•Gov. Matawalle should have reported ‘erring’ media houses to NBC instead of shutting them down

Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State would appear to have overreached himself by closing down five broadcast stations in Gusau, the state capital, for covering a rally by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on October 15. The state government had banned such gatherings ostensibly for security concerns. The stations are Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Gamji Television, Gamji FM, Alumna Television and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN)’s Pride FM Station. Zamfara State government said the stations should not have covered the PDP rally because of the ban on campaigns by the state government.

A statement  issued by the commissioner for information, Ibrahim Dosara, said the closure was approved by the state security council. It even directed the state commissioner of police to arrest and prosecute personnel of the affected stations caught violating the government’s order.

We note the recrudescence of violence in the state that the government said informed its decision to ban political activities. That the state government indeed also ordered the immediate suspension of all activities of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state is also noted. But this would not in any way give the governor the power to shut down the stations.

Ours is a country governed by law and, as far as we know, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) is the sole regulatory authority of the broadcast media in Nigeria. In essence, Governor Matawalle ought to have routed his grievances against the broadcast stations through the commission. That the commission was sidelined in the matter is clear from its reaction to the closure of the media houses: “The National Broadcasting Commission has noted with serious concern the illegal action of Zamfara State government by directing the shutdown of operations of licensees of the commission in the state, on Saturday, October 15, 2022”, a statement by Balarabe Illela, NBC’s director-general said. The commission consequently urged the commissioner of police to disregard any directive to bar the personnel of the affected stations from performing their constitutional roles.

We have seen so far how even the NBC itself had been taken up several times by individuals and organisations whenever it took actions that are considered inimical to the democratic process against any broadcast medium. How much more a state government that lacks any regulatory powers over the stations. That is democracy at work. 

We are happy that the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), the umbrella of all editors in the country, and the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON)  too have condemned the closure of the stations. The guild observed, and rightly too, that the shutdown of the stations was illegal and a violation of the Nigerian constitution and other international instruments. In a statement signed by its president Mustapha Isah and the general secretary, Iyobosa Uwugiaren, the body said “While the NGE doesn’t even want to go into the illegality of the ban on political activities in that state, our primary concern here is the unlawful and unconstitutional action of the state governor against the affected stations for carrying out their constitutional and social obligations – of reporting events and keeping the citizens informed of political developments in the state.”

BON, on its part said it received the news with disbelief: “The Broadcasting 

Organisations of Nigeria (BON) has received with disbelief the order made by the Governor of Zamfara State , Bello Matawalle, to shut down federal and private broadcast media houses in Zamfara State”, the organisation said in a statement by its executive secretary, Yemisi Bamgbose.

It must be clear by now that Governor Matawalle’s order to shut down the media houses was a resort to self-help and this should be condemned by all lovers of democracy. It is inimical to deepening of the democratic space that should be of concern to all. 

Much as we concede that the state government should prioritise security as the primary responsibility of any government, this should be done within the ambits of the law. This is especially so when we realise that governments are run by human beings and human frailties sometimes come into play in the process of governance. Government policies or directives may be well intentioned or in bad faith. Hence, the need to do things according to the law, and not the whims and caprices of individuals.

The media houses had only done their constitutional duty by covering the event and you don’t punish someone for that. As a matter of fact, the stations would have been guilty of professional misconduct if they did not cover a campaign that took place, irrespective of whether the state government had banned such or not. All the stations owe their audience and the government is adding in their reports that the event took place in defiance of the ban on it by the state government. Punishing them, as Governor Matawalle has done, is analogous to blaming waiters in restaurants for obesity. Such excessive wielding of power should not be permitted, especially as we approach another year of general elections.

•Cameroon’s Lagdo Dam has turned a vicious rod of destructive flood because Nigeria has tarried in completing the counterpart Dasin Hausa Dam

The statistics in deaths and sundry losses are staggering: 603 deaths, 2, 407 injuries, 2, 504, 095 impacted and 1, 302, 589 displaced — and still counting — in the current flood crisis plaguing many states, according to numbers that Sadiya Farouq, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, just reeled out.

Aside, 121, 318 houses have been partially damaged, 82, 053 others are completely overrun, while 332, 327 hectares of farmlands have been submerged with their entire crops washed away.  

States mostly affected are Bayelsa, Adamawa, Jigawa, Taraba, Kano, Bauchi, Niger, Anambra, Delta, Benue and Kogi, among the 33 Nigerian states currently sacked by flooding.  The case in Bayelsa is especially dire, with Anambra and Kogi not much better: with houses submerged and livelihoods buried.

