The Nation Newspaper

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  • BRF: On the road not travelled

    BRF: On the road not travelled

    Call him a man of Peckian ideals and that would encapsulate him. Babatunde Raji Fashola (BRF) seems to bear the mindset and mentality of Morgan Scott Peck, the New Yorker and psychiatrist who wrote the 1978 best-selling book, The Road Less Traveled. Today, BRF is not only living out some of Peck’s ideals, he is running through his own kind of road. But unlike Peck, they are roads NOT travelled.
    There may much wisdom after all that President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) lumbered him with what is considered big-three portfolios – Power, Works and Housing – marking him out as the most powerful minister in the land today, no doubt;  and of course, overseeing the largest chunk of federal budget.
    You are bound to notice the verisimilitude of Peck’s paradigmatic viewpoints in BRF. Peck propounds in his book that life is indeed hard and never meant to be easy. Life, he says, is a series of problems which are either solved or ignored. But he posits that DISCIPLINE is key and inherent in discipline are basic set of tools required to solve life’s problems. He went a step further to insist that it is through suffering, what he describes asLegitimate Suffering that “we can resolve many conflicts and sufferings that we face.”
    While he suggests (as in the title of his book) that discipline and legitimate suffering is A Road Less Traveled by many, in Nigeria, and especially with successive federal governments in Nigeria, taking the pains and rigour of work are actually roads not travelled. It is these roads that BRF seems to plod right now and our collective insouciance he seems to walk to reverse.
    Recently, BRF returned from a whirlwind tour of six states of the southwest. Over four days (Wednesday March 23 to Saturday March 26) of dawn to dusk shuttling, inspecting nearly 20 projects across the three ministries and paying courtesy calls on governors. He had done same for all the six zones of the country, missing out only three states. About 33 out of 36 states visited in the last three months; an estimated 108 federal projects at a conservative three per state. Phew!
    Again, a road not travelled: no other minister ever made this rather punitive effort at evaluating his far-flung sites. At each stop, even state governors attested that no Works Minister ever visited. During the northeast blast, driving into Government House Maiduguri, Borno State, at a little over 12 midnight, Governor Kashim Shettima was bewildered. Not only had he not seen any federal official around his city in seven years of Boko Haram, very few inhabitants moved about after dark.
    At each state’s boundary, the Federal Controller of Works and his Housing counterpart join BRF’s train; State Commissioner for Works also joins in. Reports on on-going projects in such state are presented on the go. BRF raises questions and offers insights. For instance, why are all the trees mowed down in clearing 10,000 hectares for the National Housing Programme? With good site plan, some native trees could be preserved as part of the aesthetics of a new housing estate, for instance.
    And government houses, the controllers take turns to brief governors first before BRF wraps up.
    At each visit, the pattern is the same and the message one: Controllers are Federal Government ambassadors in the states; please support them to serve you; federal and state executives are not competitors but partners. BRF never forgets to extend to the governors President Buhari’s goodwill, while making it known also that he is only a part of a federal executive that is interdependent and thrives as a team. Ministries of Finance, Transportation, Budget and Planning, Petroleum Resources, Defence, and indeed the entire cabinet must work in concert to deliver any good to the people. This is always his message.
    The visit to the 335MW Omotoso Electricity Energy Company in Ondo State left the staff and workers much elated and reassured. While the atmosphere at the Olorunsogo Power Station, Papalanto, Ogun State was electric, in a manner of speaking, as they received BRF; they considered it a sign of a new beginning, highlighting their gains and raising some of the challenges requiring federal government’s attention.
    As noted above, no fewer than 100 projects, mainly roads, in the six zones of the country, are currently experiencing rapid work. Caterpillars and rammers, engineers and artisans are turning sod and laying asphalt morning and night. Most of these projects were abandoned in the last regime at a period of our recent oil boom because nobody would step up to bear the legitimate suffering.
    Of all these roads, the Lagos Ibadan Expressway (LIE) and the Sagamu-Benin highway are the markers indicating the nature of the past and present regime. Most payments for jobs completed are now done quarterly as opposed to the past when contractors get paid in three years or never at all. At each project stop, BRF reassures them on regular payments and this keeps work flowing.
    In just 18 months, these roads which were dead, literally, are springing back to life. On LIE, sections one and two have a combined length of about 130km at a combined cost estimated at N170 billion. The road which arguably has the highest traffic volume in sub-Saharan Africa is being handled by Messrs Julius Berger and RCC from end to end.
    LIE represented a metaphor for poor governance, bad leadership and a stark lack of discipline in the Peckian sense. The road repairs were stunted by the concessionaire who held it down for about six years. When federal government wanted to reclaim its road, it got tied up in complicated legal knots, stalling progress.
    But somehow, BRF changed this awkward narrative and the reconstruction, rehabilitation and expansion of this road has gone on apace in the last one year. LIE is no longer a lie; it has already taken the shape of a modern 10-lane highway not unlike an autobahn. This again, has given the lie to the notion that only an engineer can head the Ministry of Works; it has reinforced the argument that it is all about leadership, administration and management of men and resources.
    Projects long abandoned are streaming back to life all across the land; most of the roads NOT travelled are now affording commuters fresh driving experiences and creating jobs for thousands of compatriots. Again let us borrow from the writer, Peck, he calls the foregoing ‘balancing’, an element of discipline which suggests the reconciling of multiple, complex and possibly conflicting factors…to achieve greater good. That is the road to travel.

    •Tamuno is a Lagos-based journalist

  • Bullish Senate, bullish Presidency

    Nigerian Senators were at their combative best last week when they shelved for two weeks confirmation hearings on 27 Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) newly nominated by the Presidency.

    The ‘distinguished’ makers of law flashed the yellow card in rebuff of the Presidency over its continuing retention of Ibrahim Magu as Acting Chair of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) after he had twice failed to secure statutory confirmation by the red chamber. They particularly cited their displeasure with comments by the Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, Professor Itse Sagay, who allegedly described the Senate’s mandate in screening presidential nominees as ‘merely to confirm’ them.

