The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Special seats bill

    Special seats bill

    Proposal to reserve seats for women and PWDs excellent, but at no extra cost to Nigerians

    Legislators in the House of Representatives are mulling a constitutional amendment to reserve 10 percent of elective seats in the National Assembly for women, and five percent for persons with disabilities (PWDs). The proposal is part of ongoing constitution review process, according to House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.

    In his address early last week at the second Legislative Open Week of the green chamber, Abbas said the proposed seats would carry equal rights, privileges and committee work as already existing seats, thus ensuring full integration of those elected to the seats in legislative business. The proposal, if enacted, translates to 82 additional NASS seats, at 55 more seats in the House and 28 more in the Senate.

    The Senate presently has 109 seats constitutionally prescribed, with each of the 36 states having three members and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) having one. The House of Representatives has 360 seats shared on the basis of the population size of each state. The proposed add-ons, aimed at fostering inclusive governance, will be apportioned to women by states to ensure regional balance, while PWDs will take up their share as nominated by accredited disability advocacy groups.

    “These seats would be filled through direct elections on separate ballots, with staggered terms to promote continuity and mentorship,” Speaker Abbas said inter alia. “Historical data underscores the urgency of this reform. At Independence in 1960, women occupied less than one percent of seats in the National Assembly. By 1990, their share rose only to two percent. With the restoration of democracy in 1999, women held 3.9 percent of House seats and four percent of Senate seats. Today, despite constituting half the population, women’s representation has barely moved beyond these levels,” he explained, adding: “International experience shows the impact quotas can have. Rwanda and Senegal utilised constitutional provisions to increase female representation from under five percent to over 30 percent in a single cycle. South Africa’s voluntary party quota has delivered steady gains, though its success depends on enforcement. By embedding reserved seats into our constitution, we will break the cycle of stagnation.”

    According to the Reps’ speaker, the proposed mechanism “will accelerate progress towards gender parity, enrich our legislative debates with diverse perspectives, and ensure that the National Assembly truly reflects the people it serves.” He further said: “The 10th House will pursue vigorous collaboration with state houses of assembly and all stakeholders to ensure that the bill on reserved seats is passed and becomes part of our constitution.”

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    Women and PWDs are without doubt endangered in the Nigerian political space: the latter having next-to-nil representation in political offices, while the former over recent political cycles have been progressively weeded out from representation. In the current 10th NASS, with its 469 constitutionally stipulated membership, there are only 20 women – four in the Senate and 16 in the House of Representatives, representing an insignificant 4.2 percent. This marks a shortfall on the number in the 9th NASS where there were 21 females – eight in the Senate and 13 in the House. And even that record marked a decline on the 8th NASS where there were eight females in the Senate and 15 in the green chamber. This trend is despite that females constitute nearly half of Nigeria’s registered voter population, totalling some 44.4million out of about 96.2million names the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) currently has on its voter roll.

    So, there isn’t any question women and PWDs could do with statutory help to access better participation in the political space, especially when it is widely recognised the space as it currently works isn’t favourable to these marginalised groups. In other words, it is a welcome idea to promote gender balance and endow persons ordinarily disadvantaged some leverage. The devil is in the details of the legislation

    being mulled by the House.

    In the 9th NASS, a similar bill was co-sponsored by then Reps Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, Deputy Chief Whip Nkeiruka Onyejeocha and 85 other members of the House of Representatives, seeking, among others, to create a total of 111 additional seats in the national and state legislatures that will be reserved for women.

    But the latest proposal, like that previous one, didn’t seem to think through the most cost-effective way of achieving the noble objective.

    Nigeria presently operates first-past-the-post-post/plurality-majority electoral system that allows for winner-takes-all syndrome, which is why political contestants fight dirty to win elections at all cost. This system is inherently averse to minority or marginalised groups’ representation; and it is compounded by the intensely patriarchal orientation of the Nigerian society that estranged women from fair competitive advantage. In such circumstance, it isn’t clear how the proposed special seats occupants would emerge.

    Without doing something about the cultural tendency, we could merely be adding numbers without adding democratic value to the political system. The late Mohamed Uwais electoral reforms panel report of 2008 proposed a combination of first-past-the-post and modified proportional representation for legislative elections at all levels, and it might be worth revisiting that proposal to formulate ways by which representatives of the marginalised groups would emerge in political offices.

    Besides, it is debatable that room can be made for marginalised groups only by adding on to the cost of governance. Rwanda is reputed as currently having among the best gender balance records in the world, and what the country did was embed a gender quota in its 2003 constitution that mandates a minimum of 30 percent representation of women in all decision-making positions, including parliamentary seats. Specifically, 24 out of 80 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (lower house of parliament) are reserved for women, and these seats are filled through a special electoral college comprised by women.

