The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Great expectations

    Great expectations

    • Nigeria has made milestone achievements in energy sector but a lot still needs to be done for maximum benefits 

    If merely on account of the flurry of activities in the petroleum sector in the past week alone, it seems now safe to conclude that our once-beleaguered country has finally turned the tide in terms of cracking the conundrum that has hobbled the refining segment of the sector. 

    Only weeks earlier, Nigerians had welcomed the delivery of the last cargo to complete the scheduled six million barrels of crude oil to signal the commencement of the operations of the $20bn, 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery complex. By last week, there were reports of jostling by leading marketers for the lifting and distribution of refined petroleum products produced by the plant. 

    The marketers, under different trading groups or umbrellas – the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, (IPMAN), and Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) – had registered with the refinery. Not left out was the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN). All of them, primed for action, eagerly waiting for that moment when the commercial terms would be sorted out. 

    For Nigeria and Nigerians, it is most certainly a new day. That it is coming nearly eight months after President Muhammadu Buhari officially commissioned the sprawling complex itself calls for celebration. 

    The other development, a clear signal of the resolve to break with its ignoble past, is last week’s call by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), on refinery managers across the world, especially original manufacturers, to come forward and take control of the just refurbished Port Harcourt Refinery. Nigerians will recall that the government had shortly before Christmas, announced the “mechanical completion” and the “flare start-off” of its biggest crude refinery in Port Harcourt.

    The requirements, for those willing to take the plunge, as listed on the NNPCL website, include that such a company must have experience working in Nigeria and other African countries, as a record of local content compliance. The contract, it says, would be long-term and short-term and would cut across the whole gamut of production/operations planning, production and operations execution, monitoring, reporting and optimisation of operations, maintenance planning (short-term), maintenance execution, reliability and inspection. The lucky firm, it says, would also process and undertake engineering quality control, quality assurance and laboratory, specialist engineering, health and safety, environmental management, turnaround maintenance planning and execution, minor projects, non-hydrocarbon procurement and sub-contractor management.

    Again, Nigerians have every reason to rejoice that the jinx of fuel importation is broken; that their dream of local sufficiency in crude processing is finally within reach. They can heave a sigh of relief that the huge foreign exchange annually spent on fuel importation of which it is said account for approximately 40 percent of the entire forex earnings would now become a thing of the past. In fact, the expectation is that the beleaguered naira currency – the naira – will ultimately firm up as a direct consequence of that quantum of forex taken off the demand basket. That the cycle hiccups in the supply chain is broken for good. And finally, that their coming on stream at this time would help Nigeria’s economic recovery drive.

    We agree that the important foundations have been laid. The truth however is that the foundations are neither sufficient by themselves for the future self-reliance and stability that we seek nor would they guarantee long-term sustainability that the country is truly entitled to.

    Read Also: Great expectations in 2024

    First, we are enthused by the decision of the NNPCL to source for world-class operators to run the refurbished Port Harcourt refinery. This is the way to go – at least in the interim. For, no matter how the NNPCL would seek to pride itself as newly born-again commercial entity, it is hard to see those old habits suddenly giving way. In fact, there can be no questions about allowing the NNPCL to either run them, let alone own them in the long term. We therefore expect the Federal Government to begin to put in place measures for divestment as soon as possible. And that should include the other three refineries also undergoing rehabilitation.

    Second, it seems about time to overhaul the fuel distribution infrastructure, if only to ensure that the benefits actually endure. Nigerians are now only too familiar with the chaos that the Apapa axis has become, no thanks to the ubiquitous depots and tank farms along that axis. We cannot but shudder at what the Lekki corridor could become in no distant future without a deliberate upgrade of the roads and other ancillary infrastructure along that axis. The government needs to act swiftly to avert what could constitute an impending crisis.

    The big question here is whether the country can continue on the ruinous path of neglecting the sprawling pipeline infrastructure already in place and yet expect to maximise the gains of the current milestone development. 

    We are here referring to the so-called System 2B, owned by the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) and which runs from Atlas Cove to Ejigbo, with a detour to such hinterlands as Ibadan in the West, and subsequently to Ilorin and Suleija in the north, not before extending to Mosinmi on the eastern axis. Presently, that critical infrastructure lies in ruins and with its dire implications for the road infrastructure and public safety. 

    The same of course could be said of its System 2E (Port Harcourt to Aba), System 2D (Kaduna to Kano). All of them have virtually been abandoned. These are assets which, during normal times, the country would have pinned its hopes of efficient and cost-effective distribution network on; one with the potential to moderate local product prices and with it the easing of the pressure on our already decrepit road infrastructure – but which have for several years been hobbled by corruption, neglect and vandalisation. Again, the pertinent question is – for how long shall the country continue to rely on those heavy trucks to move products from the south to the north as is currently the case?

