The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Baby theft?

    Baby theft?

    • There is a compelling need for thorough investigation to ascertain the truth

    It is incredible that a medical doctor has been accused of stealing a baby after delivery. At the centre of the alarming case are Dr Timothy Zeje of Divine Reign Clinic, Sauka, Abuja, and Mrs Eunice Bright, who made the allegation.

    Bright told journalists: “I did my scan at the hospital, and Dr Zeje told me I was carrying twins. This was confirmed again the following month.” But the story changed after a Caesarean section at the clinic in June 2022, she said. According to her, “I asked for my twins, but my husband told me only one child was given to him. I was shocked.”

    Her request to see the other baby yielded no result. She was told that the baby had died shortly after birth.  She said: “I told the doctor that I would like just to see what the dead child looks like… They told me that my baby is dead and scattered. Okay, where are the pieces and where are the bones? I asked; but they couldn’t give me an explanation. Instead, they were saying, why would I not be grateful for the one that survived birth and rather be asking for another baby when we were a poor couple and could barely take care of the one we have. We let go of the issue at the time.”

    She added that nurses told her the doctor “stopped them from telling me because I was still recovering,” and wondered “why my husband who had been in the hospital was not informed and handed the dead child for burial.”

    This strongly suggests collusion involving the clinic’s staff. It widens the sphere of culpable actors.

    Dramatically, the story changed again, leading to the allegation that the doctor had stolen the baby. “I went for immunisation at AMAC Hospital at Besan,” she said, where she ran into the doctor’s wife and her brother. She narrated: “When I saw the baby they brought, I was like, what is happening here? The baby in my hand looked exactly like the one in their hand. I said ‘I’m so confused.’ I didn’t even know what to do again, so I greeted them and she sat down.”

    At some point, she had advised the doctor’s wife “to remove the baby’s cap because the heat was too much.”  According to her, “She removed the cap, I became more confused because of the spitting semblance of the child and my baby. They have the same legs, same face, same dreadlocks, same everything. I said ‘what is going on here’ to myself.” She concluded that her baby “was taken away at birth and not dead as told by the doctor.”

    Perhaps with greater vigilance the couple could have avoided such a situation. An important lesson is that women who are in hospital for childbirth should be accompanied by relatives, and they should all be watchful to ensure that baby theft, or baby replacement, does not happen.

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    Indeed, it is a sad commentary on institutional integrity if expectant women cannot trust hospitals to do what is right at all times.

    Nearly three years later, the issue remains unresolved. In the course of their efforts to clarify the identity of the other child, Bright and her husband came up against a brick wall. The doctor allegedly refused to cooperate when they suggested a DNA test to establish the parentage of the child in dispute.  It is unclear why he rejected the idea, if he did. Such a test is universally recognised as a reliable method of establishing the parentage of a child in dispute. Ordinarily, he ought to be willing to do the test to prove his innocence. We demand that he takes the test.

    Dr Zeje, who denied the allegation of child theft, said the matter was being investigated by the police, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command. The police should carry out a thorough investigation into the matter.

    Crucially, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), the professional group for the country’s medical practitioners, needs to step into the matter. The allegation of baby theft against a medical doctor speaks of serious unprofessionalism.

  • Hayes at 90

    Hayes at 90

    • Robert Hayes, Nigeria’s first pilot, turned 90 without the national celebration he deserves

    He planted the ambition as a fantasy as a student. He had no role model around. No pioneers do. But from the page of a London magazine he read in the library of Government College, Ughelli, he showed that dreams should not die when there is a will.

    Robert Emmanuel Hayes turned an earthbound and teenage idea into a precedent as he became the first-ever Nigerian to fly a commercial plane. This same icon turned 90 on May 13.

    As professions go, he flew not in metaphor but in fact. Hayes combined sheer will and good fortune. But the first seed was in the Illustrated ‘London News’. He absorbed an article about flying. His fancy took flight.

    If there was no role model around him as a pilot, there were no airlines or airports around the school in Ughelli and in Sapele where he grew up.

    When the colonial government dispatched labour officers to Ughelli to scout for graduating students, he forbade convention and did not  want, like his mates, to be medical doctor, lawyer, accountant, etc. He peered skyward.

