The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Ilorin mob action

    Ilorin mob action

    •The culprits must be apprehended and prosecuted

     Yet another case of mob action in the country further highlighted a social problem that the authorities must urgently address: the resort to self-help in the putative pursuit of justice by the public is condemnable and must be discouraged.

    The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Kwara State Police Command, Toun Ejire-Adeyemi, in a statement, gave details of “an unfortunate incident” that occurred on August 20 “at about 09:00 am around the popular Ipata market area of Ilorin.”

    She said “a woman, suspected to be destitute, was sighted wandering around the community; misinformed members of the public wrongly suspected her to be a kidnapper. In the ensuing circumstances, an irate mob descended on the woman, inflicting serious bodily harm.” According to her, upon receiving information about the attack, “Police patrol teams raced to the scene, rescued the victim and rushed her to the General Hospital, Ilorin, for urgent medical attention.”

    However, it turned out that the police intervention was too late. “The attending doctor confirmed her dead as a result of injuries sustained,” the spokesperson said, adding that “a discreet investigation” had commenced.

    The tragedy shouldn’t have happened. It clearly demonstrates the danger of jungle justice: an innocent woman was victimised because the mob acted violently on impulse, without bothering to find out the truth.

    The police noted that jungle justice “not only undermines the rule of law but also poses a grave danger to innocent lives.” This is why the authorities must ensure that those involved in such lawless acts are caught and punished to serve as a deterrent.

    The baseless suspicion that the woman was a kidnapper is a sad commentary on the high level of insecurity in the country. The mob attack, which reflected the sense of apprehension among the populace, certainly cannot be justified by rampant kidnapping in the country. Indeed, the police statement stressed that “Security challenges cannot be resolved through mob action. Rather, they worsen insecurity and erode public safety.”

    Although this incident involved one victim, it evokes memories of the mob killings in Uromi, Edo State, in March, when 16 travellers were attacked and killed by a mob after vigilantes found Dane guns in their vehicle. A viral video of the tragic incident showed how the victims were overpowered, tied to used tyres, doused with petrol, and set ablaze. The locals had concluded that they were kidnappers.

    But there was no evidence to support such a conclusion. Indeed, official accounts confirmed that the victims were hunters, mostly from Torankawa village, Kano State, who were returning home for the Eid-al-Fitr celebration. They were travelling to Kano from Port Harcourt.

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    Importantly, mob action amounts to a violation of the right to life under the Nigerian constitution. Specifically, Section 33 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as Amended) entitles every person in Nigeria to the right to life, and nobody has the power to unlawfully take another person’s life without the due process of the law.

    On the contrary, during mob actions, the mob serves as the prosecutor, the judge, and the executioner. In effect, mob action represents injustice and a breakdown of the legal system.

    The police urged members of the public to be “law-abiding” and “always report suspicious persons or movements to the nearest police formation.” This is the proper action, and should be a strict guide in such matters.

    Notably, in October 2016, a bill for a law to protect persons against “jungle justice” had passed through the Second Reading in the Nigerian Senate. It was sponsored by Senator Dino Melaye. The Anti-Jungle Justice Bill, SB 109 was formally titled ‘Bill for an Act for the Prohibition and Protection of Persons from Lynching, Mob Action and Extrajudicial Execution and Other Related Offences 2016.’ Ultimately, the bill was not signed, to become an Act of the National Assembly.

    The Ilorin incident was yet another reason the authorities must take measures to check jungle justice in the country, including investigations, arrests, and public awareness campaigns. A deliberate, planned response is necessary to stop the problem.

  • Solomon Osabohien Arase

    Solomon Osabohien Arase

    •A well read, versatile and intelligent IGP

    Following his untimely demise at a private hospital in Abuja on August 31, there has been an outpouring of grief within and beyond the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) community on the sudden passage of Nigeria’s 18th indigenous Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Solomon Osabohien Arase, at 69. Top political office holders, past and present, his superiors, colleagues and subordinates in the police as well as other Nigerians from diverse spheres of life have been effusive in their encomiums on his attributes as a police officer and a human being.

    The sense of grief at Mr Arase’s passing was no doubt accentuated by the circumstances of its occurrence as he was reportedly in high spirits, with no intimation of approaching death, at an event outside the country before he took ill and was flown back into the country.

    But the deep mourning expressed at his passage went beyond the routine societal rituals associated with death. The concrete evidence of his life was that of a highly motivated and focused person who added considerable value to the different facets of society in which he played roles.

    Born on June 21, 1956, in Owan East Local Government Area of Edo State, he was recruited into the NPF on December 1, 1981, and over the next four decades built a reputation as one of the country’s most accomplished police officers and security experts. Arase’s policing career was predicated on a foundation of solid academic attainment as he was widely respected for his brilliance and cerebral disposition.

