The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Saboteurs at work

    Saboteurs at work

    Cross-border smuggling of food items amidst domestic shortages defies logic

    Smugglers hauling food items into neighbouring countries are being intercepted at Nigeria‘s borders in efforts by the government to relieve the local economy of shortages that have distressed citizens and fuelled civil restiveness. Among the latest of such interceptions was in Zamfara State, early last week, where 50 trucks were stopped from conveying assorted grains out of the country to Niger Republic.

    Officials of Zamfara State transport association reportedly intercepted the trucks on Monday at Gidan Jaja village, close to the Nigerian border with Niger Republic, in enforcement of a presidential directive to arrest the food crisis in the country believed to largely derive from hoarding of essential items and cross-border smuggling to neighbouring countries.

    President Bola Tinubu recently held a crisis meeting with governors on hardships being experienced by the citizenry from food shortages and spiralling inflation resulting from fuel subsidy removal. He mandated the National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun and Department of State Services (DSS) Director-General Yusuf Bichi to collaborate with the state chief executives to put hoarders and smugglers of food items out of business.

    Before the Zamfara interception, personnel of the Nigeria Customs Service reported that they stopped 15 trailers attempting to convey foodstuff across Nigeria’s borders in Sokoto State into Niger Republic. Also, the Kano State Government momentarily sealed off 10 warehouses where food items were reportedly hoarded. The warehouses were unsealed only after the owners were committed to selling the items to the public at reasonable prices.

    Read Also; PBAT and unrelenting opposition (2)

    Pertaining to the Zamfara State operation, a spokesperson of the transport union was cited saying 50 trucks attempting to smuggle assorted grains out to Niger Republic were intercepted and ordered to take their cargoes back into the country and sell to the public at affordable prices. The official explained that it had been discovered that wholesalers were buying up large quantities of food items from local farmers and trucking same across the borders to neighbouring countries like Niger and Cameroon, in the hope of making extra gains from the foreign exchange dynamics involved in selling the items in those countries. An official of the farmers’ association in Zamfara was reported corroborating this narrative, saying: “What these people do is to buy farm produce from us in large quantities, store them in warehouses and later take them outside the country. They usually earn foreign exchange and make more money going through this route.”

    A similar narrative was plied in other areas of the country where there have been attempts to smuggle out food items. In Sokoto, for instance, some intercepted smugglers were reported saying they were enticed by the prospects of selling at currency exchange rates that would allow them huge profit margins. Incidentally, Niger Republic to which some of the consignments were headed is under sanction by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for military usurpation of power, and its borders with Nigeria and some other ECOWAS countries are officially shuttered. But an intercepted smuggler was reported saying this was the very condition that created an opportunity for profit-making. “The ECOWAS ban on Niger has limited movement of goods from foreign countries, especially foreign parboiled rice, which is why we are taking advantage of this gap to make sharp export business,” the smuggler explained. As regards the shut border, he further explained that people in the racket often ply illegal routes and bush paths and offer bribes to security agents on both the Nigerian and Nigerien sides of the borders, if such were encountered.

    In the case of the momentarily sealing of warehouses in Kano, the state’s public complaints and anti-corruption commission (PCACC) said the owners were found hoarding commodities like spaghetti, rice, pasta, sugar and other food items in Dawanau quarters of Dawakin Tofa council area of the state. PCACC Chairman Muhyi Magaji told journalists that the agency’s action made significant impact in checking price volatility, adding that the agency was on the hunt for other locations where food items that should be sold to members of the public were being hoarded.

    The trend of cross-border smuggling and hoarding of food items defies logic. There is a vast and hungry market in the country for the commodities, and one would expect this should be a stimulation for suppliers to seek to meet the demand at reasonable but profitable costs. The experience rather has been that dealers in the food items are shunning the hungry domestic market to cultivate markets abroad where there is perhaps less intensity of demand than what obtains within this country. This can be nothing other than economic sabotage requiring hard tackle by government, which apparently is what the President has mandated security chiefs to do, in collaboration with the governors. There is suspicion in some quarters that the sabotage is to a large extent politically motivated, and masterminds should be dealt with as enemies of the state. Be that as it may, the situation should as well be a wake-up call for government to get a firm handle on levers of the economy where its seeming absence has created room for the saboteurs to exploit.

    Take, for instance, the claim that wholesalers were procuring farm produce in large quantities from farmers to be smuggled abroad. This indexes a need for government to set up commodity boards and formulate a policy by which produce would be regularly bought off farmers at peak harvest seasons and put into storage preservation, from where such produce could be dispensed to the public at moderated costs during harvest off-seasons. Meanwhile, it is trite that government needs to ensure a conducive context – both in terms of security and infrastructure provisioning – for  farmers to operate and yield their best output into the economy. Also, there are intervening variables accounting for rogue inflation in the economy that state governments must work closely with the Federal Government in tackling.

