The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Youth drug addiction

    Youth drug addiction

    • This is a monster that must be tamed before it is too late

    Brigadier-General Buba Marwa, chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), tended to have painted a grim picture of the prevalence and effects of drug abuse among the youth and school children. He called the attention of participants at a sensitisation programme on the menace held in Abuja to the frightening dimension it has taken in the Nigerian society. While pointing out that drug use has ballooned among the youth, women, boys and even rural dwellers, he drew attention to the negative impact of the abuse on them, the prevalence of which experts have put at between 20 and 40 per cent.

    A study conducted among secondary school students in Oyo State indicated that more than 26 per cent of respondents had indulged in the use of illicit drugs. This calls for serious concern by students, teachers, religious and traditional leaders, as well as the government at all levels. The alarming rate at which substances such as tramadol, loud, molly, canabis, cocaine, among others, are being abused calls for concerted action by all segments of the society.

    The retired general linked the sorry development to the spate of insecurity in the land. Both General Marwa and researchers from the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER) are agreed that violent crimes such as armed robbery, rape, banditry, kidnapping and murder draw their oxygen from hard drugs, and unless the supply is controlled, the society could go under.

    Every country looks to the younger generation for social development. They are the ones who populate the schools, carry out researches and to whom the future is handed over. When so many of them engage in drug abuse, the future is imperilled.

    It is the duty of government bodies such as the NDLEA to urgently work out means of curtailing the spread. In this, the agency has to work with women organisations, education authorities, security organisations, psychologists, sociologists, lawmakers and youth societies.

    The National Orientation Agency (NOA) established to ensure that national values and ethos are well planted in all citizens by robust use of the mass media, new media and other modes of communication in the modern age is almost moribund. It has not been able even to produce jingles and advertisements to be aired on radio and television stations for some time.

    Read Also: Drug addiction cost me a lot – Timaya

    It has become the more frightening when the spate of suicide among the youths, including students of higher institutions, has been linked to the reckless use of hard drugs. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has also linked this to the excruciating pains caused by economic hardship in the country. This calls for parental vigilance, regular counselling and acknowledgement of the role of the family in building and sustaining the society. The family, as a basic institution for grooming the young ones

    must be restored to its pristine position. When many families are as dysfunctional as they are today, parents are unable to play their roles in raising godly children. Many children today hardly know both parents, and the single parent, in a bid to raise resources to run the home, is left with no choice than run a rat race. The children are thus left to a househelp. There is no family value being passed from one generation to another. This calls for serious concern.

    Thus, the House of Representatives Committee on Justice has had to hold public hearing on how to save Nigerian children. The Speaker, Tajudeen Abass, and committee chairman, Olumide Osoba, expressed worry about the state of things and focused on the role the internet could play in further worsening the situation. The House is working on a bill to check the menace of the youth being hooked on the internet. How it hopes to get an act to cure the ill remains to be seen.

    It is however obvious that parents would still have to be aroused to their responsibility of caring for the children. It is not an easy task, but, as was the duty of winning the civil war and embarking on reintegration and reconstruction thereafter, it is one that must be undertaken and won.

  • ‘Sisi Quadri’ and ‘Mr Ibu’Sisi Quadri’ and ‘Mr Ibu‘Sisi Quadri’ and ‘Mr Ibu’

    ‘Sisi Quadri’ and ‘Mr Ibu’Sisi Quadri’ and ‘Mr Ibu‘Sisi Quadri’ and ‘Mr Ibu’

    • Two talented actors depart

    As actors, they made people laugh. But their deaths last week were no laughing matter. First to exit was Tolani Quadri Oyebamiji, popularly known as ‘Sisi Quadri’, who died at the Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital (LAUTECH), Osun State, on March 1, aged 44.

    The Yoruba word ‘Sisi’ denotes femininity. He explained that a woman who introduced him to makeup and acting gave him the nickname. “She would always call me Sisi Quadri because I behave like a woman,” he said, adding, “At first, I didn’t like the name and would fight back at people when they called me that. But when they were persistent, I had no option but to accept it as my nickname.” 

