were often idle. Example was that the machines in Alaojii were designed to be powered with both steam and gas. But the project did not install the steam system; the plants remained idle when there was insufficient gas supply from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). A mechanical engineer in-charge of the facility did not know the type and quantity of lubricating oil in the machines. Other plants in Sapele and Ughelli had similar problems in addition to poor spare parts inventory management. They cannibalized machines to maintain another.

Another friend also told us how they visited Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) plants after former President Jonathan unbundled them into private investor companies in 2013. The situation did not change – not meeting business objectives. The United States had similar experience in the late 1960s when they recorded high rate of accidents in the aviation and nuclear power plant industries. A body was established with rigorous processes to evaluate and qualify applications into the businesses. One stringent requirement was presentation of a documented maintenance procedure to be scrutinized by experts before issuing operating licenses. Today airlines and nuclear power stations operate at 99.9% reliability at huge profits to the stakeholders. Engineering has evolved to the point of running facilities without shutting equipment down to do-not-fail maintenance. NERC should procure the services of experts to re-examine the capabilities of present operators of our industrial facilities to drive improvements.

Idle plants will remain with us with attendant high operating costs because the business is capital intensive. Increasing tariff is not an answer. An example of an improvement strategy is effective and efficient maintenance planning and scheduling which increases labour productivity by 157%. That would be considerable cost reduction. On the other hand, lubrication best practices extend oil change intervals to five or more years against what the equipment manufacturers specify. This also saves cost. Do not take the facilities from the current investor owners. It would be our pleasure to further suggest ways to achieve the opinion expressed here.

• Prof Ben A. Onunwor, Rotating Machinery Co. (Nig) Ltd., Port Harcourt.

By Femi Oluwasanmi

SIR: Controversies have trailed the EndSARS protest which birthed looting, killings, destruction of properties and opened an unprecedented page in the annal of protests in Nigeria, with some alleging that there were some elements keenly anxious to annihilate the Southwest and destroy its common heritage.  But critically looking at the events that culminated to this protest, it obvious that the youths are not to blame.

Following the shooting of peaceful protesters at Lekki, Lagos State, on October 20, some hoodlums infiltrated the crowd and wreaked havoc on lives and property in Lagos, Edo, Abia, Rivers State among others.  This breakdown of law and order changed the narrative of the protest and led to loss of property worth an estimated one trillion naira in Lagos alone.

This great loss prompted diverse reactions with some people blaming the military for using brute force on peaceful protesters while some blamed the youths for creating a platform in disguise of protest for hoodlums to strike. Specifically, two members of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Desmond Elliot and Mojisola Alli-Macauley blamed Nigerian youths, social media influencers, celebrities for the unrest.

Though, there is need to condemn in totality the destruction of lives and property done by the hoodlums, but the fact remains that the so-called hoodlums are product of the insensitivity of government to the level of illiteracy and people’s welfare in the country.

Even, the EndSARS protest was an offspring of the failure of government because, if the majority of those that participated in the protest were employed, the protest would have died a natural death the second day not to talk of degenerating to the level where the so-called hoodlums hijacked it.

In a country where the numbers of unemployed hands and poverty continue to increase astronomically, to have an empire of hoodlums will not be difficult. That is the reason people trooped out in thousands to loot both public and private property in an attempt to grab what they felt belong to them.

Unfortunately, the level at which this has degenerated shows clearly that the government cannot solve the problem alone. That is why the calls for entrepreneurship and skill acquisition continue to resonate daily. However, the inability of government to provide start-up capital for the teeming youths raises serious concerns.

In a society where people’s welfare is given priority, the government goes beyond advocating entrepreneurship or, skill acquisition to giving startup capital to people that are interested in entrepreneurship but lack the financial muscle to start. This is because they understand that an idle hand is the workshop of the devil. So, they don’t give breeding space for the devil to manifest.

For instance, the worth of the property destroyed in Lagos alone would be enough for government to give the 500, 000 N-power volunteers disengaged in June/July, a million naira each as an exit package to start up the business of their dreams. This is not to talk of the damages done in the other states.

