The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Prodigalfest

    Prodigalfest

    • Lawmakers’ arguments for insisting on procuring exotic vehicles do not fly

    Like a bull, lawmakers in the National Assembly (NASS) are charging on with procurement of exotic vehicles for themselves amidst stringent dictates of the current state of the Nigerian economy. In the last week, the Senate outed with its own confirmation and spirited defence of the procurement, following after the House of Representatives that had earlier mounted a similar defence against public criticisms. But the red chamber, just like the green chamber did, plied arguments that betrayed crass insensitivity to the prevailing mood of the nation.

    The Senate justified procurement of 2023 model Toyota Landcruiser Sports Utility Vehicles at a reported cost of N160million apiece for 107 senators, with Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin treated to upper-the-ladder bulletproof vehicles. Senate Committee on Services Chairman Sunday Karimi told journalists in Abuja that criticisms of the deal were uncalled for, and proffered three major planks of defence that we interrogate following. 

    Senator Karimi said lawmakers needed the vehicles for their operations and they were doing nothing different from what obtained in other arms and tiers of government. He dared critics to beam their searchlight on ministers and members of state assemblies, saying: “Somebody that is a minister has more than three Landcruisers, Prado and other vehicles and you are not asking them questions. Why us? The issue of buying vehicles for National Assembly members… You know, it is a reccurring issue. It occurs every assembly, it will always come up.” He further argued that even state legislators enjoy such perk: “If you go to state houses of assembly today, check out most of them. Before they are even inaugurated, the governor would have bought vehicles for them – even local government chairmen. I drive the vehicle my local government chairman uses. So, why the National Assembly?” Note: the House of Representatives earlier plied a similar line of argument through its spokesman, Akin Rotimi.

    But argument by comparison fails the test of logic when you consider role differences between the government arms, and the scale of expenditure involved. The NASS has 469 members comprising 109 members in the Senate and 360 in the House of Representatives, all of whom are being provided with mint vehicles.

    As for ministers, the volume of procurement isn’t faintly comparable. And there is the factor of ministers being executives required by routine job description to go on the road, whereas the lawmakers’ primary duty locations are the legislative chambers, while oversight functions and constituency outreaches are occasional functions. The need for lawmakers to put vehicles on the road is not as compelling as for ministers. Besides, ministers do not work on the field in groups, unlike lawmakers who go on oversight duties in groups and could well use pool buses.

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    But all these do not justify vehicle procurement binge, even by the Executive arm. We have argued before that the present cramps in the economy are such that have foisted hardships on majority of Nigerians, mandating belt-tightening sacrifices. Leadership is best shown by example, and wherever public expenditure is not guided by economic hardships currently faced by most Nigerians – whether it be in the Executive arm or wherever else – it is offensive to public sensibility and unbecoming of expectations from leadership.

    Besides, the NASS has the constitutional power of budget appropriation that can be wielded in curtailing perceived wastefulness in all the arms of government. It is for this same reason the argument insinuating witch-hunt of NASS members at every assembly session is invalid, because there is far more tenuous ground for procurement by this 10th assembly than any assembly before it, given the dire straits of the economy presently. We are here talking of peer review. It is because the NASS itself sees nothing wrong in this insensitive procurements that it is not able to check others with similar appetite.

    Neither can the comparison with sub-nationals hold. It simply isn’t time for vanity match!

    Another plank of the defence by the Senate spokesman is that the leaderships of the two NASS chambers decided to buy high-end (foreign-built) luxury cars for lawmakers because they want vehicles that will not only be able to endure Nigerian roads, but also easily maintainable in the next four years. “These vehicles that you see… Go to Nigerian roads today. If I go home once to my senatorial district, I come back spending a lot on my vehicles because our roads are bad.” According to him, the Senate settled for Toyota Landcruiser against a domestic brand after comparative analysis of costs, technical issues and durability on Nigeria roads. “We want something that we can maintain for another four years. It is not the decisions of the senators alone, we did an analysis before arriving at Landcruiser,” he said.