    The latest ego war was against the backdrop of a precarious staffing situation in INEC as the electoral body builds up to the 2019 general election. At the last count, 33 RECs out of the 37 constitutionally designated for states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had effluxed after serving out their term. And so, as it were, not a few considered the fresh nominations by the Presidency indefensibly delayed and long overdue. But that seemed of scant importance to senators as they kicked the confirmation can down the road last week.

    Reports of the Senate’s proceedings on the subject matter suggested a misplaced aggression by the chamber. In raising the red flag on Magu, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi (PDP, Delta North) argued for stepping down the confirmation of RECs because some of them were allegedly functioning already in acting capacity. “Today, we have been given a list to confirm. Look at the list, we have eight of them out of 27 (that) are for re-appointment, which means they are acting already. They are already working and they are still in position. My position is that since our confirmation is ‘merely,’ let us suspend it until we know whether we have power (under) the Constitution to look into confirmation matters or any other status,” he was quoted saying.

    Whereas a few senators argued otherwise, the red chamber resolved to stand down the confirmation of the REC nominees for two weeks, during which time its leadership would meet with President Muhammadu Buhari to communicate members’ sentiments on Magu’s retention. Deputy Senate Whip Francis Alimikhena (APC, Edo North) pointedly alleged that Magu had been terrorizing senators just because he was denied confirmation. Effectively, but quite unshrewdly, the legislators doubled down on settling personal scores when the real issue should involve their seeking to get a handle on borderlines in the constitutionally prescribed separation of powers between the different arms of government.

    Since there was no report of any member correcting Nwaoboshi’s argument about ‘acting RECs,’ it would seem that senators do not know how the electoral commission works. Standard practice is that commissioners exit INEC upon serving out their tenure, and they do not return to office unless re-nominated and confirmed by relevant arms of government – especially where they had not been originally named in acting capacity by the appointing authority. The commission early last month announced the exit of five more RECs on March 4th, which had brought the vacancies to 33. From all indications, the eight being reappointed at this time have exited the commission and would only be back after their confirmation and swearing-in.

    And so, the Senate’s conflation of the REC nominees with the Magu scenario was utterly off-mark. But I do not in the least begrudge the lawmakers their motivation to protect the Legislature from apparent Executive disregard. Actually, my understanding is that our Constitution provides for lawmakers to confirm or reject Executive nominees and not simply rubber-stamp them. The two-chamber structure of the National Assembly should by all means be reappraised in view of the huge burden on the public treasury, but the vibrancy and independence of that arm from the Executive must on no account be compromised.

    In the United States from where we copied our presidential system, senators filibuster and stall the confirmation of presidential nominees, when they are not downright rejected, until such nominees are withdrawn or they withdraw by themselves from contention. The last nominee to be rejected was John Tower, a former senator tipped as Defense Secretary by President George H. W. Bush in 1989. But many more nominees have copped out in the face of obstacles from Congressmen. The latest is Andrew Puzder, who recently withdrew from consideration by Congress after President Donald Trump nominated him as Secretary of Labor. Puzder was among other things accused of wage theft, sexual harassment against employees and spousal abuse. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell informed the Trump administration that Puzder did not have the votes required to be confirmed on February 15, this year – same day that Puzder withdrew himself from consideration.

    Rather than the Executive arm of government holding the Legislature in disdain over favourite nominees, we should perhaps revisit our laws that prescribe legislative confirmation for sundry cadres of appointees and have effectively spared lawmakers little time for anything else than the theatrics of confirmation hearings.

  • Rape and the need for a stiffer penalty

    Recently, women across the world celebrated International Women’s Day. Part of the agenda for the celebration includes older women setting priority for the younger generations; the review of challenges facing women and charting a way forward. Women were encouraged to be involved in governance, fight for fairness, equality and full protection for women and the girl child. However, the main issue discussed at the celebration was child rape which is one of the most traumatizing forms of violence against children.

    Rape is sexual assault involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration perpetrated against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out through physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or against a person who is incapable of valid consent, such as one who is unconscious, incapacitated, or below the legal age of consent.

    Though, there are different types, Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault (DFSA), forcible and statutory rapes are the most common in Nigeria. DFSA is a sexual assault carried out after the victim has become incapacitated due to having consumed alcoholic beverages or other drugs. Statutory rape is an intercourse between an adult and a minor, adult can be found guilty of statutory rape even if the minor was willing partner. Forcible rape is an intercourse carried out against a person’s will by that of physical force a person could only be charged with rape if force was used to subdue the victim. The age of consent for sexual intercourse varies depending on state law but is not higher than 18years in any state.

    Perpetrators of rape show signs of dominance, power and hatred to humiliate victims. They get their own pleasure through rape since it is insecure to approach women openly so they force them. This brings psychological effects for life on the victims because it is horrible and pervasive to defile a woman forcefully. In some cases, drugs and alcohol are used to minimize the resistance and memory of the victims of sexual assault.

    Over the years, there has been high record of suicide cases which can be traced to long- term health impact and trauma from sexual abuse, resulting to depression, mental health problems, Stress and sleeping disorders. The victims of rape go through psychological trauma, if not controlled they become threat to the society by committing crimes. These victims lose self esteem and find it difficult to concentrate on their education thus becoming drop out. They get involved in prostitution, drug abuse, violence and other crimes especially kidnapping. While some are still suffering from the trauma of rape as a minor, teenager or adult but unfortunately our society seems to be passive in taking proper measures for rehabilitation of victims.

    Today, the rape epidemic in our society reflects the extent to which women’s human rights are threatened. Our laws and collective attitude toward rape call to question not only our sense of justice but our civilization. Like a scourge, the regular cases of reported rape in the country’s media and confirmed statistics from some states are threatening to smother the essence of the society. Nobody, not even infants, is safe from the evil rampage of these randy felons on the prowl preying on their victims with relish.

    Being a cosmopolitan city, Lagos has its own fair share of rape incidences but the State Government through the Ministries of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA), Youth and Social Development Domestic, Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT), Office of Public Defender (OPD) and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) among others, have ensured that victims of rape were rescued, counseled and provided new shelter in a safer environment.

