How far? This is the question that many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and Nigerians, generally, are asking the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) concerning its investigation of alleged mismanagement of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund (NPTF) by its management. This question is pertinent, especially with the failure of the commission not only to update Nigerians on the probe, but its seeming silence in making its findings public, if it had concluded its investigations.

Various news media had reported, far back as September, last year, the alleged misconducts against the fund’s management, bothering on violations of the NPTF Act and public procurement process.

Chairman of the PTF Board of Trustees, Abba Suleiman, a former Inspector-General of Police, reportedly told the commission’s investigators stunning details of how the management allegedly procured substandard bullet-proof vests, helmets and Toyota Buffalo vehicles for the police force. Suleiman said the bullet-proof vests that should have double-sided shields had only a shield on one side while the helmets were too small and some of the 200 Toyota Buffalo vehicles procured were largely substandard. The board chairman who denied knowledge of the procurement processes also alleged that the management had been frustrating him and members of his staff from assuming duties. The cost of the alleged substandard equipment was put at about N11 billion.

Going by the NPTF Act, the Board of Trustees is responsible for “Setting out the policies and programmes for the training and retraining of personnel of the Nigerian Police Force and its auxiliary staff in Nigeria and abroad, in accordance with objectives of the Act”. It is also to approve “the disbursement of money from the Trust Fund to finance projects or activities of the Nigerian Police Force and Police Institutions, beneficiaries of the proceeds of Trust Fund”, among others. In this case, that the board chairman said the board was not carried along in the procurements would seem a violation of the Act.

Read Also: Police extortion as robbery

In spite of this seeming violations of the fund’s act, President Muhammadu Buhari, went ahead to commission the alleged substandard equipment on January 13, 2022, even as ICPC investigation into the procurement was still in progress. This drew the ire of about 200 NGOs committed to promoting transparency and accountability in the implementation of the NPTF Act, which promptly called on the ICPC to make public its findings on the damning allegations.

We support this patriotic stance of the NGOs. As the Executive Director, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), Okechukwu Nwanguma, noted, “The purpose of establishing the PTF under the law was to provide an additional window for police funding with a view to addressing perennial underfunding of the lead security agency in the country. Specifically, the PTF was designed to provide the NPF with modern, state-of-the-art operational equipment, training and welfare, and thereby promote professionalism, boost morale and enhance police effectiveness in discharging their constitutional mandates of providing safety and security.” These are noble ideals that should not be treated with disdain.

The police force is central in provision of internal security which is the primary duty of any government. The force therefore cannot afford to work with substandard equipment, the likes of which the NPTF management had been accused of procuring. President Buhari ought not have commissioned those equipment while investigations into their procurement was ongoing. We know the daunting security challenges in the country require urgent attention. But then, fighting insecurity with substandard equipment will come back to haunt the nation.

The Federal Government has to take a cue from the Lagos State government on how it is running its own security trust fund which has been largely instrumental in curtailing crime in the state, despite its huge population. Through the fund, an exemplary demonstration of accountability and cooperation between the corporate world and the government, the federal police has been assisted with a lot of sophisticated crime fighting equipment which has made Lagos an oasis of sorts in a country ravaged by banditry and sundry crimes.

Nigerians are anxiously waiting for the ICPC report on the weighty allegations against the NPTF management. It is by diligently investigating the matter and establishing the truth that we can avert a repeat of the experience with its precursor in the Obasanjo years, the Police Equipment Fund.

• Govt’s claim that it has lost N3bn since the March 28 terror attack on Abuja-Kaduna train route is self-centred. What of losses to victims’ families?

Since the suspension of train shuttles on the Abuja-Kaduna route on March 28 when terrorists attacked the train on that route, the Federal Government has been counting its losses. Many passengers were killed, more than 40 were abducted during the unfortunate incident. Left to the Federal Government, train shuttles would have resumed on the axis but for protests from families of the victims of the terror attack and some civil society groups who felt it would be insensitive for rail operations to resume while their loved ones were still being held by the terrorists.

True, many of the victims have been released by their captors, a few still remain and the latest information is that one of them, 21-year-old Azurfa Lois John might be married off  by one of the terrorists. Penultimate week, some of the released hostages were taken to Aso Rock to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari. That was the closest the victims had gotten to the President in terms of post-incident communications.