Though, this might have been the reason the minister of finance allocated N25 billion to the cause of alleviating the pains of youths suffocating under the burdens of policy somersault and inconsistency, but based on the experiences over the years, it seems most governments projects only succeeded greatly on the pages of newspapers.

A veritable testimony to this is the revelation surrounding the distribution of COVID-19 palliatives donated by the federal government and other great philanthropists to mollify the pains of the people caused by the Coronavirus pandemic outbreak. In fact, deducing from this revelation, it seems the dividends of democracy which the citizens in advanced countries enjoy on daily basis only exist in Nigeria during the electioneering period alone.

These are the issues that ought to be source of concern to our legislatures and the executives instead of blaming the youths for the evil committed by the hoodlums. Had there been enough jobs, most of the so-called hoodlums would have been a plus to the society.

• Femi Oluwasanmi, Ibafo, Ogun State.

By Dumebi Nduka

SIR: The current situation in our beloved country Nigeria is not only sad but depressing. From the killing of the peaceful protesters to stocking of Covid-19 palliatives meant for the people and coming up with different lies and excuses to cover up the mess.

I am one of the many Nigerians that didn’t believe the minister of humanitarian affairs when she said her ministry shared palliative to all the states in Nigeria. But with the discovery of warehouses in almost every state in the country, one can see much sense in what the minister meant when she said that palliatives were shared among the states of the federation

The questions that keep ringing in my head is – Why did they store what was meant to for the people during the lockdown and hunger period? So many Nigerians died of hunger while some did terrible things just to feed their family and themselves during the period. I am not in any way supporting the lootings of the warehouses but the truth is that Nigerians are hungry and some people have the audacity to lock away essential supplies in a warehouse somewhere for reasons best known to them.

You and I know that a hungry man is an angry man so don’t put so much blame on the people because it’s obvious that our officials do not feel their pains and let not one pretend not to know that majority of Nigerians are hungry and cannot afford three meals a day. Any excuse for keeping what belongs to people and failing to share them when they needed it the most is flimsy and unacceptable to God and man.

Nigerians now know that politicians are the ones creating monsters out of the people because of their greed and selfishness. And now, these monsters are fighting back. It’s amazing that politicians are gradually making themselves enemies of their people; surely, no one will escape their wrath when they are let loose.

The EndSARS protests are more like testing the microphone and from the looks of things the next protest will be end bad governance and it’ll come like a massive wave without sparing corrupt leaders and their families.

If you continue neglecting your people and the clock strikes, don’t think that leaving the country will save you, because this generation of youth will fish you out and come for you in any country or hideout you are in this world.  I call on corrupt leaders to pocket their greed and selfishness and make Nigeria work because the youths of this generation are like grenade waiting to detonate.

• Dumebi Nduka, <dumez112@gmail.com>

Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye

SIR: When Nigerian politicians converge to map out plans for acquiring power, which, in most cases, practically translates to securing unlimited access to unearned wealth, they do not usually remember that they came from different ethnic blocks. At such gatherings, they will all think alike, talk with one voice and even look and laugh alike. They will speak the same language.

Indeed, illicit accumulation and all forms of corrupt activities do not have tribal marks. The colour of graft is the same any day, no matter who is involved.

At such times, the masses are hardly remembered. They do not matter at all. Everybody is preoccupied with the much he or she would be able to accumulate and cart away for his personal luxury and that of his family and cronies.

Immediately these politicians disagree among themselves, either on the power or money sharing formula, they would suddenly remember their differences which never mattered at all when they were sharing and carting away happily. Then they would return to the masses whom they had long forgotten to stoke ethnic tensions among them in order to use them to negotiate for themselves positions of power, influence and wealth.

Consequently, the suffering man who had lived peacefully with his equally suffering neighbour would be persuaded to suddenly see themselves as enemies and start fighting each other. The people would be deceived into thinking they are fighting to advance the interests of their ethnic groups, not knowing that they are at war to help negotiate better places and limitless luxuries for selfish and callous politicians.