    “Even my father wanted me to read medicine,” he said. Hayes turned down an admission to the University of London to read medicine after passing in flying colours at the Cambridge Certificate Examination in December, 1952. “I wanted to fly and discover the world,” he said.

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    The dream peeped into reality when he visited Lagos during holidays.

    “Someone introduced me to Chief Bode Thomas,” he narrated. Chief Thomas was a prominent politician in the country. It was through him he met a British technocrat known as Coleman, an aviation affairs director in the ministry of communications.

    With his support, he earned a scholarship to train as a pilot abroad. He distinguished himself and became the first person to qualify as a pilot in the country. Because it was still the colonial era, the airline in the region was West African Airways Corporation (WAC) covering Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra-Leone and The Gambia. Hayes joined WAC in 1955.

    At independence in 1960, the Nigeria Airways gained autonomy from WAC. Other nations also formed theirs. He recalls that the Nigeria Airways placed a lot of emphasis on training. He flew across Africa, Middle East, Europe and the United States.

     He turned a trainer of other pilots who joined the service. It was an era when pilots attracted great prestige. “We were very popular then and recognised,” he said.

    The downside was the civil war, which did not only divide the country, it meant some of their staff, including Igbo pilots and other employees, could not work on their staff.

    The “culture of the airline changed,” he recalled with regret, with the hiring of persons without requisite competence. “Persons with inadequate experience were hired,” he recalled, and the airline could not meet its schedules. “Experts were replaced by inexperienced people.”

    It was also the time of corruption and chaos at airports. Securing tickets did not guarantee a seat on the aircraft. It was ‘molue’ on the air.

    The management “could not meet our commitments in Europe, U.S.A and elsewhere.”

    He flew for 44 years and his days in flight came to end in a period when the professionalism he helped build had run into decay. To fly for so many years without mishap is a thing for which he is forever grateful. Travels in his time predated the years of nightmares. Two air crashes happened in Nigeria in those days though, and they were in Kano and Kaduna. One was a Nigeria Airways flight and the other was the Royal Jordan Airlines.

    He is a role model that Nigerians should be proud of, especially in an age of quick fixes and copycats. He ought to have received more attention than the routine silence that greeted his birthday.

  • Edo demolitions

    Edo demolitions

    •Governor acted legally but anyone aggrieved should seek redress in court

     Reactions will continue to trail governments’ decision to bring down buildings used as hideouts for criminal activities wherever such occurs in the country. It was like that in Anambra, Ekiti, Edo and Enugu states, where the respective state governments had taken such a tough stance against crimes and criminals in the past.

    So, it was not strange seeing the same reaction after Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State, recently not only ordered the demolition of a building allegedly used for criminal activities in Ogheghe, on the outskirts of Benin City, the state capital, but personally monitored the exercise.

    The governor also warned landlords that his administration would not hesitate to demolish structures linked to kidnapping, cultism and rituals.

    According to reports, the building was used for internet fraud and kidnapping, with victims being held against their will and subjected to ritualistic practices.

    Human skulls, clothing, fetish objects and other things were allegedly discovered in the building.

    Indeed, to demonstrate that the government meant business, the state task force in charge of demolitions also brought down another building in Amagba area of Benin, said to be the headquarters of a secret cult group. The building, located at the end of Arena Street in Amagba had a hall, several rooms with mattresses, and office spaces believed to have served as a hub for the group’s activities.

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    The governor who was visibly disturbed by what he saw at the building in Ogheghe said “I am saddened by what is happening here. Children were kidnapped and kept here for years. You can see the shrines in this apartment, this is wickedness in its highest form. This kind of evil is unacceptable in Edo State.”

    He added that “We will continue to fight crime and criminality. Wherever they hide, we will fish them out and demolish their hideouts. There will be no sanctuary for criminals in Edo State. We are serious and resolute, Edo must be safe.”

    The governor was, by demolishing the structures, giving effect to the new anti-cultism law that he signed into law.