The Presidency had been condemned times without number for neither doing enough to tackle insecurity nor making serious efforts to either secure the release of the hostages and even other hostages being held across the country.

The report that the Federal Government had lost about N3b as at the 140th day of the attack, due to the suspension of operations on the Abuja-Kaduna route is sad but not surprising. The route is a lucrative one since air transportation is out of the reach of most passengers and the Abuja-Kaduna road recently gained notoriety as the most dangerous road in the country due to incessant attacks from terrorists. Rail transportation is therefore the only option considered safe on that axis.

Read Also: Naira, dollar rate stability needs fiscal policy backup

While we regret that the country is losing so much on the suspended route, we believe that the loss pales into insignificance compared to the human losses and the ordeals of the victims and their families, and the country in general.  Lives were lost during the attack, many of the victims and their families are, and would continue to be traumatised possibly for life. The value of any country is seen in the way it treats the welfare of its citizens. We condemn the seeming apathy the government has shown in this very particular tragic incident.  We are not sure there is yet a verifiable number of passengers that boarded the train. The dead seem to have been mourned only by their families.

The ordeals of the captives have made global news but there seems to be a lot of lethargy with the Federal Ministry of Transportation under whose watch the rail transportation falls. We expect that measures ought to be in place to help the victims and their families as is done globally. We expect that investigations ought to have begun for whatever it is worth to fish out those whose negligence might have contributed to the tacky way the records of those involved have been handled, as a measure to protect other rail tracts.

While we regret the impact of the monetary loss to the country, we feel that the human issues involved in this tragedy ought to trump other concerns for now. No amount of money can equate the life of one person. Counting the monetary cost when victims are still being held and the terrorists have become billionaires seems a slap on the face and deepens the agony of victims and their families.

We equally condemn the idea of taking the released victims to see the President. Under normal circumstances, the President ought to be the one paying visits to each of those released and giving them support. The train they boarded belonged to the Federal Government and, in some ways, the government had in that instance failed to secure their lives. In other climes, the victims might decide to sue the government for damages.

We hope that rather than monetary losses being counted, those involved should step back and show sympathy for what the victims and their families have been  going through, especially those killed. Life has no price.

Passing the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE) — now SSS-3 terminal examination for secondary school, back then “All-mighty WAEC” — is a big deal.  It’s the first major academic landmark that puts a teen on track for tertiary education.  So, celebrating this landmark is totally understandable.

Yet, to celebrate to the extent of putting your life at risk?  That was the unforced tragedy at the Elegushi Beach in Lagos, where four teens, swimming to toast their success at their examinations, got drowned in the Atlantic Ocean.  But for the alertness of the beach guards, more boys could have drowned.

According to news reports, a brood of boys having learnt of their success, headed for Elegushi Beach, a private beach on Victoria Island, Lagos, for a celebratory dip.  But that itself needed not have turned fatal, had the boys heeded the warning of the coast guards.

The guards had warned the boys to steer clear of a certain section of the beach.  Yet, to that perilous section the boys made a detour to enjoy their splash.  By the time the alarm blew, however, 10 of them were on the cusp of drowning.  The beach guards saved six.  The remaining four are yet to be accounted for — and so are presumed drowned.

This was a totally avoidable tragedy.  While giddy youths would shun wise counsel and embark on a fatal swim beggars belief.  Success could be racy and giddy.  But with a bit of caution, it need not turn fatal.  Again, those drownings could have been avoided. It’s the flip — and fatal — side of youthful exuberance.

Benjamin Hundeyin, superintendent of police and spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, captured it all in a Twitter post: “Four teenagers drowned at a Lagos beach today, after collecting their exam results in school.  Take heed!” He tweeted. “I’ve talked about drowning in relation to water travel and swimming pools.  Still, parents/guardians, have a heart-to-heart talk with your teenagers to avoid losing.”

That’s a golden advice — and it’s spot on!  Everything starts from the home, all in the spirit of that good, old axiom: prevention is better than cure.

The teen age is the age of questioning, age of curiosity, age of boundless energy, age of heavy peer pressure and ultimately age of rebellion.  As puberty is signifying rapid, chemical changes in the body, peer pressure condemns many a teen to comparing social notes.

At that juncture many still get it right.  But a good many more get it utterly wrong — and such mistakes could end in life-time regrets; or a blunder that takes years and years after to correct: if it wasn’t fatal, as the Elegushi Beach drownings.