    He obtained a B.Sc degree in Political Science from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, and followed this up with an LL.B degree in law from the University of Benin, Benin.

    In furtherance of his thirst for knowledge, he studied for an LL.M degree in Corporate Management and Finance Law from the Lagos State University (LASU), Lagos, and later also obtained an M.Sc in Strategic Studies from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan. He attained the height of his educational pursuit when he bagged a Ph.D in Public Law from the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, in Edo State. This sound scholastic grounding prepared him for the outstanding performance he was known for in a career that spanned different aspects of policing, including intelligence, operations, administration and investigation.

    At various times he served as Commissioner of Police in Akwa Ibom State, participated with distinction in the United Nations peace-keeping operation in Namibia. Between 2002 and 2008, Arase served as Principal Staff Officer to three successive Inspectors-General of Police, an indication of how highly his qualities were regarded.

    As Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in charge of the Force Intelligence Bureau, he set up the Intelligence Laboratory, which remains a key asset of the NPF. He also served as Deputy Inspector-General of Police in the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID).

    In April 2015, he was appointed as Inspector-General of Police and during his brief tenure, he introduced such initiatives as setting up the Police Complaints Unit to improve relations between the police and the public; created the Intelligence Response Unit to handle high profile crimes and banned officers from searching citizens’ phones, to curb human rights abuses associated with the practice.

    Although he was an advocate of community policing and improved welfare for police personnel, the expiration of his tenure after barely a year, in June 2016, limited whatever impact he could make.

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    Mr Arase served as Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC) between January 2023 and June 2024 and, even though he left this office in controversial circumstances, allegations against him were not substantiated and remained in the realm of speculation.

    He was a recipient of the National Police Medal (NPM); a fellow of the National Defence College (fde) and a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). He also belonged to both the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the International Bar Association (IBA).

    His philanthropic organisation, the Solomon Arase Foundation, provided scholarships in such disciplines as medicine, engineering and security studies, while also focusing on providing support for children of deceased police officers.

    After retirement, he was preoccupied with his legal practice and offered security consultancy services to various bodies, including the Office of the National Security Adviser, the European Centre for Electoral Support and the Human Rights Center at the University of Oslo.

    Arase also served as chairman of a task force to ensure compliance with community development association laws in Edo State. 

  • Another ASUU strike?

    Another ASUU strike?

    •All stakeholders should take action now to avert this calamity

    President Bola Tinubu assumed office in 2023 on the heels of consistent unrest in the universities. At a point before his assumption of office, the institutions were shut for about eight months, as lecturers withdrew their services.

    But, when the president took over, he promised that peace would reign in the schools. Since then, the government has been in regular negotiations with the teachers, to ensure that the calendar of public schools is kept sacrosanct.

    Among the promises kept were payment of Earned Academic Allowances and substantial offsetting of unpaid salaries inherited from the former administration. At a point, the President personally met with the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

    However, the union has now served notice that it could be withdrawing its services again. That would be unfortunate as the Federal Government has demonstrated some good faith. It has introduced a students’ loans fund to help the poor finance tertiary education; released N50 billion to refresh infrastructure and gave indication that it would improve on the remuneration of the academic staff.

     It could be said that it is taking so long in a country where prices of products are galloping daily. Senior academics are said to be going home with less than N500,000 every month. This is certainly unacceptable. The Federal Ministry of Education has a duty to speed up the negotiations as many professors in retirement are reported to be earning only about N150,000 after a lifetime of moulding lives, many of whom are now captains of industry and leaders in government.

    Both sides should find a common ground in the interest of their students and the education system. Lecturers should understand that the rot that has lasted decades could not be cleared in one or two years. It is good that they served notice and followed it with protests on their campuses nationwide, but they should give government some more time to find a way out of the quagmire.

    Government, too, should realise that only accelerated action would be acceptable for people and a system that have been deprived for so long. The 2009 Memorandum of Understanding that has been the bone of contention ought to be fully discarded and replaced by another within a short period.

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    It is unfortunate that the education minister has come out to say that the 2022 review of that MOU amounts to nothing as it was neither signed by the government nor ASUU.

    But why did it take the government so long to come up with this strange position? The Nimi Briggs Committee that looked into the requests was constituted by the Federal Government and had representatives of the university community on board.

    Afresh, the lecturers have submitted new requests, including payment of N2.5 million monthly salary to experienced professors. Given what was done for the judiciary, this may not be too much to accord the university teachers.

    Already, the poor condition of service has started affecting manpower in the schools. In the University of Lagos, at least 239 first class lecturers recruited between 2015 and 2022 have reportedly resigned their appointments. A former vice-chancellor of the university, Professor Toyin Ogundipe, said this in a lecture delivered recently. This is alarming and must be checked if the lecture halls are not to be deserted in no time.