    We appreciate the point being made by those who feel that demolition of structures for whatever purpose is bad because it portrays us as people who don’t value assets. That we should otherwise put such structures to valuable use even if they were hitherto being used for dysfunctional purposes. Moreover, that such demolition forecloses any possibility of reversal if it is eventually discovered that there was an error of judgement in the initial decision.

    But then, the other side of the coin is that if the structures are left standing, the possibility of returning them to their owners was high, especially if they later become ‘politically correct’. This would defeat the aim of whatever law is in place to curb the crimes over which they were demolished in the first place.

    The other side of that is that if the building is not pulled down, the temptation to return it to the owner for the same political reason is high.

    Again, such structures which are usually believed to be products of illicit wealth may serve as model for people that want to make quick money; believing that it pays.

    We can go on and on with the pros and cons of the policy. But then, it ends up being a catch-22 situation.

    What is clear, however, is that the governor relied on a law duly passed by the state house of assembly in carrying out the demolitions. His actions cannot therefore be said to be illegal.

    But this does not preclude anyone who feels sufficiently aggrieved about his demolished structure from approaching the courts for redress. Where the court feels injustice has been done, it would ensure payment of compensation to the owner.

    Meanwhile, the governor has promised that a police station would be erected for public good on the spot where the building in Ogheghe was pulled down.

    This is far better than have, standing on it, a building that is posing a threat to law-abiding citizens of the state.

  • The image question

    The image question

    This is one of the main areas the new ASUU leadership must work on

    We congratulate the newly-elected President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Professor Chris Piwuna. Professor Piwuna is a Professor of Medicine and Consultant Psychiatrist at the University of Jos, a former Head of the Psychiatry Unit of the University of Jos Teaching Hospital, and dean of students affairs in the university.

    He succeeds Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, to whom he was national vice president.

    Professor Piwuna emerged as the new president at an election held at the University of Benin on May 11, at the 23rd National Delegates Conference of ASUU.

    It is noteworthy that there are no reports of acrimony arising from the election, and this positive development cannot be taken for granted, considering the experience from such elections in some other associations. For this, ASUU deserves commendation.

    Professor Piwuna takes over at a time when ASUU is faced with a myriad of problems.

    First is the issue of image. ASUU has come to acquire the image of a strike-prone and strike-enjoying academic union. Therefore, one of the most critical tasks facing the new president is to create a more endearing image for the union.

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    This should not be difficult because ASUU is a repository of experts and professionals in different fields who should be able to design effective strategies for achieving the union’s noble goals without resorting to the tired cliché that “strike is the only language that government understands.”

    In fact, anytime ASUU has to take refuge in that cliché, it would be inadvertently admitting that it has failed in its primary mandate of generating ideas for the nation.

    Second, in agitating for what it believes to be right, the union should pay close attention to the constitution of the country. For example, though it is logical to counsel that new universities should not be created by the different levels of government in the country, if existing ones have issues, it was problematic to make it an item on the union’s demand from the Federal Government, as happened in the 2022 ASUU strike. The creation of universities is in the concurrent list in the 1999 constitution, as amended.

    Third, university autonomy is being blatantly undermined with respect to the imposition of curricula on Nigerian universities by the National Universities Commission (NUC). According to the laws establishing our universities, the senate of each university is the authority vested with the power to determine curricula. The Piwuna leadership therefore has the challenge of working methodically with other stakeholders within the universities to roll back or stop the further erosion of curricula autonomy.

    Fourth, it has been observed that the partisan or excessive involvement of the leadership of ASUU in vice-chancellorship contests has created different kinds of problems for the union on different campuses. This calls for the exercise of due restraint by the union or its leadership, going forward; to prevent further destabilisation or demotivation of members of the union.

    Fifth, questions have been raised about the undermining of the democratic culture by the national leadership of ASUU. This has been said to be related with the mindset that only members with communist or leftist orientation are suitable for the leadership of the union. This has alienated some members of the union, leading to the creation of a cabal and the narrowing of leadership vision. It has also created a situation in which government is unconditionally perceived as an enemy. This has created avoidable rifts between the union and the government, to the detriment of the university system as a whole. This set of problems needs to be addressed effectively. 