So, the primary recourse, to avert such uncalled-for tragedies, is still the home.  With peer pressure leading many a teen astray, the home should be a bastion of sound counselling and refuge of emotional stability.  But in a rather sad twist of economic pressure, many parents/guardians have little or no time for such critical parental chores.  That double jeopardy seems to incubate many needless tragedies.

Which calls to question the rationale of boys heading to beach for a celebratory swim, knowing full well the hazards and risks involved.  But if that could even be adduced to teen exuberance, how would one explain the deafness and blindness to legitimate caution, to the extent that the doomed four took a detour to avoidable death, despite warnings by the beach authorities?

This avoidable tragedy again points to the imperative of that core parental care — and for self-serving reasons too.  Just imagine the situation of the parents of those boys that drowned.  Their parents had done everything to support them.  The boys too had done their own part and passed their examinations.  Yet, at the cusp of earned glory, they died pre-mature death!  With more parental guidance and direction, such rash actions could have been avoided.

Outside parental care, youths themselves should form positive support groups, that reinforce good and decent deeds among their ranks.  Incidentally, such groups too issue from peer pressure, except that it is positive, not negative peer pressure.  More and more of such could act as some counter-balance to youth negative traits like drugs, cultism and even rash experiments, as the tragic swim.

Beach authorities too should be stricter and less liberal in ensuring that patronising youths conform to rules.  For instance, a little bit of “nastiness” could have averted that tragedy.  Better get nasty to impose common sense than stay sweet and nice, yet lose promising lives.

We condole and commiserate with the parents whose boys drowned in this unfortunate incident.  But let this be a turning point, such that such a tragedy never happens again.

The news sounded good, even if tantalising: eliminating malaria by 2030 could save Nigeria some N2 trillion in economic downtime, resulting from the umpteenth malaria burden.

President Muhammadu Buhari gave this hint, on August 16, at the inauguration of business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and the 16-man Nigeria End Malaria Council (EMC) that he chairs.

Still, as good as the expectation sounded, its tantalising aspect is very worrisome.  There appears legitimate fears that 2030 might just be another target year that will come and go; and all would still be none the wiser.

That is not entirely unfounded.  In truth, Nigeria has done rather poorly in achieving international set targets.  There was “Housing for All by 2000”.  Yet, 2000 came but there was no housing for all.

There were also the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were generally unattained, though those were a function of regional disparities rather than total failures.

Indeed the eight MDGs, signed by 189 countries at the UN Millennium Summit of 2000, with a target frame of 2015 and 2020, were to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development.

Again, whereas decent strides had been made in the local components of the MDGs, uneven regional developments have forced down the national average, thus calling for more social investments in the areas and regions lagging behind in the developmental chain.

Incidentally, malaria — the subject of a new elimination target for 2030 (eight years from now) — was part of the original MDGs.  That means the Nigeria End Malaria (NEM) project is not starting afresh.  Rather, it’s an old target being re-booted as a specific new one.  That is to be lauded and given all the encouragement it deserves.

But as the old MDGs, funding is crucial.  By the EMC’s projections, an eight-year plan to rid Nigeria of malaria would eventually free some N2 trillion in terms of wellness-powered socio-economy.  But even in its starting year — 2022 — that wellness should translate to a N687 billion gain for starters!  That looks very exciting.

Still, the all-mighty caveat: the funding must be right.  Otherwise, all would be lost.  Indeed, the past poor records were all a function of poor access to sustainable funding.  On that score, the choice of Dangote as chairman would appear a smart move.  Dangote is already a “malaria” veteran.

“I must confess that this resonates with my current role as the Nigerian Ambassador for Malaria, my role as the Global End Malaria Council and the work that my Foundation is doing to mobilise the private sector to support malaria control in Nigeria and Africa at large,” Dangote declared at the inauguration.

That sounded rather reassuring; and it’s yet another signpost that the Dangote EMC is condemned to walking its talk.  It would be glorious if they did; and everything should be put in place to ensure that they do.

By sheer statistics, Nigeria is in a bad place, in the context of malaria burden.  From figures supplied by Dr. Osage Ehanire, the Minister of Health, Nigeria still accounts for more than one out of every five (23 per cent) malaria cases worldwide, by 2018 numbers.  But even that was a near-free fall from 2010, when Nigeria accounted for almost one out of every two global cases (42 per cent).