    Threats by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) may be needless, but should not be easily dismissed. If it goes ahead to shut down critical national assets on account of a possible strike by the lecturers, it could affect public safety and compound welfare concerns in the country.

    Relevant arms and institutions of government should wade in now to avert the industrial action.

  • Certificate millers

    Certificate millers

    •It’s not enough to shut down the institutions…

    It is bad news but it must be understood that the shutdown of 22 colleges of education in the country is a symptom of thirst and also a corruption.

    The Federal Government said it happened across the length and breadth of the country. This, according to news reports, was a response to a presidential directive to ensure not only standards but also for symmetry of the various branches and tiers of our educational system.

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said that it has “become imperative to reiterate that this administration remains committed to strengthening the integration of all agencies involved in the administration of education to enhance efficiency and quality.”

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    He added that, “The National Youth Service Corps, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, the National Universities Commission, the National Board for Technical Education and the National Commission for Colleges of Education are working in alignment to improve the quality of education and ensure that cases of forgery and unrecognised institutions both within and outside the country have no place in our education ecosystem.”

    The announcement must have been a shocker to the institutions because they were already in session. However, it is not clear if the schools have been notified because the report did not unveil their names.

    However, whether they have been informed or not, 22 schools is no small number. Whether they were big or small, shutting them down reflects a lack of vigilance on the part of the educational authorities, especially the oversight body, the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).

    Such institutions do not crop up overnight. They often open in a public way because they advertise for their faculty staff, non-faculty staff as well as prospective students. Again, they also acquire properties and buy equipment. All of these take quite a while, and a school cannot proceed by stealth.

    Even if the authorities were negligent, the proprietors ought to follow legal guidelines, and it is not an easy task. This includes the first act of contacting the NCCE for inquiries before submitting applications. They then pay application fees, after which they will subject themselves for inspection. The officials will inspect the infrastructure to ascertain that they have the right number of classrooms and whether they are congenial condition for education.

    They will also probe the academic programmes for qualified teachers and administrators as well as facilities. Once the NCCE is satisfied, they will give them provisional approvals, which entitle them to begin to function pending final approvals.

    The authorities want to know if the prospective school has financial viability, and whether their academic conditions, including hostels, will conduce to a furnished mind. They also want to know the institution’s target audience and justification for such a school, that is, its philosophy of being.

    It is because of these rigorous requirements that some proprietors operate without licences, which reinforces the impunity of certain Nigerians who want lower standards.

    It must, however, be noted that the NCCE has been criticised, though in quiet, of corruption in that some of its officials demand inducement before approval. This does not excuse impunity.

    Since the federal and state governments have not been able to meet the need for such colleges, the private sector has stepped in for good effect. On the NCCE website, 254 colleges of education are accredited, and more than half of them are private.

    We cannot compromise quality for numbers; hence the Federal Government has put off establishing new universities.

    The illegal proliferation of colleges of education is part of the widespread mania for fakery in the country that we see in universities, pharmacies, primary schools, etc.

  • High numbers

    High numbers

    • Uptick in voter registration must translate to voter turnout to make sense

    No fewer than 1.3million fresh registrants signified intention to be voters in the first week of Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) lately rolled out by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The electoral body said a total of 1,379,342 Nigerians completed the online pre-registration process conducted from August 18 to 24. The in-person contact phase involving capturing of registrants’ biometrics kicked off on August 25 at 811 centres across the country, including all 774 council area offices of the commission and its state offices.

    INEC, early last week, gave details of the online pre-registration pattern. A CVR State Pre-Registration Report issued to journalists showed that Osun State came off with the highest number of entries by 393,269 registrants, representing the largest percentage share at 28.51 percent of the national total. Lagos State trailed with 222,205 entries, representing 16.11 percent; followed by Ogun State with 132,823 entries, which is 9.63 percent. Ondo recorded 3,426 entries.

    Others include the Federal Capital Territory with 107,682 entries (7.81 percent), Oyo State with 66,951 entries (4.85 percent), Kaduna – 61,592 (4.47 percent), Kogi – 58,546 (4.24 percent), Kebbi – 35,009 and Kwara – 33,726. In the South-south region, Delta recorded 24,421 entries, Akwa Ibom – 12,373 and Rivers – 11,314. Cross River had 4,055 pre-registrants, Bayelsa – 4,638 and Edo – 2,875.

    In the North-east, Yobe stood out with 34,888 pre-registrations. Borno had 21,045 entries, Bauchi – 13,066, Gombe – 4,103, Taraba – 2,395 and Adamawa – 2,155. In the North-west, Kaduna recorded 61,592 entries, Kebbi – 35,009, Sokoto – 12,478, Katsina – 11,004, Kano – 10,166, Jigawa – 8,243 and Zamfara – 2,947.