    Only late last week, there were reports that food prices had begun easing in some states and factors responsible included restriction of inter-state movement with food cargoes in some parts of the country, increased surveillance around the borders to stem illicit export and clampdown on people found to be hoarding grains. These are the kinds of measures that states should collaborate with the Federal Government in ensuring effective implementation that would produce desired outcomes. More importantly, government must rise up to the challenge of dealing the saboteurs a hard hand and stop them from subjecting the rest of the populace to avoidable misery.

  • Death in lion’s den

    Death in lion’s den

    • Time for OAU to rejig its security measures at the zoo.

    It can be described as a tragedy of error, even though there are conflicting accounts of what happened. According to one version, a door carelessly left unlocked at the lions’ enclosure in the zoo resulted in an attack by a lion on two zookeepers at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, and the death of one of them, Olabode Olawuyi.

    One Mrs Ajagbe was reported to have been feeding the lion on February 19 when the mistake occurred. The unlocked door allowed the lion to attack the woman. Her screams attracted Olawuyi to the scene, and he tried to rescue her. According to an account, “Olawuyi attempted to raise his two hands to scare the animal away when the lion used its claws on his chest and part of his throat, forcing him to fall. He later died as a result of loss of blood from the injuries he sustained. But the woman, Mrs Ajagbe, managed to escape and called for help.” 

    The university’s spokesperson, Abiodun Olarewaju, in a statement, presented a different version. He said Olawuyi, a veterinary technologist, “who had been in charge of the zoological garden for over a decade,” was attacked by a nine-year-old male lion “when he was feeding them in their den at the Zoological Garden of the university.” The lion has been put down. 

    Members of the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) held a “solidarity walk” on the campus to “honour” Olawuyi, who was a member of the group, “and to correct the impression put out by the management of the institution” that he was killed while he was feeding the animal. The association’s chairman, Matthew Oluwaniyi, described him as “a hero,” adding, “he died while trying to rescue the person who was initially attacked by the lion. He gave his life to rescue his subordinate whom he was supervising.”

     It is reassuring that the university’s vice-chancellor, Prof. Adebayo Simeon Bamire, ordered “a comprehensive investigation into the immediate and remote causes of the incident.” Also, the National Association of Zoological Gardens and Wildlife Parks (NAZAP), which described Olawuyi as a committed member of the association, dispatched investigators to get to the bottom of the incident.

    The different versions of what happened accommodate the attribution of the incident to human error. The animal could not have attacked anyone if it did not get a chance to do so because a door was carelessly left unlocked. It can be said that an absence of alertness on the part of the zookeepers led to the tragedy.

    Read Also: 400,000 policemen not enough to secure Nigeria – Speaker Abbas

     This sad incident calls for a review of zoo security at the university to ensure security for the animals from people and security for people from animals. The institution must make every effort towards ensuring that its zoo is a secure and safe environment for both animals and people, including zookeepers and visitors. Such a review should include rethinking the zoo’s enclosures, retraining the zookeepers to prevent the danger of complacency, and paying greater attention to proper feeding and care of the animals in the zoo. 

    In a tribute to Olawuyi, who was said to be in his fifties, the university’s students’ union leader, Abbas Akinremi, described him as a “good and humble man, who attended to us nicely whenever we went to the zoo.”  He was reported to be in charge of wildlife care and health, and also provided research assistance.

    His death in such horrific circumstances, while on duty, places a heavy burden on the university to substantially compensate his wife and two children for their loss. This should be done with a sense of seriousness, and without delay.  

  • Missing in action

    Missing in action

    • Despite the country’s favourable ranking in football, it is sad that no Nigerian referee officiated at AFCON ‘23.

    Nigeria is presently ranked the third best footballing nation on the continent behind Morocco and Senegal, and ranked 28th globally after moving up 14 points at the end of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON). This follows the nation’s impressive showing at the just- concluded AFCON ‘23 tournament in Cote D’Ivoire, where it clinched the silver medal.

    Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets remain the most successful FIFA Under ‘17 team globally, having won the competition a record five times and produced some of the continent’s  most popular footballers like the present African Footballer of the Year and Napoli FC’s striker Victor Osimhen, Kanu Nwankwo, Kelechi Iheanacho and others. The country has equally produced the most successful Women’s Football team, the Super Falcons, a nine-Time African Champions and the 32nd ranked National Team in the World.

    Curiously though, the success and popularity of most of the Nigerian national teams and individual players seems to have eluded the Nigerian Referees. In fact, reports show that no Nigerian referee has officiated in a FIFA- organised tournament in the last 18 years. This disappointing record was highlighted more during the just- concluded Confederation of African Football (CAF) organised AFCON ’23. No Nigerian referee officiated in any of the matches either as a centre referee or as assistant.

    The clue came in September 2023 after CAF released the list of match officials for the Total Energies-sponsored  AFCON ’23, with no Nigerian on the list. Shockingly,  the Head of Refereeing at CAF, Noumandiez Doue, while speaking  during a CAF referees training session at Sol Beni (ASEC Mimosas Training Centre) in Abidjan, said Nigerian referees are good but need to do more. He went further to say that “…CAF only goes for the best on the continent and not just average referees”.

    That statement, even though not specifically about Nigerian referees, spoke volumes. Countries like Morocco and Egypt had more than one referee. Little-known Comoros, Djibouti, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Mauritius, Sao Tome and Principe had either assistant referees or other technical staff like VAR officials, technical instructors or physical trainers.

    In what looked like a self-indictment of some sorts, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Ibrahim Gusau, while decorating some referees with FIFA barges recently bemoaned the absence of Nigerian match officials at AFCON ’23,  calling it “a real shame”. He however promised that efforts are being made to ensure Nigerian referees return to officiating in major continental and global competitions.

    The NFF president added that he constantly receives complaints “about poor officiating in our league matches almost every week”. He concluded that some of the referees’ decisions are “simply inexplicable” while adding that henceforth, very severe penalties await “anyone disgracing the uniform”.

    We are a bit disappointed that the NFF President, having been receiving complaints about Nigerian referees, had to wait for the shame of their absence at AFCON ’23 to propose ‘severe penalties’ for those disgracing the uniform.  While we believe the future matters, we equally believe that a stitch in time saves nine. He was elected President in 2022; while no one expects magic, he could have made at least a little difference in his almost two years in office.

    Nigerian governments at all levels seem not to realise that sports, especially football, is now a trillion dollar business. Football is almost a religion and the very passionate followership across cultures is testament to that fact. It has transcended being a mere game to being a business and even though FIFA tries to remove it from core partisan politics, the game has some aspects of politics like every human organisation. Nigeria seems not to have tapped into the goldmine that earns foreign exchange and creates employment and earns nations some valid soft powers. Morocco and Saudi Arabia have taken huge advantage of the game and have  been reaping the rewards lately.

    Read Also: EFCC arrests 48 students, two others for cybercrime in Kwara

    Football administration needs diligence and excellence. Football administration is a reflection of the society. The failure of that sector to produce global best, given the population and capacity of Nigeria speaks to the systemic dysfunction that pervades every sector of the Nigerian system. Little attention seems to be paid to merit and law while punishment and reward are not strictly dished out.

    The problems in the Nigerian Football League (NFL) administration is evident. Refereeing is but a small part, not the whole. So much has been wrong with the Federal Ministry of Youth, Sports and Social Development in the past few years. The NFL seems to grapple with infrastructural and administrative problems.

    We hope that the disgrace of not being considered ‘the best’ in the refereeing business by CAF will be a wake-up call. The NFF president should walk the talk this time.

  • Response to emergencies

    Response to emergencies

    • NEMA needs to be reshaped to achieve its noble objectives

    If the report from the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (OAuGF) is anything to go by, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is another public agency the Federal Government has to beam its searchlight on, considering the damning report about the agency’s activities.

    First is the issue of an aircraft that the agency paid a deposit of N1 billion to an Israeli company for about 10 years ago that is yet to be delivered. According to the auditor-general’s report, the deposit was also not refunded by the contractor. NEMA’s response is that it secured a judgment in a debt-recovery case on the matter. The agency’s information officer, Manzo Ezekiel, said the process of recovering the aircraft payment was ongoing. ‘’As the DG NEMA has responded, there is a valid court judgment on recovery of the money paid.

    “It involves non-Nigerians and may require the support of both Nigerian and the other governments to recover the fund. The process to recover the fund is still ongoing’’, he added.

    Read Also; Petrol importation drops by 3.29% in 2023

    There are also other issues that border on suspected corruption, lackadaisical attitude and probably incompetence, which are not good for the agency’s image and which the government must address if it is to perform its crucial assignment creditably.

    We have the issue of non-personal allowances which, according to the AuGF’s report, NEMA failed to account for. These included about N99. 42 million of the N560,235,145.50 granted to officers as non-personal advances in 2018, and another N47,974,375.87 from N715,316,976.10 granted to officers as non-personal advances in 2019.

    There were also about 26,106 50 kg bags of rice said to have been donated to NEMA by the Chinese government as intervention support for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the northeast, valued at N673.076 million that the report said was left to expire in the agency’s warehouse.

    There are other irregularities that the report revealed which are equally damning.

    For instance, the report says NEMA awarded a contract for the supply of 160,000 50Kg bags of rice for N2.4 billion in 2018; and some 25kg bags of rice valued at N73,709,041.20 were left in the warehouse to expire as of April 2020. “These bags of rice were destroyed by pests and rodents as a result of the failure of the agency to distribute them to the intended beneficiaries (the IDPs),” the report says.

    It says other items, such as toiletries, mosquito nets and bags of cement, among others, procured for more than three years before the audit in 2020, were also allowed to rot away.

    These are deplorable conducts.

    It is saddening that foreign aids were also affected in the irregularities that characterise NEMA’s activities. Donors, whether foreign or local, usually respond to requests for support in emergency situations in order to lessen the effect of unusual or unforeseen occurrences on victims. The beauty would therefore be for such donors to know that the assistance they render gets to intended beneficiaries on time. But when such relief items are diverted or left to rot away, it discourages such donors. They thus become weary of rendering such assistance in the future.

    Not only that, such attitude sends a wrong signal to other potential donors. The country and beneficiaries are the losers when this happens.

    As its name implies, NEMA is to manage disasters in Nigeria. An agency saddled with such onerous responsibility ought to be an epitome of efficiency, kindness, transparency and accountability, some of which seem to be lacking in the agency, going by revelations in the AuGF’s report.

    When an agency like NEMA is found wanting as in the AuGF’s findings, then the possibility of victims of disasters getting the appropriate relief on time and without wasting public resources is jeopardised.

    As the AuGF’s report observed, these anomalies point to significant weaknesses in NEMA’s internal control system.

    This has to be strengthened.

    We agree with the suggestion in the report that monies involved be recovered and turned in to the government and appropriate sanctions imposed on culprits in line with extant laws and financial regulations.

  • ‘Food’ protests

    ‘Food’ protests

    • Whilst some of these may have been political, governments at all levels must collaborate to ameliorate the situation

    Within the past two weeks, protests have been held in some states regarding the soaring price of foodstuff. In some cases, it has been difficult to discern whether the issue in contention was the unavailability or unaffordability of food. Whatever the case may have been, the different tiers of government need urgent critical evaluation of the food situation in the country.

    In exasperation, a senior economist declared about two weeks ago: “I also thought the direction they [the government] followed will work. However, we are dealing with a peculiar economy where our problems are not economic. Thus, many economic theories have failed.” Incidentally, after a series of meetings with some stakeholders, positive media headlines started to be seen. Examples are: “Cement manufacturers agree to reduce price of product – Channels Television” and “Food prices drop in Kano, Taraba, Kwara, Niger – Daily Trust.”

    The reasons given by the cement manufacturers to bring down the price of the product to “between N7,000 and N8,000 per 50kg depending on the location nationwide” from the distressing height of around N15,000 was due to the intervention of the Federal Government, spelt out at a meeting between the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, and the manufacturers on Monday in Abuja.

    According to a statement by the Federal Ministry of Works, “The government expects the agreed price to drop after securing government’s interventions on the challenges of the manufacturers on gas, import duty, smuggling, and better road network. The meeting agreed to reconvene in 30 days to review progress made.” The statement further notes as follows: “Going forward, the government advised cement manufacturers to set up a price monitoring mechanism to ensure compliance, and manufacturers have willingly accepted to do so and to sanction any of their distributors or retailers found wanting.”

    Read Also; Fed Govt completes Tincan port road

    Among the factors accounting for the falling food prices, the following have been cited: “the decision by multi-billion naira feed companies [to suspend bulk purchase of grains], stoppage of inter-state movement [of] food items in some parts of the country, increased surveillance around borders to stem export and clampdown on some people discovered to be hoarding the grains.”

    The last factor ties in with the earlier report of Kano Anti-Graft Agency’s sealing off of 10 warehouses for hoarding foodstuff. This action of the Kano State agency has generated a lot of controversy. While some have argued that warehouses are essentially places where food is kept, and that sealing off those spaces for that reason is unacceptable. Others have argued that there are warehouses and there are ‘warehouses’, and that keeping foodstuff in such spaces for the purpose of manipulating prices of goods is unethical. With the welcome news of the falling of foodstuff prices in certain locations, and the need for concerted efforts to be made for the commendable development to spread to other locations, it is imperative for the Federal Government to take a number of critical steps.

    First, a critical and dispassionate review of the government’s economic policies needs to be undertaken to identify aspects that need to be reinforced or consolidated, and those that need to be tweaked to ensure that the populace can easily see hope ahead. Second, efforts to address the high cost of transportation of foodstuff (and other products) need to reach fruition more urgently. Third, commodity boards need to be established to ensure that necessary control can be asserted and arbitrary price manipulation prevented. Fourth, it is essential to establish ‘food cooperatives’ across the country to engage a broad-based range of critical stakeholders in the food security efforts of the government. Fifth, to make all the other efforts to yield sustainable positive effect, it is critical for the government to establish a food security policy into which different stakeholders can key. Sixth, confirmed cases of deliberate sabotage should be met with effective legitimate deterrent actions. Seventh, the governments’ media apparatus should engage in more robust strategic communication with the populace.

  • Corruption in high places

    Corruption in high places

    • President should probe Why EFCC failed to deposit seized funds with CBN.

    Something is definitely wrong with Nigeria’s accounting system. Despite having existed as an independent nation for more than six decades, we still do not have a transparent mode of preparing and presenting an account of the revenue and expenditure of the country, as well as the federating units. All we have is an annual appropriation act that is usually operated in breach.

    The recently released 2020 audited accounts of some branches of the Federal Government, as well as the various agencies, stink. Perhaps the worst of the highlight is the audit report on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    The commission, in the course of performing its duties had recovered as much as N40 billion as proceeds of fraud before 2016. However, the Auditor-General of the Federation (AuGF) pointed out that there was no record of any money recovered between 2016 and 2019. A puzzle. The question is; what happened? What went wrong? Where was the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) during the period? This is simply unacceptable.  It is impunity taken too far. Besides the AGF, is the National Assembly not supposed to oversight the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs)? What role did the lawmakers, representatives of the people, play?

    It is appalling that the report of the MDAs for that period is just ready. We may not blame it all on the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation because some MDAs usually do not cooperate. They fail to prepare their reports as and when required, and thereafter are tardy in responding to audit queries. And, for so long, no one has been calling them to order.

    For a country carrying so much load as Nigeria, where so much is going wrong as a result of paucity of funds, it is sheer wickedness that those put in charge of the accounts have chosen the path of recklessness and impunity in managing national resources.

    The EFCC is the watchdog of all public servants and officers in terms of rational use of resources. It was established as an anti-corruption agency to ensure that the machinery of government does not grind to a halt, owing to lack of lubrication. It is therefore unpardonable that the said agency did not remit money recovered to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This must not be swept under the carpet. The watchdog must be probed.

    Read Also: U.S. lawyer to Tinubu: tackle corruption now

     By the way, the report of Justice Ayo Salami’s investigation into the tenure of former EFCC chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, has not been made public. This is one of the things that encourage corruption and impunity in the land. While no one could say something went wrong during the period, the fact that such a high profile panel was instituted and funded with public funds suggests that the report must be made public. Besides, Magu who was suspended never returned to his office. He was not indicted, tried or exculpated. The last EFCC chairman, too, was relieved of his office and detained for months. What happened? We don’t know. This is certainly not the way to run a country, let alone fight corruption.

    President Bola Tinubu has a duty to institute a system-wide reform. This should start by making public all previous probe reports. All those found culpable in this instance must be brought to justice to serve as deterrence to others who may want to toe the same line. It is not enough to review the wage structure or pay workers living wage, everyone must be made to earn their pay, and those found to have dipped their hands in the public till have no business continuing in office.

    It cannot be business as usual again. Any further encouragement of festering corruption can only further push the ship of state towards the rock. Nigeria must not crash. We must save the ship of this state.

  • Arise, governors

    Arise, governors

    • They should help the centre and ease the burdens on their citizens

    The cry for a true federal state is taking on a new look with the crisis of food prices and inflation, and their implication for standard of living in the country. All attention has been directed to the centre, and the president has had to bear the brunt of frustrations as the rise in the value of the dollar against the naira has complicated the ability to stanch a currency crisis that is escalating, especially across the classes.

    The real sector is shrinking and that implies a job haemorrhage. While the President has to find a way out of a seeming quagmire, the governors have a special role in easing the burdens of the people.

    In a meeting with the 36 governors, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu urged the state chief executives to turn their monthly allocation into a boon and, at least, a relief to their teeming fellow citizens. In resonant catchphrase, he asked them to “Spend the money. Don’t spend the people.”

    After the meeting, we have seen some effect. But the first response comes from Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, with his allocation of N5 billion to palliatives. Two governors had already keyed into such accountability. One of them is Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State who had announced since last year wage awards to civil servants. He announced a N2 billion agricultural intervention fund for February. That is apart from the release of 549 metric tons of grains to farmers, including fish farmers and pig farmers.

    Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has also been at it with setting of the first of a string of food hubs in Lagos. The hub is in Idi-Oro, Mushin. He also announced the release of N750 million to 15,000 traders across the state. Each trader will receive N50,000 and 200 traders will be selected from each local government area.

    Ogun State governor’s N5 billion palliatives will include, among others, a gift of exercise books to 850,000 students, N10,000 naira to 100,000 students, N50,000 to over 27,000 indigent students.

    All these should be the beginning in an economic situation that is in a state of flux. As at the time of this editorial, most states are still quiet on that front. The president made the assertion that they should spend the money because of the outcry in the land. Secondly, the states have been enjoying a boost in monthly allocation at a record level.

    Read Also: ‘Governors not complementing Tinubu’s efforts’

    The states have been getting from the centre over a trillion naira in the past few months. This should translate into not just the paying of salaries but also welfare regimes and programmes for the poorest of the poor.

    Food and agriculture should take priority even as the Federal Government is trying to activate silos and distribute money to the needy among us. Some of the governors have said that in spite of the soaring numbers in allocation, the devaluation of the naira has vitiated the amount in real terms.

    That is true, but it does not excuse the lack of enthusiasm in acting. The federation is about states and the centre. In an era that continues to harp on decentralisation, many states are not showing examples or even a signal that the parts can hold the country together in peace and plenty.

    States have land; the Federal Government does not. States have farms, and the Federal Government has to apply to pursue agriculture. The states are not taking advantage of their power. Rather, they cede the job to the centre while acting like Arab Sheikhs in their palaces. Indeed, unsubstantiated speculations are rife that some governors are behind the hikes in dollar because the same allocations are instantly converted to dollar and stashed away once they receive them. It is tragic, if true.

  • Inmates at large

    Inmates at large

    • They are potential threat to security; government must ensure they are caught

    Escapees from Nigeria’s correctional centres in the last two years, who have not been recaptured, were reported to be about 4,000. This is alarming. Also disturbing is that this could be a conservative estimate.

    Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) spokesperson Abubakar Umar was reported saying, “For the purpose of being very sure and exact about the figure, we cannot for now ascertain the number of fleeing inmates, but we are making efforts to do that.” This shows poor record keeping. It is inexcusable that the agency does not know how many prisoners are on the loose. 

    The estimated 4,000 escapees, from at least eight jailbreaks across the country in 2021 and 2022, pose a serious danger to society, as many of them are said to be dangerous criminals. The series of jailbreaks in the two years further exposed poor security in the country’s correctional centres.

     For instance, in April 2021, “unknown gunmen” attacked the Owerri Custodial Centre in Imo State and “forcefully released a total of 1,844 inmates in custody.” The attackers “gained entrance into the yard by using explosives to blast the administrative block,” according to an official statement. Another major jailbreak happened in September 2021, at Kabba Correctional Centre, Kogi State, where over 2,400 inmates escaped. The authorities said 114 of them were recaptured. In October 2021, gunmen attacked Abolongo Medium Security Custodial Centre, Oyo State, and freed 837 inmates. According to the authorities, 262 of them were recaptured. In November 2021, 262 inmates escaped from Jos Correctional Centre, Plateau State, after gunmen invaded the facility.

    The prison break at Kuje Custodial Centre, Abuja, in July 2022, further heightened public concern about insecurity in the country, particularly because this happened in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the seat of the Federal Government. The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) claimed responsibility for the attack on the prison, which led to the escape of about 900 inmates, including 64 “high-profile Boko Haram terrorists.” Official figures indicated that 421 escapees were recaptured, but did not clarify if these included the terrorists. 

    Apart from the reported escapees at large, from jailbreaks in 2021 and 2022, the history of jailbreaks in the country shows that there were 18 cases from 2015 to 2022. A December 2021 report said 5,238 inmates escaped from various prisons across Nigeria within a one-year period from October 2020. It is unclear how many of these escapees were recaptured.

    Read Also: Why we cannot sell cement below N7,000, by Dangote, Bua, Lafarge

    This is a bad situation. With so many inmates on the loose, there is an atmosphere of danger, which compounds insecurity in the country. It also defeats the essence of justice. The situation calls into question the capability of the country’s security agencies. Their failure to recapture the inmates on the run reflects ineffectiveness.

    It is curious that so many escapees seem to have vanished into thin air. This raises questions about public vigilance and the role of the people in ensuring security by providing information to the security agencies on possible threats to security. For instance, it is unlikely that such escapees have had no interactions with members of the public, who could expose their status as inmates at large. But the lack of official information on the identities of the escapees certainly limits what the public can do to assist the security agencies to recapture them. 

     The NCoS spokesperson bragged that there were no jailbreaks and prison attacks in 2023, attributing the “achievement” to “the effectiveness of the top-level security measures that have been diligently upheld in our custodial centres across the nation.” If, indeed, there is improved security at the country’s prisons, the authorities must ensure that the vulnerabilities are a thing of the past.  

    There is no clear picture. But the available figures show that unacceptably large numbers of escapees have not been recaptured. The authorities must ensure that they are caught.

  • Still empty-handed 

    Still empty-handed 

    • 10 years after Supreme Court judgment, women in South East can’t lay claim to inheritance.

    On April 11, 2014, the Nigerian Supreme Court gave a landmark unanimous verdict confirming that the Igbo customary law of inheritance, ‘‘which excludes female children from inheriting the property of their deceased fathers was in conflict with the non-discrimination provisions of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution, and therefore void”. The Supreme Court had upheld as inviolate the findings by the lower courts in the Ukeje v. Ukeje and Anekwe v. Nweke on the same day.

    In both cases, the Supreme Court condemned the refusal of customary law to recognise female inheritance with regards to property. In the court’s wisdom, the customary law conflicts with the fundamental rights to freedom from discrimination set out in section 42(1)(a) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution. The court clarified that no matter the circumstances of the birth of a female child (born in or out of wedlock), such a child is entitled to an inheritance from her father’s estate.

    Curiously, while many women groups, human and civil rights groups welcomed the judgment, most traditional rulers and male groups have verbally dared the court to come to the South East to implement the judgment. Most of them insisted that their culture does not recognise the female child as an equal to the male in terms of inheritance.

    The South Eastern part of the country is notorious for its patriarchal leanings culturally, socio-economically, politically and even religiously. There is virtually an unconcealed preference for the male child from conception, with modern scanning techniques that make it possible to confirm the gender of a fetus. Some couples even abort female fetuses. If and when the female child is born to some couples in cases of non-pre-delivery gender confirmation, there are often different songs for a male child and those for a female child. Some of the songs often subtly put more value on the male child.

    In some marriages without a male child, the men, often under family pressure, do everything possible either to get a child out of wedlock or marry extra wives so as to get a son. This to us is weird for a region with more than 90 per cent Christians that profess faith in God.

    So, the mindset that the male child is a superior child, given that they often do not leave their families to marry and other culturally and religiously fostered practices have entrenched the superiority complex on the male gender in the region.

    So, despite the United Nations and other global bodies’ acts and treaties, many of which Nigeria is signatory to, acts of gender injustice still subsist in the South East. Ironically, countries like India, South Africa and Tanzania are among the developing countries that have made significant jurisprudential progress in this regard.

    Read Also: EFCC quizzes ex-Gov Ahmed over alleged diversion of N10bn

    We are disappointed that 10 years after the Supreme Court verdict, many women in the South East still face a series of discriminatory practices not limited to property inheritance, in what we describe as very hypocritical pick-and-choose defiance of the law. In the region, traditional rulers now operate under state institutions, they get their staff of office from governors. They operate under the ministry of local government and chieftaincy affairs, get paid salaries and allowances and are generally cared for by the state. Under these circumstances, the traditional rulers who are really the custodians of the cultures and traditions, and who ought to really influence the upholding of the Supreme Court verdict  do not abhor the constitution but would quickly revert to quoting the customary law when it comes to gender justice and equity.

    We are concerned about the disobedience of the verdict of the highest court in the land because it has a huge impact on justice and development. Societies develop faster when law and order is the mantra for all the people. A case of some men pushing the levers of patriarchal impunity without consequences is indicative of lawlessness in what ought to be a constitutional democracy. The neglect of women’s rights and property rights impacts significantly on the socio-economic development of the nation.

    More measures should be taken to enforce compliance with the apex court’s judgment. Civil society groups and governments at all levels must educate more women and create more communication channels through which victims of the patriarchal system can get justice without spending a fortune that they can ill afford.

  • All elections in one day

    All elections in one day

    • This is laudable. It is cost and time efficient as well as eliminates bandwagon effect.

    Members of the House of Representatives are processing a bill for amendment of the Electoral Act 2022 to have all polls in a general election held in one day. This is with the aim to save time and money for the country and avert bandwagon effect associated with staggered elections.

    Other proposals in the amendment bill are that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) be mandated by law to transmit election results electronically, and that the electoral body be required to conduct fresh voter registration every 10 years to update its voter roll and weed out the record of dead persons. The amendment bill sponsored by Francis Waive, a lawmaker representing Ughelli North/Ughelli South/Udu Federal Constituency of Delta State on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform, recently scaled second reading in the green chamber and was referred to the House Committee on Electoral Matters.

    In his argument for the bill, Waive said though the 2022 Electoral Act was enacted by the National Assembly to ensure credibility of the electoral process and make results of elections acceptable to Nigerians, there was need to correct obvious defects in the legislation and get the nation prepared for future polls.

    On general election scheduling, he proposed a reworking of Section 28 of the principal act to allow all elections to hold on same day. The amendment clause read: “Subject to paragraph (a) of this section, and without prejudice to other sections of this act, election into the office of the President, National Assembly, State Governors and State Houses of Assembly shall be conducted on the same day.”

    The convention by INEC has been to conduct national elections into the Presidency, Senate and House of Representatives in one day, and state elections into governorship offices and houses of assembly on another day – usually two weeks apart. But Waive said conducting the polls on two separate days plied much pressure on Nigerians and their businesses because the country was always in shutdown mode. “If the country can conduct three elections in one day, we can as well conduct the five elections on the same day,” he argued.

    We are in total agreement with the lawmaker on this point. The staggered pattern of the general election has always translated to duplication of costs – both in terms of logistics by the electoral body and its manpower deployment. In other words, INEC has to warehouse ballot papers at the Central Bank of Nigeria ahead of the different polls at duplicated costs; transport election materials to polling units at two different times, with the humongous logistics involved; and also deploy election staff, security operatives and allied personnel to the same polling units on two different occasions at monumental costs. Holding the elections simultaneously on one day would collapse costs to be incurred to once, which should be healthier for the national treasury that funds the polls. Moreover, the shutdown of the economy associated with restriction of movement on polling days will happen only once. And there is sense to be made of the suggestion that holding all the elections simultaneously would avert suspected bandwagon effect of one set of elections on the other, since voting for all the constituencies would be done simultaneously and the outcomes made known simultaneously. In all, there is little or nothing to lose but much to gain with conducting the elections same day.

    Another proposal by Waive is to amend Section 60 (5) of the Electoral Act 2022 to stipulate mandatory electronic transmission of results by INEC. That section presently provides that the “presiding officer shall transfer the results including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot in a manner as prescribed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).” The lawmaker argued that the framing of the law harboured loopholes that litigants exploited in the 2023 elections. Electronic transmission of results was one of the contentious issues that trailed the February 25, 2023,  presidential poll because technical glitches hindered many officials of the electoral body from transmitting results to the INEC Results Viewing (IRev) portal as the umpire had promised. Waive canvassed specific provision mandating presiding officers to transmit election results and accreditation figures electronically, saying the National Assembly should not make laws that are vague.

    Much as the intention for the proposed amendment may be genuine, we argue that the wisdom in the law as it presently exists is not to tie INEC’s hand and allow the electoral body make a call based on realities that confront it in the course of carrying out its mandate. Elections are sociological projects, not quantum physics that is predictable to the last decimal point, and exigencies do often arise that necessitate the umpire making a call within the bounds of law in accordance with the particular situation that it comes up against. The manoeuvring room provided by the present framing of the law enables the electoral body to carry through with polls in the face of such exigencies. Tying its hands with hardline provisions amidst exigencies could crash rather than enhance elections, and as thus it is ill-advised.

    Read Also: Five elections in one day

    Also, Waive proposed a reworking of Section 10 of the principal act to make INEC conduct full-scale voter re-registration every 10 years besides continuous registration of those who clock 18 years. According to him, revalidation of the existing voter roll at intervals by the commission is not enough to eliminate ineligible registrants like dead persons, and as such cannot give the country a clean register. “Without prejudice to the provision of this section and subject to subsection (2), every 10 years the commission shall carry out a re-registration exercise of all eligible voters in preparation for the next general elections,” the proposed amendment clause read.

    Here again, we differ from this proposal. Conducting voter re-registration every 10 years is such an all-involving and cost-intensive enterprise that it would not only consume the electoral body and distract it from other core electoral duties, it would also sap the Nigerian treasury of massive resources required to carry out the exercise. Meanwhile, there is need to harmonise data banks being hosted by data-gathering agencies of the Nigerian economy. A tidier option would be to ensure efficiency of record-keeping of births and deaths by the National Population Commission (NPC), and avail INEC of these records to update its voter register. In any event, dead registrants on the roll should pose no potentially abusive factor in elections if the electoral body ensures fidelity with its processes involving the use of Biometric Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices. After all, dead people won’t show up at polling units for accreditation. Where political actors or electoral staff undermine the integrity of the process by manipulating the voter roll, the onus falls on the judicial system to bring such culprits firmly and speedily to justice.

    And in the event that the conventional justice system cannot meet up the sheer volume of the task, we recommend that the proposal for an electoral offences tribunal be revisited.