The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Hitler’s Nazism and Shekau’s Boko Haram

    SIR: Following the emergence of Adolf Hitler as the Fuehrer of the Nazi Germany or the Third Reich, he quickly conjured support through his gift of oratory to blame the Jews for the the German loss of the First World War. By the able hand of his Secret Service General Heinrich Hilmmer, he launched the operation Final Solution to the Jewish Question. This operation saw the extermination of six million Jews, including the blacks, Jehovah Witnesses, gypsies, the disabled and others he considered racially inferior, as they were taken to various death camps scattered across Poland, Austria and Germany.

    In the end, the Allied Forces closed-in on him in his Berlin bunker where he committed suicide in May 1945 affirming that evil cannot continue to prevail over good; and that those who perpetrate attrocity will never end well by the sacred blood of the innocent crying daily for justice.

    The case of Abubakar Shekau, leader of Boko Haram after the death of Mohammed Yusuf, bears the same similitude of the Hitler’s Nazi gang. The same way Hitler would have been arrested for crime against humanity is the same way Shekau will be held responsible for the death of over 4,000 innocent Nigerians who lost their lives in the wake of this heinous crimes of genocide against humanity for the past three years. The same way Hitler had no reason for the blood letting that rocked Europe, even so the Boko Haram has no reason for killing of thousands of innocent Nigerians.

    After this event, where will Abubakar shekau live in this country? Where will his children live on the face of the earth? Will they all run away when this carnival finally closes on him?

    As for those who refused to condemn this crime against humanity, especially those who also sympathize with boko haram, and are secretly enjoying the mayhem, be ready for natural justice, for your support in this mass murder going on, which has robbed many families of their bread winners, and orphaned many children to an uncertain future of suffering and lost dreams. Nigerians will never vote for any man who has been perceived to have sympathised with Boko Haram come 2015. Nigerians and indeed the whole world are watching Shekau and his rag-tag army of insurgents. Nigeria will outlive all of you and your selfish interests.

    • Sunday Akpelu

    Port Harcourt, Rivers State

  • From the cell phone

    For Gbenga Omotoso

    May Almighty God add to your brain, that is the prayer Goodluck Jonathan but he is not type of good luck we need in Nigeria. Anonymous

    For our President to vist a state in Nigeria where Nigerian flag would not be waved to welcome him; may the Almighty God protect him. Anonymous

    I am pleased with the self confidence which Dr. Goodluck Jonathan uses to aproach issues like this. The Federal Government should remember to include bullet proof, anti suicide bomb and most importantly, anti Judas Iscariot as security messures. Anonymous

    “Who will stop the gunman?” is a very pathetic story of the helpless state of security in the country. Service with intergrity, commitment to service, appropriate use of technology will save us from the gunman. From ADEYCorsim, Oshodi, Lagos

    Sir, whatever the president’s visit to Borno, Yobe means nothing to the perishing Nigerians. What matters is for the press to stop their show of academic prowess. Let them start and advertise (non stop) free and fair election method. That is official legalisation of the God’s given June 12,1993 open-air (option A4) electoral system; unalloyed. God wants to control National Assembly, the States Assemblies and the local government councils for the benefit of all Nigerians. Period! From the watchman over God’s Heritage in Nigeria and Africa

    The piece is thought-provoking. Who will save us from the gunman? The oppressed can. What they need is state power which is in the hand of the oppressors who will never build a humane society because they have found comfort in the social order. Thanks. From Amos Ejimonye, Kaduna

    If you are loved by your people you do not need that kind of security. Anonymous

     

     

    For Olatunji Dare

    Good day Sir, I was not surprised to read the article “Our unfortunate police officers”. Sir, the agony is that, the politicians enjoyed the services of police officers to rig and manipulate election results, send people to their early graves, use the police to protect their property, family, and even girl friends, escort bullion vans. Nobody cares. But, I do not want any of my sons to be a police officer. From Abdullahi Ahmad

    “Our unfortunate police officers” is a fantastic write-up. I symphatise with the bereaved family. But for the Nigerian police, until a functional and a purposeful Government is in place, we cannot have a sigh of relief. More ink to your pen sir. From Preye, PortHarcourt

    What an excellent analysis of the whole problem. Thanks for your courage, God will bless you for telling the truth. From Abdul, Kaduna State

    Sir, I do not know how to thank you for your comments on the public issues, than to say God will give you more wisdom to carry out your duty. Anonymous

    Any job-seeking Nigerian, who wants to commit suicide by being hacked down like felled tree and chopped as logs, should join The Nigeria Police. It is only in this job that its top brass looks and holds its men with disdain and disgust. The whipping security outfit – Police – in Nigeria is a metaphor of our inept leadership and a sign of a failed nation. Even in death the unfortunate police officers are each worth a sum of N2m. From Ter Akaa, Abuja

    Sir, I like what you wrote, it is the whole truth. God bless you! I am not a police man but I know this is exactly what is happening. From Kingsley Yohanna Madaki, Kaduna State

    It seems the President and his co-travellers did not understand the meaning of governance. Is there no more protocol in directing the affairs of the country again? How can our police men who are well trained to combat terrorism, ordered to go and flush out militants ended up being flushed? Were they not told about their mission or were they under spell? May be they were rushing to the place hoping that they will be bribed in order to leave the village untouched. Let the government try to be a government of value not government of success. In a society where value is not embraced such society is in danger. Our police men have not learned from history, 12 of them were shot dead in Balyesa yet the police authority did not learn anything from it. The only grammar they know is, ‘we are on top of the situation’. Let us not deceive one another, the situation is on top of the government. From Ozi M.