    According to records, the DSVRT has handled a total of 192 cases comprising 89 domestic violence cases, 62 defilement cases, 18 rape cases, six attempted rape, 10 child neglect and seven child abuse cases while Ninety-two (92) cases are presently being heard in court. It is also on record that 4,035 cases of sexual and child abuse was recorded in the last one year.

    However, the stance of the law towards rape has not really helped in any way. Women and girls who are raped in Nigeria have little hope of obtaining justice and reparation.   Prosecutions for rape are brought in only a small number of cases. Victims are sometimes pressured into withdrawing the case or parents of victims prefer financial settlement out of court to a criminal prosecution. Where cases are brought to court, prosecution sometimes fails because police refer cases to a court lacking appropriate jurisdiction and progress is then obstructed by the slow administration of the judicial system. In some cases, the alleged perpetrator is charged with a different and less serious criminal offence.

    Perpetrators of rape have continued to enjoy the crime because the onus of proof lies only with the victims. The victim is the one that must provide the bed sheet used to rape her. She must provide her underwear and not clean herself before going to the police station and the hospital even when it is sure that there would be delays in getting and presenting the report of medical tests because of nature of our health facilities. She must not urinate, drinks liquid or takes any other bodily action as these could threaten her evidence.

    Digging into the provisions of the Law on rape and sexual abuses, it is clear that a lot still has to be done if we must achieve a rape/sexual abuse-free society. A bothersome issue is the idea of giving culprit option of paying fine of such amount as ridiculous as N250, 000 which can be easily afforded by the culprit and his family. Of what use is the fine compared to damage caused the rape victims?

    It is, therefore, essential that all stakeholders put up a common front to ensure that necessary things are done to rework the laws of the land so that rapists could face stiffer penalty. Everything must be done to ensure that rape isn’t treated with levity. Rape is a crime against humanity, it must be discouraged now!

    • Oguntadeis of the Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja

  • Dear CJN Onnoghen: Delay is dangerous

    And it’s the danger inherent that this place will sound out.

    Growing up in the north, one thing that is completely unmistakable is the fatalistic view to life. Death is – the will of Allah.

    Coming down south is a contrast there, with the sense of extreme anguish, grief, sorrow, mourning, wickedness to widows, etc. The widows are victims but the extreme anguish I seem to understand now as an adult.

    The Ibos are an industrious set of folk. Traditionally their social system involves minimal dependence on government, rather they have a desire to do something for the government.

    The businessmen have an established system of trading involving being apprenticed for several years in an existing shop or business. Here they work morning to night 6 days a week save in Ibo Supermarkets where they work for 6½ days. At the end, their master sets them up with money, consignment of goods and all that it will take to branch out in that business independently. From his profit, he takes care of everything – his extended family, in-laws and always contributes to his homestate community. The same goes for the Ibo businesswoman.

    So the loss of one Ibo trader is equivalent to the loss of One Nation. The loss of a female Ibo trader as happened to the Apo Six translates to the potentials for creating 60 more “Vampires” – ruthless kidnappers, killers and underworld kingpins who gruesomely murder household breadwinners.

    And then is justice delayed.

    The role of government is only to slam them (traders) with a tax menu – they pay. Push their business places far out of town and with no good road – they commute day and night, rising early, returning late. Government’s customs, excise and relevant departments are notoriously corrupt and make Ibo businessmen their target – the Ibos always ‘settle’.

    The minimal obligation these defenseless, hardworking ones would expect from government is protection of lives and property – like all other citizens of the federal republic. No. They are the ones the trigger happy policemen slay, as they return from ‘market’. Tragic!

    The Apo Six case is my antithesis. Tunji Adegboyega in The Nation titled his piece thus: “At last, Apo Six killers to die.” He says ‘It is difficult to believe that the Apo Six were killed 12 years ago. The incident was well reported in the media, making it compelling for the authorities to be concerned. Perhaps it would have passed off as one of those extra-judicial killings by some of our trigger-happy policemen.’

    This reminds me of another celebrated but inconclusive killer-police case. This one involved a very senior police officer who, after a romp in a hotel with one of his junior wives, shot and killed her for making an unreasonable financial demand of him – his confession.

    Almost makes the Apo Six killer policemen seem unlucky!                                  Still quoting Adegboyega “One can be sad that it took 12 long years …that justice is coming the way of victims’ relatives is still something to cheer.”

    The sentence by Justice Ishaq Bello of the Abuja high Court 12 years after confessional statements were made by the killers will likely only kick off another long process. It could go something like this: upon appeal, the case would then be referred to the Appeal Court where the procedure would be required to be started all over again.

    12 – 15 years later maybe, it would then land at the Supreme Court: Woe betides us if that year is an election year. All pending cases will be set aside for 1 ½ years till more important election petition matters would have been handled.

    By this time though, the children of one of the victims, Augustina Arebon would have grown up as motherless babies – without a mother who was most likely the bread winner in that family, under this harsh economic climate.

    Worse still, more trigger-happy cops would have attacked and killed countless more defenseless citizens in the interim – knowing the worst thing that could happen would be spending some time off in jail before the case would die down, like others before. Just last week a nursing mother was brutalized and assaulted by policemen at a road checkpoint.

    Or where is CLIFORD ORJI TODAY? It is against this grim background that I have situated the Onnoghen confirmation saga, so it does not die down too. Section 231 (1) of the  ’99 constitution says the appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria shall be made by the President on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC) subject to confirmation by the Senate.

    The NJC had duly recommended Justice Walter Nkanu Onnoghen to the President one month before the former CJN’s retirement date on 10th Nov. 2016. But Onnoghen was simply sworn in, in acting capacity and not referred to the senate for confirmation. Constitutionally, the CJN can only remain in acting capacity for 3 months: this ended in February 10th. I just wonder how did Onnoghen feel; how did he feel throughout his waiting period, with no positive signal in sight?

    In that interim another name (Ibrahim Magu) was repeatedly sent for another office (EFCC Chair) to the senate for confirmation: how did THAT STRIKE Onnoghen?