    Having won the local refining battle, it seems to us the next battle the country must win to guarantee the future sustainability of the downstream petroleum sector.

    The above, expectedly, raises the vexing question and one which is on virtually every citizen’s lips – which is whether fuel prices will at some point come down.

    Are Nigerians’ expectations for future petroleum price reductions entirely misplaced? We certainly do not think so. While it may well be that the crude prices are determined internationally, there are quite frankly, a number of items on the current fuel price template that have become not only anachronistic but are undeserving under the new Petroleum Industry Act. We refer specifically to such items as the bridging fund, the so-called marine transport average and such other charges indexed to importation. Nothing in the current regime of cost-recovery justifies their retention. We therefore call for their immediate review.

    Finally is the issue of regulation. This is one area the Federal Government needs to take very seriously, too. Nigerians of course deserve fair, equitable pricing; more than that, they expect to have value delivered for every kobo spent on fuel under the new dispensation. 

  • The security conundrum

    The security conundrum

    Al-Kadriyars’ abductions must be a turning-point in the war against kidnappers and sundry criminals

    A tale of two tragedies is unfolding in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and we call for redress. One was the kidnap of Mansoor Al-Kadriyar family of a father and six daughters; and the other, the specious attempt to rescue the remaining five sisters through crowdfunding. While crowdfunding for a noble cause is a worthy invention, the use to fester the insatiable appetite of kidnappers may turn a double whammy with unpredictable consequences.

    Of course, our hearts are with the kidnapped Al-Kadriyar sisters, and we urge for their immediate rescue.

    Thankfully, the Federal Government has railed against the crowdfunding effort as illegitimate and unacceptable. We agree. But we urge security agencies to close in on the kidnappers and rescue the victims.

    Speaking after the Federal Executive Council meeting, last week, the Minister of Defence, Abubakar Badaru, said: “We all know there’s an existing law against ransom payment. So, it is very sad for people to go over the internet and radio asking for donations to pay ransom. This will only worsen the situation; it will not help.” 

    He went further: “If we stop, over time kidnapping will not be profitable and those involved in the crime will stop. It is not easy though, but that is the law.” No doubt, the sound bites of the minister are reasonable. But, while all kidnappings are traumatic, the kidnap of Al-Kadriyar and his daughters is excruciatingly harrowing. The entire family was originally taken into custody by kidnappers within the precincts of the FCT, and that is a

     metaphor of a nation under capture.

    Whimsically malicious, the kidnappers released the father of the girls to go fetch N60 million ransom, and when he was late in coming, they killed Nabeeha, one of the girls, and tossed her body on the streets. The criminals have since raised their demand to a whopping N100 million, soon after the effort by the former Minister of Communications, Isa Pantami, to raise N50 million through crowdfunding. Obviously, the kidnappers have perceived the idea of crowdfunding as a gold mine, hence the increase in the ransom.

    The gale of kidnapping is tragically enveloping Abuja and suburbs, and we urge the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, to rally the security agencies to quench it. We see as ironical, the effort by the former minister, Pantami, who promised the nation under former President Muhammadu Buhari, that the telephone SIM-card linking with National Identity Numbers (NIN), would make it easy to trace kidnappers. We wonder what happened to the promise, and why the gamut of data collected by various agencies and institutions cannot help our security challenges.

    Perhaps, it is time to rejig the nation’s security architecture, and we are happy that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has given his security chiefs a marching order in the wake of the kidnappings and other criminal activities. We also hope the meeting between the FCT minister Nyesom Wike and security heads in Abuja, last week, would pep up efforts to rein in the criminals.

    Sadly, sundry criminal activity is festering in the FCT, including what is commonly referred to as ‘one chance’ robbery.

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    Undoubtedly, residents of Abuja eagerly await the impact of the Special Intervention Squad recently launched by Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, in Abuja.

    We consider it a failure of intelligence that the whereabouts of Al-Kadriyar sisters has eluded the police, the state security services, and several other military and para-military security agencies, which by now should have literally flooded the nation’s capital with their personnel. No doubt, if these agencies are up to their task, they ought to have solved this embarrassing national mystery.

    As is obvious, the lack of effective national security infrastructure has been with us for far too long, and even with the scarcity of resources, the Tinubu administration has to find solution to the problem. Sadly, monies budgeted for intelligence infrastructure in major cities like Abuja, were either stolen or mismanaged by successive Peoples Democratic Party-led administrations, while they held sway. Whether in Abuja or Lagos, humongous sums were budgeted and spent for surveillance cameras, regrettably, they have not been of much help. Regrettably too, efforts by the National Assembly and the anti-fraud agencies to recover the monies spent on them have not yielded much.

    But the consequence has yielded a nation under siege. Across states, in the north-west, north-east, north-central, south-south and south-east, kidnapping for ransom has become a common phenomenon. Until the advent of the south-west security organ, ‘Amotekun’, kidnapping was a pastime in many of the states. The success of the regional security agency suggests the need to formalise state police. We use the word formalise, because virtually, all states have their own security outfits. The challenge has been their lack of statutory authority to bear arms, to confront the criminals.

     The tragedy befalling the Al-Kadriyar sisters should be halted, and may it be a turning point for our nation under siege.                

  • Zagallo, Beckenbauer exit

    Zagallo, Beckenbauer exit

    • Two football greats that the world cannot forget so soon

    As football greats, they both achieved a rare feat that underscored their greatness. Brazil’s Mario Zagallo, who died on January 5, aged 92, and Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer, who died on January 7, aged 78, won the World Cup as players and as managers. Only one other person, France’s Didier Deschamps, has such a record.

    Zagallo won the prestigious title as a player in 1958 and 1962, and as a manager in 1970. He also won the 1994 FIFA World Cup as assistant manager, making him the only one who had won the championship as a player and as a manager more than once. 

    He joined Brazilian side Flamengo as a teenager in 1950,  joined Botafogo in 1958, and played for the club until his retirement in 1965.   As a forward, he was skillful and adaptable.

    He was a member of the Brazilian squad for the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden, and scored a goal in Brazil’s 5-2 win against the host country in the final. In 1962, he was in the Brazil team that successfully defended their World Cup title in Chile, beating Czechoslovakia 3-1 in the final.  They became the second team to win the World Cup twice consecutively, after Italy in 1934 and 1938. No country has repeated the feat since Brazil did.

    He started his managerial career at Botafogo in 1966, after he retired as a player. Shortly before the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, he was appointed as manager of the Brazil national team, which was a testimony to his managerial distinction. He proved to be the best man for the job, and led Brazil to their third title, becoming the first person to win the World Cup as a player and as a manager. He was 38 at the time, and also became the second youngest coach to win the World Cup.

    Nicknamed ‘The Professor’ during his coaching career because of his expertise, he received the FIFA Order of Merit for his contributions to football, in 1992, the highest honour awarded by the international football governing body. He was named the 9th Greatest Manager of All Time by World Soccer Magazine in 2013.

    Beckenbauer was nicknamed der Kaiser, “The Emperor.”  He made his mark as a central defender, and was credited with the invention of the role of the modern sweeper, which requires versatility. He recreated the role, and became a model of the attacking sweeper.

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    He joined German club Bayern Munich in the mid-1960s. During his time there as a player, the club won the European Winners’ Cup in 1967, three league championships in a row, 1972 to 1974, and also the European Cup three times, 1974 to 1976. He was the first player to win three European Cups as captain of his club, and was twice named European Footballer of the Year. He later became manager, and then president of the club. He also played for US club New York Cosmos, and was inducted into the US National Soccer Hall of Fame.

    He played for West Germany in three FIFA World Cups and two European Championships. After lifting the World Cup as captain in 1974, when host West Germany defeated the Netherlands 2-1, he won the trophy again as a manager in 1990, when his country beat Argentina 1-0 in Italy.  He was the first man to win the title as team captain and as manager. He was also the first captain to win the European Championship at the international level, and the European Cup at the club level.

    Named in the World Team of the 20th Century in 1988, the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2002 and the Ballon d’Or Dream Team in 2020, Beckenbauer was listed in the FIFA 100 world’s greatest living players in 2004.

    They will be remembered for their pure passion for football, exemplary professionalism and uncommon successes.

  • Ibadan explosion

    Ibadan explosion

    • Government agencies should unearth the root cause/s of the blast

    The sprawling city of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, shook to its very foundation on Tuesday as flesh, bricks, metals and glass littered the streets and residences. As explosions rocked the ancient city, and cries could be heard everywhere, all wondered what was happening. Some even thought the end had come.

    When the dust settled, Governor Seyi Makinde announced that five residents lost their lives, 77 sustained varying degrees of injury and about 58 houses collapsed.

    The question is: what could have caused such devastation? Governor Makinde, as Chief Security Officer of the state, announced that preliminary report indicated that it occurred as a result of the bang that spread from the epicentre in Bodija, to the State Secretariat, College of Nursing at University of Ibadan, and Agodi Gate. He said it was the detonation of ammunition from a miner’s dump. Some residents are suspecting a Malian.

    Already, ordinance and bomb disposal units of the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Army are said to have swung into action. We commend the governor for his swift action in releasing the interim report from the security forces, thus dispelling rumours that could set the nation on fire.

    Some had attributed the explosions to terrorists from the North who had migrated to the former capital city of Western Nigeria with a view to spreading therefrom to other parts of the region. Others pinpointed a particular gas station as source of the combustion.

    Response by the Federal Executive Council is equally commendable as a committee at that level was mandated to investigate the incident. We hope however that the committee will work with other agencies of government at both the federal and state levels. It is no time to duplicate and dissipate energy as mine officers from the Ministry of Solid Minerals have also been deployed to the state.

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    While it would be hasty to come to any conclusion at this stage, we expect swift action by all concerned. The culprits have to be identified and prosecuted. Only then would others be deterred in various parts of the country, as this is not the first time that explosions would rock Nigerian cities, especially those where illegal mining is thriving. Lives of innocent people had been lost in similar circumstances in Nasarawa and Kogi states, among others.

    This is a wake-up call on agencies and institutions of state to be proactive. What are intelligence units of our security forces doing? What is the Department of State Service that has presence in all 774 local government areas of the country doing to stem such man-made disasters? Why do they always wait until things go awry before special forces or crack units are deployed to such disaster zones? The Commander-in-Chief who swore to protect lives and property nationwide should not spare the rod where necessary.

    It’s time for the solid minerals sector to be properly organised. It’s a shame that foreigners, Africans and non-Africans alike, stroll to mining sites in the country, using equipment that do incalculable damage to the environment,  and reportedly killing the local people. This must stop.

    When last was the Mining Act amended in consonance with international standards? It is bad enough that the country earns only pittance from solid minerals, the consequential harm being done to our citizens is unacceptable.

    The security agencies should be restructured to encourage local participation. The undue centralisation of the security architecture can only continue to alienate the people, thus failing to nip crimes in the bud. We must put an end to explosions arising from undue storage of explosives.

  • Cost of elections

    Cost of elections

    • Rep’s N500m litigation costs signpost what ails Nigerian political culture

    A House of Representatives member representing Isuikwuato/Umunneochi constituency in Abia State, Amobi Godwin Ogah, has been reported saying he spent some N500million to fight various cases brought by opponents against his 2023 poll victory at the election tribunal and the appeal court.

    Ogah, a member of Labour Party (LP), who spoke at his Onuaku Uturu country home during an appreciation meeting with his constituents, thanked supporters for standing with him during the election and beyond. He also stressed the importance of the judiciary in safeguarding the electoral mandate of politicians. Opponents of the LP member in the 2023 poll include Nkeirukka Onyejeocha, now  Minister of State for Labour and Employment, who is of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Loveth Ofoegbu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The lawmaker spoke against the backdrop of high rate of litigation by Nigerian political actors in prosecuting their electoral aspiration. 

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in recent times said there were 1,196 petitions filed against different polls held during the 2023 general election cycle, out of which 891 petitions – as at then – had either been dismissed by the courts or withdrawn by petitioners. Also speaking in the last quarter of 2023, Court of Appeal President, Justice Monica Dongben-Mensem, said the appellate court had treated 1,209 petitions from the 2023 general election, including five petitions on the presidential poll, 147 petitions on senatorial elections and 417 petitions on house of representatives elections. These were besides 557 petitions associated with elections into the the state houses of assembly, and 83 petitions pertaining to governorships.

    The spate of litigation by the political elite has always been high – perhaps among the highest in the world. There were no fewer than 3,959 petitions filed to challenge polls conducted in five previous election cycles, namely in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019, according to Situation Room Dataphyte Research. A report by the civil society organ indicated that there were 560 petitions following the 2003 polls, 1,290 petitions in 2007, 732 petitions in 2011, 611 petitions in 2015 and 766 petitions in 2019. The electoral law provides for a candidate in an election and/or a political party that participated in the election to challenge the outcome at the court if they were dissatisfied with the declaration by the umpire, INEC; and it could be argued that political actors are maximising this provision, which we ourselves recommend because it is far better off than them resorting to extra-legal measures of contestation. But truth is that excessive petitioning also indexes desperation in the Nigerian political culture, as gladiators fight beyond the ballot box in pursuit of their electoral ambition rather than concede defeat – even an obvious defeat.

    This desperation in political culture has the effect of fuelling the cost of elections. It is desperation of political actors, for instance, that makes INEC print ballot papers at currency quality and warehouse same in Central Bank vaults ahead of elections. It is desperation that necessitates deployment of security personnel in battalions during election to police the environment and ward off thugs acting at the behest – or at the least, in the interest – of political gladiators. All these cost huge money. 

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    Now, Ogah says he spent N500million defending his election against petitions, and this reflects quantum sums Nigerian politicians lay out on litigation over their electoral aspiration after huge expenses incurred on election proper.

    Meanwhile, it isn’t that the electoral law didn’t prescribe a cap on election expenses. Section 88, subsections (2) to (7) of the Electoral Act 2022 (as Amended) stipulates a maximum of N5billion to be incurred by a candidate for the presidential race, N1 billion for governorship, N100million and N70 million, respectively, for senatorial and house of representatives races, N30 million for state assembly polls, also N30 million for area council chairmanship race, and N5 million for councillorship.

    Even if someone were to argue that litigation costs fall outside the statutory cap on election expenses, it can’t be denied that political actors budget for litigation at the same time they plan their electoral expenses. The question could then be asked how and from where they source the money, and on what terms of repayment? It has been argued that most political actors see their election as an investment on which they recoup with high interest margin once they get into public office.

    For the health of Nigeria’s political economy, everything must be done to tone down this trend. Political actors need to deescalate the desperation that fuels election costs, while INEC must work harder to boost confidence in its processes. The umpire also needs to step up its capacity to track and tame election expenses.

  • Soaring medical cost

    Soaring medical cost

    • This calls for urgent solution to check its unfavourable consequences 

    One of the worst hit sectors by the inflationary spirals arising from the painful but inevitable economic reforms of the President Bola Tinubu administration has been the medical sector. Along with sharp increases in food, energy and transportation costs attendant on the removal of fuel subsidy and the merging of the former dual exchange rate regime, with the attendant decline in the value of the Naira, the cost of drugs and other aspects of healthcare has risen astronomically, with devastating consequences for the living standards of the vast majority of Nigerians.

     It is thus understandable that pregnant women and nursing mothers across the country, easily one of the most vulnerable sections of the citizenry, are reportedly groaning under current soaring medical costs.

    The majority of pregnant women and nursing mothers are today faced with the reality of drastic increases in the cost of antenatal registration and care, which routinely cover consultancy services only. Separate high prices have to be paid for other services such as checking of blood group and blood levels, purchase of essential drugs often necessary during antenatal care, treatment of infections that often occur during the delicate period of pregnancy and early infant care, as well as payment for actual delivery, which may frequently involve dealing with unanticipated complications.

    Matters are worsened for this group of Nigerians by high transport costs during their weekly or monthly visits to health facilities, and the hardly affordable costs of the nutritious foods essential for the good health of mother and child. They thus inevitably constitute a high percentage of the millions of Nigerians who have slipped deeper into poverty, even as the government strives to restructure and get the economy back on track, after years of profligacy, corruption and avoidable inefficiency.

    The increased number of Maternal and Child Care (MCC) centres established by the federal and state governments across the country in recent years indicates an enhanced awareness by policy makers of the critical attention required by this section of the populace. 

     The undesirable situation of high maternal mortality ratio in the country 

    has been attributed, among others, to lack of access to quality healthcare, shortage of skilled health workers, low level of education and the high rate of illiteracy.

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    Effectively alleviating the current unacceptable level of poverty means that government must urgently design and implement policies that address the challenges faced by pregnant women, nursing mothers and children. 

    But the high cost of drugs and other aspects of medical care also affects those suffering from such maladies as malaria, high blood pressure, diabetes and asthma, among others. The costs of drugs for these ailments have also skyrocketed, leading to large numbers of avoidable, even if grossly underreported, deaths.

    Faced with the unaffordable prices of these essential drugs, many people are susceptible to the antics of criminal elements who manufacture and sell fake drugs which are attractive to desperate buyers because of their cheap costs. These substandard drugs in turn become a source of grave danger to the health of large numbers of hapless Nigerians.

    In the long run, the health authorities at various levels should endeavour to mainstream and strengthen the structures for well run health insurance schemes for the benefit of the majority of citizens. Lagos State, for instance, has one of the most efficient of such schemes in the country, which can be subscribed to for as low as N8,000. This entitles subscribers and their wards to treatment in very good hospitals in the state. There is the need for Lagos to intensify public enlightenment on this policy while other states can learn from the state’s model.

    However, the current high cost of essential drugs constitutes an emergency which must be urgently and decisively addressed in the short term. Government can identify a list of essential drugs for pregnant women, nursing mothers, children and those suffering from prevalent diseases like hypertension, diabetes, malaria and asthma, among others, and make them available to vulnerable citizens at subsidised prices. To minimise the possibility of corruption in the implementation of the scheme, the distribution can be done through credible international and local agencies, with established structures for such purposes, as well as demonstrated track record of performance and integrity. Efficient and affordable medical care for all is critical to poverty alleviation and must be accorded the appropriate priority.

  • Bauchi’s mining ban

    Bauchi’s mining ban

    • A step towards sanitising the sector 

    The Bauchi State Government has been reported to have banned individuals, groups and traditional heads from issuing mining consent letters to any investor without obtaining clearance from the Ministry of Natural Resources.

    It raises again an ongoing question on mining and federalism. 

    The ban would seem in order if only to address mining-related environmental degradation and insecurity, as well as enhanced revenue to the stakeholders. But the state has no right within the law to dictate the way mining is conducted. It is the exclusive preserve of the federal government, even if we want it otherwise.

    The order also shows how the absence of federal authorities has fomented an anarchy of greedy adventurers in mining across the country.

    It is about law as well as it is about a sense of purpose by government at the federal leve. Obviously cooperation between states and the centre is required to make it work.

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    Section 1(1) of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007 states that “The entire property in and control of all mineral resources in, under or upon any land in Nigeria, its contiguous continental shelf and all rivers, streams and water courses throughout Nigeria, any area covered by its territorial waters or constituency and the exclusive economic zone is and shall be vested in the Government of the Federation for and on behalf of the people of Nigeria.” 

    Within this broader control, states, local government areas, community heads and title holders or users of a piece of land where mining is to be undertaken are given roles. In this regard, Section 61(1)(c) states as follows: “Every holder of an exploration licence shall … if intending to explore on land occupied subject to a right of occupancy, give notice to the chairman of the affected local government area concerned and to the holder of the right of occupancy or the user or occupier of the land before exploration activities on the land; and where the mineral title area is within more than one local government area, the mineral title holder shall give notice to the respective chairmen of the local government areas concerned and the holders of rights of occupancy or the users and occupiers of land affected accordingly.”

    Section 71(1)(c-d) of the Act further states: “The holder of a mining lease shall not commence any development work or extraction of mineral resources on the mining lease area until after … the conclusion of a community development agreement approved by the Mines Environmental Compliance Department; and the holder has duly notified, compensated, or offered compensation to all users of land within the mining lease areas as provided for under this Act.” 

    Moreover, as specified on page 181 of the Mining Regulations 2011, one of the prerequisites for the processing of applications for mineral titles is that the Mining Cadastre Office would notify the community leader or individual land owner(s)/occupier(s) of the application and seek the consent of such community leaders, groups or individuals. Where the paramount ruler/district head/community leader is not a direct owner/occupier of the land, they would serve as witness to the letter of consent issued by the land owner(s)/occupiers.

    In the light of the foregoing, the issuing of letters of consent by the individuals, groups or community leaders, without approval from the state government, may be illegal, and the Bauchi State Government’s ban appears to be an attempt to sanitise the chaotic mineral resources mining regime in the state. In order words, the state government’s ban may be referred to as a well-intentioned illegality. But it is an illegality all the same. It could, for example, have been motivated by the desire to facilitate systematic and fair compensation, as envisioned by Section 108 of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act 2007, and Sections 11-13 of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Regulations 2011.  

    To ensure that state governments as a whole are able to contribute more significantly to mining quality assurance, it is important for both the act and regulations to be reviewed and for a derivation formula to be established by the Federal Government, to guarantee that state governments benefit more systematically from the mining activities within their borders. This would motivate them to engage more, with the due authorisation and effective monitoring of mineral resources exploitation within such borders. This would in turn ensure increased protection of the nation’s mineral resources and enhance the benefits to the citizenry. But the law is the law. State governments can do the federal work.

  • Fat cats

    Fat cats

    • These are the main products of constituency projects 24 years into the Fourth Republic 

    One sore point in the relationship between the executive and legislative arms of government in Nigeria since 1999 has been appropriation for constituency projects. The executive is quick to point out that sections four to six of the constitution spell out the primary roles of the three arms of government. While the legislature is to make laws, the executive is assigned the task of executing the laws, and the judiciary interprets the legislation, as well as adjudicate disputes.

    These are primary roles that have their roots in the principle of Separation of Powers made popular in France by Monsieur Montesquieu. However, over the years, it has emerged that the separation is not total.

    This is perhaps why Nigerian legislators came up with a strange concept of “Constituency Projects” by which each of them is allowed to come up with at least a project in their constituency. He nominates the contractor and, in most cases negotiates the contract sum, duration and location.

    Many lawmakers find ways to coral the fund, and the project is either abandoned or poorly executed.

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    This was not the case when, early in the year, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, rolled out the drums in Lagos as nine projects he knitted as leader of the 360-member House were commissioned. 

    At the University of Lagos, an ultra modern hall of residence named after him was declared open. In Surulere that he represented for two decades, he got projects ranging from roads rehabilitated and expanded general hospitals, police post and mini-stadium, among others executed and delivered. Many such projects by his colleagues in the Senate and House of Representatives dot the landscape uncompleted. Others had funds budgeted but nothing done until they were removed and replaced either by their political parties or the electorate.

    Speaking at the commissioning of the projects, Tajudeen Abass who succeeded Mr. Gbajabiamila, was emphatic in declaring that the constituency projects had come to stay. Lawmakers who have taken the same position and stoutly resisted attempts to expunge it from annual budgets, have argued that the people see it as one way of evaluating the efforts of their representatives. Besides, they contend that they only identify the projects, leaving the technical aspects of execution and supervision to the Ministry of Works or the appropriate arm of government. 

    But this is only in theory. In practice, to avoid conflict between the two arms of government, the legislators are left to own and take charge. They choose the contractors, usually from the constituency, whether competent and experienced or not, determine the design and scope, and supervise even when they lack the requisite knowledge and skills, and then disburse funds. This anomaly must stop. It is certainly not the way to build the society and grow our democracy. The institution that makes the law, appropriates the fund, should not take charge of its expenditure. 

    Realising the havoc the constituency projects are causing the country, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) embarked on a large scale tracking of constituency projects nationwide. As President Muhammadu Buhari declared then, not less than N1 trn had been expended on the projects in 10 years. It had thus become imperative to ask where the money had gone. Could it be said that the society has derived commensurate benefit?

    Last October, the ICPC said it was probing execution of projects worth N500 billion in 25 states and the federal capital city. These investigations should be brought to logical conclusion and the reports made public. It is indefensible that, almost 25 years into the Fourth Republic, no lawmaker at the state or federal level has been indicted, let alone prosecuted. Until this is done, the allegations would appear to be fairy tales. We have seen captains of industry, security chiefs, ministers as well as governors successfully prosecuted, even if the public expects more from the anti- graft agencies, but nothing arising from the humongous amount spent on constituency projects.

    The excuse that lawmakers are expected to be seen as effective representatives of the people is lame. There are other ways of a legislator using his oversight power and representation skills to ensure that his constituency is not neglected, after all, both members of the executive and the legislature are drawn from the political parties.

    Nigeria and Nigerians deserve better leaders that are responsible and transparent in their actions.

  • Checking vandalism

    Checking vandalism

    • Govt must invest in technology as well as punish culprits to preserve public infrastructure 

    Nigeria, like other countries, have systems, structures and facilities that are owned and operated by the government. These are infrastructural facilities that are open to the general public for use. Here, we are talking of road infrastructure, pipelines, rail tracks, cables, hospitals, schools, etc. In many countries, these facilities are seen generally by people as their own and treated as such. Not so in Nigeria where some misguided elements steal various components of the infrastructure, with a view to making money from them. To these people, better known as vandals, these infrastructure belong to no one in particular and so can be vandalised for personal financial gains. They are, unfortunately helped in this regard by the nonchalance of most Nigerians who, even if they see the vandals in action choose to look the other way, either because of fear of being harmed by the thieves, or because they just don’t care.

    Roads, pipelines, rail tracks, cables, etc. top list of vandals’ targets in the country and their replacements cost the government and the tax-payers billions of naira annually. These are monies that should have been spent on other vital societal needs. 

    Conservatively, this routine vandalisation of public infrastructure costs the country a whopping N132 billion annually. This figure that is almost certain would be by far higher is huge, considering the opportunity cost.

    Pipeline vandalism alone, at N60 billion per annum, takes almost half of this amount. The people involved in this nefarious activity are so desperate that they do not seem to reckon with the sometimes life-threatening risks involved. Many of them had paid dearly for their crime as they did not live to tell the story. Yet, involvement in the crime has not abated.

    With regards to roads, aluminium railings are removed by vandals who sell them to buyers that melt them to make several other objects of value.

    Other public facilities are also being stripped of their valuable components. Theft of electricity transformers and cables, removal of rail tracks slippers, even manhole bridge railings and bridge barriers are not spared. 

    As a matter of fact, it is being alleged that some hoodlums deliberately dig portions on some roads where motorists must necessarily slow down, thus creating opportunities for the hoodlums to extort the motorists, and for roadside hawkers to sell in the ensuing traffic. 

    Read Also: Lokpobiri parleys Bayelsa monarchs, seeks end to oil theft, pipeline vandalism

    One thing that is clear from all of these is the lack of patriotism that is necessary to sustain these public infrastructure. That is a reason some experts have canvassed sensitisation on the culture of protecting public assets. Nigerians need to be enlightened that public facilities are for the benefit of the society and should therefore be jealously guarded. The present attitude where such facilities are seen as the jocular mad man’s leg that everyone is at liberty to cut his or her own pound of flesh from must change. People must be made to see the facilities as their own and therefore understand the essence of protecting them.

    Those who choose to continue the illegal acts even after the series of sustained enlightenment can then be dealt with in accordance with the law. Where the penalties need to be made stiffer to serve the deterrence purpose, so be it. 

    But government too must play its part well by doing everything possible to discourage the vandals. For instance, there are technological devices that could be deployed to make pipeline vandalisation unattractive by facilitating early detection and possible arrest of the criminals, either on the way to committing the crime, or in action. Criminals look for something else to do when they know the chances of apprehending them are high.

    Above all, there should be no sacred cows. Anyone caught, no matter how highly placed, must be made to face the music.

  • A tribe of the doughty

    A tribe of the doughty

    • Nollywood comes of age with Funke Akindele’s record-grossing film

    Tribe of Judah’, Funke Akindele’s latest offering on the flick, just grossed more than N2.6 billion from the Nigeria Box Office — the highest ever earnings in the local film industry. But that success symbolises a doughty tribe of Nigerians, united and irrepressible in showbiz, determined to triumph and succeed, no matter the harsh structural limitations.  

    That can-do spirit is to be lauded and commended to all. It is the Nigerian dream, which though happens virtually everyday, hardly gets the praise it deserves. 

    As it should be, all the major political voices have lauded the feat: from President Bola Tinubu, to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate for 2023 and Peter Obi, Labour Party candidate, aside from industry watchers and commentators.

    But the loud encomiums have rather muted another record: Funke Akindele’s three films, :A Tribe Called Judah’, ‘Battle on Buka Street’ and ‘Omo Ghetto: The Saga’, account for the three highest grossing films in Nollywood — the global moniker for Nigerian-made films — according to Wikipedia. Indeed, Judah, by its N2.6 billion earnings, only smashed Buka, the very first to break the billion Naira mark in earnings.

    Indeed, from her rookie days in ‘I need to Know’, a sit-com on public TV, which UN Population Fund (UNFPA) sponsored on sexuality and procreation health, to :Omo Ghetto’, which announced her arrival on the big screen, to ‘Judah’, a stunning financial success driven by audacious creativity and grilling hard work, Akindele’s has been a study in positive disruption of the local film industry.  

    That she pulled off Judah after some personal and family crises made the feat even more stunning: two divorces, a conviction for breaching COVID-19 era restrictions and a failed foray into electoral politics, though a legitimate political choice.

    But these personal striving and successes mirror the irrepressible spirit of Nollywood. Often laughed to scorn during those initial years, it has become a big oak: pointing, to the local economy, how to create a thriving market virtually out of nothing; and with its musical cousin, the globally ubiquitous Afrobeats genre, corralling and maintaining the awe of global entertainment.  

    Indeed, film and music today account for the most vibrant of Nigeria’s culture exports. That booms to a populace that often drool on cheap imports, with scant any thought of tipping the scale to turn exporters themselves, and slogging it out for global market share, as the leading trading countries of America, Europe and Asia do.

    All the Nollywood/Afrobeats derring-do have, however, come with little or no institutional support, public sector or private, though talks of supporting showbiz, as a structured industry, were never in short supply.

    Indeed, in those early days of home video, with “Ebinpejo Lane, Idunmota” Lagos, the clear vortex and headquarters of Nigeria’s thumping video mart, Funke was still the fledging rookie in ‘I Need to Know’, which ran from 1998 to 2002. Then, came the return of the big screen — the cinemas — which had tanked because rising insecurity (particularly armed robbery and allied violent crimes) had virtually banished night life.

    Read Also: Tinubu, ‘A Tribe Called Judah’ and the power of creative economy

    It is imperative to stress the limitation imposed by these harsh environmental factors; and how urgently tackling them is always both a boon and boom for business. A more secure Lagos witnessed an explosion in showbiz post-1999. Funke Akindele’s latest feat is a golden testimonial to that.  

    But that calls for the Federal Government to further tackle the overarching security challenges — with state governments doing same in their respective jurisdictions — to further boost the growth of the creative industry, and indeed, industries across the other sectors.

    However, the public sector brings better structural news, with the new Ministry of Art, Culture and the Creative Industry. The stress on culture and the creatives offers new hope that, at last, culture products — in creative writing, poetry, music, fine art, sculpture, stage and films, not leaving out documentaries — would be structured into a thriving industry, from which creatives can get a fair value for their creative juice; thus putting culture in a pole position to expand the share of its products in GDP.  

    That Obi Asika (National Council for Arts and Culture), long-term industry mentor on structured music from the private sector; and Ali Nuhu (Nigerian Film Corporation), respected actor, were just named head of key agencies under the new ministry can only reinforce that early optimism.  

    Still, the creatives ministry must know its mandate is less of bureaucracy to stifle creativity; but more to set standards and rigorously structure the sector, without killing its creative muse. That holds the key to turning the creative industry into a vibrant and sustainable sector, that provides gainful jobs for millions of talented Nigerian youths.