Climate change is the global culprit for this catastrophe.  From Hurricane Ian that just sacked Florida in the United States, to Pakistan, a third of which was reported buried in monsoon floods, down to the Sudan, which appears now braced for yearly flood disasters, it’s global ruin by water all the way.

Yet, for this particular home catastrophe, finger of guilt keeps pointing at the neighbouring Cameroon.  Release of excess water from Lagdo Dam in northern Cameroon is the immediate trigger for the flood crisis, with a part of northern Cameroon itself also submerged.  That has prompted bilateral talks over the matter, in November, with Cameroon.

But that is only part of the story.  When Cameroon conceived and started building the Lagdo Dam in 1977, part of the deal was that Nigeria would erect a counterpart dam — the Dasin Hausa Dam in neighbouring Adamawa State — as a flood buffer.  The thinking was that should excess water be released from Lagdo Dam, its receptacle would be Dasin Hausa Dam.  That way, there would be little or no adverse environmental impact on the surrounding communities.

However, while Cameroon completed Lagdo Dam in 1982 and has since put it into use, Nigeria is yet to complete Dasin Hausa Dam, though work on it is said to be advanced. So, whatever summit Nigeria is having with Cameroon, the Federal Government knows the problem is partly Nigeria’s fault.  Having defaulted in finishing own counterpart dam, it can’t in all good conscience blame Cameroon for protecting own interest, which unfortunately is causing great havoc here.

So, while the two countries should still meet to see how the crisis could be better managed to minimise the pain, Nigeria should act fast to complete Dasin Hausa Dam, so that the floods next time — climate change appears getting worse by the year — does not catch us napping again.

The climate change crisis (and the resultant flooding and drought plagues) has again put in bold relief the inter-dependency of nature, despite artificial barriers.  To put up Kainji Dam, for instance, Nigeria had to enter into international protocols and trade-offs with neighbouring West African states, through which River Niger flows; and whose environment that dam might negatively impact.  The same thinking powered the Lagdo Dam/Dasin Hausa Dam idea.

That brings the matter to another trigger of flood crises: environmental outlawry, which claims the skulls of innocent citizens when the water level rises.  Environmental outlawry is very rife here: people building on and blocking flood plains, and environmental officials colluding in these very serious crimes for greased palms.

Besides, it’s almost settled for Nigerian urban dwellers, particularly in highly populated cities, to litter the drains and roads with disdain.  All these reckless behaviours come back to haunt us all.  If the drains and channels are choked, and water must find its way, avoidable flooding with all its needless ruins are the result.

So, while the government builds dams and enforces environmental laws, even if that means pulling down buildings in wrong places and going after in-house hustlers that ab initio compromised on their duties, citizens themselves must treat the environment with care.  

“Don’t kill the world”, the musical group Boney M. pleaded in their 1981 Boonoonoonoos album.  If you kill the environment, you kill the world.  The results are the dire consequences now staring us in the face.  Enough of this environmental madness!

Meanwhile, as part of short-term crisis management, citizens should heed early warnings to quit high flood plains.  The Lagos State government has issued an advisory for denizens living around the Majidun plains, en route Ikorodu, to quit for fear of another round of flooding.  

Still, just telling citizens to quit is not enough.  Solid and adequate temporary shelter must be made.

The forum may be sectional but the object was essentially Nigerian. While the Arewa Consultative Forum was set up to pursue the interest of the north, it does not contradict the Nigerian project, or idea. It reinforces the concept of federalism in advancing the interest of a part as part of a whole, not apart from the commonwealth.

So, when the body invited major presidential candidates to articulate their ideas for northern Nigeria, it was no platform for irredentist rhetoric as we witnessed from former vice president Atiku Abubakar.

There was therefore no ground for the following assertion: “I think what the average northerner needs is somebody from the north, and who also understands the other parts of Nigeria and who has been able to build bridges across the rest of the country. This is what the northerner needs. He (northerner) doesn’t need a Yoruba candidate, or an Igbo candidate. This is what the northerner needs.”

He also stressed his point with these words: “We northerners always think about Nigeria more than other parts of the country. This is simply because we are multi-ethnic and multi-religious. There is no other ethnic group in the southwest other than Yoruba. There is no any other ethnic group in the southeast other than Igbo. That is why they identify themselves Yoruba nation or Igbo nation or whatever the call themselves. But in the north, you can only identify yourself as a northerner because we are multi-ethnic and multi-religious.”