    Note that between 10th and 28th February a constitutional lacuna was created: Onnoghen’s acting tenure expired, the NJC did not recommend his continued stay, neither did they recommend the person next in seniority to the position.

    So the law refused to act on the law on itself. 

    All through, no reason was given by the executive for the aberration which could have resulted in a crisis in the judiciary, with speculation rife all over the polity, giving the lapses ethnic undertones that were both mindless and needless.

    The four month delay in forwarding the nomination was long, but not nearly as long as the one hundred and forty-four (144) month long delay by the courts in sentencing the Apo 6 killers.

    See, all those 12 long years the courts continued to sit, and high profile cases, big cases of political bigwigs were being dispensed while the relatives of the Apo 6 were kept waiting in suspense.

    Maybe this is the way, though seemingly tough, that providence has chosen to galvanize Nigeria’s top judges; all the judges to see in living colour, the grave injustice of justice delayed.

    Let that CJN saga be taken as a salvo, a call to action, a shakeup, a wake-up; the push we have all been yearning for in this nation to see speedy dispensation of justice in Nigeria. Only then would all the trauma have been resolved.

  • Tinubu, a Nigerian product that is working

    Tinubu, a Nigerian product that is working

    The Coconut tree is a member of the palm family.  The term coconut can refer to the whole coconut palm or the seed, or the fruit.  The term coconut is derived from the 16th century Portugese and Spanish word “coco” meaning head or skull, from the three indentations on the coconut shell that resemble facial features.

    Coconuts are known for their great versatility, as evidenced by many traditional uses, ranging from food to cosmetics (Adi-Agbon).  The oil and milk derived from it are commonly used in cooking and frying, as well as in soap and cosmetics.  The husks and leaves can be used as material to make a variety of products for furnishing and decorating.  The Coconut is a good symbol of cultural significance in certain communities.

    In putting the pieces together, here it is; You have a head that is blessed with a divine task to be fruitful and useful to humanity.  He is greatly versatile, courageous and strategic in outlook.  It takes a few years of planting before the coconut tree becomes fruitful, thereafter, it bears fruits for a long time.  Sixty-five years after, he has been fruitful, creating more products and bye-products from his political dynasty than any other living “made-in-Nigeria” political product in recent history.

    Like the coconut, some bye-products/fruits will get bad along the way or after being sold in the market; in actual fact, the political product may not be the favourite of some other people.  The bottom line, however, is simple.  If Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, were a coconut; I dare say, with all simplicity, I would be among the forefront liners that will eat, drink and sleep B.A.T. 24/7.

    The test of a successful leader is in the number of leaders that he has created.  Using this globally accepted parameter, Asiwaju, at 65, is without doubt, a winner in this category.

    There is no doubt the Asiwaju political dynasty is a made in Nigeria product.  The foundation laid and blueprints developed during his tenure as Governor of Lagos State which cuts across all sections of the State’s economy have actually simplified the process of governance till date.

    His blueprint has continued to serve as a road map to achieving the Lagos of his and our dreams.  This same political product without doubt, traverses the Nigerian landscape and that is evident with the emergence of the APC at the centre in 2015.

    Asiwaju is a made in Nigeria product. We should make more products out of him.

    This year’s central theme is no doubt an apt topic.  Make it in Nigeria – Use what we make – Make what we Use. I am an unrepentant convert of this ideology.  We have demonstrated it.  We have professed it through our Lake Rice partnership with Kebbi State.

    As a Government, we will continue to improve on our indices of the ease of doing business to ensure that more products are made in Nigeria for the development and growth of our nation.

    Asiwaju, I salute you. Senator Oluremi Tinubu, I admire your dexterity and I congratulate you.

    Asiwaju, on behalf of the First Lady, my entire family, all your admirers at home and across the world, we say a big thank you for your large-heartedness, benevolence and visionary leadership that you have unleashed on this nation.

    You are A Statesman par Excellence

    My leader, Our Leader.

    Happy Birthday, Sir. God bless you all.

     

    • Ambode, governor of Lagos state made the above remarks at the  colloquium marking the 65thbirthday of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

  • Nigeria and the scourge of meningitis

    At least 282 people aged between 5and 14 have lost their lives in Nigeria due to the outbreak of meningitis, mostly in the North Western States of Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Katsina, Niger and the Federal capital, Abuja. With close to 2,000 suspected cases across the country, the current outbreak is purported to be the worst in the history of the country since 2009 when at least 156 people died.

    Meningitis is an inflammation (swelling) of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord known as the meninges. This inflammation is usually caused by bacterial or viral infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Meningitis can also result from injury, cancer, or certain drugs. Bacterial meningitis is spread from person to person. The bacteria are spread by exchanging respiratory and throat secretions (saliva or spit) during close or lengthy contact, in form of kissing or coughing, especially if living in the same household.

    On the other hand, if you have close contact with a person who has viral meningitis, you may become infected with the virus that made the person sick, but you are probably not likely to develop meningitis from the illness. This is because only a small number of people who get infected with the viruses that cause meningitis will actually develop meningitis.

    Other rare forms of meningitis are as results of fungi, parasites or amoebic infections. Fungal meningitis is rare and usually caused by fungus spreading through blood to the spinal cord. Although anyone can get fungal meningitis, people with weakened immune systems, like those with an HIV infection or cancer, are at increased risk. Also, various parasites can cause meningitis or can affect the brain or nervous system in other ways. Primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) is a very rare form of parasitic meningitis that causes a brain infection that is usually fatal. PAM is caused by the microscopic ameba (a single-celled living organism) Naegleria fowleri when water containing the ameba enters the body through the nose.

    The first symptoms of meningitis are usually fever, vomiting, headache and generally feeling unwell, but as time goes on, the victim presents with symptoms peculiar to the disease. These are limb pain, pale skin, and cold hands and feet which often appear earlier than the rash that can be all over the body. Other specific symptoms include, neck stiffness, dislike of bright lights, confusion and seizures.