    Initially a makeup artist, he made his mark as an actor in the Yoruba-language sector of Nollywood. His performance in the 2004 Yoruba movie ‘Seniyan Seranko’ announced his acting talent. He cemented his popularity when he starred in the Yoruba film ‘Ebudola’ in 2020. He also performed in ‘Toko Taya’ in 2022, ‘Aje Ni Eegun,’ ‘Iya Oko Mi,’ ‘Omo Iya Oko,’ ‘Oluwa-Burna,’ and recently in the ‘Anikulapo’ series.

    He was suited for the role of a sharp-tongued character. Interestingly, he said in an interview: “I learnt how to insult people in a joking way through my dad and mum.”

    Born in Iwo, Osun State, he attended primary and secondary schools in Ore, Ondo State, and later learnt Arabic and the Quran in his hometown. His father wanted him to be an Islamic cleric. He studied fashion design, and graduated from a fashion school in 1999.

    His journey to stardom began in 2000 when he was introduced to a group of actors. “Sometimes, when I have to go out, I disguise myself to get acquainted with the everyday experiences of Nigerians which I use to generate concepts for movies/skits. If I don’t disguise myself, I may not achieve my aim because of the attention from fans,” he said. This was a testimony to his recognition.

     The exit of comic actor John Ikechukwu Okafor, popularly known as ‘Mr Ibu’, who died in a Lagos hospital on March 2, aged 62, further depleted comic talents in Nigeria’s film industry.

    Read Also: Kunle Remi dedicates trailblazer award to Mr. Ibu, Sisi Quadri

    A star in the English language/ Pidgin English sector of Nollywood, he became popular following his role as ‘Mr Ibu’ in a 2004 movie, and the name stuck. He starred in over 200 Nollywood films, including the ‘Mr Ibu’ series, ‘Coffin Producers,’ ‘Husband Suppliers,’ ‘International Players,’ ‘Police Recruit’ (2003), ‘9 Wives’ (2005), and ‘Keziah’ (2007). In October 2020, he released two singles, titled ‘This Girl’ and ‘Do You Know,’ which were said to be his last projects before he took ill leading to the amputation of his leg in November, 2023. 

    One of his strong points as an actor was that he could make people laugh without saying anything. According to him, “I was chosen to play a doctor in a film one time and when I came to the set dressed as one, even without saying anything, all the crew just burst out laughing.”

    His participation in Kannywood, the Hausa-language film industry of northern Nigeria, based in Kano, helped to build a bridge between the southern and northern sectors of the Nigerian film industry. His best known Kannywood film was the Hausa language comedy ‘Hajiya Babba.’

    A native of Umunekwu in present-day Enugu State, he was a boxer, football coach, hair stylist, photographer and karate practitioner before he started his acting career. His acting talent was discovered at a film audition.

    ‘Sisi Quadri’ and ‘Mr Ibu’ demonstrated the beauty of talent, the value of professionalism, and the power of art.  

  • Wike’s example

    Wike’s example

    • Others should emulate his deadline to directors to act on files

    For the eight years during which he served as governor of Rivers State from 2015 to 2023, Mr Nyesom Wike established his reputation as an action-oriented governor who set and ensured that timelines for projects execution were strictly adhered to. Despite what many perceive as his penchant for the dramatic and controversial, even those who did not belong to the same political party or tendency as Wike acknowledged his industry and unwavering commitment to accomplishing set goals.

     Thus, while commissioning one of Wike’s many flyover structures in the state, former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, though a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), complimented the governor of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) labelling him as ‘Mr Projects’.

    It is not surprising that, following his appointment as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the President Bola Tinubu administration, Wike has hit the ground running by outlining bold plans and sparing no effort to ensure their timely execution despite the distraction caused by his row with his successor in Rivers State, governor Siminalayi Fubara. True to type, when he flagged off the construction of the 5-kilometer Naharati-River Ukya-Unguwan Hausawa road in Abati Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) this week, the minister warned that he would not tolerate any attempt to frustrate the completion of the project on schedule due to bureaucratic delays and bottlenecks.