    Re: Our unfortunate Police officers. Thank you for being one of the few that empathise with the Nigerian police on their plight. Be warned, it is a serious offence to bear nonsense in mind against senior sorry superior police officers whose will is the rule. But what about the government that appoints these officers, are they not the same?. Dare, wait for your time, police is your friend o! From Uhuo, Abakaliki

    The state government said it will give the widows one million naira each, compared to what the present government is wasting every day. Wha a nonsense government! What can one million naira solve in the lives of these poor women and their children? When the snake was arround they did not hit it; they were looking for stick after it had left. Will that work? The present goverment is handling things with levity which is very dangerous to the survival of our democracy. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Docyard Apapa Lagos

    Sir, correction, they did not kill the snake when it was arround. Anonymous

    Dare, your piece entitled “Our unfortunate police officers” is a welcome revelation and educative insight into a truth that has eluded many a Nigerian Citizen. We all need to appreciate the position of the Nigeria Police. I take opposition though to your statements credited to former IG of Police, Mike Okiro. In my opinion, he was the best IG the Nigerian police could ever boast of having at the time. And I have facts should you be interested. Anonymous

    I will like to present CrimeFight solution to the nation’s top officers urgently. I assure you that this will engage all citizens in Nigeria to solve terrorism and crime incidents. Policemen are dying in numbers and this is unacceptable. CrimeFight is endorsed by FBI in tracking Boston bombers and is being recommended as anti-kidnapping solution. I am right here right now: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=4.82845,7.00400 Enough is Enough. From ADOKI

    A beautiful and courageous piece sir. I am encouraged. Anonymous

    Re: Our unfortunate police officers. Unfortunate for our nation’s Police Force as their past and present travails are such that underdevelop the country. Their unfortunacy is being caused generally and specifically by corruption, nationally and within the past and present Police echelon! I am also amazed why past police heads are being recognised by President Jonathan to head and member transformation of the Police vis-a-vis tackle the rampant insecurity situation in Nigeria. With nauseating composition, will the rotten headship and most corrupt members improve the Police in totality? No! From Lanre Oseni

    Re: Our unfortunate police officers. The Nigerian Police Force is a victim of long years of neglect and lack of strategic development amongst its administrators. These and coupled with the unrestrained resort of its rank and file to extortion and killings of innocent citizens in time past and even in recent times have led to a complete lack of trust and contempt for the force by Nigerians. It is such scenarios and perceptions that could make them targets for the expression of bottled up anger by militants/sect members as we have in Nassarawa, the north eastern part of Nigeria and the Niger Delta. The beautiful ones of the Nigeria Police Force have not yet been born. From Olumide Soyemi, Bariga Lagos

    The failed attempted arrest of the Ombatse leader leaves more questions than answers. Why were transfers made just before the operation was to commence? Why were majority if not all of those sent on the suicide mission from one religion? How did the police intend to prove alleged forceful conversion in court? Why is there no documentary evidence by the police or Almakura to justify the operation so that the family members and indeed Nigerians will know that lives were not just wasted for some other reasons? How could anyone attempt to give these brave men a mass burial like some common criminals? Almakura and the IG Plateau Government have questions to answer. Anonymous

    The birth of anarchy, law abiding citizens will now acquire firearms “to protect themselves” then an idiot will wipe out a whole village, vendettas will compound the present situation, pessimistic? Truly a hell hole. From Pete, Eket

    The recent attack on the police in some parts of this country is a fall out of the ill-preparedness of the Nigerian state. There is nothing to show for the billions of naira budgeted each year for the police. They are ill equipped and very poorly motivated. I believe that with these recent attacks things should take a new shape for the better. An average policeman in Nigeria should no longer be a sitting duck. The families of those killed should be adequately compensated. From Ojo A. Ayodele, Emure Ekiti

     

    For Segun Gbadegesin

    I am ashamed that in a country of over 160million people, persons like Asari Dokubo who do not have any pedigre are points of reference. His stock in trade is crime and arms running. It goes to show the stuff our president is made of. Asari and his cohorts are bankcrupt upstairs. The mega party ( APC) is the recipe Nigerians need to come out of coma. No amount of threat from the creek where Asari resides will deter or cow Nigerians from voting out Jonathan and his party in 2015. Asari ought to be tried criminalising the whole of Niger Delta which has spilled over and is ravaging the whole Eastern States. It is only in Nigeria that membership of the ruling party immunises you against corruption. Okupe is yet to start work in both Imo and Benue states where he has been mobilised. I weep for Nigeria. Thanks. From Henry Njoku.