    There were also the North-central states with significant participation: Niger recorded 24,818 entries, Nasarawa – 11,555, Benue – 7,305 and Plateau – 6,586 entries.

     In the South-east, entries were notably low, with Abia recording 772 pre-registrations, Enugu – 484, Imo – 481, and Ebonyi that came off with the lowest overall at 261 entries. Anambra State was not listed, perhaps because it has a governorship election coming up on Saturday, November 8, 2025.

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    An aggregation of the pre-registrations by geopolitical zones showed that South-west topped with 848,359 entries, trailed by North-central and the FCT with 250,218. North-west followed with 141,349, North-east with 77,653, South-south with 59,676 and South-east with 1,998 entries. Persons with disability numbering 27,089 were among the online pre-registrants.

    INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, said in a statement that the CVR would run for a full year and is scheduled to end on August 30, 2026. During this period, new applicants as well as those who pre-registered online are expected to complete their registration in-person at INEC’s centres where their biometrics will be captured.

    The electoral body made clear that transfer of voter registration within or across states or the FCT, and replacement of lost or damaged permanent voter cards (PVCs) are permitted during this period. “Registration will run from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Mondays to Fridays. The process is open only to Nigerian citizens who are at least 18 years of age and have never registered before,” the statement said. Olumekun stressed that the exercise is open only to Nigerian citizens who are at least 18 years old and are not already registered voters. “Double or multiple registration is a violation of the law,” he noted.

    High voter registration ordinarily should index voter enthusiasm about the electoral process, except that the Nigerian experience proved otherwise. From a population of about 58million in 1999, the country’s voter register ballooned to 93.5million registrants before the 2023 general election, but voter turnout has progressively dwindled at elections.

    Official data showed percentage turnout for presidential polls as 52.3 percent in 1999, 69 percent in 2003, 57.5 percent in 2007, 53.7 percent in 2011, 43.7 percent in 2015, 34.8 percent in 2019 and 26.72 percent in 2023. The catch is; every increase in the size of the voter register statistically depresses voter turnout percentage unless it is matched with quantum increase in the number of people who actually come out on Election Day.

    This is why we hope that the seeming enthusiasm shown in the latest number of people seeking to be registered as voters translates into commensurate enthusiasm to vote on Election Day, so that Nigeria will get out of the morass of low voter turnout.

    INEC has the duty to encourage high voter turnout by ensuring increased credibility of elections as would make the electorate believe their votes will really count when cast. The commission also needs to device better ways of getting voter cards into the hands of registrants to lessen the challenge of uncollected PVCs. Now that it uses online mode as part of the voter registration process, it could as well find better ways of using digital means to ease PVC collection by registrants.

    But we also argue that the task of getting voters out on Election Day is by no means that of the commission alone. Political actors are first line beneficiaries of elections and it is their primary call, with support from stakeholders like civil society and media operators, to persuade voters to turn out massively.

    Unless there is enthusiastic turnout by voters at elections, high registration numbers will translate to poor voter turnout data that tend to impair the legitimacy of electoral outcomes.

  • ECOWAS’s 260,000 force

    ECOWAS’s 260,000 force

    •This regional cooperation is a step in the right direction; it must be followed to logical conclusion

    Given the asymmetrical dimension that terrorism has assumed, particularly in the West African sub region, the decision of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to set up a 260,000-strong counter-terrorism brigade to, as its name implies, deal with the scourge of terrorism is a step in the right direction.

    It is a bold statement that the regional body is truly concerned about the evil that terror represents and is prepared to give it a tough fight.   

    The president of the commission, Omar Touray, disclosed this at the 2025 African Chiefs of Defence Staff Summit in Abuja, with the theme “Combating Contemporary Threats to Regional Peace and Security in Africa: The Role of Strategic Defence Collaboration’’. Touray was represented by ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah.

    About $2.5m would be needed annually both to activate and provide logistics for the brigade, as well as offer financial support to frontline states battling terrorism.

    Touray said: “On the directive of the ECOWAS Heads of Government, the organisation is in the process of activating a 260,000 rapid deployment counter-terrorism brigade and providing logistics and financial support to frontline states facing terrorism.

    “While ECOWAS remains firmly committed to raising its 5,000-man brigade under the auspices of the African Peace and Security Architecture, and more particularly the Continental Standby Force, the activation of this rapid deployment force has become a necessity, given the asymmetric security dynamics in the region. We are conscious of the fact that this bold initiative requires the necessary financial resources and capabilities to make it a reality.’’