    In Kenya, the country’s 2010 constitution mandates that no more than two-thirds of any elected or appointed body can be of the same gender, and it also created 47 special elective seats – one for each county – reserved for women.

    Many Nigerians already bemoan the huge cost of big government as presently obtains, and have canvassed pruning the size to save tax payers some burden. Adding to legislative seats will rather escalate the cost of governance – a trend we consider needless considering the present state of government financials that starves capital projects of funds owing to bloated overheads. By all means, legislative seats should be reserved for women and persons with disabilities; actually, the initiative should be extended to state assemblies. But the seats should be carved out of current membership structures and not by adding costs to the overstretched economy.

  • Adieu, Oba Olakulehin (1935-2025)

    Adieu, Oba Olakulehin (1935-2025)

    • Olubadan is dead, but his legacy lives on

    President Bola Tinubu’s tribute to the late Oba Owolabi Olakulehin sums up what the man’s memory represents. The man is dead, but he lives. In the words of the President, the late Olubadan was “a highly accomplished man of peace, a public servant and a royal father whose life embodies the highest ideals of leadership, learning and service.”

    At last, the man dropped anchor and left the scene for others to continue from where he stopped. He has been described as a man who was a bridge between tradition and modernity. His background supports this description.

    A former lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, he held a Master’s degree in administration and economics, and pursued a doctoral degree before he left the academic for business and other concerns.

    He had earlier served in the army where he rose to the rank of major. He was a military man, an academic, a business man and a lover of the tradition of his people.

    He chose to settle among his people to assist successive Olubadans not only in ensuring preservation of the tradition, but also in seeing to it that the city moved with the times, especially when the rulers were not so conversant with the dynamics of the Nigerian society.

    It could be said that the man who became king only in July, last year, at a time that his health was failing fast did not have enough time to fully stamp his feet on the stool, but it made him a fulfilled man. At the time Oba Olakulehin ascended the throne, there was controversy over his fitness for the assignment, but, eventually, with the support of former Governor Rashidi Ladoja, a high chief and successor-in- waiting, and the sate government, he scaled the hurdles.

    One beauty of the Ibadan chieftaincy rule is that the next person is known. The line of succession is well defined and leaves little room for legal disputation that sometimes takes years in other kingdoms. However, it has its own flaw as most of those who manage to cross the line after moving in slow motion for decades appear on the scene almost too late to make lasting impact.

    Oba Lekan Balogun, a doctorate degree holder, former senator and astute leader who dropped the mantle for the immediate past Olubadan, could hardly attend meetings or receive prominent visitors while on the throne.

    Chief Ladoja who is awaiting commencement of the process of coronation by the end of the mourning period is already an octogenarian, though it would appear, he is in good enough health to make sound decisions and find his place among the traditional rulers in Yoruba land.

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    As a former governor, and an astute businessman, he is expected to bring his wealth of experience to bear on the responsibility.

    Ibadan, a city founded by Lagelu, a warrior, is well respected because of its sheer size and for being a melting pot of Yoruba cultures. It comprises settlements of the Egba, Ijebu, Ijesa, among others. This has stood it out as cosmopolitan. It dictates the pace in a state known as a ‘pace setter’ within the Nigerian state, with its 11 local government areas.

    The time has probably come to review the Ibadan Chieftaincy Law to reflect the dynamics of the times. The last review that transmuted the high chiefs to Obas does not seem to be popular in some quarters. One of those who kicked against the idea is the man now waiting to ascend the throne. Would this lead to abrogation of the new structure? Has the time now come to somehow tweak the long procession from Mogaji to the Olubadan?

    If anything is sure, it is that Chief Ladoja is fully conversant with all the issues and has the capacity to push what he considers best for the city. As an astute politician, he has built a solid structure, one put to test when he left the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the little known Accord Party and still had a solid performance in the city.

    Whatever the situation, the Olubadan stool will maintain its first class position among Yoruba Obas.

  • Peter Rufai (1963 – 2025)

    Peter Rufai (1963 – 2025)

    • Legendary goalkeeper’s passage further diminishes Nigeria’s footballing golden generation of the 1990s

    His nickname – “Dodo Mayana” – reflected his magnetic personality and professional charm. Its rhythmic appeal captured his magical performances as a star goalkeeper. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), in a posthumous tribute on X, described him as “a legendary Super Eagles goalkeeper… a giant of Nigerian football and a 1994 AFCON champion.”