    Sixth, there has been intractable disharmony in ASUU which has led to the formation of the Congress of University Academics (CONUA) and the National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) as alternative academic unions in the Nigerian university system. Since ASUU has had the opportunity to challenge the registration of these new associations in court, and the court has ruled in favour of their existence, ASUU should work together with them to advance the cause of university education in the country.

    In this regard, it is gratifying that the President of CONUA, Dr. ‘Niyi Sunmonu, has congratulated the new President of ASUU on his election.

    Seventh, it is unfortunate that the remuneration of academic staff of Nigerian universities has slid remarkably, making their salaries uncompetitive globally, and denying Nigerian universities the diversity in staffing and studentship that they used to enjoy. This problem requires that the union should properly prioritise members’ welfare in their agitations for the improvement of the condition of the universities.

    Finally, the intelligentsia is the engine house of ideas for propelling development. The new leadership of ASUU should regularly assess the extent to which it is effectively playing this role in Nigeria.      

  • Prosecute them too

    Prosecute them too

    •It is not enough to sanction erring judges administratively; they should be arraigned where necessary

    The National Judicial Council (NJC) at its 108th meeting in Abuja, between April 29 and 30, suspended for one year, without pay, three judges, for breach of various sections of the 2016 Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers. The affected judges are Justice Jane E. Inyang of the Court of Appeal, Uyo Division; Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, and Justice Aminu Baffa Aliyu of the Federal High Court, Zamfara Division.

    Another petition against Justice Ekwo was put in abeyance, pending the outcome of the Court of Appeal’s judgment. The panel affirmed that Justice Inyang breached Rule 3(5) of the Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers. The judge abused his office by issuing inappropriate ex-parte orders for the sale of Mr. Udeme Esset’s petrol station and other businesses at interlocutory stage of the case. The act of judicial misconduct occurred while the judge presided over Suit No. FHC/UY/CS/46/2023, at the Federal High Court, Uyo Judicial Division, before his elevation to the Court of Appeal.

    On his part, Justice Ekwo, also placed on a watch-list for five years and barred from elevation for five years, violated Rule 3(1) and (3) of the Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers. Justice Ekwo, while presiding in Charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/184/2021, delivered a ruling in a pending application without hearing the parties. He ignored an application to set aside the proceedings of the court conducted in the absence of the parties, and subsequently dismissed the charge against the defendants.

    The third, Justice Aliyu, was placed on the watch-list for three years, within which period he is barred from being elevated. The judicial misconduct arose in Suit No. FHC/GS/CS/30/2021, the Government of Zamfara State vs. EFCC, wherein he granted an order restraining security agencies from carrying out their statutory duties and disregarded the doctrine of stare decisis in adjudication of the case.

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    To us, these punishments amount to a mere slap on the wrist. This is especially if the motivating factor for the wrong decisions arose from corrupt inducement from one of the parties in the case. Should that be the case, a mere suspension with no salary for one year is a joke. Indeed, if the judges were corruptly motivated, suspension for one year without pay amounts to applying analgesic to a cancerous situation.

     So, finding out the motive is important, and we doubt if the NJC has the capacity for such forensic investigation. Should the errors by the affected judges be a result of incompetence, then we wonder the basis of their continued stay on the bench. The least, in addition to the punishments given, should be a training programme to avoid a recurrence when they return to their exalted judicial chairs.

    While we commend the NJC for being proactive in investigating petitions and applying punishments to judicial officials found wanting, the body must ensure that judges found corrupt face similar consequences as the people they adjudicate their cases. Any judicial officer who abuses his office deserves to face the criminal judicial process of standing trial before the court. The enquiry by a quasi-judicial panel constituted by the NJC must not be an end in itself for those indicted for corrupt practices. The job of the NJC is to determine whether there is a prima facie case against the judicial officer, to warrant administrative punishment.

    We also wonder what becomes the fate of the litigant; and his/her case after a judge is indicted by the NJC, as in the instant cases.

  • Two Galadimas

    Two Galadimas

    •It’s time to halt degeneration in emirship tussle

    Armed security personnel recently sealed off the official residence of Galadiman Kano, as emirship tussle in the ancient city deepened, resulting in factional appointments to the title by Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II and Emir Aminu Ado Bayero.