    Stressing that any director who delayed files approved by him beyond four days would face requisite sanctions, Wike said, “We had a meeting on Monday with the most senior directors and I was telling them that woe unto that director who will keep a file that I have approved for weeks. Woe unto you because you are a saboteur. Once I approve, do the needful. You can take a week to do due diligence. You don’t need to take 20 days. The contractors are human. When the money does not get to them on time, they incur costs and then they begin to seek variation even though they know that variation is not in my dictionary. So I need the support of the bureaucracy so that we can deliver the dividends of democracy to the people”.

    The problem of bureaucratic delays in the treatment of critical project and policy files with negative implications for the country’s development is not limited to the FCT. It is one that is prevalent in the public service at the federal, state and local government levels across the country. Very often, these delays are deliberately orchestrated by unscrupulous civil servants to put pressure on contractors to pay bribes before action is taken on their files. In this regard, we recall that President Tinubu at a recent meeting with the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Folasade Yemi Esan, and federal permanent secretaries also warned that his administration would not condone frustration of speedy policy implementation due to bureaucratic foot-dragging.

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    We commend Wike’s example to other heads of ministries, departments and agencies at all levels of government. When those at the head of the bureaucracy see in the body language of the political appointees that the latter are determined, focused and will not tolerate indiscipline, indolence and inefficiency, they will be alert and speedily discharge their duties. In the case of the FCT, for instance, Wike has declared that all uncompleted projects in the 2023 budget and new ones provided for in the 2024 budget must be completed on schedule this year. He said that his administration was according priority to road projects across the area councils in order to decongest the city centres while noting rightly that provision of infrastructural amenities in the rural communities will help mitigate rural-urban migration.

    Wike is also spot on in pointing out that good and motorable roads will help fight insecurity by enabling security agencies to pursue and apprehend criminals speedily while also facilitating agricultural development by ensuring farmers have easy access to their farms.

    Bureaucratic ineptitude cannot be allowed to frustrate these worthwhile developmental goals. In order to minimise limitations of the human factor such as deliberate delay of files and corrupt practices by public officers, we urge the accelerated computerisation and digitisation of bureaucratic processes at all levels of the public service.

  • Right expatriate levy

    Right expatriate levy

    • But the Federal Government must monitor its progress to avoid official overreach

    It is regarded in some circles as draconian and even counterproductive. But the Federal Government considers it a right tonic in a country hemorrhaging talent and jobs, and therefore losing vital revenue for its citizens and development of the country.

    The Tinubu administration has set March 15 to start the Expatriates Employment Levy, also known as EEL, and the purpose, according to the government, is to free jobs for Nigerians instead of allowing foreigners to corral them.

    It is a philosophically sound idea. It is also patriotic and makes economic sense. Most nations, especially those that attract volumes of foreign investments, watch out for their citizens’ side of job parity, and make policies to protect sharks of employees from colonising the job market.

    Most critics accept this side of the government position. What has rankled some critics is the levy imposed on foreign workers. The new policy will ask employers to pay between $10,000 and $15,000 for each of such employees.

    The impression needs to be clarified that this does not pertain to all foreign workers. It only concerns such workers that take jobs for which Nigerians have been trained and have the same expertise.

    The objections are quite potent. One, they want to know how it will impede foreign direct investments. Two, they believe that this is not the right time for such a policy because it can discourage investors, since we have great need of them in a depressed economy. Three, it is not clear if the foreigners will pay in dollars or in naira equivalent. Four, they also fear diplomatic reprisals in a time when quite a good number of Nigerians take jobs in the different parts of the world, especially in Europe and North America.

    The doubt of investment sometimes implies the policy has no exemptions. This is a simplistic view of the matter. The policy, which was made in the dying days of the Buhari administration, was reacting to some foreign countries that have started to see Nigeria as a dumping ground for all kinds of staff, and some of them come with skills not necessarily on a par with Nigerians, and they take the real superior positions and hire Nigerians to do the real jobs at ridiculous salaries.

    This policy should also go through the rigour of supervision so that fake workers do not take over real jobs. Some foreigners may want to circumvent the law.