That continuous fall in malaria burden kindles some hope that the 2030 target is not unattainable, with fierce focus and strong political will.  The Dangote committee should therefore strive to rally everyone, while all levels of governments: federal, states and local, should give the EMC all the policy support it needs.

But while the campaign against malaria rages, government policies at all levels should continue to focus on wiping out poverty.  Shorn of the poverty burden, folks would access far better nutrition which naturally builds the body’s immunity against all forms of diseases, among which malaria is a notable plague.

While rallying anti-malarial funding, the Dangote committee should draw far more Nigerian corporate charities to the cause.  It’s a shame really that foreign charities take the lead in malaria research and elimination funding.  It’s time Nigerian corporate giants took their due place in this great campaign.

It would be a charity of self-interest.  Nobody needs tell anyone that eliminating malaria is a win-win, for a healthier workforce, free of the malaria burden, would be a massive healthy jab on the bottom-line.

After a trial that lasted three years, Hamisu Bala, popularly known as Wadume, has been sentenced to seven years in jail by a Federal High Court in Abuja. Justice Binta Nyako convicted Wadume of two counts out of a 13-count charge brought against him by government.

Charged along with Wadume were Uba Bala (aka Uba Delu), Zubairu Abdullahi (aka Basho) and Rayyanu Abdul who all got seven-year sentences as well. Aliyu Dadje, a police inspector, was sentenced to three years in prison for tampering with official records to conceal a crime. Dadje was the station officer at Ibi council area divisional police headquarters in Taraba State at the time of the crime and, according to the charge sheet, he tampered with entries made by Inspector Felix Adolije of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP)’s Intelligence Response Team in August 2019 by tearing off the entry page to cover up a team of military personnel fingered as conspirators with Wadume. Two other co-accused persons, Auwalu Bala (aka Omo Razor) and Bashir Waziri (aka Baba Runs), were discharged and acquitted for want of evidence.

Wadume and the others were arraigned by the Attorney-General of the Federation for kidnapping, murder, terrorism and illegal arms running. That arraignment was against the backdrop of the killing of three police officers and two civilians by soldiers upon Wadume’s arrest on August 6, 2019, by police personnel. In that encounter, Wadume was sprung free from arrest by police officials who were killed in a hail of gunfire by soldiers from 93 Battalion of the Nigerian Army in Takum, Taraba State. Five other police operatives came away with severe injuries. Wadume was re-arrested some two weeks later by the police. In court, however, only two out of 13 counts in the charge sheet – namely escaping from lawful custody and unlawfully dealing in prohibited firearms – stood the test of prosecution.

Read Also: ‘Why kidnappers target clerics’

Prior to his arrest, Wadume had a reputation for slippery manoeuvre through the Nigerian security setup. The August 6, 2019 incident opened up bitter acrimony between the army and the police. The army explained that it was an unintended firefight stemming from mistaken identity by soldiers involved, who in response to a distress call mistook the police personnel for kidnappers and the arrested suspect for a victim. But the police insisted that the soldiers’ real motive was to free the arrested suspect at the cost of taking out policemen who arrested him. Amidst the war of words by the security services, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered an inter-service probe which eventual report (if it was ever submitted) seemed to have counted for little. Following Wadume’s re-arrest, the police issued to the public a purported confessional video recorded during interrogation, in which he reportedly said an army Captain and some other officers were on his payroll. He also allegedly said he usually paid his way with generous ‘tolls’ at security checkpoints en route to hideouts after criminal operations.

Ten military personnel were charged along with Wadume and his co-accused, but their trial was later separated for procedural reasons. They included Captain Tijjani Balarabe, Staff Sgt. David Isaiah, Sgt. Ibrahim Mohammed, Corporal Bartholomew Obanye and Private Mohammed Nura. Others are Lance Corporal Okorozie Gideon, Corporal Marcus Michael, Lance Corporal Nvenaweimoeimi Akpagra, Staff Sgt. Abdulahi Adamu and Private Ebele Emmanuel.

