The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Lopsidedness in electricity distribution

    SIR: As kids in the late 70s and early 80s, we were made to understand whenever there’s power outage that must have been a major technical fault occasioned either by an environmental interference or weather induced. I still remembered vividly that whenever there was a prolonged power outage, announcement would be made on radio and television with apologies rendered to the public with assurances to rectify the hitches which were usually done within the shortest possible time.

    The reverse is now sadly and unfortunately the case. “Crazy bills” has now become the order of the day as the public are made to pay as high as N10,000 to N15,000 per month for electricity bills for a two or three bedroom apartment. Nigerians are often harassed into paying bills for electricity they never used. Threats of disconnection have often coerced many into paying for what they didn’t use just to save face and maintain their pride in their communities. “Inherited bills” now seems to have come to stay, as new tenants of a particular apartment are forced and harassed into clearing any outstanding bills been owed by the former tenant.

    The introduction of prepaid meters few years ago came as a relief to many; but hopes were dashed when many were made to understand that those meters were actually meant for VIP Customers. Some Nigerians had to pay through their nose just to get a prepaid meter but after paying as high as between N50,000 to N100,000 some have waited endlessly with no hope of getting it.

    The electricity transmission companies often shy away from taken responsibilities or measures at restoring or repairing power installations whenever occasion arises, either due to a natural disaster or activities of vandals. The affected communities are usually made to bear the brunt of such; oftentimes, electricity consumers are made to contribute certain amounts of money to fix even the minutest faults even though they still have to settle their bills at the end of every month.

    The fact that some parts of the country enjoy almost an uninterrupted power supply daily while majority hardly enjoy a four – hours electricity supply per day clearly shows that a lot needs to be done as regards to power distribution in Nigeria. With particular reference to the Kwara State capital, Ilorin where I live, communities like Airport, Asa-dam/Dangote, Agbo-oba, Ganmo, Ita-alamu, Olunlade and some parts of Osere and GRA usually have almost 24 hours uninterrupted power supply at the expense of all other communities which constitute almost 70% of the state capital, even though the billings doesn’t reflect this disparity and lopsidedness.

    It doesn’t really matter the quantity of electricity Nigeria generates; what matters is how much of electricity a household enjoys. Even if the country generates one million megawatts of electricity, it wouldn’t make any sense to the average Nigerian if at the end of the day he/she doesn’t get to enjoy it. Hence, the need for the power transmission companies to look urgently into their modus operandi to resolve and rectify the anomalies and lopsidedness in electricity distribution.

    Electricity consumers should have value for their money. Some people shouldn’t be enjoying electricity for almost 24 hours daily while others would only be paying for bills for electricity they didn’t use. Nigerians are calling on the relevant agencies like the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and indeed all other major stakeholders in power transmission and distribution sectors to come to the aid of the common man with the aim of addressing the issues and to ensure that the right things are done to move this country forward

    • Hussain Obaro,

    Ilorin – Kwara State.

  • Ekiti: The gathering storm

    Someday historians and political scientists will oblige us with some books as to why the federal government just would not allow the internal political dynamics of Ekiti—a state with no drop of oil, no access to the Atlantic, and neither a gateway to the world—to play themselves out during elections in that state without its heavy-handed intervention. The federal government would rather fight rough and dirty in that state’s elections even with the predictable outcome that it is more likely going to leave the scene limping with bruised body and a bloody nose. It’s amazing why the federal government is always willing to invite self-inflicting wounds on itself and its integrity further damaged, not only before Nigerians at home and abroad but also in the international community. The emergence of Ayo Fayose, a former governor of the state as the flag bearer of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the June 21 governorship election may very well be a strong indication that there probably will be a sequel to the 2007 classic Ido-Osi drama in which Ayoka Adebayo, the lead cast of characters, played the fantastic role of both the protagonist and antagonist in rapid succession. The storm is, once again, gathering.