    Beyond his pivotal role in Nigeria’s triumph over Zambia in the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final in Tunisia, the country’s second continental title, he also represented the country creditably at its first FIFA World Cup in 1994, in the US, and in 1998, in France. He won AFCON silver medals in 1984 and 1988. In his active years as Nigeria’s shot-stopper, from 1983 to 1998, he earned 62 caps.

    Peter Rufai’s death on July 3 further diminished Nigeria’s footballing golden generation of the 1990s, following the exit of five others before him. He was 61.

    Born in Lagos, he fell in love with football as a pupil at Community Primary School in Sabon-Gari, Kaduna. He recalled in an interview how he “used to join other kids to play football during break, and each time I would even forget that my mother gave me money for food. Different children will buy food and all, but my money will just be there in my pocket.”

    According to him, “Not until my mother wanted to wash my uniform would she see the money and ask why I didn’t buy food. I would tell her I forgot because I was playing football.”

    He used to play as a midfielder and became a goalkeeper by accident. His mother had relocated to Port Harcourt, Rivers State, with him after the Nigerian civil war broke out in 1967. She hailed from the city. During an inter-school match while he was a pupil at Municipal Primary School, Port Harcourt, their goalkeeper abandoned the team and Rufai replaced him.

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    “From there, I started playing as a goalkeeper,” he said. When he was 11, he represented Rivers State in an U13 competition in Lagos.  

    He later attended Government Vocational School in Port Harcourt, where he trained to become an electrician. He was discovered by scouts of Sharks FC, a major football club in Rivers State, and he joined their youth team.

    At 17, he said, “I dropped my pen after doing my final exam, and I came to Lagos for screening with Stationery Stores, and I was selected… My parents never knew I was coming to Lagos for football.” That was in the glorious years of Stationery Stores FC of Lagos. A year later, he was the club’s goalkeeper in the 1980 FA Cup final. He was also the goalkeeper when the team represented Nigeria at the 1981 CAF Winners’ Cup and reached the final. He had a stint with Femo Scorpions of Eruwa in 1985. 

    He became the first Nigerian goalkeeper to play abroad after signing for Dragon FC of the Republic of Benin in 1986. He caught the attention of European clubs and went on to play professionally in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal. His years in Europe’s respected football system underlined his goalkeeping quality. 

    Interestingly, when his father died in 1998, he turned down the opportunity to succeed him as the occupant of a Lagos traditional rulership position. He was with Spain’s Deportivo La Coruna and chose to continue his football career as a goalkeeper.

    His football passion ensured that he remained active in football development and youth mentoring after retirement in 2000. He established Staruf Academy with the aim of producing the football stars of tomorrow. He also served as the coordinator of the Nigeria U23 team in his post-playing years.

    The NFF noted that Rufai’s legacy “lives on between the sticks and beyond.” It was a striking picture of his professional impact and contributions to football development in the country. 

  • Police travails

    Police travails

    We wonder the kind of reforms several IGPs said they did if the pensions, salaries and welfare generally of our policemen are still as appalling as they are

    Visibly angry and justifiably so, a retired Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Mr Fatai Owoseni, has severely denounced the paucity of funding and lack of concern for the welfare of policemen and officers. Speaking in an interview on the News Central TV’s Breakfast Central Programme, Mr Owoseni revealed that police divisions in the country are forced to operate on running costs of as little as N30,000 monthly.

    Surely, here is someone who cannot be accused of not knowing what he is saying. Citing his experience in Lagos, he asserted that “You have a Divisional Police Office like in Ikeja Police Division that has an area of responsibility so large, and what you use to fund that police division is N30,000, to do what?”.

    Continuing, Mr Owoseni noted that “Where you have a policeman posted from Jigawa to Ikorodu in Lagos and there is no accommodation for him or anything; that sleeps inside vehicles in the police station, yet the people that rule us, that have the power, will come out shamelessly to say that policemen stink. How will that policeman not stink when he sleeps inside an exhibit vehicle and wakes every morning? He looks for pure water (satchet water) because he has no family in Ikorodu, and he is transferred from Jigawa. So where do we go from there?”

    Owoseni ‘s revelations only reinforce what has long been known as regards the chronic underfunding of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the humiliating indignities to which the organisation’s personnel are exposed. It is obviously because of the huge deficit in funding that most police divisions across the country either do not have requisite crucial operational vehicles or are even unable to fuel such vehicles where they are availableThus, police officers are several times known to have requested that members of the public who call on them for rescue in times of emergencies send down vehicles to convey their men to the scene of danger, a request most people in panic can obviously not meet. Again, many policemen are said to set up check-points and collect illegal ‘tolls’ from members of the public in order to buy fuel or sundry spare parts for their vehicles.