    Touray added that “There is no gainsaying that West Africa, in particular the Sahel sub-region, has emerged as the epicentre of global terrorism, with several analytical surveys indicating that the Sahel accounted for 51 per cent of global terrorism deaths in 2024 alone.’’

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    We welcome this initiative and indeed appeal to organisations and individuals who have the means to support it.

    Indeed, we also join ECOWAS in appealing to the United Nations to redeem the pledge it made under the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2719 of December 2023 to fund 75 per cent of African-led peace support operations.

    The fact of the matter is; the terror war is beyond the capacity of the regional group. This is much more so with Africa currently contending with more than 1,000 insurgent groups, according to Nigeria’s former Minister of External Affairs, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, who also spoke at the summit.

    This is not a joking matter.

    Indeed, as Gambari added, it is high time regional blocs built homegrown defence industries and technologies to confront rising insecurity. Moreover, individual countries have to create or strengthen their intelligence architecture to successfully tackle terror.

    There is no doubt that, given the scale of operations of terrorists these days, counter-terrorism forces must necessarily be extensive and consequently expensive.

    Then, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have to be brought into the picture. It is gratifying that they have indicated willingness to join in concerted efforts to battle terror. They too are not immune from the traumatic pains that terrorism has inflicted on the continent. It is important they are carried along because, when one area is safe, it rubs off on other areas and vice versa.

    We know that individual countries have their peculiar challenges, but then, security of lives and property is the primary responsibility of any government.

    What we are saying in essence is that it is one thing to realise that something is a potential danger; it is another to treat it as the emergency that it is. The earlier the West African governments realised this, the better. The regional leaders have to put their money where their mouths are and treat the threats of the bandits and terrorists as priority.

    They must pull resources by all means because if they do not kill terror, terror will kill the region.

  • Foreign reserves boost

    Foreign reserves boost

    •Proof that govt’s policies are working; it should stay the course

    It is exactly two years ago that the global financial service firm, JP Morgan, announced to the world that contrary to the $33.8 billion bandied by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as representing the country’s foreign exchange reserve as of August 17, 2023, the actual figure was barely $3.7 billion (less than one-tenth of the amount).

    The global firm had based its calculation on the large currency swaps and borrowings against the forex reserve, to wit: the “forex forwards ($6.84 billion), securities lending ($5.5 billion) and currency swaps ($21.3 billion).

    The firm’s grim summary was: “Based on partial information from the audited financial accounts, we estimate that CBN’s net forex reserves were around $3.7 billion at the end of last year, from $14 billion at the end-2021.”

    Two years after, the story is one of a remarkable turnaround.  In fact, all things considered, things could be said to be steadily looking up.

    On Tuesday, last week, the announcement came from the CBN that the reserves actually climbed to $41 billion, its highest level in 44 months – an amount sufficient to cover 10 months of imports.

    However, if the growth, to use the words of this newspaper, ‘has been particularly strong this month, with reserves rising by $1.46 billion from $39.54 billion on August 1 to $41 billion on August 19, (a 3.69 per cent increase in less than three weeks, with an average daily growth of $81 million)’, the accretion rate has also been somewhat steady, if not phenomenal.

    ‘Inflows’, it observed, ‘are consistently exceeding outflows, a major boost for investor confidence. Combined with declining inflation and a drop in commodities prices, it signals that economic reforms are beginning to yield results”.

    Considering how far the Bola Tinubu administration has come, the above, surely is no mean feat.

    More than that, however, it goes to show that the apex bank’s projection of building the external reserves to at least $100 billion to further strengthen the economy and remove the perception of fragility that has trailed Nigeria’s external accounts is no fluke.

    Of course, a no less important part of the story is the clearing of the outstanding $7bn foreign exchange obligations earlier in the year – an initiative, which the CBN governor said ‘has restored confidence among market participants and reinforced Nigeria’s commitment to honouring financial obligations in a timely and efficient manner’.

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    To the extent that the achievement is a reflection of improved foreign exchange inflows, stronger oil revenues and reduced import demand, it seems inexorable that greater credit would devolve to the reforms instituted by the Tinubu-led Federal Government.

    Surely, there is a lot that the government and the CBN are doing right and so must keep doing to boost the health of the economy. One of these is the steady ramp up in oil production. In July, for instance, crude oil production reportedly surged past 1.8 million barrels per day (mbpd), surpassing its Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota of 1.5 mbpd for the first time in months. With output currently averaging 1.78 million barrels per day, the task facing government comes basically to ensuring that nothing is allowed to hamper the trajectory.

    And, given the Federal Government’s initial 2.3 million per day production target by mid-2025, Nigerians expect to see this target realised as soon as possible.