With all the notoriety that trailed the exploits of Wadume and collateral fatalities that attended his arrest, it is shocking that only two tangential counts against him stuck before the law. Was it a case of shoddy prosecution, since it must be assumed that the court adjudicated on the strength of arguments marshalled before if? And was the feebleness of the case a function of lack of valid accusations against Wadume, or was it an extension of his notorious slipperiness before law and order? Contrary to all reasonable projections, the sentence that the criminal has come off with is a flagrant slap on the wrist. It is not even certain he can legitimately be regarded now as a ‘kidnap kingpin,’ as he is often tagged, since that charge apparently didn’t hold up in court.

To put things bluntly, the ‘escape’ of Wadume – yes, we call it an escape of sorts in the circumstance – from heavy hand of the law smacks of another conspiracy of the kind he was notorious for with security agents. It was like treating with kid gloves a notorious criminal who had a reputation for costly toll in his exploits. In effect, the court verdict came across as a carefully crafted mitigation of recompense, whereby in fulfilling all righteousness of law, the law was fulfilled but not the righteousness. Unfortunately, this signals a boost to kidnappers.

He played a delicate role in a delicate period. As the spokesman of a military dictator, his job demanded loyalty to his boss. But as a professional journalist, he also needed to demonstrate fidelity to objectivity. It was unfamiliar turf, but he managed to perform his duties without losing credibility and respect.

Chief Duro Onabule, who died on August 16, at the age of 82, was a veteran journalist who operated in the corridors of power at a momentous period in Nigeria’s political history. When he turned 80, in 2019, he gave an insight into his eight-year stint as President Ibrahim Babangida’s chief press secretary (CPS).

Gen. Babangida was in power from 1985 to 1993. He infamously annulled the country’s 1993 presidential election, creating a crisis that led to the prolongation of military rule under another dictator.

“First of all, you have to know what it means to be a CPS,” Onabule had said in an interview.  “When you are a CPS, you are a power yourself… You can therefore check government policies and government decisions and not just be there as CPS… No!

“Yes, you don’t have to be confrontational, but you have to be stubborn. When it is wrong, you let your boss – whether the president or governor – know it is wrong. Tell him the possible public reaction to certain policy or decision you consider not to be in the best interest of the people.”

His words contradicted the belief that spokesmen in the corridors of power in the country are mere yes-men. Importantly, his words reflected his personality. He also said he had “encounters” and “showdowns” with Babangida.

According to him, “At the end of the day, he would say, ‘okay Duro, I have listened to you; I am the president.’ I would then say, ‘okay sir, so that when the public reacts, I would feel vindicated.’

He added: “Otherwise you are just there as a conduit pipe or a cold chamber. No, no, no! You can initiate policy; you can halt policy once you are near power. Oh yes, it’s a rare opportunity in life.”

The once-in-a- lifetime opportunity came when he was editor of the National Concord.  His rise to the editorship of the newspaper in 1984, from features editor, was the culmination of a journey that started after he completed his secondary education at the CMS Grammar School, Lagos. He also attended the School of Journalism, London.

He joined the Daily Express as a reporter in 1961, moved to the Daily Sketch three years later, and then returned to the Daily Express where he became the paper’s London correspondent in 1969.  He worked for the Daily Times in the mid-1970s, and rose to the position of deputy editor of Headlines magazine.

Under Babangida, the government made some moves that attracted intense public criticism, including attempts to stifle the press, the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), and the implementation of a convoluted transition plan. As the dictator’s spokesman, Onabule had a hard time speaking for him in the face of some highly controversial policies.

In a striking posthumous tribute, Babangida described him as “a man of excellent comportment,” and praised “his intelligence, patriotism and absolute fidelity to the unity of this nation.”

He remained relevant as a columnist after the Babangida era, and had a reputation for writing pungent articles on the state of the nation.   He was, until his death, a columnist for The Sun, which showed his devotion to journalism. He also served as chairman of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

He was, in 1985, honoured with the traditional title Jagunmolu of Ijebu, his hometown in Ogun State. He was also a recipient of foreign honours – Officer of the Order of Mono by the Republic of Togo, Officers Cross of the Order of Merit by the Federal Republic of Germany in 1988, and Member of the Victorian Order, UK in 1989.

He departed without writing his memoirs, which could have provided illuminating information. “For me to sit down and write my memoirs, I’m just so lazy. I really don’t know why,” he had said. It was a disservice to history.