    Fayose’s emergence as the winner of his party’s primary election was at best an electoral decoy and at worst realpolitik in its raw form. Either way, these two trajectories are intended not to terminate at the water’s edge of Fayose but that of Opeyemi Bamidele, a credentialed progressive renegade and a potential Labour Party (LP) flag-bearer. The two, who will eventually become conjoined political twins, are to be the main catalysts in both the micro political component of winning Ekiti State – however unrealistic – and securing the constitutionally required 25 percent of the votes from Ekiti State for Jonathan in 2015, which is the macro political agenda. If this grand scheme works, Ekiti will then become the guide to be used to forcefully pry open the impregnable South-west (minus Ondo State) geo-political zone for the one-quarter of the votes necessary for Jonathan’s re-election. This is the end game, and most certainly the most important to the party.

    Ayo Fayose emerged the PDP flag-bearer not only because he has managed to build an aura of political indispensability around himself –rightly or wrongly believed by his party – but the party also (s)elected him because he’s well-suited to play the leading role in the thuggish component that rigging needs in order to thrive. It is pointless trying to draw President Jonathan’s attention to the dangers that the emergence of Fayose portends by concerned Ekiti groups, however well-meaning because reversing course by the party will negate its pre-determined goals. Every political space has its own realities that its gladiators must either deal with or change. Because Nigeria is still very much at the rudimentary level in its democratic political evolution, thuggery and rigging, unfortunately, are some of the “known knowns,” that will remain part of the body politic for some time. It is therefore important for the Fayemi administration to factor-in this egregious human political behavior not because it’s willing to participate but because it wants to mitigate.

    As a war strategist, it’s a given that Fayemi knows that the best guarantee for peace is to prepare for war. He may therefore have to constitute a ‘war cabinet’ within his campaign organization to nip in the bud any impending violence or other forms of brigandage usually characteristic of Nigeria’s elections. This will no doubt be very tasking in light of the fact that ‘David’ Fayemi will face ‘Goliath’ Jonathan, by extension, in a political duel. Since he did not ask for this looming war, Fayemi’s chances of victory are quite high not only because of his strong performance records, but because the June 21 electoral war would be won not with brawn but brain, which the ruling party has demonstrated repeatedly that it has very little of. What then are the options available to Fayemi and/or this ‘war cabinet’? He must choose one of these three strategic policies which are Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), Balance of Terror (BOT), and Containment.

    MAD is a non-starter. It is suicidal and Fayemi cannot compete with the federal government for the materiel needed for this option. The Balance of Terror strategy is appealing because it would force the opponents to seriously weigh the implications and consequences that their actions would have on their own safety not to talk of their overall objectives. Though it seems appealing, the problem with this option is that it would not only be out of character for the Fayemi administration to raise a terror machine equal to that of his opponents but that this option would give the opponents cover to do that which they know how to do best: rigging. And this is self-defeating. Containment is probably the best option. Simply put, it is the concerted efforts to make it impracticable for the opponents to carry out their nefarious activities. But its implementation can be equally tasking. Since Fayemi will no doubt be fighting on three fronts (local, Ondo, and the federal), he will need a good dose of financial resources and the involvement of a good chunk of his people for effective intelligence gathering, which will play a central role. The governor and his ‘war cabinet’ must know who is coming to town now more than ever and who they are visiting. Ekiti State may have to maintain outposts in its borders most especially with Ondo and Kogi states in order to keep track of official vehicular movements coming from these states and where they go once they’re in the state. The containment strategy is not to restrict anyone’s movements but to let those coming into the state with the intention of wreaking havoc that they’re being watched. This option is best because it also places the Fayemi administration on a higher moral ground.

    As earlier said, Fayose may be the PDP flag bearer; his utility value for his party is to spearhead the thuggish aspect of the electioneering which would make rigging to be relatively easy in some areas. It’s also to energize whatever it is left of the party’s support base in the hope that this base will coalesce into block votes. With the votes of PDP supporters solidly behind Fayose, and with Opeyemi Bamidele being able to have raided a significant chunk of the progressive votes from Fayemi, the governorship election would have been goaded into a run-off between Fayemi and Bamidele. With this scenario, Abuja can then throw everything in its arsenal behind Bamidele whom it is hoped could either win the run-off or would have secured enough votes to guarantee the President at least his 25 percent from the state in 2015. Either way PDP will consider itself to have won Ekiti State.