    To diagnose meningitis blood culture is necessary, that is blood sample from the patient is tested for bacterial meningitis. Computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) scans of the head can also be done. This may show swelling or inflammation. X-rays or CT scans of the chest or sinuses may also show infection in other areas that may be associated with meningitis.

    However, for a definitive diagnosis of meningitis, a spinal tap to collect cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is needed. In people with meningitis, the CSF often shows a low sugar (glucose) level along with an increased white blood cell count and increased protein. CSF analysis also help in identifying which bacterium caused the meningitis. But if viral meningitis is suspected, a DNA-based test, known as a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification or a test to check for antibodies against certain viruses to determine the specific cause and determine proper treatment is needed.

    Also, if an individual is ill and develops rashes or spots, the tumbler test can be used. In this case, a clear glass tumbler is placed firmly against the rash. If the rashes can be seen clearly through the glass, then urgent medical help should be sought.

    In treating meningitis, it is important to know the specific cause of meningitis because the treatment differs depending on the cause and the age of the individual involved. Most people with viral meningitis usually start getting better within 3 days of feeling sick, and they recover within 2 weeks. With mild cases of viral meningitis, only home treatment may be needed including drinking extra fluids and taking medicine for pain and fever.

    On the other hand, in treating bacterial or severe viral meningitis, treatment in a hospital may be required. In this case, medicines such as antibiotics, corticosteroids, and medicines to reduce fever are prescribed. And despite the availability of effective anti-microbial therapy, bacterial meningitis results in substantial morbidity and mortality, particularly in children. Although, most healthy adults who have recovered from meningitis don’t need follow-up care, but babies and children always need follow up care after recovery; therefore, they need to be checked for long term complications such as hearing loss, memory or concentration problems and learning difficulties which can be temporary or permanent among others.

    Although Nigeria has witnessed outbreaks of meningitis in the past, but the current one is caused by new strain of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis, purportedly imported from Niger Republic. Therefore, new vaccines are required in its prevention. Hence, preventive measures should as a matter of urgency be put in place to combat the spread.

    Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Health has deployed epidemiologists to the affected States to minimize the impact of the disease among the people but the States that are free from the illness should take precautions. Since meningitis is spread by contact with the infected individual, overcrowding should be avoided. It is important that windows are left open to avoid stuffiness.

    And because children are more susceptible to meningitis, suspected cases of unusual fever should be reported at a health facility. Immunizing children against the disease which remains the main method of preventing the disease should be prioritized by all parents. It is of utmost importance that these five groups of people considered at risk should get a meningitis vaccine: college freshmen who live in dorms and haven’t been vaccinated, adolescents who are 11 to 12 years old, new high school students who haven’t been vaccinated, people traveling to countries or areas where meningococcal disease is common, children who are ages 2 or older and who have a compromised immune system.

     

    • Bakare is of the Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos

  • Sukuk bond: Aregbesola’s vindication

    When Governor Aregbesola began moves to introduce the Islamic bond, the product attracted so much anger in the Christian fold to the extent that the achievements Governor Aregbesola made in Osun State almost fizzled out. Some of his critics reasoned that Nigeria is a secular state and so the introduction of Islamic bond smacks of Islamising the state. They believe that the introduction of the sukuk bond was not appropriate in view of the destructive activities of Boko Haram.

    To this effect, Nigerians, who lost relations or were injured, maimed or frustrated by the unscrupulous behaviour of Boko Haram, form the bulk of critics of Islamic bond. Some prominent Christian leaders said it will further inflame religious violence. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) also condemned the introduction of Islamic bond because to them it was a ploy to introduce Islamism into Osun State.

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenceýs Commission (ICPC) has described the petition of the Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State against Governor Rauf Aregbesola as baseless and unsubstantiated. ICPC, in a letter with reference number ICPC/INV/NGB/T.E2/003, addressed to the petitioner, Chairman, Civil Society Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State, which was copied to the Osun Secretary to the State Government, stated that its investigations have not established an act contrary to the Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act, 2000 as none of the allegations were substantiated.

    The commission stated that having diligently investigated the allegations and finding nothing against Governor Aregbesola, the allegations have been dismissed. The Government, through the Bureau of Communication and Strategy in the Office of the Governor, reminded Nigerians that the ICPC’s final decision was a vindication of the repeated claims by the government that the group was one of those hired for the purpose of tarnishing its name.

    ICPC, in the letter titled, Re: Petition against Osun State Governor- Mr. Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, for criminal and reckless mismanagement of Osun State funds since November 2010 to August 2015,  held that all of the allegations brought forward have been looked into conclusively with no infraction substantiated.

    According to ICPC, “The above case bordering on fraudulent diversion of N11.4 billion obtained through Osun SUKUK bond to private foreign account, money meant for building of schools regardless of the N13.9 billion intervention funds from the Federal Government through UBEC for the purpose of building classrooms has been investigated conclusively with no infraction substantiated.

    “An investigation ofý the above allegations confirmed that Osun State government raised N11.344 billion from the issue of the SUKUK bond through Nigerian commercial banks. Investigation also revealed that after the issue of the bond, Osun State Government sought and got approvals from the Securities and Exchange Commission and Shariah Board of Lotus Capital Ltd. to amend the schedule of schools to be constructed from 27 mixed schools to 11 high schools and to furnish the schools. The approval of SUKUK holders is still pending.

    “Also contrary to the allegation that the SUKUK proceed was diverted to private foreign account, it was disbursed from Osun SUKUK company accounts with 13 Collecting Nigerian Commercial banks and used for payments of contractors awarded the contracts of construction and furnishing of 11 senior Secondary Schools in various part of Osun State.

    “Furthermore, contrary to the allegation that N13.9 billion was disbursed by UBEC to Osun State, the total of N7,192,585,041.64 has been disbursed to Osun SUBEB for the period 2011-2015. This amount consists of Universal Basic Education matching grants, Special Education Funds, Teachers Professional Development Fund and state’s counterpart funds lodgement in line with UBE Act 2004.

    “In view of the above paragraphs, investigations have not established an act contrary to the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 as none of the allegations were substantiated. Therefore the matter is hereby laid to rest, “ the Commission said.