    In the same vein, a good number of policemen are reported to buy their own uniforms and boots even when they are on salaries and allowances that they consider insufficient, demeaning, dehumanising and unjust, especially against the considerable demands of the profession and the grave risks they face daily in the challenge of fighting crime and bringing criminals to justice.

    In further confirmation of Owoseni’s pathetic portraiture of the plight of officers and men of the NPF, a special report in The Punch newspaper, featured several retired and serving officers bitterly decrying their conditions of service and particularly their pensions and other retirement benefits after no less than three and a half decades of service to the nation in the NPF.

    One of such police retirees who bowed out of the NPF after 35 years was seen in a viral video lamenting that he was contacted nearly nine months after retirement and asked to report to collect his gratuity of N2 million and pension arrears of N1 million adding up to N3 million. The understandably bitter police retiree was heard in the video bemoaning his fate: “I’m not collecting that money; let my service be in vain. I don’t have money, and N2 million will not solve or make me a rich man. I cannot serve this country for 35 years and be paid N2 million. Please the IG should intervene”.

    Another issue that emanated with regard to police welfare and retirement benefit schemes in The Punch story is the gross disparity in salaries and welfare among service men and officers in different security agencies.

    One of the officers interviewed, Festus Ogbebo, said he held a two- star Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) rank and would soon be due for promotion to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP). However, he lamented that while he currently earns N30, 000, “my counterpart in the army, who retired as a two- star ASP, is earning over N150,000”.

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    It certainly cannot be that the responsibility of maintaining internal security, which is the purview of the police, is less important than defending the territorial integrity of the country, which is the prime duty of the military. Both are critical and mutually reinforcing responsibilities for which both operatives of the military and the police deserve to be treated fairly, and with due respect for their welfare and well-being.

    Again, a number of the police retirees complained that they were previously under the Pension Fund Administrators where they enjoyed a more just and equitable treatment before their forced transition to the present Nigeria Police Pension Administrator under a contributory pension scheme that they consider unfair and dysfunctional.

    Police authorities should seriously consider reverting to a pension scheme structure that most police retirees consider fair and just or concretely address and eliminate identified lapses under the current scheme.

    Surprisingly, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, has reportedly ordered an investigation directing the NPF Pensions Limited to identify any possible lapses and ensure appropriate actions are taken to address issues raised. Given the number of years he served in the NPF and in different spheres within the organisation, we expect the IGP to be quite conversant with the pertinent issues.

    But it is better late than never. We expect Egbetokun to deal not only with grievances revolving around pensions and retired benefits, but also the entire gamut from adequate welfare, adequate equipment and operational funding as well as proper motivation.

    Most of these issues boil down once again to the deficiencies of the kind of overcentralised police structure which we have today, especially against the backdrop of the Federal Government’s evident lack of the requisite funds to effectively fund the NPF effectively to achieve optimum performance. Creation of state police will bring more boots on ground across the states, thus enabling the NPF to restrict itself to dealing with federal and inter-state crimes.

    While the various states fund policing structures and operations within their jurisdictions, the NPF will be able to more optimally utilise federal funding available to it to perform its functions with greater efficacy.

    As it were, the NPF today is almost wholly dependent on the states for funding, arms, kits, operational vehicles, including Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), communication equipment and staff welfare, among others. Yet, its unitary structure continues to render it ineffectual and almost always impotent in the face of crime.

    Surely, we cannot continue to do the same thing in the face of our grave security challenges and expect to reap a different outcome from the harvest of needless bloodshed and horrendous destruction that has been our lot for many years now.

    With the current pensions, welfare, equipment and motivation impediments plaguing the NPF, the officers and men cannot but be psychologically disoriented, mentally besieged, frustrated and predisposed, often unprovoked, to aggression towards members of the public they are supposed to serve.

    These factors are also responsible for the pervasive corruption associated with the police, their callous disposition on duty and their utter disregard for human lives. Although we are most often quick to blame policemen and officers for these shortcomings, the truth is that a society invariably gets the kind of police force that it deserves.

  • End of the road

    End of the road

    • Dan Bokolo, ruthless, cunning and notorious bandit leader killed at last

    Kachalla Yellow Dan-Bokolo, the bandit leader that held parts of Sokoto and Zamfara states captive for so long was finally neutralised on June 29, alongside many of his fighters during a coordinated onslaught by the Department of State Services (DSS) and hybrid operatives, in the rural parts of Shinkafi in Zamfara State.

    Contrary to widely held belief that the 27-year-old bandit was Bello Turji’s protegee, he was indeed his superior, more ruthless, more audacious and more cunning than Turji, said to be his cousin.