    • Odere is a media practitioner. He can be reached at femiodere@gmail.com.

  • Cartoon

    Cartoon

  • Of triumphant FRESH and adamant INEC

    The renewed bid by Chris Okotie-led Fresh Democratic Party (FRESH) to assert its right to function as a political party in Nigeria after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) refused to honour the court verdict that nullified the party’s deregistration, is set to take another turn. The party had won the battle against its deregisteration by INEC on June 29, 2013 at Justice Gabriel Kolawole’s Federal High Court 5, Abuja. The judge overturned the deregistration of the party as announced by the commission on December 12, 2012. But curiously, INEC has still not recertified the party whose certificate was cancelled.

    The foregoing intransigence would possibly explain the commission’s failure to include FRESH on the current ballot papers for the forthcoming elections in some states. The situation has fuelled suspicions in the camp of the party that there are surreptitious moves to ensure that Okotie does not contest the 2015 presidential election. A press conference was recently organised by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to publicly protest INEC’s refusal to abide by the judgment that reinstated the party as a legitimate contender for political power in Nigeria, while FRESH’s legal consultant, Fred Agbaje, has equally threatened to resort to legal action to compel INEC to respect the verdict.

    Shortly after the court verdict, the Chief Press Secretary to Prof. Attahiru Jega, Kayode Idowu, had told the media at a press conference that Fresh,”is back to the stable of recognised parties.” But in a strange twist of events, INEC’s National Commissioner in charge of the South-west, Prof. Lai Olurode, in response to FRESH’s press conference, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that “deregistered political parties could not field candidate come 2015, unless they seek re-registration… there was no law that said that no legal provision precluded such political parties from reapplying to be reregistered provided they met the requirements.”

    He also said: “If a deregistered party has not gone to court or the power of INEC has not been described as illegal by a court of law, that party cannot field a candidate come 2015. The only exception is if the party has gone back to seek re-registration, which is possible under the law. There is no law that says you cannot apply as a de-registered party if you think you have complied with the requirements of registration. For a party to be recognised as a political party as enshrined in the constitution, that party must be in compliance with the laws, rules and regulations. The laws, rules and regulations must be as laid down in the constitution and in the Electoral Act.”

    Olurode again said that “if the court ruled against the exercise of the powers given to INEC, the commission had no choice but to obey the rulings of the court with regard to specific provisions of the law.” The commissioner, however, said that “for whatever reasons, the court could not rule that INEC ought not to have de-registered a party.” Olurode also added that “this was so especially if the party was able to show that the commission had not complied with certain provisions of the law.”

    But Prof. Olurode’s ambiguous and contradictory statement failed to directly address the issue of INEC’s position on FRESH’s recertification, the purported request for a temporary registration, or an application for re-registration by Fresh Democratic Party. It will then appear that INEC, which claims to be a law-abiding institution and a law-governed institution covered by the laws of the country, has resolved to ignore the verdict of a competent court. One wonders if this position of self-conferred immunity by a government agency is not tantamount to emasculating the judicial system, and taking us back to the days of the military juntas.

    An editorial titled A registration ordeal, published in the Daily Independent of March 24, stated that “…Ordinarily, in a democracy the freedom to associate should be all encompassing… the registration, deregistration or could it be ‘decommissioning’ (to use the appropriate military expression since the military mindset still appears to prevail) of political parties has no place in a democracy. We had thought that the valiant effort of the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi had put this matter to rest. Unfortunately, it has not. The ghost of authoritarianism has not, alas, been laid to rest.

    “For this reason, we believe that political parties such as the Fresh Democratic Party have a democratic right and indeed a political responsibility to engage in another round of legal tussle with the Independent Electoral Commission(INEC) over the commission’s refusal to recognise the party after it recorded a legal victory over its deregistration last year.

    “The party and others sidelined have every reason to be disconcerted. For instance, their supporters were disenfranchised during the recently concluded Anambra State governorship election, due to the non-inclusion of the party’s name on the ballot papers. The ballot paper for the Anambra election was released more than 30 days after the party had secured its landmark judgment. The non-inclusion of the party is a clear violation of the spirit and rule of the law. It is also in contempt of the court.