Sometime ago, I was in one of the state capitals and what were on virtually everybody’s lips at that period were the media reports about some choice structures and juicy investments allegedly belonging to a former governor which were believed to have been acquired with the proceeds of his mindless looting. Opinions were divided on the mind-blowing report. Although some people rose in stout defense of the fellow, what I found unbelievable was that some others were ready to even go to the sickening extent of openly boasting that what the man was alleged to have stolen was “their” money, so, why should it be the business of anyone who was not from the state!

One evening, I went to a nearby kiosk to make a purchase, and there, I saw two young men who, judging by their haggard appearance, should belong to the lowest rung of the country’s social and economic setting – the worst victims of the programme of impoverishment that successive corrupt politicians have unleashed on this country.

As one of the young men expressed outrage at such mindless stealing by the former governor, the other one barked at him: “go back to your state and talk about the stealing taking place there and leave our state alone. It is our money that was stolen and it does not concern you! Just shut your mouth, we are okay with that!”

With people who reason like this fellow abundantly existing across our country, why should any thieving public officer ever think of exercising any restraint?

That is why the ethnic conflicts in most cities are periodic. Some say they only occur during elections or when some politicians have either lost out in their quest for power or are being tried for corruption.

The most painful thing is that while the hungry and haggard masses are out there fighting each other, the politicians whom they wrongly assume is their champion is behind closed doors negotiating a better deal for himself. Once he has been settled satisfactorily, he would come out and tell his people to halt the hostilities. He may let a few crumbs fall to them, that is, those who did not die during the conflicts.

And the deep bitterness which he had caused between good neighbours and amazing friends in the course of the self-serving conflict he initiated might take time to heal, if it will ever. He would move away to wallow in his usual luxuries until the need arises again for him to stoke another ethnic tension to service his narrow, selfish interests.

I have been calling on Nigerians to stop listening to these politicians, but will they ever hear?

There may be some people breathing today who will agree to serve as thugs in future elections, and may lose their lives in the process. They may champion the next ethnic or religious conflict when some unscrupulous politicians return to use them once more to further their selfish purposes. They may even be killed or maimed in the process, who cares? Certainly, not the callous and greedy politicians that instigated them!

Please, Nigerians, stop allowing yourselves to be used as cheap tools in the hands of these selfish and heartless politicians.

The only divisions that ought to exist in Nigeria should be between the oppressors and the oppressed, the exploiters and the exploited, and criminally enriched and the wickedly impoverished.

Nigerians, stop fighting each other to impress your oppressors. You are all victims!

• Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye,  scruples2006@yahoo.com)

Temitope Martins

SIR: Hoodlums became a trending word during the ENDSARS protest. I must say that they have always existed before now but with variants in agberos, political thugs etc.   They are ubiquitous in political party conventions, meetings, peaceful protests, elections, and any other social gatherings even with/without an invitation.

During the protests, they were noticeable in trying to attack and disrupt protests. After the protests, the same hoodlums decided loot shops, stores, markets to burn down buildings and cause mayhem in the country.  This just signifies that we had better rehabilitate them or the society suffers the menace that they have become.

Imagine; Nigerians clamoured for a speech from the president. After the speech, hoodlums went on to loot palliatives and create more mayhem. The president praised himself for doing well and reiterated his plan to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty through the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises MSME Survival fund, registration of businesses, grant to artisans, guaranteeing traders market, Farmermoni, TraderMoni, Market Moni, Npower, Ntech , NAgro and other programmes .

The government has good programmes but how about this section that’s always clamouring for presence? The hoodlums don’t understand the basic programmes or intention of government but he who has the capacity to sponsor/pay them.

Where did we get it wrong? Hoodlums don’t understand President Muhammad Buhari speech. Hoodlums don’t do N-power; they don’t do N-tech, or whatever empowerment programmes the federal government has in place. So, no matter the billions of money put in place by the government for programmes, it does nothing to help, reform or improve their welfare.