    The other is the current path of aggressive promotion of the non-oil sector. This is also another major area that needs to be sustained.

    Indeed, with the sector recording a remarkable surge of $3.225bn in the first half of 2025, a 19.59 per cent increase over the $2.696bn recorded for the same period of 2024; and with the number of exports jumping from 202 to 236 – a 16.83 per cent increase, also for the corresponding period, the government’s decisive goal of macro-economic stabilisation will appear not only within reach, but firmly on course.

    We urge it to stay the course.

  • Steel drain

    Steel drain

    •Tinubu administration must make Ajaokuta work so we can reap its enormous benefits

    The great industrial revolution of the 19th century was substantially predicated on steel development. Nigeria, born in the early 20th century, has found it hard to industrialise, despite its modest efforts to become a middle -level economy.

    Of course, one of her greatest challenges has been her inability to get its biggest steel development programme, the ambitious Ajaokuta Steel Development Company, actualised.

    Penultimate weekend, the Minister of Steel Development, Prince Shuaibu Audu, disclosed that Nigeria loses about $4billion annually to the importation of steel products.  The minister spoke at the 2025 Engineering Conference, Annual General Meeting, Award Night, and Inductions Ceremony, organised by the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Bwari Branch, with the theme: ‘’Building a Sustainable Steel Industry in Nigeria: The Role of Consistent Policy and Institutional Stability”.

    The minister rightly pointed out that: “without a thriving steel industry, no modern economy can achieve inclusive, large-scale and sustainable growth. Steel is universally acknowledged as the backbone of industrialisation. It supports critical sectors such as construction, energy, manufacturing, transportation and defence.”

    Designed to be the biggest industrial project in sub-Saharan Africa in the 1970s, Ajaokuta (as many Nigerians simply prefer to call the project) was expected to produce 2.6 million tonnes of steel within the first year, half as plates and the others into structural steel, rods and wires.

    Fortunately for the country, large iron ore deposits were found in Itakpe, Ajabanoko and Oshokoshoko, all in Kogi State. The Ajaokuta Steel Complex and Delta Steel Company, also established by the Federal Government in pursuit of its steel dream, were subsequently incorporated in 1979 as limited liability companies.

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    Three other independent rolling mills were also established in Jos, Katsina, and Oshogbo. As a matter of fact, many young Nigerians were sent abroad by the Federal Government to undergo trainings in various aspects of steel production and they returned to take up what then were juicy appointments in then budding steel industry.

    It is difficult to say precisely how much Ajaokuta has gulped. Some estimate this conservatively to be about $40bn. And we are still going to spend more for the project to yield returns.

    Indeed, the steel minister acknowledged the historical challenges facing the development of the steel industry in Nigeria and affirmed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration has made a clear resolution to address the longstanding challenges facing the sector. He stated that the “commitment is evident in the creation of the Ministry of Steel Development, designed to give focused attention to this strategic sector, which is expected to become the bedrock of Nigeria’s industrialisation.” While the creation of the steel development ministry is a positive indication of plans, the success depends on what the ministry makes of its creation.

    The benefits of steel to economic development of a country are many. So, the Federal Government should do whatever is economically reasonable to revitalise the Ajaokuta Steel Company.

    The mega industrial complex, which was started in 1980 by the government of President Shehu Shagari was a promising opportunity for Nigeria to get on the industrial highway. According to reports, the complex was nearly 84 percent completed before the military government of Major-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari took over power, through a coup, on December 31, 1983.

    By the end of 1984, the company was said to be 94 percent completed, yet it never produced steel in any significant quantity. Indeed, a report indicates that the steel company has a 68-kilometre of road networks, 24 housing estates, a seaport, a 110-megawatt power generation plant, and four separate plants, within the giant industrial complex.

    Nigeria currently is reportedly importing 25 metric tons of steel, aluminum and other derivatives, which cost it an approximated $4 billion annually.

    Yet, the behemoth steel plant is lying comatose except for the production of iron rods.

    The various efforts by the military government of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, reportedly complicated the matter, with its push for backward integration. The government of President Olusegun Obasanjo brought in a foreign technical partner, but the arrangement was truncated by the succeeding government on the premise that the technical partner was merely cannibalising the industrial complex instead of investing the necessary funds to revitalise it. The foreign company involved alleged breach of contract and went to court.

    In his second coming, President Buhari’s government made efforts to resolve the legal dispute and revitalise the company. The Itakpe Railway Line which is very necessary for the movement of the iron ore was completed in 2020. As the years went by, the country continued to incur huge cost running into several billions, by way of salaries, emoluments, contractual obligations and sundry costs, with minimal benefits.

    Sadly, the initial tempo at the beginning of the project could not be sustained as a combination of corruption and mismanagement set in to truncate the laudable ambition of the country to industrialise.