    “Of course, they have every reason to fear that this trend will repeat itself in the forthcoming governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states. In addition, Fresh Party’s members could also find themselves unable to vote for their presidential candidate in the presidential election. This will be most unfortunate, running as it were against the democratic ethos.”

    It could not have been better put. This new display of governmental immunity appropriated by INEC, which is supposed to be a non-partisan umpire, may become a reference point in government’s bid to emasculate the judiciary and the legislature. The judiciary should be the last resort in the quest for justice, but when INEC unabashedly refuses to recognise a court verdict, which it had the right to appeal, any hope of free and fair elections may be gone with the wind.

    Following the comments by Prof. Olurode, FRESH’s Legal Adviser, Barrister Kola Dopamu, responded in a press statement, saying: “I think it is very unfortunate. I do not see FRESH going back to beg for registration. It appears the Prof. (Olurode) is not abreast with the real issue. He wants a baby that is already born to go back into its mother’s womb and be born again. Impossible! It is an attempt to frustrate the gains of the judgment, and we must resist it.”

    FRESH’s press conference and decision to pursue a legal course of action may just be well timed, as any delay in seeking redress in court may be tantamount to allowing a precedent which will haunt this nation for a long time. Like the infamous June 12 saga whose scars are yet to fully heal, another long-drawn battle is in the making, unless the judicial and executive arms of government intervene to ensure that another dark hole is not created in our nascent democracy.

     

    • Elakhe wrote in from Lagos

  • Cartoon

    Cartoon

  • France, Etete says ‘Merci’

    Even though details of likely behind-the scenes moves that culminated in the intriguing decriminalisation of Chief Dan Etete, a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, by the French government may not be in the public space, this does not make his clearance any less dramatic, or any less absurd.

    The background to the hard-to explain development dates back to 2007 when a French court found Etete guilty of corruption-related misconduct, specifically money laundering, and sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment, although he was tried in absentia. In addition, he was fined 300,000 euros (about $40,000).

    Particularly, Etete who served in the scandalously authoritarian military administration of the late General Sani Abacha between 1993 and 1998, was convicted of spending 15 million euros believed to have been gained from official fraud on properties in 1999 and 2000, including a chateau in north-west France, a Paris apartment and a luxury villa in the chic Paris suburb of Neuilly. Furthermore, the court then issued a warrant for Etete’s arrest and ordered him to pay 150,000 euros to Nigeria as compensation for “moral prejudice” and 20,000 euros as fees.

    This was the historical situation until March 7 when Bulletin No. 3 issued by the Criminal Cases and Pardon Division of the French Ministry of Justice publicised the fact that Etete had been pardoned and cleared of the earlier conviction. Could this be interpreted to mean that Etete was never found guilty of the charges and the sentencing never happened? Or is it that, as the word “pardon” suggests, he was correctly convicted but his wrongs have been forgiven? Alas, the bulletin signed by the magistrate in charge of the national criminal record, Xavier Pavageau, was not helpful in that connection.

    No matter what, there is no denying the fact that to all intents and purposes Etete can strut without the stigma of conviction. Why he was proclaimed spotless is a question that perhaps only the French authorities can answer, and they have offered no clue. Consequently, the Nigerian public in particular is left wondering about the mysterious ways of “Justice”.

    Indeed, if there was any doubt about the redeeming quality of Etete’s purification, his solicitors, Pierre Benoliel, provided clarification in a letter to the French Ambassador in Nigeria, noting that in view of the current circumstances Etete deserved to be treated as a free man without qualification. The communication said, “As you know, Mr. Dan Etete, eminent personality in Nigeria is a great friend of France and has been so for many years. In spite of the judicial vicissitudes that he has unfortunately known in the beginning of year 2000, he is now free of any constraint and he complies with the fiscal and legal French administrations.”

    From the look of things, in reciprocation, France has as well proved to be a “great friend” of Mr. Etete. With his honour apparently restored, shouldn’t Etete be grateful for having friends like France?