    Re: Scaremongers and APC. Your essay appears charitable to PDP. All that PDP needs is to drum its success score card for ruling at the centre over a decade vis a vis resources at its disposal. It is clear naiveness for any one to feign ignorance that government at the centre is not a function of then regions or current states coming together. PDP can only get nervous out of underperformance. What a beauty! No region or ethnic group can achieve it alone in Nigeria. We had better develop courtship across the country for solid democracy than deceitful ethic or regional fanaticism being promoted. From James, Jos

    Please be informed that late Pini Jason Onyegbadue hailed from Obizi in Ezinihitte Mbaise LGA but not Aboh Mbaise LGA as written by your editor on the 10th May edition. Please accept my correction. From Njoku Henry.

    Re: Scapemonger and APC. Rather than unite and make comments that will unite us, Okupe and Asari Dokubo’s assertions are more disuniting than causing oneness. They should remember however, that power is transcient and history will later judge individual’s role on the health or/and growth or otherwise of a society. May Almighty God remove the wool, covering the sight of War-drum and the scare-monger, ameen. From Lanre Oseni.

    I fervently pray that PDP will produce goodluck in general election comes 2015, which will turn to badluck for them. Anonymous

     

    For Tunji Adegboyega

    Re: Jonathan’s emergency. I agree with you fully that most northern elites failed to hit the nail on the head. I have neither heard nor read of total, outright and real condemnation of the dastardly acts, volatile and destructive activities of Boko Haramists, in the last three years. I have only heard and read of amnesty suggestion. Emergency rule, to me, had been delayed till now because many big-wigs had confused President Jonathan with suggestions of patience and dialogue that they would not take while in power! Have dialogue and amnesty worked? Hard pills for a tough sore! From Lanre Oseni.

    The state of emergency came late; in spite of that, we welcome the president’s action in the national interest. The activities of Boko Haram have made Nigeria to become a laughing stock in the comity of nations. It is always difficult to build in crisis situations. But where are the sponsors of Boko Haram? Time will tell. From Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, Abia State.

    Tunji, honestly, I like the way you translate these Yoruba proverbs into English. From Awe Olusola, Osogbo.

    PDP’s zoning formula was never meant to be a tidy arrangement clearly stating the respective turns of the different zones. It was ‘wuru wuru’ and ‘wayo’ politics ab initio. The ever wily elite of the north who had authored it only wanted an unsustainable arrangement that would return power to the north as soon as possible, following the loss occasioned by the circumstances of MKO’s death. Those who thought they had a divine right to lord it over others desired no more than the swiftest return to status quo. Their frustration largely accounts for that which is aptly tagged political Boko Haram. From Kuteyi, R.R. Ondo.

    It is disheartening when someone of your prominence has no better tool to analyse the Boko Haram phenomenon with than the fabled story of celestial virgins. Have you ever heard of medieval scholar Ibn Taymiyyah whose magnum opus is a 37-volume work whom Boko Haram claims is their ideological father? Why is it that not a single Nigerian newspaper has been able to translate and transcribe for us just one of the tapes of the murdered Boko Haram leader, Yusus? A serious understanding of Boko Haram has been much disturbed by the subterranean contempt, fear and hatred of Islam. Anonymous.

    Keep telling the truth; heaven will not fall on you. Rather, it would fall on those who take accommodation in falsehood. God bless you. Anonymous.

     

  • Jonathan’s 2013 promises

    Jonathan’s 2013 promises

    SIR: It seems that President Goodluck Jonathan has forgotten that he made promises to Nigerians to improve on security and well-beings of the people. Nigerians are still being killed everyday. His response to the incessant criticism by the opposition parties shortly after he came to power was his promise to surprise them in 2013.

    We are now in the fifth month of 2013. We do not know when precisely the surprises will begin to manifest or is it that the president is still working on it or perhaps that the calendar in Aso Rock still reads 2012?

    Nigerians were not moved by the promise neither did it sound strange because since the advent of democracy, Nigerians had been victims of continuous lies and manipulations by the PDP led administrations.

    The fact is that, Jonathan’s, regime like the ones we have had before him, has been overwhelmed by development challenges. Because the leaders put their personal interests first, they put minimal efforts to finding lasting solutions to the challenges facing the nation hence they project false hopes.

    Today, nothing is working in Nigeria. There are rampant poverty, security challenges, incessant power outage, bad roads, bad leadership and poor education. All these were bred by corruption.

    No government can achieve anything meaningful when it is surrounded by crooks and mediocres. If the president really wants to get it right, he should step on toes and not to grant undue pardon to thieves.

    Nigeria is blessed with enormous resources yet majority of its population live in abject poverty. The current security challenges in some northern parts of the country have shown that this administration is weak and therefore, Nigerians need to rise and come together with a view to salvaging the country from imminent collapse.

    • Waziri Mohammed

    Mokola, Ibadan.

     

     

  • Afenifere’s strange bedfellows

    Afenifere’s strange bedfellows

    SIR: I was alarmed but later bemused when I read about Afenifere’s press conference in the media recently. Seated with Afenifere’s chieftains were Senator Iyiola Omisore and Yinka Odumakin. Odumakin was the spokesperson of the group of the group that broke away from Afenifere. What then has happened to honour?

    Afenifere was established in 1951 by the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and his associates. Since then, it remained the rallying point for the progressives in the South-west. Since 1999 when the current democratic dispensation took its root, things took a new dimension with real disciples of Awolowo trying to align themselves together to pursue the authentic Awo’s vision in governance.

    It was during this process that Senator Omisore came to the fold, especially when the Alliance for Democracy (AD) was being formed and he became deputy governor of Osun State.