    Dan Bokolo was said to have operated with about 350 fighters largely from a base in Kagara, Shinkafi Local Government Area of Sokoto State, with strongholds in Bafarawa, Kamarawa, Gebe, and Dan-Zage. He also controlled parts of western Shinkafi in Zamfara State.

    He commanded a larger number of juvenile fighters, many of whom were addicted to hard drugs, a main driver in their ruthless operations. Indeed, the hard drugs were said to have often led the banditry kingpin to derive incomprehensible pleasure from attacks, killings, kidnappings, and gender-based and sexual violence.

    Dan-Bokolo stood out for his hardline philosophy. He was a strong believer in vengeance. He reportedly rejected Bello’s attempt for dialogue with the people of Shinkafi in 2022, among other acts of belligerency.

    Dan Bokolo’s notable atrocities included the burning of over 30 passengers in a Sabon Birni-bound bus in December 2021; the sacking of Gangara village and the deposing of its village head in March 2022; repeated abductions, cattle rustling, and attacks on military outposts in Shinkafi, Zamfara State, as well as Isa and Sabon Birni, both in Sokoto State.

    Indeed, to say that his cup of crimes was full before he was killed was an understatement. With his elimination, the people in his spheres of influence can now heave a sigh of relief, even if they cannot sleep with their two eyes closed yet.

    At least the mastermind of most of the acts of banditry in the areas has finally been taking out.

    But that cannot signify an end to the people’s nightmares as his subordinates and those of Turji may regroup to launch reprisal attacks. Indeed, while some security experts have postulated that Dan Bokolo’s death could somewhat sober Turji Bello, Bokolo being the technical head of their operations, some others have also argued that it could be the other way round. That is, it could make them thirsty for reprisal attacks.

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    Both positions are possibilities and these should not be lost on the security agencies.

    This is especially so that the Zamfara State governor and indeed, all the governors of the north west region have ruled out negotiations with the criminals.

    What we are saying is that it is not yet time for our security agencies to loose guard.

    We commend them and others who made Dan Bokolo’s elimination possible. This is a major victory for the country’s security architecture in particular and the fight against banditry generally.

    For sure, the place of credible intelligence cannot be downplayed in Bokolo’s elimination. We urge that whatever strategy was adopted in this instance that is deemed fit should continue to be adopted as the war against banditry and terrorism rages.

    Dan Bokolo was only one of the kingpins of banditry and terrorists whose names invoke fears in the people of the northern states where the two scourges have taken a huge toll.

    Besides, banditry and terrorism remain major challenges to national security, including food security, as the criminals perpetrating both crimes continue to attack farmers on their farms, sometimes killing or abducting them, thus discouraging them from producing food for Nigerians.

    Moreover, the country has spent and continues to spend fortunes acquiring weapons to prosecute the wars.

    Since security is a cardinal duty of government, not even the government would be comfortable until banditry and terrorism are defeated.

  • Let Akeredolu rest in peace

    Let Akeredolu rest in peace

    • Plan to raise coroner’s inquest over cause of former governor’s death smacks of undue politicking

    The furore over the decision of the Ondo State Government to probe former Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s death is quite unfortunate. The former governor who died December, 2023, was highly respected in his lifetime.

    A thoroughbred professional lawyer, former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and leader of the Southwest governors promoted the establishment of the Amotekun Corps for securing the region.

    His passing might have been sudden, having died at age 68, but his accomplishment was monumental, thus deserving of the respect of all, especially his predecessors.

    The position of the state government on the inquest made public last week by the state attorney-general, Kayode Ajulo, SAN, smacks of disrespect. He deserves his eternal rest and not the undue outcry that has attended plans to drag his name and death before the coroner, which might call for the corpse to be exhumed.

    It is obvious that the latest plan by the Lucky Aiyedatiwa administration is prompted by the political division in the state. Despite the successor government being of the same political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), the political scene is so poisoned that supporters of the two men do not see eye to eye. While it is said that there are no permanent friends in politics, decency, decorum and integrity should be the watchwords.

    It is understandable that both factions of the party sponsored candidates during the primaries that preceded last year’s election; they ought to have sheathed the swords to enable the government settle down to the task of governance.

    At a point, President Bola Tinubu was nearly drawn into the crisis, but for his maturity. Both the new governor and Arakunrin Akeredolu’s wife have remained implacable enemies as shown in the recent dispute over a memorial park in Owo town that the Aiyedatiwa administration decided had to be demolished. Mrs. Akeredolu was aghast, contending that it was an attempt at obliterating the legacies of her husband.