    Like other Nigerians, we wonder what happened to the several billions of Naira and foreign-denominated currencies spent to revitalise the steel industry by the previous administrations.

    Since the advent of the Fourth Republic, revitalising the Ajaokuta Steel Complex has been a campaign promise, and despite some marginal improvements, steel production, which is the main essence of the industrial complex, is yet to be actualised.

    Apart from saving the nation billions of dollars in foreign exchange, the job opportunities that would be created from a functional steel industry are enormous. Can the administration of President Tinubu resolve the legal and functional complexities of the industrial giant, so the nation can tap the many benefits it portends?

    For us, the government has no luxury of only pious pronouncements on steel development.  It must act, to stop the humongous amount of forex we spend on the importation of steel. Indeed, for the Tinubu government to achieve its ambitious target of making Nigeria a $1 trillion economy, the Ajaokuta Steel Development Company must be resurrected.

  • SOS from South Africa

    SOS from South Africa

    It is the duty of the Federal Govt to save Nigerians in that country from “Operation Dudula” group

    Nigerians are now afraid of going to public hospitals in South Africa to avoid being beaten to death or assaulted.” The President of the Nigerian Union South Africa (NUSA), Smart Nwobi, a human rights lawyer, sounded the alarm in an interview with The PUNCH, published on August 24. He said Nigerians were dying daily because members of an anti-migrant group known as “Operation Dudula” prevented them from accessing healthcare in public hospitals in South Africa.

    The group alleged that foreigners were overstretching public health facilities in South Africa. “These are just claims that are not backed by facts,” Nwobi asserted. He added that as a result of the group’s antagonism, Nigerians “have resorted to self-medication, which is detrimental to their health.” According to him, there are currently 800,000 Nigerians in South Africa.

    Nwobi described how the group targeted foreigners, “especially Nigerians and people from other African countries.”  According to him, “they will come to the hospital and ask for your identification card; if you don’t have the South African Citizenship Green Card, they will simply say you should go out of the hospital.” He said even foreigners who had legally become citizens of South Africa by naturalisation but did not speak the local language were ordered out of public hospitals.

    “It is simply Afrophobia and xenophobia,” he lamented, describing the group’s posture as “illegal” and “appalling.” He said the healthcare-related offensive against foreigners “started at the beginning of this year, but it was intensified around July and August.”

    Indeed, it is concerning that, as Nwobi observed, “the people who are carrying out this act are not government officials or officials of the department of the healthcare system.”  It is puzzling that the South African authorities not only allowed such a situation to exist in the first place but are also apparently encouraging its continuation by their inaction.

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    Nwobi noted that access to public healthcare is guaranteed under the South African Constitution, Section 27 of 1996, which clearly says that everyone, without any exception, is entitled to the public health system. He also noted that this constitution “was further given flesh by the enactment of the healthcare systems and law.”

    He cited the intervention of the country’s Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, who had spoken against the group’s actions preventing foreigners, including Nigerians, from accessing the public healthcare system in the country.  The minister had argued that members of the group lacked the power to stop healthcare workers from treating patients at a public health facility, adding that their conduct violated the law.

    Evidently, such criticism has not been effective as the group has refused to change its posture. Indeed, according to Nwobi, in the past three or four months, the group had complained that foreign traders were allegedly hindering local traders in the informal sector of the country’s economy.   Now, the group is focusing on the healthcare sector, and has threatened that, next year, it would “go to schools which foreigners, including Nigerians, attend to stop them from attending public schools,” Nwobi said. The group also threatened to go to other sectors.

    It is commendable that NUSA is fighting back using a legal approach. This demonstrates the union’s respect for the law. Having resolved to “seek legal intervention for those affected, including Nigerians,” the union is collaborating with the Office of the Human Rights for Refugee Affairs and the Office of the African Diaspora Forum, in South Africa.

    In addition to seeking a solution to the issue through collaboration with some progressive bodies, the union has “written to the Nigerian Consulate to reach out to their South African counterpart on the matter.”

    Strangely, this effort to get the Nigerian diplomatic representatives in South Africa to intervene in the matter did not yield the desired official action.  Nwobi said: “The consulate and the embassy have not intervened. We tried to reach out to them, but they have not said anything; they have not given us any progress report about what they are doing so far.”

    It is unclear why the Nigerian diplomatic representatives apparently failed to respond to the communication from NUSA. Officially, they have a responsibility to ensure that Nigerians in South Africa are protected from lawless attacks, such as the ones from “Operation Dudula.”