  • SSS, polygraph and moles

    SIR: The recent incident of  attempted jail-break by Boko Haram members at the State Security Service (SSS) headquarters detention facility  should  be blamed  not only on  professional lapses of the operatives but also a weak crackdown on mole and secrecy leaks.

    It is a signal that, there is possibilty of presence of agents like CIA officer Aldrich Ames, who beat polygraph  on two occasions while spying for the Soviet Union and Russia but later caught in 1994, after his betrayal had  resulted in the deaths of a number of CIA assets and compromised more than a hundred Western intelligence operations.

    The awkward truth is: what  prompted the Boko Haram suspects to plan such moves and to believe that they can escape successfully from the envirnment in a broad daylight?

    To forestall further incidents and damage to national intelligence, it is high time for SSS and other intelligence agencies  to re-emphasize a culutre of lie-detector tests.

    • Ayodele Paul,

    Ikire, Osun state,

  • Reflections on the NIS tragedy

    On Saturday March 15, tragedy struck the nation from unexpected quarters. A job interview exercise turned bloody leaving about 19 people dead and many more wounded. Sadly it was not the first time applicants had died in such circumstance. In 2008 the nation lost 18 people to similar exercise by the same ministry- the Ministry of Internal Affairs. No lesson seemed to have been learnt. Employment venues are the most unlikely places to expect death but the carelessness of the elites had made everywhere unsafe and death trap of sort. We were used to reports of death from Boko Haram attacks, armed robbers, kidnappers, herdsmen, ritual cultists, and road accidents but not venues employment interview. Now we know better. Applicants can easily die attending job interview. Unemployment can truly be dehumanizing and as we have seen it is also a killer pill. Such death for the sake of employment and survival captures vividly the rotten side of our economic system -market capitalism. It is a soulless and uncaring system where only the ‘fittest’ survives. Ironically most of those affected were youths known for abundant raw energies and acute lack of economic strength who wanted to make decent living and positive contribution to nation building through good employment.

    Unemployment has remained a serious national problem for long especially within the last 30 years when we began to observe ever increasing number of unemployed graduates. According to Nigerian Bureau of Statistics 1999-2001, unemployment is on the increase. T he statistics showed that unemployment jumped from eight percent in 1999 to 13.3% in 2001, then to 21.66% in 2009 to 23.9% in 2011. Such trend demands a special set of policy to tackle unemployment in Nigeria involving essential investment in infrastructure, agriculture, rural areas etc in order to create job opportunities. However nothing serious seems to have been done to address it over time. March 15, tragedy is thus a sad and cold reminder of the failure of our development policy over the years and a wake-up call to positive action.

    Specifically the horrible event invites us to address two related problems namely the crude and rotten recruitment process into the public service where favoritism and corruption rather than fair-play and merit reigns supreme and the serious and endemic nature of unemployment and poverty as a time bomb awaiting explosion. There are reportedly over 40 million unemployed and most of them graduate youths. In such society we need no expert to tell us that we are sitting on a keg of gun powder. What we saw in the NIS interview was a classic case of soaring demand far in excess of supply and unimaginative response to the situation by those handling the situation. As we now know about 770,000 applications were received for 4,556 vacancies. The story of over subscription was in fact only being retold and reinforced to establish an ugly trend. In 2008 when we recorded similar tragedy about200,000 were invited to compete for only 3000 jobs.

    Often ignored but important in the discussion and analysis of unemployment in Nigeria is the recruitment process. It is very vital to understanding the stampede of March 15. It is a serious and rigorous exercise far more than often appreciated in Nigeria. Recruitment into the public service in Nigeria is probably the worst in the world. Certainly it is unclean and unfair. It is ridden with corruption and devoid of merit. In a way it contributes to the frustration of the unemployed. There are rules and regulations for recruitment into public service but more often than not the rules are violated by the operators. Thus most of the advertisements for job vacancies are done only as mockery of the public to fulfill all legal obligations. More often than not the jobs are sold or distributed to board members, management team and their associates of the recruiting agency. Recently there were talks of some jobs for ‘biological children’ only of managers of a federal agency and ‘reserves of vacancies for some interest group’.