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    We call on the state government to realise that what the governor has is a tenured office. He has little time to tackle the challenges confronting the people of Ondo State. Poverty is still rife, unemployment, inflation and poor infrastructure, as is the case in other parts of the country, are issues the government was elected to provide solutions to. When much of the time is devoted to shadow chasing, very little would be achieved.

    The governor should halt the move to order coroner’s inquest into the death since those said to be petitioners in this case remain anonymous. The family has not complained about the circumstances surrounding the last moments of their patriarch.

    Akeredolu was a fighter in his lifetime. He fought and was victorious on the political terrain. In the courtroom, he was a giant and attained the enviable rank of Senior Advocate in 1998, and President of the NBA 10 years later. Rather than play the role of stoking the fire, we expect that the attorney-general who claims to have tremendous respect for the late governor, would erect a bridge between the two factions.

    Dr Ajulo at the time of his appointment said he was not a politician and that he only took the office as a professional. He should advise the governor and his team to desist from toeing the path they have chosen. We are constrained to ask, why did the said petitioners wait so long before expressing their suspicion about the circumstances of the death?

    While we cannot query their right to raise petitions on the matter, it should be noted that not everything legal is expedient.

    Akeredolu lost the battle for life after a ravaging cancer refused to succumb to the best of medical and spiritual treatments. Now, let both his biological and political family allow him to rest in peace.

  • Alarming statistics

    Alarming statistics

    • Governments across the country must take serious actions to stem cultism

    If the report by SBM Intelligence is anything to go by, Rivers and Lagos state governments have to take more drastic actions against cultists in their states. According to the report, released last week Tuesday, Rivers topped the fatality chart from cult-related clashes with 215 recorded deaths, followed by Lagos, 197, and Edo, 192. In all, 1,686 persons were killed in about 909 separate incidents of gang-related incidents in the country between January 2020 and March 2025.

    “Between January 2020 and March 2025, data from SBM Intel’s Violence Tracker indicated that no fewer than 1,686 people were killed in at least 909 incidents of gang violence across Nigeria,” the report said adding that the average fatality rate per incident was approximately 1.85.

    And, to think that the figures are for the cult activities traceable to specific cult groups alone!

    Further breakdown shows that 750 deaths were recorded in three states in the south-south region (mainly in Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa states) while the south-west followed with 491 deaths in Lagos and Ogun states.

    The Southeast region is not left out, with 215 fatalities, especially in Anambra State where cultism has become increasingly linked to separatist movements.

    The dominant cult groups cited by SBM in the south-west and south-south include Vikings, Icelanders, Eiye, Aiye, Black Axe, and Greenlanders while Scavengers and Chain cult groups account for 204 deaths in Benue in the North-Central region, which includes states like Kwara and Nasarawa.

    The 128 reported deaths in Anambra State alone were tied to both gang violence and separatist-related unrest.

    The Northeast and Northwest regions, interestingly, recorded significantly lower cult-related fatalities (about 30 deaths) probably due to the fact that they already have more than their own share of insecurity; there is thus no space for conventional gang activity.

    Let’s not further bore you with statistics.

    Suffice it to say that for 2025, the report also says that “The dire economic situation further exacerbates the problem, pushing more young people into crime, with incident numbers for the first quarter of 2025 already on track to exceed 2022’s total.’’

    This should frighten us; if only for the simple reason that these cult-related deaths are not restricted to the gang members alone. Many innocent Nigerians and security men caught in the crossfire have also died from injuries sustained from the clashes.

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    While lack of economic opportunities alone cannot explain the cult phenomenon, it is definitely a factor to reckon with in the efforts to reduce the clashes to tolerable limits.

    Cults have become fertile grounds for raising miscreants, and this is largely because many times, those involved are not held accountable. There has to be a foundational uprooting of what makes them thrive. Our youths must be gainfully employed so they don’t have time for unlawful alliances.

    We know that some of the states have various programmes targeted at the youths. For instance, Lagos has initiatives, in collaboration with organisations like the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), among others, aimed at equipping young people with marketable skills and providing practical experience through internships, and ultimately connect them with employment opportunities.

    More of such programmes need to be created or the numbers of beneficiaries increased to mop up substantial numbers from the unemployment queues. Other state governments have to be creative too by addressing the issue from their local perspectives.

    When various state governments come up with measures to check the trend, then it would be easier to identify those who are not just ready to earn their living and deal with them according to the law. The fact is; for so long, the cultists have been treated with kid gloves. When they kill in their illegal operations, it is no longer cultism but murder they have committed and they should be so charged.

    The country would be sitting on a keg of gunpowder if those that are supposed to be its leaders of tomorrow are allowed to believe that cultism pays.

  • Aberration!

    Aberration!

    • How can we have casualisation of doctors despite their acute shortage in the country?