    The Galadima is the highest-ranking prince in Kano Emirate, and in past instances the heir apparent to the emirship stool. Over the course of history, the title has been held by personages who later ascended to the emirate throne. The title became vacant with the death earlier this year of former Galadiman Kano, Alhaji Abbas Sanusi, and it was that vacancy Emir Sanusi and Emir Ado Bayero separately moved to fill. The Galadima House in Galadanci, Gwale council area, is where the title holder of Galadiman Kano historically lived.

    Security operatives moved in penultimate weekend with patrol vehicles to seal off entry points and restrict access to the official residence following the turbaning of Alhaji Munir Sanusi Bayero as Galadima by Sanusi; while at a separate ceremony, Ado Bayero turbaned Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Ado Bayero for the same title.

    Kano Emirate has been in leadership crisis since the controversial reinstatement of Muhammadu Sanusi as emir by the current administration of Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, four years after his deposition in 2020 by the administration of former Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, and restructuring of the emirate, as part of which Ado Bayero was appointed the new Kano emir. Yusuf is of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) that currently rules Kano, while Ganduje has since become National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and is widely perceived to arrowhead Federal Government backing for Bayero.

    Yusuf in 2024 sacked Bayero to re-install Sanusi as emir, but Bayero refused to step down and insisted on his right to the throne. Consequently, Sanusi and Bayero have been in a tussle over who the legitimate monarch of the ancient emirate is. Sanusi, with the support of the state government, holds sway from the main palace known as Gidan Rumfa; while Bayero has taken up residence and holds court at the Nasarawa mini-palace.

    Reports said Emir Sanusi had directed renovation of the official Galadima residence for his own appointee to move into. At a traditional ceremony penultimate Thursday attended by Governor Yusuf and members of the state executive council, he elevated Munir Sanusi, who held the title of Wamban Kano, as the new Galadima. That event also witnessed the elevation of others like Turakin Kano, Alhaji Kabir Hashim, as Wamban Kano; Tafidan Kano, Alhaji Mahmoud Bayero, as Turakin Kano; Alhaji Adamu Sanusi, who got turbaned the new Tafidan Kano; and Alhaji Ahmad Sanusi, who assumed the role of Yariman Kano.

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    Meanwhile, at a parallel ceremony at Nasarawa mini-palace, Emir Ado Bayero held his own turbaning ceremony where he named his elder brother, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Ado Bayero, as the new Galadima. The duality of appointment to the position of Galadima effectively deepened the split in the royal household as the two appointees happened to be blood relatives.

    Security sources were cited saying the sealing off of the Galadima House was to prevent a breakdown of law and order, as supporters of the factions could resort to confrontation in a bid to take control of the property.

    We commend the security agencies for taking the proactive step to prevent another flare-up in the Kano emirship tussle. There have been disruptions of public peace arising from the crisis, and the security situation in the ancient city is tensile as to warrant prohibition of the traditional Durbar ceremonies during the last Sallah festival, among other precautionary measures to keep the peace. It is thus not far-fetched that supporters of the factions could seize the occasion of the Galadima appointment to freshly contest for supremacy by self-help. The preemptive move by the security agencies is helpful to forestall such eventuality.

    The factional appointment of Galadiman Kano gives cause for worry because it signposts a festering of the leadership crisis in the emirate. Before now, the crisis was at the level of the emirship stool; now, it has percolated down the hierarchy to the position of the Galadima. For institutional observers, the turn of events is disheartening because the emirship, once a symbol of unity and continuity, now stands divided, with its traditions weaponised in high-stake political chess game. And it doesn’t seem a resolution is imminent.

    We think it is high time political interests stopped fuelling the crisis; and the least the parties themselves owe to history is to hold their respective supporters firmly in check and avoid measures or pronouncements that could instigate them to unrest.

  • Nigeria First Policy

    Nigeria First Policy

    • Not novel; the difference this time would be in public officials’ political will to implement it

    In another bid to decisively address the excessive import dependency that has been identified as central to the country’s protracted economic crisis and her failed attempts, so far, to achieve meaningful industrialisation and development, the President Bola Tinubu administration has announced a new ‘Nigeria First Policy’ which prioritises local content in public procurement, domestic input in contract award and management, as well as self-reliance in investment decisions, business operations and consumption habits.