    Some also argue that it has to go through the National Assembly. A law already exists. For instance, section 112(1) of the Immigration Act 2015 provides, inter alia, that “the minister may make regulations as in his opinion that are necessary or expedient for giving full effect to the provisions of this Act and Administration therefore. 112(2) states ‘without limiting the generality of the provision of sub-section (1) of the section, the regulation may be made for all or any of the following purposes (a) for the control of immigrants in Nigeria’… (d) for any other matter covered by the provisions of this Act”.

    Obviously there is no impunity in the decision.

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    “I consider it a game changer. It is important to know that EEL is a contribution recently approved by the government, which will impose effective timeline on expatriates working in this country to be able to train and develop Nigerians,” President Bola Tinubu said.

    The president is right in the context of the ‘japa’ syndrome where many of our skilled men and women are seeking jobs abroad.

    The only caution is that there is no official overreach, whereby those who should be exempt suffer penalty, and those who pay go scot-free. The government should monitor its implementation so that a good idea does not stifle investment owing to poor implementation.

  • Unbundle gas

    Unbundle gas

    • Let gas supply too move to the concurrent list to ramp up electricity supply.

    As the Federal Government continues to tinker with the mode of supplying electric power to households and industry, Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State has pointed out a flaw in the unbundled policy introduced last year. At the Light Up the South East ceremony in Enugu, last week, the governor called the attention of the Vice President who presided, and other stakeholders there to the incongruity of bringing the subnationals to the party, while the Federal Government still holds on exclusively to production and supply of gas needed to fire the turbines.

    The advice by Governor Soludo, a former Chief Economic Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo, and a Ptofessor of Economics, should be considered by the Tinubu administration if it truly hopes to boost power supply in the country. There is no point moving electricity from the exclusive list of the 1999 Constitution to the concurrent list without ensuring a sustainable means of gas supply to power it.

    If Nigeria must catch up with other nations, including some African countries like Egypt and South Africa, all the age-long impediments to generation, transmission and distribution of one of the most important inputs for manufacturing and technology must be removed. Touting liberalisation of the sector without making gas readily available is akin to giving out a ram while still holding on to

    the leash. The theoretical liberalisation is certainly inadequate.

    The Nigerian economy is ailing so much now that the managers should reach out to technocrats across the country for help. The President took a good step in this direction when he brought together stakeholders in the public and private sectors, federal and state levels, to come up with a framework to fine- tune the economic policy.

    It is shameful that Nigeria continues to generate less than 4,000MW of electricity, while South Africa generates and distributes 10 times more.

    The inauguration of Aba electricity scheme to be supplied off-grid is an indication of what could be done to free energy for development.  It is a task for all. Lawmakers who are already examining ways of further altering the constitution should waste no time in moving gas from the exclusive column. And, given the urgency of the situation, the bill on this should be forwarded by the executive for passage by both chambers of the National Assembly.  It cannot wait for the two years that the legislators have set for themselves to conclude work on the ongoing amendment of the grundnorm.

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    This is an opportunity to consider how gas as a prime asset is being handled. There has been so much lip service to ending flaring of gas by the oil companies. The Federal Government should pay enough attention to gas production, including coming up with a framework that would make it possible for the states and private sector to be fully involved. The time has come to get it done so that, in the words of Governor Soludo, lamentation would be replaced with solution.

    The governors have been allowed to get away with indolence over the years while all attention had been focused on the Federal Government.  This must stop now. But if it must, all the unitary features of our constitution must be removed. They are anti-development in a multi-cultural country like Nigeria. The federal legislature and executive should set a reasonable deadline to free gas from the confines of federal control.

  • Full and final

    Full and final

    • Speedier dispensation of justice expected from Supreme Court now with full complement of justices

    For the first time in history, the Supreme Court of Nigeria has the full complement of 21 justices, as provided by section 230(2) of the 1999 constitution (as amended). It provides: “The Supreme Court of Nigeria shall consist of such number of justices not exceeding 21 as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.” To attain that feat, 11 new justices were sworn in last week, by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola (CJN), after their confirmation by the senate and approval by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as provided for, in the constitution.