    It is the long term effect of the corrupt or heavily flawed system of recruitment in Nigeria that should worry us the more. It is at the roots of the poor service delivery in Nigeria and shall remain the greatest obstacle to the progress of the country if not reformed. There is nothing magical about the development of nations- it is the result of the combined efforts of working citizens. The progress of any society depends on the effective and efficient performance of the workers. The process of appointment here is critical because in any place where there are incapable and incompetent hands nothing good could happen. Poor service delivery as associated with public service of Nigeria today is a sad reflection of the quality of men and women at work. It has roots in the recruitment method. Most of the workers having come to the service through the back door do not often see reason to work hard to justify their employment. And because of vain connection at the top such officers are often punished. Rather they are spared due sanction or discipline for rule violation. They remain protected and uncorrected with bane effects on service delivery and progress of society. This is why consequence management has been so difficult and ineffective in the public service of Nigeria- a tool that is so handy and effective in the private sector especially the banks. And that is why Civil service reforms that speak of change of attitude had not achieved the desired results. They are directed to the wrong people- workers who should not have been employed in the first place but for the flawed recruitment system where connection to the top people and not merit and competence matters more.

    Not surprising therefore, one of the matters arising from the Saturday debacle has been the call for heads to roll, more specifically the sack of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Controller General of Immigration. However, on a deep reflection and with due respect to the dead, I do not think that impulsive sacking without investigation is the best response in the circumstance. While blanket action is not good, a sack without overhaul of the recruitment system and a resolve to do what is right always will leave us with nothing better. We must learn to dig deep for the truth before punishment and to put in place measures to build confidence in the system of recruitment in the country by ridding it of corruption. Certainly the organization did not originally set out to kill but to employ. To some extent there was merit in the move given the unhealthy culture of secrecy and corruption that had characterized recruitment into the public service in the country.

    •Abhuere is of the Centre for Childcare and Youth Development, Abuja

  • Re: Nnamani’s futile re-entry into PDP

    SIR: On Wednesday March 19, I received a text message from a phone caller ID – SAVE ENUGU. The message read: President says that sovereignty belongs to the people and PDP says that power belongs to ther people. But in Enugu State, Sullivan Chime and Ifeoma Nwobodo are the people.

    After reading the article in The Nation  titled Nnamani’s futile re-entry into PDP, it dawned on me that there is serious trouble with my state.

    The issue is that Chimaroke Nnamani having left the PDP for whatever reasons had also for whatever reasons chosen to come back. Whether it is for realization of political ambition or in acceptance of the olive branch being extended by the national chairman of the party is immaterial to me for now. I learnt that there were series of organized moves to stop him. The state chairman of the party, Vita Abba had described Nnamani as a liability on the party and that his planned return would not be feasible. Another report had it that Nnamani had actually returned having been issued with a valid membership card in his ward. Subsequently, the state government allegedly directed, through the party hierarchy, the suspension of the ward chairman, Monday Ngene, who re-registered Nnamani.

    Based on reports, I sought out most of the characters for their opinions on raging controversy. First was Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu who frowned at the actions aimed at preventing Nnamani from re-joining the party.

    So also was Senator Gilbert Nnaji. He described Chimaroke’s re-entry as an asset to the party because as a former governor and a former senator, he has a lot to offer in ensuring that PDP is victorious come 2015.

    From the foregoing, one does not need to wonder why the newspaper publication which was obviously sponsored by the state government would conclude that “ the alliance of Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Gil Nnaji and Nnamani was not only a conspiracy against the interest of the people, it is also selfish and a self-serving move aimed at taking the state back to dark days of political insecurity and crisis……

    What business does Ekweremadu who is from Enugu-West have with who represents Enugu-East.? Also to what extent would the return of Chimaroke to the party alter the “adoption by the people” of the zone, and not even the party?

    Again, why should Gilbert Nnaji still be a factor since it is a peculiar tradition to Enugu-East that nobody should represent them at the senate twice, despite performance?

    What is the essence of calling democracy the government of the people by the people whereas it is only one person or a few individuals that determine the fate of the people? For instance, if such an agreement exists, then once an individual is elected he or she should not even bother to deliver since he or she must vacate office whether or not he or she performs.