Even in the hire-wire ethnic baiting of the civil war, and the hours leading to that fratricidal bloodbath, few citizens were even permitted to veer into such incendiary utterances.

Yet in Nigeria of today where many are conscious of divisive attitudes and words, such lines from a man who wants to lead a multi-ethnic nation, do not appreciate the fragile fabric of Nigeria.

He was blatantly calling northerners to vote a northern candidate, as though we are running a country in which parts are for parts and the rest be damned. This is not right. We have a country designed to foster co-existence. That rhetoric canonises the opposite. It sets a part against another. He mentions other major ethnic groups as well and demonises them. He says the northerner “does not need a Yoruba candidate, or an Igbo candidate.” For sure he was referring to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a Yoruba man; and Peter Obi, an Igbo man. Yet, he would have to bring his campaign train to the southwest or Yorubaland. He will bring his campaign train to Igboland. What does he expect the voters there to do? Does he expect them to believe him or accept him as a sincere lover of all Nigerians?

This is not his first such rhetoric to invoke the same spectre. He articulated the same sentiments in an interview with Arise Television Morning Show.

So, the response from his spokesman Paul Ibe that he was only joking underrates Nigerian intelligence. Here is his response:

“For the benefit of the innocent public who might be hoodwinked by the usual behaviour of APC in telling a big lie, what transpired was a direct question to Atiku to address the Northern audience on why he should be voted for by the Northern electorate.

“In answering this question, Atiku started with a joke by addressing the questioner as ‘Mr. Northerner’ which is a veiled criticism of why he limited his question to the Northern audience in the first place.’’

If that was a joke, he took it too far. Granted it was, what we expect is not just to admit he said it but also to apologise and retract it. Up to the time of this essay, no such act of penitence or sensitivity has been made by the campaign, his spokesperson or even the candidate himself. It is disturbing that the party that has strong presences in other parts of the country would condone such a line from its frontrunner. Even now, the party is embroiled in a crisis of regional confidence afflicting not only the party chairman Iyorchia Ayu but also Atiku himself.

Atiku violated the law with that assertion. Section 97 of the Electoral Act states: “A candidate, person or association that engages in campaigning or broadcasting based on religious, tribal or sectional reason to promote or oppose a particular political party or the election of a particular candidate, commits an offence under this Act and is liable on conviction to (a) a maximum fine of N1m or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both and (b) in the case of a political party, to a maximum of N10m.’’

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has not reacted to his speech. We expect some form of official sanction or apology. If nothing happens, it implies a bad precedent for our political elite and behaviour.

His assertion also implies that there are only two ethnic groups in the south, namely Igbo and Yoruba, and that the south is not multi-ethnic and multi-religious. Atiku who claimed to have built bridges in the south betrayed ignorance about the other geo-ethnic profile of the south, especially in the south-south region from where he picked his running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa, of Delta State.

He forgets that we have Muslims in the south and many ethnic groups from Urhobo to Afemai to Ijaw to even Ibibio where he flagged off his campaign in Uyo.

It is obvious that Atiku was speaking for himself, not the north as northern groups and individuals have dissociated themselves from his poisonous assertion. We want rhetoric of peace and coexistence, not posturing of division.

A persistent challenge in Nigeria’s health sector has been the prevalence of substantial amounts of adulterated and substandard drugs that constitute a significant danger to the lives and wellbeing of unsuspecting consumers. The recent warning issued to Nigerians by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) against the purchase and use of four substandard killer cough syrups indicates that the efficient and effective regulation of the standard of drugs remains a serious problem.

According to NAFDAC, the harmful drugs are Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makeoff Baby Syrup and Magrip N. Cold Syrup. The agency appealed to importers, distributors, retailers and consumers to be cautious and ensure vigilance within the supply chain, to prevent the importation, distribution, retailing and consumption of the substandard syrups.

It would appear that NAFDAC’s action in this respect was spurred by the World Health Organization (WHO) which had issued an alert on the presence in Gambia of the contaminated syrups made by an India-based company, Maiden Pharmaceuticals, which were linked with acute kidney injuries and had caused the death of 66 children in that country. Stating that the syrups were not registered by the agency and should not be in circulation, NAFDAC said all batches of the products should be considered unsafe. The agency thus had little choice but to appeal to members of the public in possession of the listed products not to use them as well as to pharmaceutical stores to discontinue their sale and return whatever stock in their possession to the nearest NAFDAC office. It also urged those who had used the syrups and are suffering any adverse side effects to seek medical attention from qualified healthcare professionals.