    We commend the CJN, the senate and the president for this laudable milestone. The new justices are Haruna Tsammani, Stephen Jonah Adah, Jummai Sankey, Chidiebere Nwaoma Uwa, Chioma Egondu Nwosu-Iheme, Moore Aseimo A. Adumein, and Obande Festus Ogbuinya. Others are Justices Habeeb Adewale O. Abiru, Jamilu Yammama Tukur, Abubakar Sadiq Umar and Mohammed Baba Idris, all formerly of the Court of Appeal. We congratulate the learned justices on their elevation and hope that they would live up to the expectations of occupying the highest judicial offices in the country.

    We urge the new justices to heed the admonition of CJN Ariwoola, who said: “Your moral uprightness, integrity and respect for the constitution and other extant laws in operation, must be unwavering and unassailable.” He went on: “any judgment given at this level can only be upturned in heaven.” He added: “Once your judgment is in consonance with what God expects from you, and is also in accordance with the constitution, you should consider yourself the happiest and freest person on earth.”

    Before the elevation of the justices to the Supreme Court, the apex court had only 10 members, which was the lowest in history. And, despite appeals from well-meaning Nigerians, the appointment of new justices to the court was fraught with unnecessary delays and politicking. From the list of the appointees, the advice that academicians and legal practitioners be appointed to the Supreme Court was rebuffed. We urge for necessary changes in the qualification for appointment, to allow for cross- fertilisation of ideas such mixture of backgrounds would bring to the apex court.

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    With the full complement of 21 members, we hope the undue delays experienced in the determination of cases at the apex court would come to an end. Generally, the Nigerian judicial process drags unnecessarily, with cases lasting 20 to 30 years from the high court to the Supreme Court. In many instances, the litigants die while the matter is lingering in court. Also, businesses suffer, and in many instances don’t recover from the delays in determining commercial disputes that have stayed too long in court.

    The health of the learned justices is also affected by the untoward workloads they are exposed to, when the number of justices diminish. One of the reasons for the unprecedented depreciation in the number of justices of the apex court was the death of its members. The most recent death was that of Justice Chima Centus Nweze, in July, last year. There is also the likelihood that the quality of judgments may be affected as the justices try to cover more grounds, especially during an election year, when other cases suffer neglect.

    With the attainment of the full complement of the justices of the Supreme Court, we hope the funding will also increase. We recall the diatribe amongst the members of the apex court over allegations of misuse of funds due to the justices by the former CJN Tanko Mohammed, which he denied. The crux of the dispute was the neglect of the welfare of the justices. Such ugly experience must be avoided, in the interest of the integrity of the court and the Nigerian judicial system.

  • Great expectations

    Great expectations

    • Nigerians look up to Tripartite Economic Committee for workable solutions to economic crisis

    At his inaugural meeting with his newly constituted Tripartite Economic Advisory Committee last week at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, President Bola Tinubu told the team that “Let us look at what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong to bring life back to the economy…We’re looking for additional efforts that might help the downtrodden Nigerians and we will provide that hope and reassurance that economic recovery is on the way”.

    The constitution of this critical team could not have come at a more appropriate time as millions of Nigerians confront harsh existential conditions due to the country’s economic crisis. In recent times, there has been a steep rise in the prices of diverse essential food items, transportation costs as well as those of drugs for such health maladies as malaria, typhoid, diabetes and high blood pressure, among others.

    The decision to set up a tripartite economic advisory committee comprising representatives of the Federal Government, state governors and organised private sector (OPS) is a departure from the past whereby the economic think-tank revolved essentially around the President and the Federal Government. The expansion of the membership of the committee signals the administration’s recognition of the imperative for a collaborative approach to the management of the economy by various levels and arms of government, as well as the private sector.

    On the Federal Government side at the meeting were the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Abubakar Kyari, as well as the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Mohammed Idris. It is not surprising that the governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, and his counterpart in Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, are representing state governments on the committee. While Governor Abiodun had achieved remarkable success as a key player in the private sector before his election as governor, Soludo is a renowned economist who had previously served as Economic Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo as well as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Both men have the requisite experience and expertise to add value to the work of the committee.