    Historically, Nigerians have faced xenophobic attacks in South Africa since 1998.  Notably, in 2019, South African rioters destroyed many Nigerian businesses in their country. This incident provoked some youths in Nigeria who attacked South African businesses, including MTN and Shoprite supermarkets. In the wake of the Nigerian attacks, South Africa had shut down its High Commission in Nigeria, and recalled its High Commissioner; it also boycotted the World Economic Forum held in Nigeria. More than 120 Nigerians have been killed in South Africa, since 2019, in circumstances suggesting local hostility, according to reports.

    Importantly, NUSA called on President Bola Tinubu to “kindly intervene” in the latest case of anti-migrant actions targeting Nigerians, among others. According to Nwobi, he is expected to attend the 2025 G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, in November. This would be a concrete opportunity for the President to address the issue directly with the South African government on a major international stage.

    However, the Nigerian government and its diplomatic representatives in South Africa need not wait for the event before intervening in the situation, which demands an urgent intervention.

    Ultimately, the South African authorities have a duty to enforce the laws of their country and prevent some xenophobic actors from acting in ways that suggest they are above the law.

  • Exemplary Olatunjis

    Exemplary Olatunjis

    • Lesson from Dare and Bello’s gestures: we don’t have to be super rich to give

    They share identical first names – Olatunji. They are both accomplished journalists and media practitioners, though of different generations. Professor Olatunji Dare, renowned journalism teacher, media and communications scholar, media consultant, inimitable satirist, versatile reporter, delectable prose stylist, one of Nigeria’s most enduring columnists and public intellectuals over the last five decades is currently Emeritus Professor at Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois, United States.

    On his part, Mr Olatunji Bello, had at various times served as political correspondent and editor, columnist, editorial board member and a title editor of respected national newspapers. A lawyer, occupant of prominent political offices in the Lagos State Public Service at different times, Bello is currently the Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).

    Last week, the two men demonstrated another value they share in common – a sacrificial commitment to public service and impassioned dedication to pursuing the communal good and adding value to society. First, was Bello who, on August 20, donated a 550-seat ultra-modern auditorium to the Lagos State University, (LASU), situated within the Epe Campus of the institution, and appropriately named Olatunji Bello Auditorium.

    Conceived in 2021 to commemorate his 60th birthday, this gesture was a follow up to his decision, when he clocked 50 a decade earlier, to institute annual scholarship awards in five disciplines – Law, Medicine, Mass Communications, Engineering and Social Sciences- based on academic brilliance and the proven indigence of benefitting students.

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    A day later, on August 21, the Kabba community in Kogi State was agog as the newly established Kogi State University, (KOSU), took ownership of the country home of Professor Dare, donated to the institution, an elaborately furnished five-bedroom structure encompassing two expansive living rooms, dual kitchens, a dining room, stores, laundry, a borehole, a new soundproof generator and boys’ quarters constructed on a landscaped terrain with flower gardens, interlocking tiles and fitted with solar lighting as well as secured by twin gates. It is fittingly named the Olatunji Dare Building.

    Neither man gave something that did not come at substantial personal cost. Bello commenced the construction of the auditorium in 2021 when friends who wanted to offer him gifts for his diamond celebration acceded to his request that money for such purpose or for lavish parties be donated for the project. When the economy was hit by inflationary spirals in 2023 and 2024, he sold his personal property on a prime estate in Lagos to keep the construction going.

    In a similar vein, Professor Dare conceived the idea of endowing the university with a “meaningful gift” when he had just turned 75, a dream which he fulfilled this year at 80. It is significant that the site was acquired by his mother, Charity Ajoke Dare, in 1974, and she hoped that her son would construct a building on it within one or two years. However, construction work did not commence there until 40 years later and 17 years after her death. It is thus no mean sacrifice that Dare has made in this uncommon act of charity.

    While Bello was motivated to give back to a state that offered him scholarships to pursue his higher education and gave him opportunities to hold public office, Dare identified, through his gesture, with his native Kabba community’s age-long love for education and their ardent desire for decades for a university of their own.

    These are examples worth emulating, especially given the pathetic state of most public educational institutions at all levels in Nigeria. It is particularly noteworthy that both men gave not necessarily because they had surplus, but did so sacrificially.

    We acknowledge that some wealthy individuals have made substantial donations in cash and kind to our tertiary institutions over the years and several old boys associations are making considerable contributions to the development of their old institutions. These include the likes of Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) at the University of Lagos, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) at the University of Ibadan, Pastor Tunde Bakare at the University of Lagos when he recently turned 70 and the late Chief Gamaliel Onosode at the University of Ibadan.

    But there are large numbers of individuals who can make the kind of selfless gestures exhibited by the two Olatunjis but are not doing so. This culture of giving should be a key catalyst of educational rejuvenation in Nigeria, while not absolving government and the organised private sector of their critical responsibilities in this regard.