    Due to obvious differences and discordant tune of the political music at that time, it was clear to all that Omisore did not belong to the fold. Things began to fall apart in the party and in the leadership of the Osun State government leading to his impeachment as Deputy Governor. Since then, Omisore has left the AD to pitch his tent with the PDP. His party deployed all resources at its disposal to fight Awo’s once united political family with intent of total annihilation. This culminated in the gruesome murder of Chief Bola Ige and the annihilation of the AD in the South-west with Bola Tinubu of Lagos State the only man standing.

    Afenifere has since unravelled and the various leaders have joined different political parties. While some are still in the ACN, some have joined PDP while many of them are with Labour Party. It is curious therefore to see Omisore nesting comfortably with Afenifere. Has Afenifere become Afenifere-PDP? Let them tell us so that we can know where they stand. What they are up to and what scheme they may be plotting is yet to be known but Omisore has his eyes on Osun State governorship election next year. Are they Omisore’s friends and part of his campaign group? Time will tell.

    Omisore had surreptitiously crept into the rank of the Afenifere group again the way he did in 1999. One wonders why the group allowed its ranks to be broken and became so vulnerable to open its doors to another era of political terrorism that characterized Omisore‘s earlier romance with the group in 1999. We know that the group has suffered very serious infiltration from the opposition which has led to its being factionalised.

    It is nevertheless a suicide mission for these factions to allow further balkanization by allowing Omisore into its fold. This romance obviously is like a political cancer that should not be allowed to fester. Anything to the contrary can only constitute a death sentence to the peace and tranquility being enjoyed in the region.

    • Kunle Omideyi,

    Surulere, Lagos

     

  • The Igbo leadership question

    SIR: It took resistance from Rosa Parker, a 42 year old tailor’s assistant, for African Americans led by Martin Luther King Jnr. and Ralph Abernathy to rise against the“separate but equal” discriminatory law of segregate America. It took the Sharpeville shooting of 67 Black South Africans by the White minority government in South Africa for Nelson Mandela to lead the Umkhonto we Sizwe resistant movement in the Apartheid enclave among others.

    The Igbo nation is in dire need of a leadership that is both responsive and decisive. Leadership vacuum among the people, especially in a country that has scant regard for equity and justice, is beginning to take its toll on the race. It is becoming increasingly difficult for Ndigbo to survive the rat race that has come to define the country’s approach to political and economic power. The political gust unleashed by better organized groups in the country buffets Ndigbo and leaves them groping for direction. The void exposes them to all manner of denials and gratuitous violence. The number of deaths recorded by Ndigbo via sectarian crisis in the country is enough to compel serious introspection. Sadly enough those involved in the humiliation of the race are arrogant and brazen in manners. They don’t care a hoot and are in no hurry to mitigate the effects of their actions.

    The situation deteriorates with successive governments in Nigeria. It will be trite to chronicle afresh all the denials and cheap deaths the people are subjected to. It equally sucks to think the end of the humiliating experiences may not be in sight yet. The descent to political irrelevance appears hard and fast. Besides manifest disparity in the distribution of political and economic favour, the latest treason trial of the leadership of MASSOB bespeaks of Ndigbo as a people whose political fortunes have reached the nadir. Though I do not subscribe to the group and its style of agitation, it does not make sense that more violent groups elsewhere in the country are wooed with amnesty while MASSOB leadership is arraigned on treason charge.

    I recall that in 2005, as a result of upsurge in violent eruptions among ethnic nationalities in Nigeria, the Obasanjo administration ordered the arrest of the leaders of OPC, NDPVF, and MASSOB. Consequently Fredrick Fasheun, Ganiyu Adam, Asari Dokubo and Uwazurike were all thrown into detention. Curiously, of the lot, only Uwazurike, the peaceful agitator, is yet to regain full freedom years after. The grim reality of his current treason trial, alongside some of his unfortunate colleagues, is that he risks long jail term and or death sentence should the trial be allowed to run its course. It rings a note of blatant discrimination, if not barefaced humiliation, to arraign MASSOB for trial while Boko Haram, NDPVF, MEND, OPC, etc are courted with contract offers.

    What Ndigbo lack is decisive and responsive leadership that will rouse the people from political inertia, and refocus them in the fiercely competitive political environment. For as long as the leadership of the Igbo nation is peopled by relevance-seeking, profit – oriented political office holders so long will the people continue to play second fiddle to their neighbours. For a people set on survival now is the time for a bold and courageous leadership to emerge and point the way forward in a country that is already mired in violent ethnic eruptions.

    • Ejike Anyaduba

    Abatete, Anambra State.