    Healthcare in Nigeria has always faced various challenges given the increase in population and other socio-economic factors. However, top on the list of modern problems in Nigeria’s healthcare sector is the massive brain drain of doctors and other healthcare professionals from the country to other countries that are consistently luring and poaching them with better conditions of service, better facilities and better job security, with insurance and pension prospects.

    For those doctors that decided to stay back and practice at home, the idea of casualisation by hospitals, especially government-owned hospitals, recently caught the attention and intervention of the senate. The intervention was sparked by the dismissal of three consultants who have been on locum service at the National Hospital, Abuja, for a long time: a radiologist, a urologist and an obstetrician/gynaecologist. They are part of about 30 ‘locum doctors’ that had no job security, no health insurance, pensions and a secure salary structure.

    The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has expressed happiness at the intervention of the senate because casualisation of consultants impacts not just on the doctors but also their output and, invariably, patients who also bear the brunt.

    Like the senators, we condemn the casualisation of medical consultants. Nigerians are already concerned about the fact that despite the over 200 million population, more health workers, most of who their education was heavily subsidised by the Federal Government daily leave the country to more developed countries.

    We however find it curious that the health ministry has no implementable policy that addresses this problem of casualisation of consultants who are not just sworn to the Hippocratic Oath of “preventing diseases and saving lives”, but are very vital intellectual contributors in training future doctors.

    Healthcare and education are the pillars of any progressive country. So, the senate has done well with the intervention but it must be noted that the issue, despite its implications, is but a tip of the problems in the Nigerian healthcare sector.

    The brain drain that is hitting the sector continually is an ill wind that blows no one any good. It denies the country the benefits of the about 10 years’ invested in training each doctor. What their departure to other climes means is that the investment only benefits the economies of the recipient countries that do not often pay them as well as their own citizens.

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    If, as the saying goes, ‘a healthy nation is a wealthy nation’; then Nigeria must realise the larger implications of a health sector that makes it more attractive for doctor to practice in other countries than the nation that invested in their education.  Efforts must be made to meet the United Nation’s annual budgetary benchmarks that would guarantee the funds for equipment upgrades, welfare and production or importation of the needed drugs, vaccines and other medical supplies and equipment.

    Doctors, teachers, engineers and lawyers used to be the most loved and admired professionals due to the comfort and benefits they get from practicing their professions. It is sad that the reverse is almost the case these days, even with more population and the introduction of technology and modern equipment to help bring about ease of practice and comfort to the professionals.

    The senate did well in intervening in this issue but we challenge them to do better. There seems to be more reactive than proactive actions from the apex legislative body. Their main jobs of making laws and oversight functions must be more in the focus. Commendable as their intervention is, their oversight duties ought to have taken care of that issue across the nation, as the same song is being sung in other government hospitals across the land.

    As a matter of fact, there must be a law to protect not just doctors but all citizens, no matter what jobs they do. The NMA too must be more proactive in taking actions that would comprehensively protect their colleagues. They must learn to push for bills to this effect, not just against casualization, but for the needed conditions for their practice. ‘A stitch in time’, they say, ‘saves nine’.

  • Goodbye to red tape

    Goodbye to red tape

    • Decentralisation of PPP approval process will facilitate project execution

    For a bureaucracy traditionally plagued by inefficiency, corruption, and a lack of responsiveness to public needs, it must be gratifying that the government is moving to remove every known plague identified as hobbling the delivery of the public good. This time around, the presidency chose to focus its laser on the approval thresholds for ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

    According to a report credited to the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), President Bola Tinubu, while approving the decentralisation of Nigeria’s public-private partnership (PPP) project approval process, specifically directed that PPP projects valued below N10 billion for parastatals and N20 billion for ministries can now be approved internally by project approval boards (PABs), subject to ICRC guidelines and certification.

    Jobson Ewalefoh, director-general of the ICRC, who announced the presidential directive in Abuja, last Sunday, stated that “Only projects exceeding the thresholds or involving multiple MDAs will require FEC approval”.

    “All such projects”, he was quick to add, “must be entirely privately funded, with no government guarantees or financial commitments from the treasury”, just as “every PPP project must be submitted to the ICRC for review and certification. The ICRC must issue certificates of compliance before any PPP project can be approved by the PAB and other approving bodies”.

    The idea, he said, is to unlock the “low-value but high-impact projects” in critical sectors such as health, education, agriculture, and housing.

    “With this framework, we expect private sector-led investments in projects like rural diagnostic centres, school blocks, student hostels, and affordable housing to be delivered faster, with less bureaucracy”, he stated.