Two narratives featured on the news in the past week about Apapa port. The first was the assurance from the lips of the governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-olu. The other was an assertion by the managing director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA). Both tell us the triumphs and weaknesses of efforts to find solution to the troubles in that sector of Lagos life and national commerce.

But the statement by the NIWA chief is instructive of how failures continue to malign work at the port, while Governor Sanwo-Olu reflects how discipline, focus and resolution can clear the mess.

When Governor Sanwo-Olu asserted without equivocation that, “I have fixed Apapa gridlock. And there’s no apology to that,” it was confidence matched by reality. He did not announce an El dorado at the place, but he reflected the major relief of the residents and business community.

For over a decade, Apapa has hemorrhaged businesses, residents and profits. The value of properties dropped. Many residents abandoned it. It was a nightmare to live in what was once a choice place of high-scale citizens in the country. Its proximity to the port gave it its value.

All that changed because the volume of activities and the influx of persons overstretched planning and infrastructure. And over the years, the place had respites but no solutions because policies had piecemeal measures rather than enduring agenda.

But a lot of that has been eased with the efforts of the present governor. Hence, he said in an interview with Channels Television, “I’m on national television. What we have done, even NPA has written letters to commend us. All of the major businesses in Apapa have written letters to commend us. I get daily video recording of what is happening in Apapa.”

But there is a Federal Government delay because of unfinished infrastructure work. Hear him: ““But the remainder of the problem is the FG in fixing the road from Mile 2 end going to Apapa. That is the portion that has not been completed; it’s a stretch less than a kilometre and needs to be completed.

“However, we still have trailers on some of these roads, because the ecosystem that NPA has set up, which is actually working, but there has been sabotage amongst themselves. Secondly, they don’t have enough trailer parks to take trucks off the roads, we are building one for them in Orile, which we have signed a concession for,” he said.

This contrasts with the experience inside the port where outbound goods wait up to five months before leaving our shores.

“Exporters are lamenting that their goods sometimes spend three months at the export terminal in Apapa and another two months before they are shipped,” lamented Moghalu.

These delays have consequences for the value and marketability of our exports.

“We don’t have exclusivity to these goods and that is why we get lots of rejection abroad,” said Moghalu. “They generally say products from Nigeria are not good, not knowing that at the point where they arrived at the port, they were world-class quality, but by the time we suffer delays at the port when it gets to its destination abroad, it has gone bad.”The minister may have exaggerated, but there is a point to his claims.

If we suffer great trade deficit, it is due to a number of factors including import dependency and lack of a coordinated economic policies. Yet, port delays play an important part in this yarn.

Again, if we have few exports at this moment, and we are unable to smooth them into the high seas in short order, how shall we handle a big volume. It shows we are not ready to be an export high-flier.

The crime would perhaps be unsurprising, even if still unjustifiable, had it occurred in one of the primitive backwaters of the world where the rule of the jungle prevails and life is solitary, nasty, brutish and short. But the dastardly beating to death of a physically challenged Nigerian, Alika Ogorchukwu, a 39-year-old street vendor, by a white Italian took place in broad daylight on a main shopping street in Civitanova Marche, a city that is an estimated 240km from Rome, Italy, a supposedly leading light of western civilisation.

The deceased, according to local media reports in Italy, sold tissues and small accessories in the city, a means of survival and supporting his family he took to Italy after he lost his job as a labourer and faced mobility challenges when he was hit by a car while riding a bicycle. His wife told the media that despite his disability, Alika was the breadwinner for the family, which included his eight-year-old son.

It is astonishing that the deceased’s assailant identified as Filippo Ferlazzo pounced on his victim on a busy street and used the latter’s crutch to clobber him to death. His grouse was reportedly that Alika allegedly touched the arm of his girlfriend in the process of trying to sell his wares to them. The girlfriend told the police that her partner had lost his temper because the late vendor kept insisting that they buy something. The head of the association of immigrants in Marche region’s Macerafa province, Daniel Amanza, said Alika had called the attacker’s girlfriend “bella’ which in Italian means ‘beautiful’ and this probably infuriated the man. Surely, these are trivial issues for which a man ought not to be robbed of his precious life.