    To this, one would say it should be a huge shame to NASS that its budget appropriations and oversight on budget implementation over the years have only produced such state of infrastructure as was described. It is more shameful that the response the institution thought fitting is to starve the Nigerian economy of needed lifeline, were the vehicles being procured to be from Nigerian producers. Domestic automobile producers have openly remonstrated the loss in the lawmakers not keeping the funds laid out on the massive procurement within the Nigerian economy when they could have done so – even if sacrificially – and thereby strengthen local capacity, boost employment opportunities and save foreign exchange, among other gains. NASS members apparently were mindful of their own convenience rather than potential overall benefits for Nigeria’s economy. We could ask, for instance, what the lawmakers envision for the domestic automobile industry if most Nigerians simply opt for foreign brands as they could afford because of the roads; or conversely, the fate of citizens that NASS members represent but who cannot escape from the poor state of infrastructure into the bubble of foreign-built mint SUVs.

    One more plank of the defence is the product cost. Senator Karimi said NASS had an outstanding liability of more than N16billion dating back from past assemblies and, for that reason, the supplier couldn’t but build margins beyond the prevailing market rate into the cost of the vehicles. He told journalists: “You know, I am the chairman of service committee. When I came into the Senate, when they gave me their liability, they have a liability of over N16billion that is made up of different things, including vehicles for 7th assembly, 8th and 9th assemblies. If you are a businessman and you supply vehicles for somebody in 2014 or 2015 or so, and up till now they are owing you… I am not trying to defend anybody. If you see them selling… If a Landcruiser in the market, let’s say it is A cost, you don’t expect somebody that will supply it to supply it at the price they are selling it in the market. It has to leave a margin and in the civil service, for supply they allow for 25 percent margin, plus that and VAT, and I think that VAT is 7.5 (percent). Out of that 25 percent margin, they will still remove five percent tax.” He explained that delay in payment warrants building in the margin, saying: “You are telling someone to supply and you may even not end up making payment for three years, and you want him to supply at the price they are selling in the market? It is not possible.”

    A question to ask the lawmakers is whether they would be keen to make the procurement respectively from their personal purses if they were not being funded from the national purse. Sages have argued that the true test of the value of a thing is whether you would care to procure at personal cost rather than be gifted.

     Part of the reason for zero sum political culture in our clime are the perks appropriated in public office, but which may not be accessible in private life. But ethical decency dictates that people should not preen themselves from the common purse with what they would not even hazard from their private purse. And it is instructive that despite partisan differences of NASS members, there is solid unanimity on benefitting from the proposed procurement.

    The Legislature, of course, is an independent arm of government that can’t be dictated to by the Executive branch. But if lawmakers insist on carrying through with this giddy binge, it wouldn’t be out of place for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to work at moral dissuasion through political party channels.

     It is high time this insensitivity was stopped from above. The feeling that it would forever continue like this is definitely misplaced. Public officials should not push Nigerians to the wall through their insatiable appetite for exotic vanities with negative consequences for the economy, and especially at a time that ordinary Nigerians are being asked to make sacrifices for the country.

  • Incredibly brutal

    Incredibly brutal

    • Those who flogged 19-year-old student to death must not go scot free

    Just as well that the Kaduna State Police Command has arrested the Principal and Vice Principal of Al-azhar Academy, a private secondary school in Zaria, Kaduna State, for the alleged killing of a student of the school, Marwanu Nuhu-Sambo, on Oct. 20. Nuhu-Sambo was allegedly flogged to death, for absconding from school.

    The acting police public relations officer, Kaduna, ASP Mansur Hassan, said more arrests would be made as investigation progressed.

    It is unfortunate that the poor boy had to lose his life over this incident. It is just another bad example of how life could be nasty, brutish and short in the country. It is bad that a student would refuse to go to school, no doubt, but the solution does not lie in flogging him to death.

    The narratives seem too real to be believed. That Nuhu-Sambo, a 19-year-old JSS 3 (Basic 9) student could be so maliciously treated ostensibly for absenteeism from school, beggars belief.

    His sister, Rukayya, said it was an uncle that took him back to school on the fateful day,  after he had said he would not return there because he failed his promotional examination and did not want to repeat the class. According to the sister, the uncle handed him over to the principal who flogged him after the man had left. The vice principal then took him to the assembly ground where the flogging continued in the presence of the other students, apparently so they could see the fate that awaits them if they played truancy. His school mates said he was given 100 lashes on the assembly ground.

     As if the flogging was not enough, the boy was returned to the principal’s office for another round of flogging. The victim wanted to run away but was prevented by some of the school prefects. He was said to have lost some teeth in the process and subsequently went into coma.

    Rather than rush him to a hospital, they dumped him near the school toilet until after school hours before taking him to a nearby hospital, only to be told that he had died.

    The school owners promptly dissociated themselves from the incident. But they can only be exonerated if that was the first time such a thing had happened in the school.

    It is however gratifying that the Kaduna State government has shut down the school. A statement signed by the Director-General of the Kaduna State Schools Quality Assurance Authority (KSSQAA), Dr Usman Abubakar, said “In the interim, guided by the provisions of its Establishment Act (amended 2015), the KSSQAA has closed down Al-Azhar Academy, Zaria, and the school premises remain sealed pending the outcome of the investigation.”

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    This may seem belated but it is still good that it has happened. Without prejudice to whatever investigation the police or the school authority is doing, it does not seem to us that the harsh and inhuman corporate punishment administered on the victim was the first of such brutality in the school. It has only turned out to be the one to attract negative publicity to it because life is now involved. We would be glad to be proved wrong.

    We said Kaduna State’s closure of the school is somewhat belated advisedly. Many states do not have inspectors like in the olden days, who would pay random and unannounced visits to schools to assess them. That is why the state governments are almost always reacting after the deed had been done. The fact of the matter is that many of these schools, particularly the privately-owned ones, are substandard in virtually all respects. Their teachers, including principals, are miserably paid and they often take this out on the students.

    We commiserate with the boy’s parents and other relatives for this irreparable loss and urge a thorough but speedy investigation of the incident. All those involved must be prosecuted. Those of them who are still minors should be remanded. Such brutality must become a thing of the past, not only in schools, but in the society at large. 

  • Welcome justice

    Welcome justice

    • Dr Olaleye deserved the life sentence that he got for raping underage wife’s niece

    It was a good day for justice. But it was a bad day for Olufemi Olaleye, a medical doctor and managing director of Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, Lagos, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for raping his wife’s 16-year-old niece.

    Olaleye, 56, was arraigned on a two-count charge of defilement and sexual assault by penetration, offences he allegedly committed between March 2020 and November 2021 at No. 17, Layi Ogunbambi Close, Maryland, Lagos. He was arraigned in November, 2022, following his alleged contravention of sections 137 and 261 of the criminal law of Lagos State 2015.

    Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, on October 24, found the doctor guilty and convicted him of defilement and sexual assault by penetration. He said the victim was a child by section 261 of the Child Rights Law of Lagos State 2015.

     “This charge has a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment,” the judge said, justifying the severity of Olaleye’s punishment, which perhaps reflects the gravity of his crimes.  The judge also ordered that his name should be included in the Sexual Offenders Register of the Lagos State government.

    Justice Oshodi painted a disturbing picture of the convict and the deeds that led to his conviction, describing him as “a dangerous offender who should be ashamed of himself as he did not show any sign of remorse.”

     According to the judge, “The convict began to groom the survivor during the COVID-19 lockdown. The survivor, to your knowledge, was a child but you forced her to watch pornography, rub her breast, and put your penis in her mouth and ejaculated in her mouth.

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    “You penetrated her and there was blood in which you did it repeatedly. You acknowledged that you are a sex addict in your confession but came to this court and told lies. You showed no remorse and it shows that you are a dangerous man to society, who should be locked away from the people.”

    Interestingly, Olaleye’s wife, who reported the matter to the police, was among the prosecution witnesses. She demonstrated commendable courage in the pursuit of justice, rising above familial and cultural sentiments that could have restrained her from pursuing justice for her violated niece.  

    The portrait of Olaleye, presented by his counsel, underlined the tragedy of his fall. He was portrayed as “a first-time offender who offered public service and had cancer patients to care for.” According to the lawyer, his services were “recognised” by the state. He was said to have lost his business, his family and his means of livelihood as a result of the case, and had “an aged mother who is solely dependent on him.”  It was a touching depiction of the convict, but pales into insignificance when compared with his scandalous crimes.

     The special court should be commended for again demonstrating that the law is no respecter of persons. Olaleye’s conviction reinforces the message that there is no room for pedophiles and rapists in society. A similar case in the special court ended in the conviction and imprisonment of a well-known actor, Olanrewaju James, popularly known as Baba Ijesha, in Lagos, last year. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison for child defilement.

    Sadly, many pedophiles and rapists in the country go unpunished by the courts because such crimes are often not reported to the police, either because the victims want to avoid stigma or because of the usually cavalier attitude of the police to such cases.  People who are violated by such criminals should be encouraged to pursue justice, and the justice system should treat such cases with the seriousness they deserve.  

    Society’s stand against sexual offences is unambiguous, and punishing sexual offenders for deterrent effect is most welcome.

  • No more

    No more

    • We welcome the ban on exportation of raw minerals, others

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu struck the right cord when he declared that the era of Nigeria exporting raw gold was over. The president spoke on the second day of the eighth edition of the Nigerian Mining Week which was organised by the Miners Association of Nigeria (MAN) at the International Conference Centre, Abuja. The conference was hosted by the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, in conjunction with others. Mr Dele Alake, solid minerals development minister said at the occasion that it was only a matter of time for Nigeria to stop exportation of raw materials.

    According to the president, the policy of value addition to mineral resources before exportation by his administration aimed at halting the huge losses recorded in exportation of unprocessed mineral commodities.

    “The present administration has observed the huge losses recorded by the nation through the exports of crude mineral commodities and therefore has evolved a policy of value addition to its mineral resources before exportation. The policy will ensure that the teaming youths in the country will also be meaningfully absorbed in economic benches that will empower them while developing their skills”, the president, who was represented at the occasion by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, said.

    This is a policy that should have come as early as yesterday. Indeed, it is as if Nigeria is under a spell not to add value to mineral resources before putting them up for sale in the international market, despite the huge benefits in doing this.

    What is particularly galling is that successive administrations in the country often make pious statements of prioritising value addition to mineral resources before exportation, but end up doing little or nothing in this regard.

    Thus, from crude oil that Nigeria is a major producer of, to agricultural produce, mineral resources like gold, etc., the country has continued to shortchange itself by exporting them raw at rock bottom prices only to import their finished products at exorbitant prices.

    Take cocoa beans, for example. Ivory Coast which produces around 45 percent of the world’s cocoa beans receives only about four percent of the chocolate industry’s estimated annual worth of $100bn. This is because of their failure to add value to the cocoa beans that the country exports. It is the chocolate makers that are reaping the chunk of the revenue. They have perfected the habit of rebuffing Ivory Coast whenever that country tries to get more money for its cocoa farmers.

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    It is the same experience for other countries, particularly those in Africa or the Third World generally that are in the habit of exporting raw mineral or other resources. The other implication in that arrangement is the continued creation and sustenance of jobs in the advanced countries that turn the raw materials to finished products.

    It is for these reasons, among others, that we support the government’s move to ensure that gold and other mineral resources would no longer be exported until they have been processed; or until value has been added to them.

    The question we would have asked at this juncture is whether there is sufficient capacity on the part of those mining gold and other resources in the country to add value to their raw materials. The government must facilitate the acquisition of relevant equipment needed to achieve this objective where necessary.

    We are happy to note, as the government has said, that many local companies have already adjusted their business plans to the new normal. We urge those that are yet to do to follow suit.

    The whole idea is to industrialise Nigeria. This would help create jobs and boost the economy. In line with the theme of this year’s Mining Week, we must capitalise “on Nigeria’s critical mineral resources for its economic growth”.

  • Odd recruits

    Odd recruits

    • We don’t support the idea of recruiting so-called repentant thugs for security

    In Kano State, the government and the police are experimenting with a strange idea towards enhancing security in the state. It is a worrying indication of the scale of security challenges facing the authorities, and their desperation to find solutions.

    At a ceremony on October 17, the state Commissioner of Police (CP), Usaini Gumel, announced the recruitment of new personnel, saying it was “a happy day for the good people of Kano State and the police command.”  He said: “We passed out 50 youths from the 222 repentant thugs, who have since surrendered themselves and promised never to engage in thuggery and other social vices that have been bedevilling the state, especially during the 2nd quarter of the year 2023.”

    The new recruits, he explained, had “volunteered to work with the police and to contribute to the security and development of the state.” After a two-month training, they were kitted as “members of the Special Constabulary.”  The special constables are used for community policing under the police in the state. 

    Their recruitment was the culmination of a rehabilitation process that started about three months earlier when the police sought dialogue with some identified notorious individuals believed to be responsible for the escalation of crimes in the state. The outcome of the move was the cooperation of 222 “repentant thugs.” The CP said their details were sent to the state governor, “for them to be supported by way of engaging them in some life-changing programmes.”

    According to the police chief, “All the 222 influential youths that surrendered themselves were properly profiled. The state governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, who already gave them amnesty, directed us to profile them and find out where they can fit in for skills acquisition and human empowerment.”  That was how the new recruits who had volunteered to join the police emerged.

     Governor Yusuf, obviously pleased with the arrangement, was quoted as saying “Kano is setting the pace as the first state in the federation to use a non-kinetic approach in bringing down the wave of crime. This is indeed a plus to our administration’s resolve to build a new Kano, where crime will give way to development, peace and order, and economic prosperity,”

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    The governor was counting chickens before they hatch. It remains to be seen whether the new recruits will improve security in the state. They are from Dala, Fagge, Ungogo, Municipal and Gwale local government areas of the state. They are expected to be posted to their communities to boost the state government’s security efforts. 

    The police in the state have defended the idea of recruiting “repentant thugs” for law enforcement, rejecting the description of the recruits in some quarters as “hardened criminals.”  But the situation goes beyond semantics. Security is a serious issue, and law enforcement is too serious for experimentation with strange ideas involving so-called repentant volunteers with a history of lawless behaviour. 

    There is no guarantee that the recruits are reformed, and recidivism is always a possibility.  The thinking that formerly lawless individuals can help to enforce law and order, and can be recruited for policing, should  be discouraged. We are opposed to this experiment in Kano State.

    It is important to monitor these odd recruits, considering their background, and ensure that they do not stray into unprofessional paths. Their past is a burden, and they must consistently demonstrate that they are not only repentant but reformed. 

    More importantly, the Kano State government should not repeat this experiment. It should be a one-off. There are more than enough individuals with no such history of lawless behaviour to pick from, if the authorities need to recruit people for law enforcement.

  • Suffering unlimited

    Suffering unlimited

    • Governments keep punishing pensioners ostensibly in a bid to weed out “ghosts”

    A very modern government comes up with measures to make life better for senior citizens. This is in appreciation of the fact that the youth of today, today’s leaders, are tomorrow’s senior citizens. Many have become frail and have very little resources to take care of their needs.

    Pensioners who worked in the public service for decades deserve better attention. They have been left behind in a series of wage reviews such that the paltry sum they are paid can hardly feed them in old age, let alone care for their medical needs, compounded by old age.

    The worse experience is that the old men and women in most states are required to travel to the capital city to verify the authenticity of their documents. This is palpably insensitive and barbaric as the senior citizens are usually kept standing on verification queues.

    There are so many ways this could have been done better. First, if the biometrics have to be freshly captured so many times, couldn’t the exercise be decentralised to the various local government areas, or spread over days?

    Second, couldn’t more hands be engaged to cut down the hours it would take to ensure that they are attended to? Many are known not only to have collapsed owing to exhaustion, some actually died in the process. The younger workers now in charge could not even ensure that medical personnel are on hand to attend to those who may have medical conditions.

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    It is difficult to understand that in the 21st century Nigeria people have to congregate at a centre to capture their biometrics. These retirees are no longer paid by hand, but through their bank accounts. As such, their fingerprints and facial appearance could be verified through their bank verification numbers. It is thus sheer punishment to take them through such laborious process.

    More than a decade after the Pension Reform Act was enacted, very little has changed as most state governments and even sections of the private sector have been reluctant to embrace the contributory pension scheme. Where companies have enrolled their workers, they are not faithful in remitting the deductions.

    We call on the Federal Government to take the lead in boosting the welfare of the retired workers. The law should be fully applied against those who fail to ensure that remittance is made promptly and regularly.

    Last week Monday’s collapse of three retirees who had filed out to be captured by the consultant engaged by the Osun State government was one shameful episode too many.

     Unless dignifying measures are taken, even the palliative measures introduced to relieve the economic pains in the country could as well compound the difficulties being experienced by retirees as they would again be made to travel long distances and lined up to be counted before they can receive what is promised them.

    Trade unions have a duty to speak out for the old men and women whose voices have become muffled. Where employers of labour, especially governments continue to trample on old employees’ rights, the union leaders and activists should rise up nationwide to demand better life for them.

  • Unethical conduct

    Unethical conduct

    • Lagos govt in order for closing down hospital that transfused unscreened blood

    The closure of a private hospital located in Ago-Okota, Oshodi-Isolo Local Council Area of Lagos State, for engaging in unhealthy and unwholesome practice of collecting and transfusing unscreened blood to unsuspecting patients, raises a public health concern in that sector. The Executive Secretary of Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service (LSBTS), Dr Bodunrin Osikomaiya, stated: “Following the tip off, and after thorough investigations, the enforcement teams of LSBTS and HEFAMAA, during their joint monitoring exercise in the area, visited the facility and confirmed to be true, the unwholesome, unprofessional and unethical medical practices and conduct of the hospital management.” 

    We hope this discovery would wake-up the two organisations to engage in robust monitoring of hospitals that offer blood transfusion in the state. Presently, there is insignificant presence of LSBTS and State Health Facilities Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA) with regards to efficient blood transfusion facilities across the states, and many hospitals lack the basic facilities required for testing blood before transfusion. Patients admitted into hospitals find it difficult to access blood as a matter of routine, and when blood transfusion is needed urgently, the cost and access become excruciating.

    So, we commend the action of LSBTS and HEFAMAA considering the health implications of the action of the hospital. According to Dr Osikomaiya, the “facility was sealed for contravening the provision of the Blood Transfusion Service law, specifically, law 10, item 31, which states that no person within Lagos State shall transfuse blood into a patient unless such blood has been screened, tested, labelled by the state blood transfusion committee, and found to be negative for all transmissible diseases including HIV I and II, Hepatitis B and C, Syphilis and any other disease as may be deemed necessary by LSBTS,”    

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    We agree that it is extremely dangerous to transfuse unscreened blood into a patient. As Dr Osikomaiya noted, the health implications are far-reaching, as the patient could get exposed to diseases far more complicated and challenging than the reason for which he/she came to the hospital. Imagine if a pregnant woman who merely has shortage of blood is transfused with unscreened blood and she becomes infested with HIV I or II, or Hepatitis B or C, or Syphilis or any other communicable disease. Again, imagine that an accident victim could suffer similar faith, which will further compound the challenge.

    So, we ask for a robust blood transfusion programme in the health sector. The hospitals, whether primary, general or tertiary, should inculcate blood banks as part of their services. Such blood banks should also be available for private hospitals to access. Where such services exist, private hospitals would have less temptation to engage in unwholesome practices. Where private hospitals wish to invest in blood banks, the LSBTS and HEFAMAA must ensure that they meet high standards, including the capacity to screen bloods saved in their blood banks before it is sold to the public.  

    Nigerians are not properly educated about the need to regularly donate blood, perhaps because of the mistrust of government institutions. We urge the creation of strong social awareness on the need to donate blood. But the trust would only come if there is transparency in handling donated blood.

    Again, government should encourage private institutions and bodies to build and manage blood banks as social investment. To achieve that, the statistical needs of the state with respect to blood must be in the public domain.

    While dealing with infractions as happened to the hospital in Ago-Okota, is essential to maintain public health, the more important challenge is the provision of blood banks for patients to have access to screened, safe blood. Where a gap exists, patients and their beloved ones would be tempted to patronise unsafe sources.

  • A welcome reversal

    A welcome reversal

    • Forex restrictions on 43 items did not achieve desired results

    It is perhaps understandable that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) announcement lifting the restriction on the 43 items prohibited, in 2015, from accessing foreign exchange (FX) from the official foreign exchange windows would generate a measure of disquiet. Coming eight years since the apex bank decided that the items for which the country ordinarily possesses local comparative advantage in production should have no place in the official forex allocation mix, the decision would ordinarily seem typical of the policy somersaults for which the country is renowned.

    Vice-Chairman of Basic Metal, Iron and Steel Products Sector of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Lekan Adewoye, puts the matter succinctly: “Some of our members, who have invested in backward integration will now start to regret this move because everyone who can access forex will claim to be an importer, forcing sincere manufacturers to close shop, thus increasing the number of jobless persons”.

    He continues: “Nigerian manufacturers don’t really have any competitive advantage over those in other developing countries. At best, what you have is competitive parity, because something has to be an advantage if your competitors don’t have it. And the little incentive that the government has provided is now being removed by the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

    The apprehensions of the manufacturers are understandably hinged on three grounds. The danger of collapsing the advantage hitherto enjoyed by the local producers, thus putting their very survival at stake; the distinct possibility of the gains of the past eight years being eroded as producers and importers will have the same unfettered access to the official forex market; and the grim possibility of factory closures and increased unemployment from unfair competition.

    But then, the position of the apex bank is no less persuasive. It says it wants to “promote orderliness and professional conduct by all Nigerian foreign exchange market participants to ensure market forces determine exchange rates on a willing buyer – willing seller principle. And that it wants to “ensure price stability and is seeking to boost liquidity in the Nigerian foreign exchange market. As liquidity improves, we expect the distortions to moderate.” And finally, that the removal would “make monetary policies effective, reduce the inflation rate and eliminate the need for importers of these products to go to the parallel market”.

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    Painful as it may sound, the truth is that the forex restriction policy has largely failed to deliver on its advertised objectives. Popular as the restriction was at inception, it was more of a psychological thing. In other words, any claimed boost in local outputs in the selected items would seem more apparent than real. Today, we know that inflation is still on the rampage, so has the demand for forex, even for those excluded items gone on uncurbed. And as the CBN is wont to argue, forex demand for the excluded items, merely shifted to the parallel market while the exclusion lasted.

    Yes, forex exclusion might have served the interest of MAN and other bodies while it lasted; the real question is – has it served its advertised cause of boosting domestic capacity, bringing down the prices of the affected goods and by so doing giving the importers a run for their money? The answer of course is in the negative. What about the distortions in the forex management which the apex bank also alluded to? Are they not also valid?

    It would seem that MAN and those opposed to the latest CBN move are only focused on the symptom rather than the malaise. The fundamental problem here is forex scarcity which the apex bank has little or no control over. Clearly, if the argument by MAN is that local businesses deserve special protections given the odds so clearly stacked against them, there can be no argument against that. In fact, the issue cannot be overstated: the sector needs all the help that it can get. MAN and others surely have a bounden duty to properly articulate and channel such issues that concern them to the fiscal authorities for attention.

    But their fixation with the apex bank would in the circumstance appear utterly misplaced. Surely, there can be little or no arguments about the current move to reset the apex bank, to restore it to its core mandate of monetary policy management. Surely, it is the way to go if only to ensure a more stable macro-economic environment that the economy badly needs.

  • CVCNU at 60

    CVCNU at 60

    • The committee is trying but there is room for improvement

    Although the Committee Of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU) turned 60 years in October, last year, it could not roll out the drums due to the then strike in public universities in the country. The eight-month strike, which began on February 14, 2022, ended on October 14, 2022, the very day the committee turned 60. Little wonder the committee says it is desirous of a situation where the country would never again witness such disengagement of academic activities in our universities.

    Mercifully, the 60th anniversary celebration was finally held penultimate week in Abuja.

    Speaking at a press briefing to mark the diamond jubilee of the committee, its secretary-general, Prof Yakubu Aboki Ochefu, told the story of how it all began: “On the 14th of October 1962, five gentlemen assembled in the Office of Dr Kenneth O. Dike, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, for what we can now say was the inaugural meeting of what came to be known as the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities. The other gentlemen were; Professor Norman Alexander, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1962-1966), Dr George Marion Johnson, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (1960-1964), Professor Oladele Adebayo Ajose, University of Ife (1962-1966), Professor Eni Njoku, University of Lagos (1962-1965).”

    CVCNU started as the umbrella organisation for vice-chancellors of federal universities in Nigeria. However, today, vice-chancellors of states and private universities that have been accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC) are now automatic members of the committee. Its mission is “To be a veritable platform for Nigerian Universities for the attainment of academic excellence through cooperation and exchange of ideas”. And vision: ‘’To provide a focus of academic leadership through which bold initiatives can be taken on matters concerning university education.

    In short, CVCNU is a platform for discussing common issues such as inter-university cooperation, administrative and academic practices, maintenance of academic standards, staff recruitment and exchange, sporting competitions, students’ affairs, etc.

    So, if the committee is to be assessed, it has to be along these parameters. Without doubt, not much is known about the CVCNU, but Prof. Ochefu disclosed some of the achievements of the committee. According to him, some major policy initiatives that have been witnessed in the education sector are products of the committee. These include harmonisation of universities’ academic calendar, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Scheme, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), improvement of the welfare of university personnel, predatory journals to promote good journal practices in the university system and the minimum academic benchmark and core curriculum of the university system.

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     Ochefu added that ‘We also provide international collaborations, peer review, case studies and exchange of ideas with other universities across the world to benchmark our successes and challenges, especially with universities with longer histories of up to 700 years”.

    “You can see that in the past 60 years, CVCNU has been working quietly at the background for the Nigeria university system,” he said.

    What all of these would suggest is that CVCNU is a silent worker because the country has had one thing or the other to benefit from these areas of intervention by the committee.

    But there is always room for improvement. We still have the issue of cultism in several universities. Sex-for-mark is still very much a problem. Then the problem of incessant strike which has continued to impact the quality of education negatively.

    We know that some of these problems are beyond the vice-chancellors. Funding, for example. But we have also had a few instances where some vice chancellors have had to be sanctioned for misappropriation of funds and sundry misdemeanor. Moreover, the universities still have a long way to go in terms of research. The vice chancellors must think out of the box in solving these problems.

    We congratulate CVCNU for coming this far. We urge it to continue to work relentlessly towards improving university education in the country.

  • At last, a way out

    At last, a way out

    • The FG-Ogun deal, on the Ota-Abeokuta federal road, adds another layer of putative funding

    A breakthrough in collaborative thinking: the deal to cede the reconstruction of the 70 kilometre Ota-Abeokuta highway, a federal road, to Ogun State.  It pierces the core of federal roads’ decay: unsustainable funding.

    By that agreement, Ogun State will rebuild and toll to recoup its investment, though the project will be under the Federal Ministry of Works’ road design. 

    That design should sort out the road’s eventual make-up: concrete pavement, or the traditional tar — though Senator David Umahi, the works minister, never tires to push his preference for concrete roads which, he says, have an average lifespan of 100 years, with minimal maintenance.

    Ogun State mulls a N13 billion loan — a product of a tripartite agreement, it hopes.  Hear Governor Dapo Abiodun, on his funding plan: “I have held several meetings with the Minister of Works where I proposed that as a state, we will go ahead and take a loan of N13 billion on their behalf and then make the money available to their contractor.”

    “However,” he qualified the proposed deal, “we must come to a tripartite agreement among us, the state, the Federal Ministry of Works and the Federal Ministry of Finance, that will tie the process of the bond back to a financial institution as a holding fund.”

    Aside from joy from a brand new highway — 61 kilometres of it inside Ogun, the remaining nine kilometres in Lagos State — complete with trailer parks and other ancillary facilities, the funding proposal could point to a putative but sustainable alternative to funding federal roads; and rolling up the stock of critical arteries nationwide.

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    The road funding challenge has been structural, systemic and long-running.   The National Assembly once grilled the late Anthony Anenih, Minister of Works and Housing under President Olusegun Obasanjo, on decayed federal roads, despite a “huge” budgetary outlay.  His riposte was sharp and instructive: make a distinction between paper allocations and actual cash backing! 

    Failed funding will birth failed roads.  But that must be rolled back, if we must increase the stock of roads — and allied infrastructure — which stood at ratio 2:5, infrastructure to GDP, as at May 29, when President Muhammadu Buhari left. 

    Forty per cent infrastructure to GDP just won’t wash, if the goal is to turn around the real sector, deliver value, seriously tackle poverty and improve lives across the varied economic demographics.

    Also, recall that doubling infrastructure-to-GDP ratio, from 1:5 in 2015 to 2:5 in 2023, didn’t come from strict budgetary allocations — the cash was just not there: 20 per cent infrastructure ratio was too lean to fire any viable revenue harvesting.  The parlous federal roads were the stark mirror, which aptly reflected that paralysis.

    So, aside from loans, Sukuk bond and other funding innovations, as the Federal Government Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme (RITCS), via Executive Order 007, phases 1 and 2, were also put in place.  By RITCS, corporates like the Dangote Group, NNPC Ltd and others were given mandates to build roads and net off their costs from taxes accruable to the Federal Government, under agreed terms.

    RITCS was used to reconstruct and convert, from tar to concrete pavement, the 10-lane  Apapa-Oshodi expressway in Lagos State.  Indeed, by its  agreement with Ogun State, the Federal Government pulled the Ota-Abeokuta road from an earlier RITCS deal.

    If this new deal works — and all the parties, especially Ogun State, the core implementation agency, must ensure it does — it will be another viable funding alternative, in the quest for federal-states’ collaboration to fix federal roads; and give the real sector a healthy jab in the arm.

    Ogun State has been upbeat in turning that long-decayed corridor into a “world class carriage way”.  Now is the time to walk that talk.

    It is also reassuring that both partners have assured they would dispense with needless bureaucracy and paper works; and get down to business fast.  That is the spirit. 

    Travelling folks, along that corridor, have endured undue hardship for much too long.  Now is the time to end their shuttle nightmares.