    The Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Office of the Governor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, stating the Government’s position over the outcome of the ICPC’s investigations, said the Aregbesola government was never in doubt that the group was an illegal one which was only being used by traducers of the administration to diminish its many achievements.

    “When the so-called group was everywhere making its highly irresponsible and frivolous allegations, we never minced words on the fact that it was an unregistered group of few disgruntled, hired individuals to tarnish the image of the government and seek to diminish the massive good governance initiatives that are the hallmarks of our interventions here.

    “The ICPC’s dismissal of the frivolous allegations is a vindication of our earlier position on the group and other collaborators in their ignoble campaigns of calumny.

    “The Aregbesola administration has instituted the most transparent, people-friendly government in its six years and more and we do not intend to depart from this path. This is because we are convinced in this lies the brighter future of our dear state,” Okanlawon added.

    The funds were used to finance construction of education projects, among other development initiatives with which Governor Aregbesola hopes to lay a solid foundation for the future of the state. Eleven High Schools with a total of 792 classrooms are at various stages of completion across the state. Two other High Schools are proposed for construction in Osogbo to accommodate the total population of high school students in Osogbo metropolis. There are 11 schools in all to be financed by the sukuk bond.  The bond is exclusively for high school development.

    The High Schools are: Ilesa High School, Wole Soyinka High School, Ejigbo, Ataoja High School, Osogbo, Fakunle Unity High School, Osogbo, Osogbo High School, Adventist High School, Ede are completed, while Oduduwa High School, Ile Ife, Ila High School, Ila-Orangun, Iwo High School, Iwo, Akinorun High School, Ikirun and  Ayedaade High School, Ikire have reached 70% completion.

    When Governor Aregbesola adopted Sukuk, an Islamic bond to help the state execute it projects, his critics were calling for his head. Many said it was part of his ploy to Islamize Osun. Not quite long, the government of United Kingdom also stated its resolve to obtain Islamic bond, Sukuk, to execute government projects. A petition about Governor Aregbesola was sent to ICPC concerning sukuk fund but he has been vindicated.

     

    • Donald sent this piece from Benin City

  • Unilorin and ASUU’s ‘sanctions’

    An another desperate attempt to truncate the steady academic progress being recorded at the University of Ilorin, the National Secretariat of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has unilaterally imposed what could simply be described as ill-advised, mischievous and vexatious sanctions on this flagship of the nation’s education sector.

    Following a meeting of its National Executive Council (NEC) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, mid-January, the Union sought to ostracise the University of Ilorin from the nation’s academic community, citing flimsy and baseless “acts of lawlessness, arbitrariness, violation of human and trade union rights, and persecution of loyal members.”

    The Union alleged that “contrary to the law and despite the ruling of the National Industrial Court, the University has continued to prevent the Union from functioning on its campus.” It stated further that Unilorin “has also continued to forcefully collect check-off money from academics of the university in the name of the Union without remitting it to the Union.”

    Having charged the University with these offences and convicted it on all counts, the Union went ahead to impose the sanctions on the University administration.  According to it, “For the duration of the sanctions, academic staff of the University of Ilorin will no longer enjoy the cooperation, collaboration or participation of academics of other Nigerian public universities, in (sundry) areas of academic and related activities.” These include teaching, research and supervision of students; setting, moderating or assessment of examinations; external assessment for professional cadre appointments or promotions; sabbatical, visiting, part-time and adjunct appointments; accreditation of institutions, colleges, programmes and courses; collaborative research; attendance of learned conferences, society workshops, seminars and other related activities; peer review of journal articles and patronage of journals; and so forth.

    From the tone and intent of its unilateral ‘sanctions’, it is clear that the National ASUU is deliberately pursuing a belligerent agenda, having failed serially in its bid to hijack the Unilorin Branch of the Union for its anointed gangs, who constitute less than one percent of the academic staff of the University.

    Since the ASUU-orchestrated crisis erupted in 2001, the Union has consistently put up a belligerent posture, spurning all forms of reconciliatory moves. Its intention, since then, has been to destabilise the University of Ilorin.

    The Union unwittingly exposed its main motive with its complaint that the University has “continued to forcefully collect check-off money from academics of the university … without remitting it to the Union.” It is becoming obvious that members’ check-off dues are the main grouse. For,  in one breath, you claim you have suspended the Unilorin Branch of the Union and in another you still expect check-off due remittance from the same suspended Branch? In any case, it is on record that at the outset of the crisis, more than 95 per cent of the academic staff of the University resolved to discontinue the payment of check-off dues to ASUU National and decided, instead, to pay a percentage of their salaries as administrative charge to the local branch. This decision was duly communicated to the University management for the purpose of deducting this from source. And from this administrative charge, the ASUU leadership in the University has been able to build a befitting secretariat for the Union, a feat which was never on the agenda of the previous executive committees headed by the lackeys of these anarchists.

    Again, the allegation of lawlessness levelled against the University administration is spurious. How can Unilorin be lawless when it obeyed all court judgments and dutifully carried out the judicial order to reabsorb all the disengaged lecturers. Their accumulated salaries were paid in full despite the fact that most of them were already in regular employment in some other places.

    The call on academic staff of other public universities to boycott all Unilorin-based journals as well as the embargo on the acceptance of articles from Unilorin academics by journals of other universities for peer review and publication clearly shows the Union as simply anti-intellectual. When has trade union membership become a pre-requisite for featuring in an academic journal? Or are we now to believe that any academic, who is not an ASUU member, cannot publish in an academic journal?

    In the same vein, ASUU’s call on academics from other universities not to come to the University of Ilorin for sabbatical, visiting, part-time and adjunct appointments as well as the embargo on Unilorin academics who may want undertake similar exercises in other universities runs counter to the principle of reciprocity on which universities all over the world thrive. Not only is the University of Ilorin a hot cake, for sabbatical,  visiting, part-time and adjunct applicants, the management, as a matter of sustained policy, actively encourages its academic staff to go for these appointments even outside the country and they are widely accepted. Would these self-conceited unionists then agree to recall some of their members who are currently on sabbatical at the University of Ilorin?