     

  • Jonathan’s enduring love affair with the Southeast

    Jonathan’s enduring love affair with the Southeast

    Less than a year ago, President Goodluck Jonathan visited Anambra State to, among other things, commission Chief Arthur Eze’s oil production facility. When he got to the state, it was love at first sight. Dr Jonathan smooched Anambra, and the state in turn serenaded him. Both gushed so openly and so unabashedly that theirs seemed a marriage made in heaven. The relationship was of such intensity that on September 7, 2012 Hardball had this to say: “It didn’t take careful reflection or any logical consideration before Anambra began to serenade the president with their own promises. Since his project was among those commissioned by the president, Chief Arthur Eze, boss of Orient Petroleum Resources (OPR) production facility, needed little prompting to open the floodgates. Said he to the president with cold calculation: ‘Obasanjo took eight years; we are calling on you to take another four years as one term is too short for you to finish the job you have at hand. You can consider giving power to the north after your eight years, so that they will return it to the Southeast after their own eight years.’ The ordinary Anambrarian, and possibly the ambitious south-easterner, must wonder how easily and how cheaply approbation can be secured in those parts. Eze was not content ceding 2015 to Jonathan, he also worked the ratios out and conceded eight more years after 2019 to the North. Only then, he said with self-flagellating bashfulness, should power rotate back to the Southeast. How very considerate of him.”

    Dr Jonathan’s visit last year was to Anambra. This year, the president berthed his love boat in Enugu State for a one-day visit to, as usual, commission projects. Like the August 2012 Anambra visit, the latest one witnessed a replay of the attraction between the impassioned president and the ingratiating Southeast. For as in the Anambra visit, the top hats in Igboland gathered in Enugu to receive the president. The hosts reminded the president of the ties that bound the Igbo people to the president. Last year, it will be recalled, Dr Jonathan promised he would build the 2nd Niger Bridge or go into exile if he failed. As he put it elegantly and heroically, the 1st Niger Bridge was commissioned by the first Azikiwe, that is, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe; the second one would be commissioned by another Azikiwe, that is, Dr Jonathan. When he swore to an oath to build the second bridge, Anambra erupted into raptures and were only restrained by their eager Catholicism from promising the president eternal life.

    On Saturday, the lovebirds replayed history. Dr Jonathan had his trembling hands all over his lover, and his lover, or more appropriately, his lovers, moaned and groaned. Dr Jonathan was kind enough to appoint illustrious Igbo people into his cabinet, their spokesman, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra ululated, and the Southeast was indebted to the president. Dr Jonathan was captivated by the sweet words of his host, and he also began to rhapsodise. “I thank you for the kind of support you have given to me since I indicated interest in national politics,” gushed the president to the Igbo at a town hall meeting at the Governor’s Lodge. “Till today, I have the strongest support from the South-East; I want to thank you for that. I am very grateful. I am part of this part of the country and I will continue to remain so even after national service.” Dr Jonathan is not just the new Azikiwe, he has become an integral part of the Southeast, an inseparable part.

    And in a tone designed to make other zones green with envy, the president summed up his love affair with the Southeast with this pithy statement: “No other zone has equaled the Southeast zone in terms of support for me and my administration.” Move over, the turbulent Northeast for your infidelity. Move over, the Southwest for being such a sanctimonious handful to the lovelorn Jonathan. Move over, the Northwest for being a smorgasbord of impassive, inscrutable and conservative consortia of opposition figures. Indeed, Nigerians should pray for 2015 general elections to come quickly or else Dr Jonathan would trade off the entire country for love; for judging from his embroidered love poems, he is so smitten by the Southeast’s perfumed so-and-so that no magician or druid can be found to neutralise the talisman that fetched him.

     

     

  • NAFDAC’s drug distribution initiative

    In a move designed to sanitise and streamline the nation’s drug trade, the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) under the dynamic administration of Dr Paul Bortwev Orhii recently moved to restructure the drug distribution system. The initiative, a complement to the anti-counterfeiting and anti-faking strategy introduced by the current management of NAFDAC, will ensure the creation and establishment of large drug markets otherwise known as Mega Drug Distribution Centres (MDDCs) in the nation’s six geo-political zones.

    Under the arrangement, private sector partners will provide the structures, while the federal government, through NAFDAC, will ramp up its regulatory activities. The governments in 36 states are expected to establish and own drug markets to be known as State Drug Distribution Centres (SDDCs) under the coordination of NAFDAC. States will be permitted to upgrade their Central Medical Stores (CMSs) to meet SDDC standard to conserve resources.

    One other feature of the proposed scheme is the compulsory channelling of locally produced and imported pharmaceutical products to both the regional and states drug markets for re-examination by NAFDAC. Upon certification of products quality, the wholesalers will then be allowed to take delivery and subsequently commence sales to the retailers, comprising community pharmacies, public/primary health care centres, private health institutions as well as the patent and proprietary medicines vendors (PPMV) – the last link in the chain to get the products to the final consumers or general public. Dispensing will be based strictly on prescriptions from appropriate medical experts in line with global medical procedures.

    At a well attended launch of the National Drug Distribution Guidelines, Nigerian National Pharmacovigilance Policy and Implementation Framework as well as the inauguration of Drug Distribution Advocates of Nigeria by the Federal Ministry of Health at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Abuja recently, Health Minister, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu and other stakeholders in the nation’s health sector were full of optimism that this new framework will ensure the sanitization and standardization of pharmaceutical products distribution and marketing. The consensus was that the new scheme will achieve the desired goals and objectives of cleaning the extant rot in the drug distribution sector which will in turn impact positively on the nation’s health care delivery sector.

    Nigerians are certainly familiar with the uncoordinated status of drug marketing and distribution of the past years and how these have posed great challenges not only for the health care delivery system but also for the image of the country. There is no doubt that the previous haphazard drug distribution system accounted for the presence of the huge chunk of adulterated, substandard and fake pharmaceuticals in our nation and this in turn has obviated our collective desire for effective, efficient and internationally comparable health care system.