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    For emphasis, he says –“By decentralising approvals, the government is supporting and unlocking investment opportunities through improved capital inflows, job creation, and faster project delivery—exactly what we need in this current economic climate.”

    We commend the spirit behind the directive. If anything, it is a measure of the presidency’s recognition of the extent to which red tape has come to impede the wheel of progress in government business. It is also a demonstration of resolve by the administration to inject greater speed and efficiency into the process.

    Overall, we see the big idea, which is to engender faster decision-making by the MDAs – as against the usual practices of waiting interminably for FEC approvals for every single project – as something that will bode positive for the system in the long run.

    We hope that the ICRC is well equipped to cope with the deluge given that the commission will still remain the clearing house.

    However, given that we are dealing with a turf where some players will rather act the Lord of the Manor, with some actually playing the deity to be appeased, how effectively the government succeeds in communicating the underlying philosophy behind the directive to the MDAs will most certainly determine its success.

    But the problem, in our view, isn’t always about the regulations or the structures put in place to ensure that things work as they should. More often than not, it is the penchant by our officials to circumvent the regulations carefully put in place for personal gains. For instance, even with those seemingly impregnable strictures of control already inbuilt into the system, Nigerians are routinely assailed by reports of hundreds of billions of tax-payers money being stolen by officials only discovered after the deed is already done.

    Nigerians will readily recall those bizarre agreements designed to entrap the country as indeed other countless agreements that have reduced the country to a joke across global capitals.

    If we may again restate the point: the government surely means well. Unfortunately, the same could not be said of the bureaucrats for whom regulations are inconveniences only to be observed in the breach.

     We urge that the ICRC brace up to the challenge of ensuring that the country gets a fair deal at all times.  

  • Unfinished business

    Unfinished business

    • Ex-President Jonathan should have mentioned the name of Yar’Adua ‘s aide who didn’t submit power transfer letter to NASS

    In an interview with the Rainbow Book Club, former President Goodluck Jonathan recalled one of the chilling circumstances that surrounded the ill-health and subsequent death of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, while he was the vice president. Because President Yar’Adua did not transmit a letter to the National Assembly that Jonathan would be the acting president while he went for medical treatment, in accordance with section 145(1) of the 1999 constitution, the nation was in a tailspin, until the National Assembly invented the doctrine of necessity, to stave off the catastrophe.

    As stated by Jonathan in that interview, President Yar’Adua had actually written a letter to the National Assembly, but his aide responsible for delivering the letter, held on to it. If that claim is true, that person should have been investigated and charged to court at the earliest opportunity.

    Even now, the former official deserves to be exposed, interrogated and prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others who may be tempted to take steps that could plunge the nation into chaos.

    It is most unfair that Nigerians do not know who did what in that dark period of our national history.

    President Jonathan’s decision not to name the person in that interview is most intriguing. Could that be ascribed to cowardice or mere circumspection? Whatever may be his motive, we disagree with him. The nation deserves to know those who caused it such pain that threatened the fragile democracy we were practicing.

    We hope Jonathan would write his memoirs, where all that he knows would be stated, so that if there are rebuttals, he would be in a position to react to such.

    Thankfully, that sad incidence led to the addition of section 145(2), which provides that “In the event that the President is unable or fails to transmit the written declaration mentioned in subsection (1) of this section within 21 days, the National Assembly shall, by a resolution made by a simple majority of the vote of each House of the National Assembly, mandate the Vice President to perform the functions of the office of the President as Acting President until the President transmits a letter to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives that he is now available to resume his functions as President.”

    We urge further constitutional amendments to uplift the office of the vice president as well as the deputy governor. While we do not advocate for competition between the principal office holder and the subordinate, there should be functions and responsibilities clearly earmarked for those subordinate offices.

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    Because the vice president or deputy governor has no delineated functions, they are pejoratively referred to as ‘spare tyres’. In instances where the president or governor is vindictive, the vice president or deputy governor is made totally redundant.

    Such attitude promotes the personalisation of the office of the president or governor, forgetting that both ran on a joint ticket to clinch their positions. We saw such shenanigans in Edo State where former Governor Godwin Obaseki hounded his deputy, Philip Shaibu, as if he was a sworn enemy forced on the ticket.

    Those who benefit from such arrangement are non-elected state officials commonly referred to as cabals, who seize the president or governor and dictate to the rest of the people. We see such unconstitutional order across the three tiers of government.

    The shameless disposition of some politicians who see power as an end in itself, instead of a means to serve, is at the root of such abuses. Considering that the constitution is a living document, every effort should be made to continually ensure that every loophole that makes our democracy ineffectual is plugged.

    Efforts must be made to resist those who seek to exploit our laws for selfish ends.