    It should be pointed out that this is not the first time these people would be exhibiting their anti-intellectual stance, as they have, several times in the past, disrupted semester examinations; petitioned the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, in 2002, over allegations that the University violated academic regulations and minimum standards in the training of its medical students; unilaterally banned external examiners from moderating the final year examinations and projects of Unilorin students in 2001; and serially embarrassed members of our academic staff who went for one engagement or another in a couple of universities. All these antics were aimed at arm-twisting the University and truncating its rising profile.

    It is on record that the University administration has continued to broker peace between the local branch and the National ASUU with a view to promoting a peaceful campus and fostering harmonious management-labour relations. Times without number, successive Vice-Chancellors of the institution, and the incumbent Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali in particular, have facilitated reconciliatory meetings but as soon as the issue of popular election is mentioned and the need for both parties to go to the Congress and test their respective popularity in a popular democratic contest, the National-backed faction often balks.

    The University Management is hereby calling on the Federal Government and all lovers of education in the country to call these fellows to order because they are transgressing the limit allowed by trade unionism. They should be told in clear and unambiguous language that they do not possess the power to sanction a federal University that is being run with the tax payers’ money, a University that has contributed, in no small measure, to the upliftment of the higher education system in the country.

     

    • Akogun is the Head of Corporate Affairs Unit, University of Ilorin

  • Youths, sexual morality and pop music culture

    Today, what is generally recognised as the world’s dominant civilisation is Western liberalism, of which the pop music culture is a derivative. The pop music culture arose as another category of cultural differentiation known as sub-culture. This third level of culture usually develops among sub groups within society who adopt norms, values and beliefs, about conducts and behaviours, which differ from (and often run counter to) society’s mainstream cultural values.

    It is a sociological fact that cultures die, evolve, and undergo creative transformation. But what is important is whether the cultural survival of a given society and the well-being of its members can be assured even while it accommodates and adjusts to new cultural influences. The pop music culture and its impact on the sexual morality of our youths is a good material for examining this point.

    In Nigeria, both before and after independence, the moral norms and values that governed sexuality have been broadly conservative, in a manner that placed a modicum of social restrictions, and individual restraint, on the expression of sexuality. But with continuous interaction with and accommodation of the cultural influences from the West, the liberalising culture of sexuality and overt sexualisation began to creep in on us. Through the pop culture it gained a cultural foothold in our society, and with the aid of modern media, the vivid sexualisation of Western pop culture soon became a stronghold of sexual cultural reorientation among our youths – with unhealthy consequences for the society’s moral health.

    The reasoning here is that culture is an important aspect of the infrastructure of domination which the more powerful societies employ to keep weaker ones in perpetual subjugation. Thus, the firm hold of the pop culture on our youths is not as harmless as it appears. It affects certain core organising pillars of society such as human sexuality, gender and power.

    One of the major ways by which human society sustains itself culturally is by transmitting its cultural norms and values to succeeding generations through various means of socialisation. In other words, young people are a core consideration in the cultural sustenance and survival of any society. Consequently, the kind and quality of values they imbibe are of vital importance.

    It is beyond dispute that youths are the foremost stronghold of the pop music culture – and it comes with its own package of norms and values by which its adherents deal with such important issues as sex, human sexuality, gender and power. If our frame of reference here is that society must preserve and protect those norms and values that conduce to its survival and the well-being of its members, then, it ordinarily, for instance, would frown at promoting the free expression of the sex drive among under-age youths who are not equipped to handle the consequences.

    However, this is one of the values disseminated by the pop music culture through its sexually suggestive lyrics and explicitly sexual musical videos. With the aid of traditional and new media, pop music has become the ruling culture of our time, and it is reworking and redefining the values and orientation of our youths in ways that are deleterious to society’s moral wellness.

    Youths today spend much more time interacting with the pop music culture, through the media, than they do with the major traditional agencies of socialisation – parents, schools, or religious institutions. Being a creative art form, the pop music culture has developed ways of communicating its luridly sexual messages through slangs that may sound sexually innocuous to uninitiated adults, but quite effective at passing its messages across to its target youth-audience.

    By promoting the notion of unrestrained expression of sexuality and other vanities such as materialism, indolence, short-cut to success, etc., it misleads the impressionable young minds into accepting the false idea that the cultivation of such values carry no consequences, or that they generate desirable outcomes.

    Bolstered by its musical video component, the pop music culture promotes the sexual objectification of the human body, especially that of the females who are the easier targets. By displaying women and girls in their various stages of nudity, it exerts a powerful audio-visual effect on the malleable minds of its young viewing audience towards sexualisation, and the focus on the female body only in terms of its sexual utility.

    It also inflicts long-lasting damage on the female participants in the videos as well as the female audience. By constantly projecting explicit sexual footages that glorify female sexual objectification, it promotes the false idea that the larger society accepts and endorses what is being projected, and also pressures the girls into a redefinition of their self-image and the acceptance of their role as mere tools of sexual gratification for their male counterparts.

    The sexualising orientation of the pop music culture also projects the view of women as physical and mental weaklings who are submissive and subservient to male sexual domination and exploitation, while simultaneously strengthening the macho culture of the male as the all-powerful and all-dominant partner in social relationships and social role-set.

    It similarly promotes a particular idea and ideal of female physical beauty (being sexy). This ‘sexy craze’ works to make the females redefine their sexual self-image (of whom they are and whom they should be) and encourages the choice of skimpy, tight-fitting, body-revealing sexyclothes/clothing by our young girls, which further entrenches their sexualisation.

    The damaging consequences of the values promoted by the pop music culture on the youth, particularly the females, can manifest in unimaginable ways. A woman who has been led to accept her sexual objectification is just as easily amenable to sexual promiscuity and prostitution, among other sexually abnormal behaviours. Youths with such values towards their sexuality are also susceptible to other social problems such as teenage pregnancies, single parenthood, high incidence of female school dropouts, female marginalisation and disempowerment, sexual harassment, and sexploitation, among others.

    One key lesson derivable from the corrosive effect of pop music culture on society’s moral health is the need to be awake to the implication of having our mainstream values and norms determined by groups or individuals – within or outside our society – who are not necessarily keen on the corporate responsibility of ensuring the cultural sustenance of society and the moral well-being of its members.

    As a society, we need to reconceptualise ourselves as a socio-political and cultural entity with a view to determining our fate culturally – by creatively and selectively controlling our own cultural reproduction in a way that guarantees our collective survival and moral well-being.

     

    • Dr Ojoawo is a lecturer in the Department of English and Literary Studies, Kings University, Odeomu, Osun State
  • Tinubu:  A colossus at 65

    Tinubu:  A colossus at 65

    “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are aleader”
    – John Quincy Adams

     

    Questions have always been asked, over the centuries, about the secret ingredients that make up the pot pourri of political leadership, especially with regard to those who dictate the affairs of men and materials. While William Shakespeare, the literary icon opined that: “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them,” the led majority often looks out for certain outstanding character traits in people who epitomise their collective dreams. They identify more easily with those who have the capacity and capability to articulate enduring solutions to their most nagging and intractable challenges; more so, leaders whose life trajectories have followed the inspiring path of zero-to-hero.

    One man whose legion of friends, fans and political associates, here in Nigeria and beyond our shores, would today doff their hats for, click and raise their glasses to toast to his 65 chequered years of resilience and resourcefulness, is none other than Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. As they celebrate with the man some love to call ‘the master strategist’, and others ‘the game-changer’, one cannot but take a sober moment to drink from the fountain of his illustrious life. In so doing, one comes in humility to glean lasting lessons in character, courage, charisma, confidence, candour and compassion (the 6C principles). Others come in a mixed milleu of humility, honesty, integrity, decisiveness, responsibility, passion, reliability and dependability.

    Does he have all these qualities, or less, or even maybe more? That remains a knot for scholars in the political evolution of Nigeria to unravel. But for now, a few examples of the exhibition of these attributes would suffice. One is his uncanny ability to identify sterling leadership qualities in people, while others grope in the darkness of doubts and don’ts. Specifically, in 2007, when the gubernatorial market din swirled in Lagos over who would be his successor, he went for his erstwhile Chief of Staff, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN). Though many analysts felt he was then a political neophyte, as the governorship candidate of the Action Congress (AC), Tinubu knew that Lagos, with its increasing population and industrial/environmental challenges, needed a man who knew and stood by the rule of law like the wavy lines on his palms. History has since proved him right.

    And so it has been with the wave-making, world-renowned accountant, Akinwunmi Ambode, the visionary, vibrant and versatile incumbent governor of the Centre of Excellence, Lagos. When the coast was getting clear for political dreamers, jobbers and adventurers to throw their hats into the gubernatorial ring of the state in 2014,  few, if any, looked the way of Ambode. True, he may have traversed the civil service landscape as an auditor for not less than 13 local councils. Yes, he may also have risen to the enviable posts of Accountant General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance,  as part of his 27 years sojourn in the civil service,  but what has that got to do with the nitty-gritty of riding the wave crests of the murky waters of Nigeria’s brand of power and politics? In fact, the man looked too gentle to equate with the average political aggressor.

    Yet, again Tinubu saw in him the most capable and trusted professional to lift Lagos above the rising tide of the looming economic recession. He knew that Nigeria was on the verge of that, what with the dwindling oil revenue and after the restless run of ravenous locusts of the PDP-led government at the centre. But quite a few did not. As recent events have proven, and considering his remarkable achievements in infrastructural development, transportation, healthcare delivery, education, entertainment and tourism, within a short span of two years, even Tinubu’s most critical political opponents are openly asking about the magic wand. But as the Pidgin English parlance in Nigeria goes, ‘dey no dey buy am for market’.

    It is an unusual gift from God, given to a few men for the benefit of all. Indeed, great political leaders “analyse problems; identify the best solutions – not based on loyalty to political party, but rather on what is good and right and in the best interest of the nation as a whole.” Again, Tinubu’s open endorsement of the then All Peoples Congress (APC) candidate- and the current President Muhammadu Buhari  – will for eons stand him in good stead. Towards the tail-end of the Jonathan-led, administration, Nigeria’s ship of state was literally on the verge of collapse, buffeted on all sides by the wanton waves of the twin evils of corruption and the insidious culture of impunity. There were overtures from the PDP for Tinubu to use his political clout to swing political patronage in their favour but he stood his ground. Nigerians are the better for it today, not minding the temporary pains of the economic recession.

    It is in tandem with that patriotic zeal in him that he used his legendary political sagacity to resolve the impasse between the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Federal Government over the inevitable increase in the pump price of petroleum products. With dwindling crude oil production, no thanks to the mindless mayhem unleashed by the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), as well as a drastic drop in the choice of our oil by foreign countries, the price premium motor spirit jumped from N97per litre to N145 per litre. Such were his skills at negotiation and peace-making that neither NLC nor TUC could embark on mass demonstrations to protest the hike as it had happened under former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Also, there is the case of reaching out to the young stock of politicians in Borno State, who had hitherto been mesmerised by the stranglehold of a power- poaching politician for upward of 16 years. It was on the invitation of the governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima. More violence would have reared its ugly head in the Boko Haram-bedevilled state, had he not single-handedly offered the olive branch to calm strained nerves.

    And in the South-West geo-political zone, where he hails from, Tinubu has become the respected rallying point, preaching peace, even across political divides. Little wonder that informed politicians from the well-informed axis now speak with one voice on burning national issues. He remains a critical catalyst for the socio-economic integration of the hugely blessed zone. History, therefore, beckons on him to continue to use his unique and uncommon political wisdom and wizardry to seek the best and the brightest for both state and country. He deserves all the accolades showered on him.  Anyone or group of people that ignores him as the march begins towards 2019 does so at their own peril. It is 65 big gbosas to Nigeria’s most revered political colossus, still standing tall at 65!