    The new arrangement is expected to bring about the availability of affordable, efficacious, safe and good quality drugs. Also sources of drugs at every level of healthcare provision and mode of distribution would easily be identified thereby instilling orderliness and absolute confidence in their distribution. The new distribution template will enable local pharmaceutical products win back the lost confidence of Nigerians and consumers in the West African sub-region. Locally, the system will stop the careless and nonchalant display of drugs in open markets as only governments and privately owned health facilities nationwide will be source of all drugs.

    Similarly, quacks, and other intermediaries who lack knowledge of drug composition and capabilities would be chased out of markets; importers, smugglers, producers and marketers of counterfeited or fake pharmaceuticals will be compelled to stop flooding the nation’s health centres, hospitals, pharmacies and medicine stores with life-endangering substances under the regime of trade accountability that will be in place.

    In addition to restoring integrity and confidence to the pharmacy profession, the current ubiquitous drug selling and distribution practices which adorns the nation will fizzle out to give rise to a system where all drug dealers will source products from a unified, accountable, reliable and scientifically manned point of supply. Big time pharmaceutical dealers will take delivery of drug consignments meant for Nigerian markets from which minute drug dealers/sellers will depend for product supply which would have been thoroughly examined by NAFDAC for public consumption and use in medical centres.

    The challenge of curbing the influx of fake or counterfeited pharmaceutical products through our porous land borders will be automatically resolved with the establishment of international standard drug markets which will act as a single channel through which pharmaceutical products can gain entry into all nooks and crannies of the nation. We expect to see immediate results in reduction of infants and adults death rates alike; just as patronage for home made drugs will be boosted, thereby expanding local drug manufacturers’ revenue base, boosting their employment generating abilities while also guaranteeing job security for those employed in such firms as well.

    •Ikhilae, a public affairs analyst, writes from Lagos

  • Policy inconsistency and FDI myth

    Policy inconsistency and FDI myth

    IN a speech at the closing of the 8th National Conference on Investment (NCI) recently in Abuja, Nigeria’s minister of trade and investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga made a projection of $16 billion revenue from foreign direct investments (FDIs) in 2013 alone. According to the minister, the $16 billion revenue, if realised, will be utilized to create more jobs and wealth for the nation’s teeming population. Expectedly, some Nigerians would share Aganga’s optimism. But the stark reality of the business climate in Nigeria points to a different year-round investment intake result altogether. In fact, for most discerning analysts, the minister’s projection of FDIs into the country in 2013 was a mirage. This skepticism stems from the very obvious: an inclement business atmosphere in the country largely beclouded by a thick cloak of government inconsistency in policy formulation and implementation. It is a noticeable fact worldwide that in any nation where there are periodic policy reversals and somersaults the growth of the economy of such a nation is bound to be disrupted.Undoubtedly, competitiveness in the contemporary global business environment is enhanced by the establishment of certain basic rules and frameworks by national governments. Such rules and frameworks define the terms and conditions for smooth operations by various players, thereby creating the clement atmosphere that guarantees efficiency and success of all businesses. In this vein, the private sector is allowed to take the driver’s seat in running the economy.

    A survey conducted by the Intelligence Unit of The Economist on the challenges and opportunities faced by public sector officials and corporate executives around the world, made so many profound revelations with respect to policy implementation. For instance, the report of the survey of 211 public and private sector respondents, which was conducted in July and August, 2009, showed that “policy implementation-and its ongoing application-is important because inconsistency in both the public and private sectors can result in regulatory non-compliance, exposing organisations to legal problems”.

    Instructively, however, inconsistency in policy formulation and implementation in Nigeria is so glaring today that is has been reckoned with as a major obstacle to the growth of the nation’s economy. The report of a World Bank’s assessment of the business environment in Nigeria published late last year, revealed how the Federal Government has periodically altered the rules and frameworks for businesses, thereby impeding effective business operations and resulting in usavoury consequences for many business organisations. The report titled “Nigeria: An Assessment of the Investment Climate in 26 states”, also noted how the government’s periodic policy somersaults create critical constraints that impede the development of the non-oil sector of the nation’s economy.

    Similar revelations as in the World Bank report have been made at various times by experts and other renowned public servants who are obviously deeply disturbed by the trend. A former Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Chief Phillip Asiodu, while speaking at the 52nd annual conference of the Nigerian Economic Society, identified inconsistency in policy implementation by successive governments as the bane of the country’s growth and development. Barely three months ago, the Governor of Kwara state, Abdulfatah Ahmed handed down a similar verdict at the closing of a two-day interactive session between his government and the Organised Private Sector.

    This gloomy state of affairs is further compounded by the rising tide of killings, bombings, kidnappings, as well as widespread corruption that has permeated all strata of government in the country. The ugly wave of bombings and killings by militant groups, especially across northern part of Nigeria has reportedly claimed at least 3,000 lives since 2010 when the insurgents intensified their campaign of violence in various parts of the country. The violence, coupled with the heightening of kidnappings in the South-east, and lately the South-west have serious implications for businesses, and also for foreign direct investments. For instance, the 2011 World Investment Report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) revealed the lull in business activities cause by insecurity in Kano State alone has cost the Nigerian economy at least $6 billion (about N1.3 trillion).