There is the strong likelihood that the assailant’s action was motivated largely by racist undertones. The white man obviously could not bear the sight of a black man touching his woman’s hand even in the process of a commercial transaction. “Did he have such disdain for the black skin”, it is certainly not out of place to ask? To make matters worse, despite such a barbaric attack taking place on a public street, no attempt was made by onlookers to save the deceased from his assailant. Rather, some of those present were reportedly videoing the scene on their phones. Would this have been the case if it had been a white physically challenged person being assaulted? It is unlikely. The only difference between this barbarism and the torturing to death of a black man, George Floyd, by white police officers in the United States on May 25, 2020, is that Alika’s assailant was a civilian.

However, the police deserve commendation for using street cameras to track the assailant’s movements and eventually apprehending him. This is another demonstration of how technology can be effectively employed to tackle crime in modern societies. The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) responded promptly to this tragedy and has requested the Italian government to provide the deceased’s widow a good job to enable her cater for the family even as the commission’s boss, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, also thanked the Nigerian community in Italy for rallying support and raising funds for the family since the death of their breadwinner. But no less critical is for the commission to stay on top of the issue and ensure that justice is done for the deceased in this case, in accordance with the law.

It is commendable that some leading authority figures in Italy have condemned this brutal killing. For instance, Mayor Tommaso Claudio Corvatta denounced what he described as “a climate of intolerance” that had been prevalent in the city for some time. In the same vein, Italy’s acting health minister, Roberto Speranza, condemned the failure of the crowd to come to Alika’s assistance saying that “Indifference is as serious and unjustifiable as violence”. And writing on Twitter, the head of the left-wing Democratic Party, Enrico Letta, stressed that “Unheard of ferocity. Widespread indifference. There can be no justification”.

Even ideologically far-right leaders such as Matteo Salviva and Giorgia Meloni, known to be very critical against immigration decried the killing and called for the maximum possible punishment for the murderer. We hope that incidents like this will spur Nigeria’s political leadership to provide good governance that promotes development and prosperity so that less Nigerians will feel compelled to travel abroad in search of better lives and our citizens will be treated with greater respect and dignity across the world.

It is frightening that some plastic cards that bear resemblance to the voter cards issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have been found dumped on some streets. With the 2023 General Election fast approaching, such a “discovery” is bound to generate more tension. It is not enough that the electoral body has dismissed it as inconceivable from the angle of its staff. Nigerians want a more definitive response from INEC and the law enforcement agents.

It’s almost two weeks now that the news was picked up by the media and an astonished public, yet, there has been no further explanation on what exactly happened. The commission merely asked to what end would any INEC staff be involved in such an ugly development. It also said the police force was working with it to unearth exactly what happened.

We call on other law enforcement and intelligence bodies to get involved in coming up with explanation on what happened. The first question to answer is if the cards are indeed official Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs)? Second is to whom they belong and from what states. Third, who dumped them and in what circumstances were they thrown away.

It’s not an issue that should be swept under the carpet, if only to engender the confidence of the electorate and the general public in the fidelity of the electoral process. This ugly development is a call to action by all stakeholders to forestall whatever could hamper the conduct of free, fair and credible polls next year.

We expect that, in the next few days, INEC and the police that have started investigating the issue would come up with a full statement on what has been discovered. It should not be treated cavalierly. A lot has happened in the recent past to advert the people’s mind to the evil that could be perpetrated through the ballot box. The nation continues to sink daily due to the poor quality of leadership foisted on her by politicians who managed to ascend the throne either because the voters were careless or perverted the process. Nothing should be dismissed as impossible without due investigation. The Federal Government should particularly take interest in this matter as it impinges on the credibility of the polling process.

President Muhammadu Buhari had declared many times his resolve to sanitise the system. He should therefore give the marching order to the law enforcement bodies to do the utmost in expeditiously coming up with a full, acceptable report. It is good that we have an electoral act that all have accepted as an improvement on the previous one, but Nigerians should not be fooled into believing that the system has thus become perfect.

It is obvious that the problems with elections in Nigeria since the electoral principle was introduced by the colonial government  under the Hugh Clifford Constitution of 1922 is not limited to inadequacies of the legal framework. Our politicians have always found ways to break down any bulwark against perversion of the process.

The PVC is one of the features INEC has introduced in recent times to restore the sanctity of our elections. To ensure that the economy bounces back, the security situation engenders restoration of the right to life of Nigerians and corruption is nipped in the bud, competent leaders have to be elected. And, this can only come with the enthronement of the voter as king.