Read Also: NAFDAC warns on cough syrup from Gambia

The critical question, of course, is how the illegal and uncertified drugs got into the country in the first place. It is certainly far better and more practicable to prevent fake and harmful products from getting into the market than appealing for the return of substandard stock after they have gone on sale. Does the agency have the capacity to ensure that its plea in this regard is complied with? Is there not the strong possibility that some unscrupulous proprietors of medicine outlets will simply ignore the agency and go on selling the dangerous syrups to unsuspecting members of the public for pecuniary gain? How are we certain that beyond these syrups, there are no other types and categories of substandard drugs that have already gained access to and are on sale in our pharmaceutical outlets?

In 2009, at least 84 children died in Nigeria after being given a teething mixture contaminated with the chemical diethylene Glycol which is normally used as an anti-freeze in brake fluid. The product, ‘My Pickin’, which was purportedly meant to treat teething pains in children was found to cause kidney and liver failure in the babies to whom it was administered and about 111 children aged between two months and seven years became ill and 75% died. In 2013, two officials from the company that produced the syrup, Barewa Pharmaceuticals, were found guilty by a court in Lagos and convicted while the company was closed down and its assets forfeited to the state.

But this latest incident does not suggest that over time, NAFDAC has necessarily acquired a higher capacity to prevent fake and adulterated drugs from getting into the country and being sold to innocent members of the public. There is no doubt that the agency requires better funding to enhance its operations. Its members of the staff must continue to be trained to keep abreast of developments in the sector while its organisational scope should be expanded to enable it meet the scale of its mandate. NAFDAC would also need to forge closer working relations with other security and regulatory agencies such as the Nigeria Customs Service, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) and the Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) to more effectively guarantee the standard and safety of drugs on sale in the country.

Former governor  of Ogun State and a two-term senator representing Ogun Central Senatorial Zone, Ibikunle Amosun, has blamed the exodus of young Nigerian professionals to the developed countries on the latter. The emigration is known in local social parlance as ‘japa’.

In a BBC Yoruba interview, he expressed his belief that the developed countries should think of the welfare of the origin countries and should stop encouraging and granting young Nigerians visas.  In his view, more developed countries must consider the origin nations and their own well-being.

In the last 10 years, many young professionals, both formally educated and other skilled workers, have taken advantage of job offers and educational scholarships in some instances, to migrate to more developed countries. The statistics have been staggering and the worse hit are the healthcare sector, education, IT professionals and indeed most sectors of the economy.

It is gratifying to note that the senator and ex-governor understands too that emigration is not a natural disaster that humans have no hand in. He accepts that development is up to the nationals of any country as all the nations that Nigeria was in the same development level with decades ago like China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, etc. then known as emerging economies, have all leaped past Nigeria that has sunk into the world’s poverty capital with more than 18 million out-of-school children.

Senator Amosun accepts that leadership must take some of the blame. “I must also reiterate that the setbacks are the fault of politicians and public office holders”, be they soldiers or civilians, who have been ruling us since independence in  1960.

Read Also: Ogun 2023: Leaked PDP deal, nullified primaries and Amosun’s riposte

He further noted that the rejection of military incursion into governance by civilian politicians ought to have signposted  better development since the return of democracy in 1999.

While we commend Amosun for his honesty in accepting some portion of the blame for the great exodus now stripping the country bare of professionals in their most productive years, we must remind him that in international relations, national interest comes tops as “claims, objectives, goals, demands and interests which a nation always tries to preserve, protect, defend and secure in relations with other nations”.

The national interest of nations trumps any diplomatic, bilateral, multilateral and other considerations. The countries seeking the services of citizens of other nations are doing so for the welfare of their own people, especially in the field of healthcare and education often seen as the bedrock of development. If, as they say, a healthy nation is a wealthy nation, then it is just logical that serious countries seek to invest in that sector and manpower is the pillar here.

A post COVID-19 world even made matters worse as nations scramble to replace the losses suffered and to provide better care for the living. It is therefore laughable that the ex-governor and senator feels that countries that are taking action for their own development and sustenance would hearken to his lamentations. We would rather prefer that the senator look inwards, having accepted part responsibility for failure as one who has been in public office for decades.

The senator is and has been in position that could have helped to stem the tide, at least in his own state. There is no law that says his state could not or cannot be made so viable that young professionals would not want to leave the state for the proverbial greener pastures. Why is it that there are no stories of other young people from even neighbouring states rushing to Ogun State to get jobs? As a senator, he must be active enough to   sponsor and initiate bills that can plug the holes that are leaking and rendering the system so dysfunctional that young people seem to have lost faith in their country.

The Senate has the duty of screening and confirming public appointees, it ought to provide effective oversight and appropriate the budget in ways that the system works properly. The people emigrating are not doing so because they love to. The system has failed them and as the senator pointed out, politicians are to blame because they ought to provide leadership that can make life more enjoyable for all. Ideas rule the world and they come from humans.

Ahead of the 2023 general election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is reported to have said it has vanquished the tendency to rig in Nigerian polls. The electoral body declared that no one could any longer rig election, courtesy of its reinforcement of tools and processes and recent changes in the legal framework that have strengthened its hand.

Speaking at a seminar on ‘2023 and Beyond: Leadership, Politics, and Citizens Engagement’ organised by St. James Anglican Church in Asokoro, Abuja, INEC Chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu advised politicians to perish the thought of any longer manipulating the electoral proces. Represented by deputy director, voter education, Chukwuemeka Ogbuaja, the INEC chief said: “Nobody can rig any election. INEC has fortified its portal, people will elect the leader they want.” He was alluding apparently to a public acknowledgement by the umpire lately that its results viewing portal, IRev, was hacked during recent state governorship polls.

Read Also; 2023 elections: Need for more awareness advocacies

The commission also cited the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2022 that has tightened manoeuvering room available for perpetrators of overvoting and also empowered INEC to review results declared under duress or in dissonance with statutory provisions by its field officers. “Section 65 of the act gives the commission the power within seven days to review a declaration and return made where the commission determines that the said declaration and return was not made voluntarily or was made contrary to the provisions of the law, regulations and guidelines, and manual for the election. The commission will exercise this power responsibly based on provisions of the Constitution, the Electoral Act and its regulations and guidelines,” Ogbuaja said. He added: “We, in INEC, have good news for all Nigerians: we have murdered and buried rigging in Nigeria. No voter can afford to vote more than once in any election. Also, there will be no case of overvoting again in any polling station. Voting will be based on BVAS and other electronic devices by INEC… At the polling stations, the number of votes must be based on the number of voters accredited at the time of polling and not based on the number of registered voters. The number of accredited voters at the polling station must tally with the number of actual voting. If exceeded by one vote, the entire process would be invalidated.” With that, he was obviously referring to INEC’s Biometric Voter Accreditation System device that is its latest weapon for ensuring strict accreditation of voters and uploading electronic results, as well as the Electoral Act’s redefinition of overvoting as benchmarked on the number of voters accredited for a particular election and no longer the number of registered voters in that polling unit.

There is no question that major strides have been made in sanitising Nigeria’s electoral system and INEC has recorded quantum leaps in its reformative efforts. But it isn’t that perfection has been attained or the process inviolably insulated from abuses, or indeed systemic lapses by INEC itself. By the electoral body’s own admittance, there were synchronisation challenges in its BVAS report for the July 16, 2022 Osun State governorship poll, such that it issued a Certified True Copy (CTC) on August 22 that superseded an earlier CTC it issued on July 29. The commission pleaded this lapse in its response to ongoing litigation over the poll before the Osun Election Petitions Tribunal. And that is to take its word that previous threats to IRev have been conclusively defeated.

In any event, rigging is not always targeted at INEC’s processes alone but is a society-wide malaise, and INEC can speak only of its own fortifications that aren’t necessarily all-sufficient. When, for instance, potential voters get intimidated by violence from coming out to polling units, it is disenfranchisement – hence rigging – that is outside the remit and not blamable on the processes of the electoral body. Even advanced democracies like the United States are yet battling designs to disenfranchise certain categories of voters through state laws that are entirely outside the control of election managers. And so, to omnibusly declare that rigging has been conquered is to beg the question whether it is within INEC’s sole purview to do that.

We commend the electoral commission for bold strides so far made, but would urge it to be wary of premature victory shout. It should rather keep tying lose ends and stay ahead of political actors, many of whom are irrepressibly disposed to cutting corners. That is where the real victory lies.