    Besides, has actual politicking begun? Otherwise, why this adoption brouhaha? Or, is PDP not concerned about the implication of premature campaign? And, have politics and governance become inseparable?

    My inference as such is that Enugu State is in bondage crying for salvation all round. The manner the governor parted ways with his wife, the manner Deputy Governor Sunday Onyebuchi’s poultry was invaded and demolished, the manner the state boards of parastatals were dissolved and lopsidedly reconstituted in favour of perceived die-hards as well as the indecent manner the health condition of Governor Chime is being managed all allegedly revolve around Ifeoma Nwobodo.

     

    • Frank Ene,

    FESTAC Town Lagos

  • Together, we can make progress against Neglected Tropical Diseases

    In Nigeria and across Africa, neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a daily reality for many children, families and communities. Despite efforts to control and eliminate them, trachoma, human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), lymphatic filariasis, leprosy, onchocerciasis (river blindness), soil-transmitted helminths and schistosomiasis continue to threaten Nigeria’s citizens.

    NTDs disable and disfigure more than one billion people around the world. Beyond the lives impacted, NTDs also limit economic productivity and development, helping to perpetuate a vicious cycle of poverty.

    However, I believe we have an immense opportunity to break this cycle and address these diseases in the near future. Indeed, in recent years we have made tremendous gains against NTDs.

    Much of this progress was catalyzed by the 2012 London Declaration on NTDs, which united international pharmaceutical companies, global health organizations, private foundations and governments from donor and endemic countries behind the goal of controlling and eliminating 10 of these diseases by the end of the decade.

    This partnership was a turning point for NTDs. Shortly after, I made NTD control a personal priority and joined the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases as a Special Envoy to help raise awareness of the urgent need to combat these diseases and improve the health of our citizens.

    In Paris this week, global leaders gathered to discuss the gains made since the launch of this partnership. I was pleased to hear African country leadership heralded as a crucial force on progress against NTDs. Much of this progress was highlighted in the Uniting to Combat NTDs: Delivering on Promises and Driving Progress report released this week.

    Globally, 74 countries —including Nigeria— now have national plans to guide their NTD efforts. Last year, all 47 Ministers of Health in the WHO Africa Regional Office endorsed a regional plan to eliminate lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis in Africa and strengthen efforts to eliminate other NTDs. Governments around the world passed a resolution at the 2013 World Health Assembly to hold themselves accountable on progress against NTDs.

    Most importantly, these frameworks are not just symbolic documents that have been signed and forgotten. Countries are taking ownership of the issue because they recognize that NTDs cause needless suffering across families, communities and countries.

    This is translating to progress on the ground. Nigeria has become a model for other countries on NTD efforts, launching its national plan for NTD control, making strong progress in mapping disease prevalence and successfully verifying its elimination of Guinea worm.

    Around the world, efforts to combat NTDs are being scaled up. US$2.7 billion has been committed to the effort. Pharmaceutical companies have donated 100 percent of drugs needed and are working together to develop more effective drugs and diagnostics. Global health organizations and enterprises are working to ensure treatments reach those in need, and new partners are joining the effort.

    As we look to 2020, we cannot allow our successes to make us complacent. While significant progress has been made, challenges remain in reaching our targets against NTDs. Only with sustained leadership of endemic governments and strategic partner collaboration can we fully eliminate NTDs from the African continent and world.

    As a former President of Ghana, I encourage Heads of State and Ministers to join the global effort against NTDs and work hand in hand with the global community to ensure every child and person who needs treatments receives them. Collectively, we can spur the development and implementation of integrated NTD plans, incorporate NTDs into our existing health efforts and build the capacity needed to address these diseases. By doing this, we can provide comprehensive care to all of our citizens.

    Investing in NTDs is an investment in a healthy and prosperous future for Africa. Each dollar not only improves health, but also gives individuals the ability to rise out of poverty and contribute productively to society. Together, we can and will reach our goals and give our communities new hope for the future.

     

    • Kufuor is former president of Ghana (2001-2009) and former chairperson of the African Union Commission (2007-2008). He is currently the NTD Special Envoy for the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases.