The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Bad roads

    Bad roads

    • Nigerians should take advantage of dedicated phone lines to report to govt

    Whether or not they like President Bola Tinubu’s order to rehabilitate federal roads across the country, Nigerians should, at least, be glad that they now have dedicated lines through which to report bad roads to the government.

    Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, said in a press statement last week that the president was not unaware of the dilapidated road infrastructure that he inherited on his assumption of office on May 29. He added that he had directed that the roads, which spread across all parts of the country, be fixed for easier and smoother movement of men and goods, and also to save man-hours lost on the roads.

    The roads in question include the Makurdi-Nsukka 9th Mile Road, East West Road, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Benin Bypass Road, collapsed bridges of Enugu- Port Harcourt Road, Abuja-Kaduna- Zaria-Kano Road and Gombe- Bauchi Road, among others.

    According to Umahi, President Tinubu has approved N300bn supplementary budget for the ministry this fiscal year, out of which N100bn is for palliative works on federal roads across the country and N200bn is for continuation of inherited ongoing projects and a few new but critical road projects.

    We do not envy the Tinubu administration, especially with the funding gap of over ¦ 6 trillion from most of the inherited on-going road projects in the country. But the good thing, as the minister noted, is that the president has decided to take the gauntlet rather than wring his hands in frustration. Nigerians did not elect him to offer excuses; they did so because they trusted in his capacity to deliver.

    The dedicated numbers to call with regard to monitoring of the roads are: 08030986263, 08037086137, or 08106423197. According to the minister, Nigerians should feel free to photograph and report all poorly constructed roads through the dedicated phone lines. “The Federal Ministry of Works will document such reports, verify and take effective action to correct such infractions”, the minister added.

    This is an opportunity for Nigerians to say something when they see something, particularly concerning federal roads in the country. It is a good opportunity that they should grab with both hands.

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    We commend the government for this initiative. It is equally heartwarming that the minister promised that action would be taken on such genuine complaints received. We however want to see this in action because our problem is usually not about lack of good initiatives but in putting them into practice.

    We are however uncomfortable with the idea that “The Federal Ministry of Works shall also periodically recognise publicly those who made such reports that are genuine in a public engagement forum to be hosted quarterly by the Federal Ministry of Works”. This proviso may put off some people who are only interested in performing their civic responsibility without expecting any form of reward or recognition. The right of such people to anonymity should be respected while erring contractors involved should be publicly sanctioned.

    For far too long, many contractors have taken Nigerians for a ride. They collect money for projects that they never intended to start not to talk of finishing. Many deliver sub-standard projects after greasing the palms of government officials, who in turn certify the projects as having been delivered to specification.

    In all of these, Nigerians are the losers.

     Roads are too important social infrastructure to be abandoned. The Federal Government must walk its talk on these vital assets.

  • Not just about law  

    Not just about law  

    • The journey to 2027 must start now

    When Professor Attahiru Jega discusses elections, many Nigerians listen. He has been speaking recently about the 2023 general elections, especially the February presidential poll disparaged by many.

    Before last week’s media round by the former national chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), he had told federal lawmakers in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, that it was time to improve on the electoral system. Professor Jega said that 24 years after return to civil rule, Nigeria ought to have become a model for other African countries. 

    While speaking on the 2022 Electoral Act last week, he contended that despite the loud criticism of this year’s election, the legal framework was the best ever. He accepted that the technological innovations embedded in it were designed to ensure that all went well. The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System  (BVAS), that provided for optional finger or facial approval, is an upgrade of the  card reader machine introduced by the Jega administration, alongside the Permanent Voter Card (PVC). Both measures brought some integrity to the electoral system. By the scheme, politicians who hired voters to cast multiple ballots were checkmated.

    Under the Yakubu Mahmud administration, BVAS was brought in to check the rate at which voters failed to get accredited owing to the state of their thumbs. Besides, the new machine is enabled to transmit the result to the iREV where the general public could monitor development from the polling units.

    By the development, it was expected that confidence in the electoral system would be built up. 

    However, even by design, the lawmakers fell short of fully digitalising the process. The BVAS machine or iREV could not collate the result. The paper trail system by which Forms EC8A from the polling units are  taken to the ward, the local government and then state levels still prevailed in the 2023 elections.

    There is no doubt that the process has to be tweaked ahead of the 2027 election. But, it must be acknowledged that the problem is more with operations, processes, planning and commitment of officials. Machines have to be operated by officials, and their judgment have to be trusted if Nigeria is to ride the storm. The election management body must therefore come up with an acceptable mode of recruitment,  training, retraining, discipline and reward system. This is as important as improvement on technology. 

    As Professor Jega, a teacher of political science and former Vice Chancellor of the Bayero University, Kano, has pointed out, it is wrong to suggest that the 2023 general election is the worst in the country’s history. The 1964 federal election nearly set Nigeria ablaze, with political parties pitched against one another, regions at war and worse still, the then President, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, publicly on the warpath with the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa. 

    The Eyo Esua-led election commission  could not even agree on the integrity of the polls as members from the North insisted that the result declared must be upheld while those from the South kicked against it. That was the origin of the conflagration that consumed the First Republic.

    The 1983 election was another election that could compete against the worst conducted in the world. The Justice Victor Ovie-Whiskey Commission literally rolled out the political tank for the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN), paving the way for the party to make inroads into the West and East that were strongholds of the opposition political parties. It was no surprise that the Second Republic quickly went the way of the first. 

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    President Olusegun Obasanjo recruited Professor Maurice Iwu who practically deferred to the head of government as a soldier would to his Commander-in-Chief. As it was in 1983, so it was in 2007. 

    So, anyone with knowledge of conduct of elections in the country would agree with Professor Jega that the denigrated 2023 polls would actually rank among the best in the country. An analysis by the professor shortly after the February presidential election had laid out the basis for the conclusion as three political parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC), People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) shared the states almost equally, with New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), taking control of Kano State. 

    We have to go beyond the usual blame-the-commission game. It is good that both houses of the National Assembly, international development partners and civil society organisations are waking up to the need for early review of the law and processes. However, it must be noted that the main culprits are politicians who would go to any extent to win. They will compromise the commission’s officials at polling units and collation centres, vote huge sums to induce voters, get security officials to turn the blind eye to malfeasance, and do all things to subdue or denigrate the judiciary. Unless something is done to checkmate such practices, the quest for credible polls will remain a mirage. The starting point is to ensure that all those found to have manipulated the last general elections are duly tried in the courts of law.

    Focusing on amending the Electoral Act alone cannot perform the magic. Nigerians must rise to wake up the sleeping ‘giant’ well ahead of 2027.

  • Data worries  

    Data worries  

    • Telephone subscribers want something done about slash in value

    From silent murmurs, Nigeria’s telephone subscribers are now grumbling aloud over the fast rate at which their data get exhausted. This would seem the latest challenge facing the subscribers. Once upon a time they were confronted by unsolicited messages by the telephone companies, over-billing, call jams, poor signals; some of which persist, even if in varying degrees. It would seem the most common complaints of the subscribers now however is the fast rate of data depletion.

    According to Daily Trust, a N2,000 data bundle by an average internet user which used to last an entire month, even with download of heavy documents, now gets depleted within three to five days. Bilal Miftahudeen, a Lagos-based lawyer, confirmed this much to the newspaper.

    Another subscriber, Adebola Jacob, a trader, seemed to have found an ingenious solution to the problem. He has decided to suspend data subscription for now as it is eating deep into his earnings. “I only subscribe when I have urgent and very important things to do online, things that would fetch more than the money I put into the subscription”, Jacob told Daily Trust. It goes without saying that many other subscribers would have been dealing with the situation their own way.

    One thing that is however clear is that the economy has been badly affected by inflation and the prices of virtually all goods and services have risen. Interestingly, the telcos have not officially increased their tariffs despite what they call about 43 per cent rise in their cost of doing business. It would thus seem they might have surreptitiously slashed the value of their data.

    If this is the situation, we disagree because it is a way of perpetrating corruption.

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    What is baffling is that while the telcos themselves seem to have kept mum on the matter, it is the sector’s regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), that is talking for them. The commission had, in a statement, given sundry reasons why data is fast depleting. These include  browsers that are playing videos by default even when the users only open sites to read text; automatic updates of apps and automatic uploads of videos and pictures to the cloud on smartphones; increase in internet speed due to migration to 4G, which automatically plays video in high-quality formats, thus consuming more data.

    Non-technical reasons cited by the commission for the fast depletion of data include low purchasing power of subscribers, which leads to the purchase of small bundle sizes with short periods of use, leading to an increased frequency of data depletion complaints; growth of social media, online advertisements and default audio-visual activations in web browsers and apps; lack of consumer awareness and education, and use of sub-standard and fake subscriber devices.

    While we may agree with some of these reasons, like the migration to 4G, most of the other factors were there before now and they never led to fast data depletion.

    So, rather than be making excuses for the telcos, the NCC should do a thorough investigation of subscribers’ complaints with a view to ensuring the telcos play according to the rules. There should not be any cutting of corners. The commission should convene a stakeholders’ summit on the matter if necessary, with a view to hearing out all the parties and charting an acceptable path to take. If the National Assembly must wade into the matter, so be it. This is especially so as the issue cuts across all the networks.

    We do not support any surreptitious increase in tariffs which is what faster depletion of data would seem to suggest.

  • Sierra Leone attempt    

    Sierra Leone attempt    

    • Though failed, the coup threatens assumptions that contagion is only French

    It was said with gusto that the coup waves in the West and Central Africa were a French plague; that English-speaking nations need not worry. French colonialism was suffering a revanchist blowback after decades of neglect by its colonial masters.

    In Niger, the streets erupted with jubilant ire as citizens applauded the ousting of President Mohamed Bazoum, installing Abdourahame Tiani. Tiani did not only call off the bluster of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), it rode mass protests to sweep out French diplomatic swagger and its standing army.

    Now, English-speaking West Africa may ponder an omen. The poor West African country Sierra Leone joined the fray of subverts and power-hungry elites in the military with an attempt to overthrow its government just voted in in June.

    The coupists, according to reports, were trying to take advantage of discontents in some circles in the country over what is perceived as the manipulation of the votes in favour of the ruling party.

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    The violence began with doubts as to its character. Later the government spokesperson reported it was not just a case of sporadic assaults and bursts of gunfire but an attempt to uproot the government of Julius Maada Bio, 59, who himself is a former army officer notorious for participating in coup attempts in the tumultuous years of the civil wars in the 1990’s.

    “The incident was a failed attempted coup. The intention was to illegally subvert and overthrow a democratically elected government,” Chernor Bah said. “The attempt failed, and plenty of the leaders are either in police custody or on the run. We will try to capture them and bring them to the full force of the laws of Sierra Leone.”

    After days of silence and intense activities to suppress and arrest the culprits, President Bio addressed the nation and put no one in doubt.

    “The attempted coup will therefore be dealt with by my government purely as a law-and-order issue, not a political, tribal or religious matter. Therefore, let all be rest assured that we will follow the evidence wherever it leads us,” President Bio declared.

    Until full investigation is conducted and facts laid bare, it is hard to say if this was engineered by the former leader, President Ernest Bai Koroma. His security guard was reported killed, adding a curious twist to the tale.

    The violence involved assaults at federal buildings, the presidential palace, police stations as well as a major jail house and freed 2,200 inmates while about 20 were reported killed. So far, 14 persons, including 13 military officers and a civilian, have been arrested, while 32, including five army majors and two captains, are on wanted list.

    The former president has condemned the coup, although suspicions have not yielded evidence about his culpability. His party and main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC), has not only dissociated itself from the rumble, but has condemned it.

    “As a responsible political party,” the statement added, “we strongly believe in the assumption of power through the ballot box and not through the barrel of a gun.”

    Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who heads ECOWAS, has been standing by democracy and condemning coups. But it seems the contagion has been tempting, even if English-speaking West African countries have not witnessed a successful overthrow in this gale of subverts.

    “ECOWAS and Nigeria will not accept any interference with democracy, peace, security and stability in Sierra Leone,” said Nigeria’s national security adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu.

    Tyranny at its best is still worse than democracy at its worst.

  • NIN and passports

    NIN and passports

    Everything must be done to sustain current tempo of efficiency 

    Within five months of his assumption of office as Minister of Interior, Mr Olubunmi Ojo has deservedly earned plaudits as one of the high-flying, action-oriented and result-driven members of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Federal Executive Council. In particular, the minister has been widely admired for the speed and sense of urgency within which the backlog of over 240,000 passports stuck at the National Immigration Service (NIS) on his assumption of office had been cleared after he had given the officers in charge a two-week deadline to do so.

    This feat showed that achieving results and overcoming bureaucratic bottlenecks to meet specific deadlines and promote efficiency is no rocket science, with dedicated and competent leaders at the head of various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

    However, despite this commendable attainment which has been the hallmark of Mr Olubunmi-Ojo’s flying start to his assignment, there are some members of the public who reportedly still experience avoidable delays in the processing and issuance of their passports. Even though such persons may now obviously be a distinct minority of those requesting for passports, the aim of the NIS must be to attain 100 percent efficiency in the issuance of the critical document, such that the agency cannot be blamed for those who fail to collect the passports within specified deadlines.

    A report by the ‘New Telegraph’ newspaper indicates that whatever delays currently experienced by some persons in the processing, issuance and collection of their passports is due to “discrepancies” in the information provided by applicants, particularly with reference to their National Identification Number (NIN). Sources within the NIS were quoted as saying that applications with inaccessible identification numbers cannot be integrated into the system, resulting into delays in issuing and processing. Perhaps a key factor responsible for this is the reported transfer of the NIS from the Ministry of Communications to the Ministry of Interior and the attendant organisational transition problems involved in the integration and merger of new systems.

    It has thus become imperative that the process of acceleration and integration of technological architecture involved in the passport administration and management mechanism be expedited to remove any glitches, especially with regard to the NIN, and the need to ensure accuracy of their NIN before submitting their applications for processing.

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    Another problem, according to the spokesman of the NIS, DCI Aridegbe Adedotun, responding to inquiries from the newspaper, is that some applicants allegedly fail to pick up their passports for months after processing and ready for issuance even when the passports are ready for collection within three or four days. 

    We suggest that NIS should reach such applicants through phone calls or text messages to come forward to collect their passports. In cases where the applicants are deceased, for instance, it may be necessary for such applicants’ passports to be destroyed so that they don’t get into wrong hands.

    Overall, there is no doubt that there has been a marked improvement in the passport application, production and issuance processes under Mr Olubunmi- Ojo; everything should be done to sustain the tempo and continually improve on current attainments so that there is no regression to the inefficiencies and incompetence of the past.

  • Wrong path

    Wrong path

    • Establishing new varsities for political capital is road not to be taken

    Lawmakers in the National Assembly (NASS) are said to be mulling creation of at least 32 new universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, with bills to that effect pending before the two chambers. But university teachers have warned government against establishing new institutions while failing to adequately fund existing ones.

    The 10th Senate and House of Representatives, which were inaugurated  only last June, have 32 bills for creation of new institutions already tabled between them. A report by ‘The Punch’ newspaper said the bills include for Federal University of Technology, Kaduna, proposed by House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abbas; and for Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences, Bende, Abia State, proposed by Deputy House Speaker Benjamin Kalu. Other bills seek establishment of Federal University of Information and Communications Technology, Lagos Island; Federal University of Agriculture, Ute Okpa in Delta State; Federal University of Biomedical Sciences in Benue State; Federal College of Health Sciences, Gaya, Kano State; Federal College of Dental Technology, Faggae, Kano State; Federal College of Agriculture, Agila, Benue State; Federal College of Education, Dangi-Kanam, Plateau State; and Federal College of Education, Bende, Abia State. 

    There are also bills proposing Benjamin Kalu Federal Polytechnic, Rano, Kano State; and Federal Polytechnic, Shendam, Plateau State, among others.

    New institutions being proposed are despite an existing record of 52 federal universities, 63 state universities and 147 private universities according to National Universities Commission (NUC) data; and 40 federal polytechnics, 49 state-owned as well as 76 private ones according to National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) data. The National Commission for Colleges of Education puts the number of colleges presently existing in Nigeria at 219; while there are said to be 70 federal and state-owned colleges of health, besides 17  private ones.

    Lecturers in the nation’s public universities advised government to forget the idea of setting up new universities and rather fund existing ones adequately. They argued that existing institutions are poorly funded, with many hobbled by dearth of lecturers and other personnel needed to properly run them. The teachers on the platform of rival associations – the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and Congress of University Academics (CONUA) – were agreed on this point.

    ASUU National President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, warned lawmakers against turning establishment of universities into constituency projects. “Our stance has always been that existing problems of poor funding, inadequate facilities, poor staffing among others should be tackled head-on. However, we are amazed that rather than doing that, our lawmakers and politicians want to turn setting up universities to a kind of implementing constituency projects. Now, every set of lawmakers in the National Assembly wants to have new universities established in their constituencies. Nigerians should ask them if they have faith in these universities, and whether they can send their children there,” Osodeke said, adding: “If we are grappling with varsities that are poorly funded, with outdated facilities and where lecturers and other staff leave in droves, how are we going to cope with new additions?”

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    For his part, CONUA National President, Dr. Niyi Sunmonu, argued that while more opportunities need be created for admission seekers, setting up new varsities without means of funding and staffing them would only compound the problem. He noted that poor funding is making existing public universities in the country gradually grind to a halt. “Without sounding contradictory, I would say we need more universities as the number of admission seekers left in the lurch yearly is too high. (But) there are two ways to approach the issue: we can set up new ones or expand the capacities of existing ones. It will be a great disaster if we set up new ones and continue with the trend of poor funding of our universities. It will simply compound our woes,” Sunmonu said inter alia, adding: “Even if we are going to expand the capacities of existing universities, we still need to fund the universities properly.”  

    We fully align with the argument by the teachers’ unions that existing institutions need be better funded rather than new ones be established. If the objective is to create more opportunities for admission seekers, existing institutions should be better resourced and their respective capacity expanded to accommodate and cater for more number of students. The country cannot be establishing new institutions endlessly whereas old ones are dying off, because the fate that befalls older institutions will sooner than later befall new ones without a paradigm shift in disposition to funding them. 

    Besides, new institutions will require a retinue personnel to run them that are increasingly hard to come by, no thanks to massive brain drain abroad. This will invariably have the effect of depressing overall education standard and reduce higher institutions in Nigeria to dumping ground for unqualified personnel who, at best, can only churn out ill-baked products. And it is worse that some of those proposing new universities only want these for political capital and not in the national interest or, indeed, the interest of would-be products. That is no way for a nation to go.

  • Recapitalisation

    Recapitalisation

    • Questions the CBN must address

    To operators in Nigeria’s financial services landscape, recapitalisation is a familiar phenomenon. Thanks to the Chukwuma Soludo-era at the apex bank, Nigerians would readily recall how banks – 89 of them in all – were given 18 months to shore up their capital base from N2 billion to N25 billion or close shop. 

    As if bent on re-staging an old play, another era of recapitalisation beckons. And whereas the terrain may have changed considerably, the same broad rationale is being pressed into play. 

    Consider what Soludo said of the imperative in 2004: “We have 89 banks with many banks having capital base of less than US$ 10 million, and about 3,300 branches. Compare this to eight banks in South Korea with about 4,500 branches or the one bank in South Africa with larger assets than all our 89 banks. The truth is that the Nigerian banking system remains very marginal relative to its potential and in comparison to other countries—even in Africa”.

    That was about 19 years ago. In the end, only 24 of the banks survived.

    Talk of the wheels turning full cycle. Penultimate Friday, Yemi Cardoso, the helmsman of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in his keynote address at the Bankers’ Dinner had raised basically the same posers, benchmarked this time around, against President Bola Tinubu’s declared goal of achieving a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $1tn over the next seven years:

    “Considering the policy imperatives and the projected economic growth, it is crucial for us to evaluate the adequacy of our banking industry to serve the envisioned larger economy. It is not just about its current stability. We need to ask ourselves, can Nigerian banks have sufficient capital relative to the finance system needs in servicing a $1tn economy shortly? In my opinion, the answer is no, unless we take action. As a first test, the central bank will be directing banks to increase their capital.”

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    Nothing wrong, we daresay, with identifying and possibly, running with the president’s vision. Call the quest aspirational– something that the banks, as strategic partners, should be only too willing to embrace. Even at that, the CBN has merely signalled the direction; nothing as yet has been suggested as to the final destination. This is where the CBN, in our view, still has a lot of thinking and consultations to do. 

    Why what appears to be a regulatory fiat? Why not encourage the banks to respond or grow organically if they must? 

    And what form and shape would the recapitalisation take – would the banks still be categorised along the current lines of regional, national and global players? Will it be a case of the bigger being seen as ultimately better? And if the experiences of 2004/6 and its aftermath are anything to go by, can we expect the process, this time, to be less disruptive or chaotic? These and many more questions would obviously be needing answers in the coming days. 

    It bears stating also that some banks are already, far ahead of others in capitalisation. So, what would happen to those that fail to make the capital base to be proposed? Will they be subjected to forced mergers and/or acquisitions? In short, shouldn’t there be room for marginal players – lean but efficient lenders – in the financial services sector?

    While the CBN ponders on those issues, it should spare time to address issues of the pathetic state of infrastructure, high interest rate, the unending tales of wrongful/illegal debits of customer accounts and general lack of responsiveness that have long dogged the financial services sector – issues that have over time, received a less than proportionate attention. After all, one major takeaway from the last botched currency swap exercise is a sector hopelessly far behind in critical services infrastructure. 

  • Data blues

    Data blues

    • Inadequate data sets back adequate planning, and stunts growth and development

    The statement by Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi, chair of the Senate Committee on National Identity and National Population, is trite: Nigeria lacks adequate data for sustainable national planning, for economic growth and citizens’ development.

    The senator couldn’t have made that claim at a more appropriate forum: to visiting Nasir Isa Kwarra, chair of the National Population Commission (NPC), leading a delegation of NPC commissioners to the Senate.

    “Public analysts say that Nigerians are over 200 million. Some would say 220 (million). Just yesterday, I heard that we are over 250 million,” the senator rued. Welcome to the rich paradise of “guess-timates” over Nigeria’s population!

    Hardly anyone can fault this statement. Nigeria’s population — no thanks to politics, fired by ethno-regional manoeuvres to corner more national pork — has always been drenched in needless controversies. On the cusp of another national head count, it is good that the Senate is raising the population issue and data concern.  

    If that alarm fires public conversations and engagements that ensure the next census is very transparent and credible, thus doing without the acrimony that greeted the past exercises, it would have been worth its heft in solid gold.

    There is a bit of the hyperbole though, to always suggest — and with all authoritative flourish — that Nigeria has “no” data. That’s not true, though that flat exaggeration is always meant to direct attention to Nigeria’s umpteenth data blues, without which no adequate planning can be made.

    So, it all amounts to stressing whether the bottle is half-full or half-empty. The one acknowledges little progress, even if the task has not crossed the finishing line. The other moans and is willfully blind to whatever little progress, which can be built upon.

    The reality is that even with eternally disputed formal censuses, technology has helped a whole lot to strengthen data-gathering on the populace. For starters, no valid or operable bank account in Nigeria today runs without BVN: Bank Verification Number. The BVN links the account holder to a verifiable data base. As a result, e-fraud appears more difficult than the days of manual keeping of books, though the e-tools too have come with the e-challenge of account-hacking and sundry cyber-crimes.

    There is also the National Identification Number (NIN) which, now grated 

    into Nigeria’s international passport, has banished the duplication of that very sensitive document for fraud. On its part, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has introduced the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which linked to an electronic chip on the voter card, has brought down multiple voting by the same person, to defraud the electoral system.

    Push all of these aside, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is clearly coming into its own from its Federal Office of Statistics (FOS) era. That resulted from the FOS-National Data Bank (NDB) merger, a success — underscored by better data-gathering — enhanced by technology.

    But back to NPC and the coming census. Saidat Oladunjoye, the NPC commissioner-nominee for Lagos State, enthused, at the Senate visit: “The population census we are going to have this time is going to be one of the best,” because, she reasoned, the NPC would deploy the Geographic Information System (GIS) — a computer system that, according to Google, “analyzes and displays geographically referenced information.”

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    It would be nice for NPC to walk its talk — really nice. High time Nigeria not only had a census without rancour, but also one which results planners can virtually take to the bank for cutting-edge planning.

    Indeed, with the present government’s eyes set on extending safety net for the most economically weakened citizens, planning agro-processing to create jobs for unemployed youths, rolling out a student loan scheme, which will keep many indigent students from dropping out of their tertiary education studies, and putting in place a credit-powered consumer and mortgage system, accurate and adequate data is critical and imperative.

    Indeed, lack of accurate data fuels corruption. Corruption fuels poverty, as a few consume resources meant for all. Skewed resources cripple the state and chain the majority to poverty, if not outright penury. So, adequate data provides simple and practical therapy to roll back corruption and enrich the lives of all.

    Still, as NPC goes about delivering a credible and transparent census, it should ponder re-integrating the diversified personal data in the system — BVN, NIN, BVAS, for example — in a single data base. That done, a population census also doubles as a vibrant economic data base, as it routinely is elsewhere.  

    That’s what Nigeria craves for the economy to find its right level, deliver growth and enhance citizens’ development and prosperity.

  • Mutual hope

    Mutual hope

    • NBA and INEC come together to prosecute electoral offenders

    Perhaps, there will be salvation for the reputation of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), if the 1,076 electoral offenders indicted over the 2023 general elections are made to answer for their alleged offences. Should a sizeable number of them getconvicted and punished, the public would begin to hold politicians, party agents and the general public accountable for most of the malfeasance committed during elections. For now, only INEC carries the can, even when prominent persons who are not INEC staff,are caught on camera committing electoral offences.

    Interestingly, the body of lawyers has taken up the gauntlet to help the nation clean the electoral process. The report that 16 Senior Advocates of Nigeria ( SAN) and 187 lawyers have volunteered to prosecute the 1,076 suspects on behalf of INEC is heartwarming. It shows that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) iswalking its talk of a promise to prosecute the offenderspro bono.

    INEC had given lack of capacity to prosecute the huge number of offenders, which prompted the NBA to offer free legal services as a patriotic duty to the fatherland. 

    Instructively, section 145(2) of the Electoral Act 2022 provides: “A prosecution under this act shall be undertaken by legal officers of the commission or any legal practitioner appointed by it.” The report indicates that INEC is also collaborating with the Police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC), in this fight.

    We commend such collaboration and urge INEC to make the best use of it. Furthermore, the NBA is vetting the files, to ensure that cases are well investigated before prosecution under the appropriate laws of the land.

    Of the 36 states, Ebonyi came tops with 64 electoral offences, involving 216 suspects, followed by Edo with 22 cases involving 80 suspects. Then Anambra with 12 cases involving 66 suspects, followed by Kaduna with 11 cases and 36 suspects. Adamawa is fifth with 10 cases involving 17 suspects, while Kano, Rivers and Osun all have nine cases each, with 74, 68 and 47 suspects, respectively. The state with the least is Yobewhich has one case, with two suspects.

    Some of the listed electoral offences allegedly committed include “culpable homicide and unlawful possession of firearms”, “snatching and destroying of INEC items,” “being in possession of offensive weapons”, “misconduct at polling units and stealing of election results” among several others. A cursory look at some of the cases listed shows that they are not amongst the provisions of Electoral Offences in Part VII of the Electoral Act 2022.

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    Thankfully, the NBA is vetting the files and returning those outside the jurisdiction of the Electoral Act to INEC, which we hope it will transfer to the police for necessary action. We view the provision in the Electoral Offences as substantially comprehensive, and if those who make a shame of our elections are apprehended and punished, the nation’s electoral process will be the better for it. Indeed, the provisions are substantially comprehensive.

    The provisions of Part VII of the Electoral Act, include section 114 which deals with “offences in relation to registration”, with liability on conviction to a maximum fine of one million naira or imprisonment for 12 months, or both. Section 115 deals with “offences in respect of nomination”, and on conviction, a maximum fine of N50 million or imprisonment for 10 years, or both. Section 117 deals with “improper use of voters card”, and provides for a maximum fine of one million naira or imprisonment for 12 months ,or both.

    Indeed, if the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 can be implemented, our elections would become a model in Africa and across the world. But, the problem is the political class, who are determined to win elections at all cost, and do not care what damage they do to the process. Also, part of the shenanigans are the security officials, who aid politicians in the brazen acts of electoral offences. Then the citizens who make themselves available either as thugs or receivers of the paltry sums offered in exchange for violence or votes.Of course, mostly with the connivance of criminal elements in INEC

    But there seems to be a new awakening against electoral offences, and we welcome it. The offer from the NBA through the national chairman, Mr YakubuMaikyau, portends a good omen to clean up our electoral process. Once a few of the culprits are made to answer for their sins, the confidence of Nigerians would return to the electoral process.

    We urge the INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, to ensure his commission makes maximum use of the collaboration with NBA and the security agencies.

  • What next?

    What next?

    • President Tinubu must point the way forward on Nigeria Air

    Nigerians who have been anxious to know the position of the Bola Tinubu administration on the country’s airline, Nigeria Air, may have to wait a little longer. But then, the ‘snippets’ given by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, tend toward reviewing the terms of the agreement signed with the airline’s private investors, Ethiopian Airline.

     Keyamo, who gave this hint while responding to questions on the status of the airline at the post-Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the State House, Abuja, said the agreement was skewed in favour of the investors, to the detriment of Nigeria. Hence, it had to be reworked and he had already made his observations known to the president who has the final say on the matter.  

    “I have deliberately not granted a full press interview, I have heard all kinds of things going on, all kinds of brickbats in the social media, but I cannot preempt my President. I cannot. All the documents, all the reports, everything, we have forwarded to Mr. President, the issues we’ve met on the ground”, Keyamo said.

    Nigeria Air was supposed to be Nigeria’s flag bearer. Its name and logo were unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show in the United Kingdom in July 2018. Not a few wondered why the unveiling had to be done in a foreign land. That it was billed to begin operations on May 26, 2023, three days to the exit of the Buhari administration, was another puzzle. 

     And, when, on the D-Day the airline was eventually launched, after several postponements, it turned out to be a bundle of embarrassment. But President Buhari launched the controversial Nigeria Air in equally controversial circumstances. Even though the Ministry of Aviation claimed the airline was only unveiled and not launched, we knew this was mere semantics. How many times would it be unveiled after the Fanborough unveiling? Anyway, the launching, or unveiling, was the highpoint of the shenanigans that had dogged the airline.

    In the first place, Nigeria Air had no aircraft of its own. It therefore had to get Ethiopian Airline to paint one of its aircraft in Nigeria’s logo, to make it look like an authentic Nigeria Air aircraft. Many Nigerians saw through the deception.

    Moreover, as at the time it was launched, the airline had also failed to secure Air Operating Certificate (AOC) from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). To crown it all, the launching was done in spite of a court order that it be put on hold, pending the determination of the substantive suit on the project.

    After failing to fly despite the so-called unveiling, Ethiopian Airline gave a new take-off date of October, with eight aircraft and 12 wet-leased aircraft from Boeing.

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    Given the circumstances of its conception and ‘still-birth’, it would have been a miracle if the project, in which Ethiopian Airline had 49 per cent stake, Nigerian private investors — SAHCO, MRS and other institutional investors — 46 per cent, and the Federal Government, five per cent, had been able to fly. 

    We agree with the aviation and aerospace development minister that the five-year tax waiver which the airline got was unfair advantage over existing airlines. We also agree with him that ceding of the appointments of employees at all levels to the Ethiopian investors was detrimental to Nigeria’s interest. 

    We therefore urge President Tinubu to scrutinise the file passed to his table and, if necessary, bring in experts to advise him on the way forward. Nigeria has suffered too much embarrassment on this matter. Aside the ones already pointed out, Ethiopian Airline only recently came out to say that Nigeria came begging to get it involved in the project.

    Enough is enough. A country our size, with all the potential in air travel, does not need to be so ridiculed just because we want to have a flag bearer.

    As a matter of fact, we call for a thorough probe of everything that pertains to Nigeria Air. Nigerians want to know the truth, the whole truth on this project. Who played what role in the entire saga. It is only when these are ascertained that we can know fully the next step to take.