    No less impressive is the array of key private sector chieftains who are part of the team. They include Chairman of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Chairman of BUA Group, Alhaji Abdul Salam Rabiu; Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Mr Tony Elumelu; Group Chief Executive Officer of Pandora PLC, Mr Wale Tinubu; Managing Director of Matrix Group, Abdullabir Aliu; Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivative Company, Mr Bismarck Rewane and the Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir.

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    We agree with the President that this calibre of players in the private sector who have deep knowledge of the Nigerian economy and a wide network of contacts can help in the administration’s drive to attract local and foreign investments.

    The composition of the committee is no doubt a reflection of the administration’s determination to quickly resolve and transcend current hardships accentuated by its tough but inevitable economic reforms, particularly the removal of fuel subsidy and merger of the parallel foreign exchange markets that gave room for assorted fraudulent practices. The task before the committee is no easy one and, given the stature of its members, Nigerians have great expectations that its work will begin to have positive impacts on the economy in the shortest possible time.

    Protests by hungry Nigerians as a result of escalating food costs as well as the looting of food warehouses in parts of the country are indications of the severity of the economic pains being experienced by the vast majority of Nigerians. Not only must the committee give sound and honest advice to the President, it is also important that the administration takes its advice seriously and efficiently implement its suggestions and policy prescriptions to accelerate the process of economic recovery and sustainable growth.

  • Rice stampede

    Rice stampede

    • NCS needs a better approach to avoid a repeat of the tragedy that befell its noble effort to assuage Nigerians’ hunger

    At least seven persons died in a stampede that occurred on February 23 when the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) was selling seized bags of rice. Venue was the customs’ zonal office on Harvey Road, Yaba, Lagos, where a 25kg bag of rice sold for N10,000 as against about N35,000 in the open market.

    According to reports, the exercise, which started on a peaceful note until some armed hoodlums in camouflage gear attempted to force their way into the venue had the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Wale Adeniyi, on hand to personally supervise the exercise. The victims included a pregnant woman and six others.

    A witness, 27-year-old Comfort James, said, “You can see videos of the stampede online on X, but I tell you it was worse in reality. I got there by 11am and met an uncontrollable crowd. Customs tried everything they could to control the crowd but couldn’t succeed. It wasn’t organised as we thought it would be. Police came but they didn’t come to aid the distribution; they came to collect bags of rice for themselves.”

    Customs’ spokesman, Abdullahi Maiwada, said, “I can’t say if there was any death, but some people fainted during the stampede and were rushed to the hospital. He added that “The activity started peacefully, with the CGC on ground monitoring till 5pm. Our men controlled the crowd until the stampede occurred.”

    The tragedy made the NCS to suspend the sales. Its spokesperson said the bags of rice were out of stock during the pilot distribution, which led to heightened desperation among the crowd. Those who could not get the commodity to buy were asked to come back the next day. That was when tragedy struck. “Considering the recent unfortunate event, we regretfully announce the suspension of this exercise until we establish what transpired on Friday, 23 February 2024,” he said.

    If the NCS knew that what happened would be the outcome, it probably would have found a way to avert it.

    But it is sad that an exercise that was supposed to ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians due to the soaring prices of rice and other foodstuffs ended up claiming the lives of seven persons who had turned up to benefit from the kind gesture.

    Although it might have been inadvertent, it would seem the NCS’ security arrangement for the exercise was not adequate as observed by James. The only requirements that the service asked for were prospective buyers’ National Identification Number (NIN) and money for the item.

    Given experiences with crowd control at previous similar occasions, like recruitment centres, etc., it should have been anticipated that crowd control would be an issue, especially at a time of serious economic crisis as we are in. Rice is a staple food in the country and when its price shoots beyond the roof, the desperation to get it would be heightened wherever it is offered at rock-bottom prices that NCS offered.

    While we must also caution Nigerians on the need to imbibe the queue culture at all places where such is required, the onus was more on the customs service to provide adequate arrangements that would have reduced the possibility of stampede. It is unfortunate that policemen who should have assisted to check the crowd were more interested in getting their own share of the commodity.

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    While we await the outcome of the NCS’s investigation, we call on the service to be diligent in its investigation. But this should not necessarily lead to stoppage of the sales because the remaining bags of rice must be disposed of to needy beneficiaries.

    The NCS could explore the possibility of making people pay online and then come to claim their rice at designated spots that would form part of the information they would get at the point of payment. Physical contact should be minimised to check corruption.

    We condole with the relatives of the dead and wish the sick speedy recovery.

  • Triumph of vision

    Triumph of vision

    •The Lagos Red Rail line, just inaugurated, should drive rapid investment in rail integration nationwide.

    President Bola Tinubu, by inaugurating the new 37-kilometre Lagos Red Rail corridor, can savour — with his Lagos team back then — the spectacular triumph of his Lagos government’s rail vision. It all started 21 years ago with the birth, in December 2003, of LAMATA — the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority.

    Since then, LAMATA has delivered on its multi-modal transport mandate: first phasing out the notorious “Molue” urban lorry-buses. Then, infusing the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) tracks, which other West African capitals are copying. Even later, the continuing mainstreaming of ferry and allied boat services, leveraging the Lagos splendour of creeks and the lagoon.

    But the clear game-changer, in all of these transport modes, is the Lagos Urban Rail Transit (LURT), with the rail’s capacity to daily move around millions in a teeming mega-city like Lagos, with relative comfort and at a cheaper cost too!

    Just as well the President did not dwell much on the fierce, lonely, near-hopeless war he had to wage with the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidency, over the rail right of way, since the Federal Government had exclusive constitutional rights over them.

    The spicy rebuke of history was biting enough: the lowly governor that duelled the imperial president, just returned as president to crow about the triumph of that lonely dream — at a time integrated rail holds the ace to deepening the real sector! The audacity of dreams! The sheer steel of an unbending will!

    For Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, it’s kudos well-earned. Aside from former

    Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, who threw himself at the ground-breaking Blue Line corridor (from CMS to Mile 2 on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway), Sanwo-Olu has become “Governor Rail”, after finally delivering on both the Blue and Red Lines — the Red Line with its seven stations and 10 over-passes, vehicular and pedestrian, thus giving commuter safety premium thinking. Again, big congratulations, Mr. Governor.

    It’s even more exciting that the contract has been signed for Phase 2 of the Red Line: from Oyingbo to connect with the Blue Line at the National Theatre Iganmu station, en route to the Lagos Marina. That phase would be on an elevated platform. The Phase 1, inaugurated on February 29, runs from Agbado in Ogun State, to Oyingbo, in Lagos State. Work has also since started on Phase 2 of the Blue Line: from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko; with a future phase running from Okokomaiko to Badagry.

    Still, the Blue and Red lines are only two out of six, developed by LAMATA: the Green Line, the Purple Line, the Brown Line and the Yellow Line. 

    More heart-warming is the governor’s disclosure that the engineering design for the Green Line is ready. What remains is striking a deal with possible partners in a public-private-participation (PPP) model. The Line runs from the Lagos Marina to the Lekki Free Trade Zone.

    But that draws the discourse to raising capital for rail penetration. Former President Muhammadu Buhari invested in rail infrastructure more than any Federal Government before him since 1999. But he did it by obtaining loans — loans that current hysteria is near-criminalising.

    The other alternative is venture capitalists sinking own funds into rail and running it for an agreed number of years to recoup their investment with profit. That means, for example, instead of taking major loans from China, Chinese firms would come, invest and run the rail facilities, with the government only securing the project sites.

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    That transition might take some time. Yet rail, as an economic game-changer, is needed as soon as the proverbial “yesterday”. 

    That is the current challenge. Lagos is toying with PPP. It would be easier for the state for it not only has, in situ, two commercial rail lines, it has a master plan which it has developed over the last 21 years. But there is also a federal rail development master plan, which dated back to 2006-2007, though pre-Buhari governments did little to consummate that plan.

    President Tinubu must, therefore, further push for winning policies to attract rail investments, now that the subject is in the Concurrent List, where the state governments can play solo; or even band together as regional investment ensembles. The president has a historic duty — nay, burden — to put in place such a policy to replicate the LAMATA success story at the federal level.