    The policy aims to drastically reduce the importation of foreign goods and services by ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) where local alternatives are available, empower local businesses, boost production and utilisation of local raw materials, and enhance employment generation.

    To achieve these objectives, ministries, departments and agencies have been mandated to review and resubmit their procurement plans to conform to the new policy while the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) is to revise and enforce procurement regulations that favour local manufacturers and service providers.

    In addition, the BPP has been directed to maintain an updated register of verified and qualified Nigerian manufacturers and service providers, and a compliance framework is to be developed to ensure that the local content requirements in procurement processes are adhered to.

    A critical aspect of this policy is the emphasis on technology transfer and skill development, as any contract involving foreign procurement must now include clauses that promote technology transfer, skill development programmes and local production partnerships.

    Incidentally, there is no government since the inception of this democratic dispensation in 1999 that has not proclaimed increased self-reliance and substantial reduction in importation of foreign goods and services as a cardinal policy.

    The immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari administration, for instance, banned the allocation of foreign exchange from the official market for the importation of 42 items which it considered to be non-essential. It also initiated policy measures to promote self reliance in rice and textiles, among others.

    Yet, the culture of import dependency has persisted due largely to a lack of the political will by successive governments to enforce the policy and the glaring failure of the political elite, including public office holders, to match their rhetoric with practical example of patronage of local goods and services.

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    The implication has been the continued expenditures of high percentages of insufficient revenue earnings on importation of raw materials for the manufacturing sector and agricultural food items even where there are locally produced alternatives.

     Thus, it has been reported that the manufacturing goods sector accounted for 44.2 per cent of the country’s total import value of N60.59 trillion in 2024 and that “Raw materials accounted for 11 per cent of Nigeria’s total imports while agricultural products comprised 6.2 per cent, highlighting the country’s reliance on foreign inputs for both industrial and food needs”.

    If this new policy is to succeed, determined efforts must be made to re-orientate Nigerians away from the deeply entrenched inferiority complex that makes most people to prefer foreign goods even when the latter are not necessarily superior to domestic alternatives.

    This is why aspects of the new policy that seek to promote national pride and self belief by instilling confidence in Nigerian products and encouraging local enterprise must be pursued with all seriousness and diligence. Achieving this objective will entail crafted and effectively disseminated mass awareness and enlightenment programmes.

    No less critical is the need for government officials in particular to set the pace by patronising local products. In this regard, members of the 10th National Assembly presented a bad example when they insisted on the procurement of foreign exotic official cars when there are local vehicle manufacturing companies, and despite the severe economic hardships currently faced by most Nigerians. This contrasts with what obtained in the late 1970s  in the country, for instance, when public officers were compelled to use locally assembled Peugeot cars as official vehicles.

    We note the call for caution by the Petrol Retail Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), which argued for the gradual phasing out of the importation of essential and sensitive products like petroleum products and pharmaceuticals to avoid potential shortages and consequent price increases.

    But the policy seems to have taken this into account by stipulating that foreign goods and services can be imported where imperative but with the necessary waivers secured from the BPP.

  • Dubious dons

    Dubious dons

    • Conviction of professors for poll fraud holds promise for Nigerian elections

    The Court of Appeal in Calabar has just upheld the verdict of Akwa Ibom State  High Court by which an academic, Peter Ogban, was found guilty and sentenced to jail for electoral fraud perpetrated in the 2019 general election. Ogban, a professor of soil science at the University of Calabar, Calabar, was in 2021 sentenced to three years in prison and fined N100,000 by the trial court for falsifying results of the 2019 senatorial poll at the Akwa Ibom north-west senatorial district where he served as collation and returning officer for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    Another professor, Ignatius Uduk, was recently jailed by a state high court in Uyo for electoral fraud. Uduk, a professor of human kinetics in the Department of Physical and Health Education at the University of Uyo, Uyo,  was jailed three years for announcing false results in the house of assembly constituency poll in Akwa Ibom north-west where he served as INEC’s collation and returning officer. It was the electoral body that dragged Ogban and Uduk to court for perverting its processes.