    The decrepit infrastructure all across Nigeria is no less a drag on successful business operations in any part of the country. In fact, many household names in the business circles in Nigeria such as Michelin and Dunlop, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Woolworths, British Gas – BG Exploration & Production (including massive sale of assets by oil majors and threats of departure due to inconsistencies in the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Bill) had to close shops due to poor infrastructure, and other encumbrances to economic activities nationwide.

    Regrettably, the few resilient companies, especially the multinationals that make significant contributions to the growth of the nation’s economy, are also being put at great risk by the multifarious consequences of the rising tide of corruption in the country, which has recently been acknowledged in the international community. Various companies have in recent times complained openly about series of maltreatment by public office holders, especially officials of Federal Government agencies. In some cases, the companies, particularly the multinationals are crying out over blackmail and other forms of mischief, once they refuse to submit to the unceasing demands of some top government officials for bribes. In fact, there are even cases of harassment of some of the big companies that refuse to coddle the bribe-seeking government functionaries, through the instrumentality of the police and some corrupt courts officials.

    Beyond the negative consequences of corruption on businesses in Nigeria is another prohibitive demon called multiple taxation. This is also a huge impediment to successful businesses in Nigeria as all three tiers of government across the country compete to squeeze the life out of the few companies that have braved the odds to operate under the harsh investment climate.

    What all these point to is one fact: that Aganga’s prediction of a whooping $16 billion (about N4.2 trillion) of FDIs coming into Nigeria in this financial year is clearly a myth. However, for the Nigerian government to make this dream come to fruition, and possibly surpass that target in the years ahead, it must retrace it steps by showing much more commitment to creating a conducive business climate in the country. This can easily be achieved through a number of factors: avoiding zigzags in policy formulation and implementation; taking decisive steps to curb corruption, investing massively in infrastructural development, and checking multiple taxation of the business entities that have shown resilience to the odds in our business environment.

    It is perhaps significant to draw the government’s attention to the position strongly canvassed nearly three months ago by Director-General of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dr. John Osemede. The NACCIMA DG said at a forum in Lagos that: “The Federal Government should work to make the private sector to run the economy, while it focuses on making and enforcing economic policies and collection of taxes. The private sector seems to operate consistently but the regular government changes makes policy inconsistency and implementation challenges prevalent”. This surely is the way to go, if the Federal Government is committed to ensuring that its Transformation Agenda delivers value to Nigerians.

    •Shekarau, former Vice President (North) of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, is a Communications Specialist and Public Affairs Analyst.

  • Hanging on moving trains

    The ugly sight of passengers hanging on moving trains, especially in Lagos, has gotten to a rather worrisome level. For those who regularly commute along the Nigeria Railway Corporation, NRC, rail tracks across the state, the spectacle of people sitting on top of a moving train and others hanging on same, has become a common sight. Despite the huge public outcry against this ugly and barbaric act, those who indulge in it have refused to see reason. Indeed, some of them have been arrested either by special task force or men of the Nigeria Police. Recently, 33 of such people, aged between 18 and 52 years, were arrested at the Ikeja and Agege Railway Stations for hanging on a moving train. In-spite of this, however, the ugly trend has not ceased.

    It is quite easy for some people to offer the usual simplistic line of argument that stranded commuters have to resort to hanging on moving trains because that is the only alternative available to them. However, I bet to disagree with this line of reasoning. It is like a man justifying his foray into armed robbery or other such criminal activities on the account of joblessness. This is unacceptable. Life is a precious gift by God. Self preservation is, therefore, the responsibility of every human being. Self-preservation is keeping you alive, either physically or psychologically. The desire to stay alive is a natural instinct in every human being.

    Animals equally share this feature with man. Every animal seek those elements of its environment that will enhance its chances for survival. These include food, water, oxygen, and periods of rest to allow the body to repair any wear and tear on the tissues. Alternately, it will avoid or evade those elements that might reduce its chances for survival. Such dangers include predators, starvation, dehydration, asphyxiation, and situations that can cause damage to the body.

    Anyone that chooses to sit on the roof of a moving train is indirectly embarking on a suicide mission. In most cases, those who indulge in this act do not necessarily do so because they lack other viable options but out of a lack of proper understanding and appreciation of the gift of life. It is more of a careless disposition to life. Even if there is no punishment against such dastardly act, the self-preservation instinct in every man is enough to discourage any rational man from embracing such act. The practice of passengers hanging on coaches of trains is totally undesirable, considering the huge impact of a train accident. Available records have shown that train accidents are usually fatal and terrible. One can only imagine the survival chance of passengers hanging on coaches of trains in the event of an accident.

    As a responsible and responsive government, the Lagos State government would not fold its arms and watch people indulging in such anti-social behaviour. For one, it doesn’t speak well of us as a people. Two, it makes us a laughing stock in the committee of nations. Third, it makes nonsense of every effort of the state government to rid the state of uncultured attitudes in recent time.