    Rail is the way to go. It will not only have a firm grip on transport costs — particularly in heavy logistics, dry or wet — it will also help our roads to last longer, by taking over heavy bulk. With Nigeria’s massive market and far-flung territory, a rail investment is a near-gold mine, other things being equal.

  • Unending can of worms

    Unending can of worms

    • We support every step taken to get to the root of the corruption in Ajaokuta Steel

    Will any good thing ever come out of Ajaokuta Steel – the behemoth on which the country continues to pin its aspirations as a steel producer? Forty- five years after its founding, the story has remained one of serial disappointment after another, a never-ending tale of graft in high places, a window into the industrial-scale corruption into which our country is mired.

    Now, the story again is that the senate is set to dive into the affairs of the steel company as indeed its sister company – the National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO), Itakpe, Kogi State, from 2008 till date.

    Going by its last Tuesday’s resolution, the senate not only plans to unravel the mystery behind the payment of $496m allegedly made by the Federal Government to the controversial Indian businessman, Pramod Mittal, in September 2022, as settlement over contractual disputes, it will also look into the circumstances that led to the re-concession of NIOMCO even when the initial concession agreement was validly terminated by the Yar’Adua administration.

    The Mittal affair continues to rankle. It started with the Olusegun Obasanjo administration handing the uncompleted steel firm to a company that had no record of performance in the high-tech steel sector. With no offshore money to invest, it used its Nigerian assets to borrow more than $192 million from local banks – funds later suspected to have been repatriated abroad.

    Umaru Yar’Adua, Obasanjo’s successor, would on coming into office cancel the deal on the ground of being rife with irregularities. Bloomberg, the international news medium had reported the panel set up by the late President Yar’Adua on the issue as returning the verdict: ‘Rescuing Ajaokuta was beyond the “financial, technical and experiential capabilities’ of GSH, as the firm had instead been “systematically cannibalizing, vandalizing and moving valuable equipment” out of the factory.

    All of these at a time the Isle of Man-registered Global Steel Holdings Ltd. (GSH), was locked in protracted litigation over $167 million owed to Moorgate Industries Ltd, a steel trading firm. As a UK court weighed the latter’s request to declare Pramod personally bankrupt, the Indian national would later hold out the prospect of a pay-out from the Nigerian government in lieu of the debt!

    And true to Mittal’s expectation – the hefty sum would hit Global Steel’s account by September 2022 with the Nigerian government providing the justification that the pay-out frees the country so it could pursue its ambitions in the steel sector! That settlement – the medium would also report – represented about 1.5% of Nigeria’s foreign reserves at the time.

    Read Also: Can of worms

    Ironically, that settlement, put together by Abubakar Malami, President Muhammadu Buhari’s attorney general – was a marked departure from two earlier agreements put together between 2014 and 2016 –under which Global Steel was to retain the right to manage the iron ore mining company without the accompanying pay-out!

    The entire affair, to put it mildly, stinks. Like the senate, we are convinced that there are still too many aspects of the story untold which only a thorough investigation can help resolve. For a project that has gulped more than $7 billion of public funds and has yet to produce any metal, the least that Nigerians are entitled to is a full account of that book of shame that is now integral part of the Nigerian story. While it is bad enough that the affair put the country in global spotlight for the very embarrassing reasons, that officials of successive administrations chose not to see through what the global media had long concluded was an odious settlement (and so pull the brakes), must be seen as the greatest travesty of it all.

    Again, the expectation of every Nigerian is to have Ajaokuta Steel completed. Only last month, Shuaibu Audu, minister of steel development, had spoken of a new impetus – a three-year roadmap to be launched in the next three months – to revive the plant.

    Surely, Nigerians cannot wait to see what it looks like. Howbeit, what matters in the end is government ability to translate the grand statements of the proposed roadmap into lofty goal of performance. And to the extent that the probe by the senate and government’s plan could not be said to be mutually exclusive, we see no reason why the two activities cannot go on simultaneously. As far as we can see, government’s plan can only in the end benefit from the fruits of a thoroughly cleansed Augean stable.