Hoodlums are basically the most vulnerable in the society and responsible governments take care of their most vulnerable. Thee menace of hoodlums is the result of the failure of government to put a functional, affordable education and welfare system for all. The same government that won’t ban them but sponsor them during election and other events; use them to their evil advantage then frown at them when they are longer needed.

The hoodlums are Nigerians.  They need to be rehabilitated. If the government is on the mission to being a civilized nation, it needs to rehabilitate them.  The Lagos State government has rolled out a huge fund for business and employment programs for youths through the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund. How do these programs reach the hoodlums considering their illiteracy and educational background? The government needs to create a system of informal/adult education to rehabilitate, re-educate or re-orientate our disadvantaged youths. Without proper informal/formal education, they would still be induced and manipulated to create mayhem in the society. It was Chief Obafemi Awolowo who said: “The children of the poor you failed to train (educate) will never let your children live in peace…” Very true!

• Temitope Martins, Lagos.

By Fredrick Nwabufo

Humanity is all inclusive. There are no higher or lesser humans. We all breathe the same air. Whether doctor, lawyer, journalist, police or soldier; we are all humans first, and as such we are entitled to the natural right to exist, to live. When this right is breached – even if it concerns our ‘’enemy’’ – we must all stand up against the violator and condemn the abomination. We cease being human when we selectively outrage against transgressions. Every breach of the human code must be condemned. The right to live is eternal; hence any innocent soul lost to violence of any kind must not be discounted. All lives matter.

In the heat of the violence that assailed the peaceful #EndSARS protests, the indignities executed on some members of the security agencies were consigned as footnotes. I must say, the violence was not the craft of the #EndSARS protesters; it was the sleight of hand of state agents and commanders of state terror who introduced hoodlums into the mix. The protests were largely peaceful until state-sponsored thugs, like bloodhounds, got unleashed on citizens exercising their rights. The centre could no longer hold and mere anarchy was loosed upon the nation.

One concedes that the savage killing of police officers in the recent violence has not received proportional outrage. I understand why this is so. But it is inexcusable. These are humans like the rest of us – with families. Some of them were the breadwinners of their homes; they were fathers to their kids; they were husbands to their wives; they were brothers to their siblings and sons to their parents. Let us take a minute to imagine the agony of those they left behind. Really, beyond their uniforms, they are just humans — with one life and cognate human challenges.

I condemn the killing of all police officers in the recent orgy of bloodletting. I am outraged by the killings. And I ask that all those who have a hand in the carnage be made to account for their crime.

Expectedly, police officers are refusing to return to their duty post. They are asking, ‘‘Why should we protect those that have humiliated us so?’’

A divisional police officer was quoted by one news outlets to have said: “In these ember months, and up to Christmas period and the New Year, I doubt if any of the security services can guarantee maximum security as usual. There is no way we can discharge our statutory responsibilities and function when we have become soft targets of miscreants and violent persons. Our destroyed facilities are yet to be reconstructed and rehabilitated; our looted armouries are yet to be restocked and when our men and women are yet to get over the humiliation of the atrocities committed on them by the same people we are charged to protect, how can we return to our duty post?”

There is no defence for truancy. As long as they are still being paid by tax-payers they have to do their bounden duty. It is understandable that they could be experiencing ebbing in morale, but this is the time they have to rise up and show Nigerians it is a new era in the force.

Let the #EndSARS protest be the change that the police themselves need to reform and survive, and to address its own internal contradictions and challenges. We cannot minimise the important issue of police welfare if we really desire the best from the security agency. Let this be the herald of improved welfare and work condition as well as training for members of the force. By declining to do their constitutional duty, the police officers are leaving more room for citizens’ distrust and revulsion.

The police cannot police well without the cooperation of citizens. So, leaving Nigerians to their own fate because they campaigned for reforms in the force will only worsen police – citizen relationship.

This is the time we have to reach out to each other – the police and the civil population – to build a strong bond. We must rise from this stronger and better. Let #EndSARS be the spark that will bring about a new epoch of law enforcement and citizen camaraderie.

Again, police lives matter.

• Fredrick Nwabufo, fredricknwabufo@yahoo.com