    As a government that is passionate about the people, all our policies and programmes are geared towards the preservation of the sanctity of the human life. Prior to this administration’s introduction of the BRT system for mass transit, most commuters across the metropolis move around in rickety death trap popularly called ‘Molue’. However, the introduction of BRT, modern taxi cabs and other such convenient and comfortable forms of public transportation has provided commuters in the state with better and viable alternatives means of transportation. This is what governance is all about. It is about improving the lots of the people.

    One way in which the state government has been displaying its passion for the people is through its numerous safety programmes as it especially relates to transportation. One major way through which the state government has ensured safety of lives on our roads is by improving the quality of roads in the state. There is arguably no other way to boost the efficiency of the transportation sector as well safeguard the lives of our people than construction and rehabilitation of roads. The rate at which roads are being rehabilitated and constructed in the state in the last one year has attracted commendations from far and near, even among oppositions and has convinced the masses that a lot can come out of the country when visionary leaders are chosen to govern. Recently, the ramp on Falomo was commissioned to ease traffic on Ozumba Mbadiwe. The Lagos-Badagry expressways, the Mile 12-Ikorodu road, the Moshalashi –Ipaja road among many others are presently undergoing various stages of renovation.

    Another strategy of the state government in enhancing the safety of lives on our roads through the improvement of vital road infrastructure is the provision of functional traffic lights in addition to the rehabilitation of existing ones. In addition to the streetlights provided along the newly constructed roads, about 2,445 poles spanning about 85.58km of street lighting projects were installed across the state within the period under review. The intention of government is to ensure that travel time on major roads is reduced by 35 percent as a result of the elimination of conflicts at traffic signal light intersections.

    Equally, the state government has continued the construction of the Blue Line Rail project along Okokomaiko. The first phase of the project, which is a 7km distance from National Theatre to Okokomaiko, has in the last one year recorded huge progress. The ultimate plan is to extend it to Badagry with the sole aim of providing commuters along the axis better alternatives in public transportation.

    Similarly, water transportation is also being given a boost. New jetties are springing up while old ones are being renovated. Private ferry services are operational in different parts of the state while dredging of inland waterways is on-going. Safety on the sea is given utmost priority by government as it has concluded the dredging and signalization of the 32km water route from Badore to Ijede. Likewise, the Badore and Ikorodu terminals have virtually been completed except for minor finishing works preparatory to opening.

    Today, from one operation route in 2007, government is running water transportation on 12 routes (Ikorodu-Marina/CMS; Marina – Mile 2; Ikorodu – Addax/Falomo; Ikorodu-Ebute Ero; Marina-Ijegun Egba-Ebute-Ojo; Mile 2 – Marina/CMS-Mecwen-Falomo; Badore – Ijede; Badore – Five Cowries; Marina – Oworonshonki; Ebute Ojo –Ijegun Egba; Oworonshonki – Five Cowries and Baiyeku – Langbasa) under the supervision of Lagos State Waterways Authority(LASWA) while passenger traffic has grown to over one million passengers per month and it is increasing.

    The inter modal link now has BRT buses moving passengers from its terminals in different parts of the metropolis to ferry services and is to run vice versa when fully operational. Ferry services will also link light rail terminals while BRT buses will also service light rail terminals. However, as much as government is stepping up efforts to enhance safety of lives through its numerous laudable programmes and projects, the people, as it has been stated earlier, owes it a responsibility to embrace a lifestyle of safety and self preservation.

    •Ibirogba is commissioner for information and strategy, Lagos

  • That planned demolition in Uyo

    SIR: It sounds unbelievable that about 10,000 buildings will be demolished in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital. I believe the chairman of Uyo Capital City Development Authority (UCCDA) has done a survey to understand the infrastructural problems of the state capital and thereby concluded that those structures should be pulled down after seven days warning to the occupants.

    I want to ask the chairman, if he has also considered the fate of the occupants who are indigent and helpless? What steps has the government of Akwa Ibom State taken to replace 10,000 buildings that will soon go down? Where will the occupants of the buildings relocated to?

    Uyo is a developing city and the population is increasing every day. The government, unfortunately has not built and allotted up to 2,000 houses to citizens from 2007 till date. Presently, the shops and commercial buildings for business activities in Uyo are inadequate. The people are seen in Uyo daily struggling to do petty businesses under umbrellas and kiosks around Ibom Plaza and major streets just to keep”body and soul” and their families together.

    Now, the government wants throw them out into the streets. If the state government is very sincere and committed to alleviating the hardship faced by these homeless people, they are supposed to build more than 10,000 housing units, relocate them and then embark on the demolition exercise.

    This same government that promised 31 industries to improve the living standard of the people during the last electioneering campaign has suddenly forgotten the implementation of the promises; instead it wants to subject the people to more hardship in the name of infrastructural development. I wonder what use are the good roads, flyovers and other government infrastructural edifice to the hopeless and poverty-stricken people struggling to survive.

    Every government has areas of focus and I believe the present government in its wisdom has its visions; and is gradually executing them at its best. But my desire is to plead for these defenceless citizens who are the major residents of Uyo but have socio-economic challenges. Government should consider their welfare while taking major decisions on infrastructural development.

    If not, there will come a time when the poor, the homeless and the unemployed citizens of Nigeria will come together as a great and determined force to fight and gain freedom from the corrupt, selfish and unpatriotic colonial masters who take pleasure in enslaving the people.

    •Mark Isong,

    Uyo, Akwa Ibom.