    Ogban is widely construed to have falsified the 2019 election results in two local government areas – Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo – to favour Senator Godswill Akpabio, who has since become the country’s Senate President. He had then just defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and was seeking a return to the red chamber of the National Assembly. Akpabio denied, however, that the professor worked in his favour, saying he was rather a victim of the fraud perpetrated in the senatorial poll.

    At his trial, Ogban admitted to the high court that the election results were falsified. For instance, some 5,000 fake votes were added to the scoreline in Oruk Anam to give his preferred candidate a boost. INEC, represented by then Akwa Ibom Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mike Igini, determinedly pursued the prosecutions that led to the convictions of Ogban and Uduk.

    Before being sentenced, Ogban pleaded for mercy from the judge, Justice Augustine Odokwo, who described the case as novel and told the lecturer there was not much he could do other than let the law take its course. He said the prosecution had been able to prove its case against the professor beyond any reasonable doubt.

    In its decision penultimate week, the appeal court affirmed the verdict of the trial court that held Ogban guilty of announcing falsified election results and condemned his conduct, citing the grave implications of such an act by someone entrusted with safeguarding the integrity of the electoral process. The court was reported to have voiced particular disappointment with Ogban, being a university professor who had not lived up to the integrity and probity expected from people of his calibre.

    Uduk, for his part, was prosecuted by INEC on three charges; namely announcing false election results, publication of false results, and perjury during the 2019 poll. He was convicted and jailed three years by a state high court in Uyo for falsifying election results in Essien Udim state constituency.

    It is very helpful that the judiciary is weighing in on efforts to clear the Augean stable of electoral perfidy in the country and sanitise the system towards promoting credibility of the process. Impunity has always been fuelled by the seeming defectiveness of the justice system to hold abusers of the electoral process to account, and courts slamming convicted electoral offenders in jail goes a long way to signal low tolerance level for their kind as well as discourage emulators.

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    Of course, the high violation rate gets overwhelming for the accountability system. But if potential offenders know there’s a good chance they’ll be made to answer by the justice system for misdeeds, they would think twice before the breach.

    It is sad, however, that the two professors failed high expectations of integrity. INEC enlists high-level academics for electoral duties, not because it has funds to pay them  commensuratly– actually, they’re paid next-to-nothing in pittance – but because they’ve attained a level of personal development that should make them see the call to electoral duty as giving back to society.

    Thankfully, this is the case with most of the dons, making the likes of Ogban and Uduk a statistically insignificant deviation. But they also show that dons need regular class introspection to identify and isolate black sheep among them. These convictions should also prompt INEC to perhaps cast its net wider in sourcing ad hoc manpower for future electoral tasks.

    Section 65 (1) of the Electoral Act 2022 has a proviso empowering the electoral commission to review any declaration made by a returning officer, where it determines such declaration was not made voluntarily or in line with the regulations. This provision wasn’t there in 2019 to curb Ogban and Uduk, and their examples underscore the need for progressive updating of the legal framework to plug loopholes in the electoral system.   

  • Making NELFUND work

    Making NELFUND work

    •All impediments must be removed through credible probe of allegations in the public space

    The launch of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) in July, last year, was seen as a life saver for indigent students thirsty for tertiary education. The details, as released by the fund’s first chief executive, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, excited those whose appetite had been tickled during the political campaign season the previous year when the promise was first made by the man who was later to be elected President.

    However, given the persistent huge mistrust of government by the people, a number of Nigerians thought it would end up like any other previous promises by successive governments. But, when Mr. Sawyerr said the process would be largely automated with minimal human interaction, some elected to give it a benefit of the doubt. Just about one year into the scheme, about 500,000 students are believed to have benefitted.

    It is, however, befuddling that rumours are now rife that some students listed as having benefitted from the loan are still being harassed by some institutions for their tuition fees said to have been paid by NELFUND. So, what happened? Could it be that the money had ended up in the banks and loaned out to their customers for profit? Could it be that the institutions into whose accounts the money was released sat on it? Or, did NELFUND bureaucrats keep the fund aside for personal gain while giving the impression that it had been released? What happened? The Nigerian public deserves full explanation on this.

    It is not a scheme to be killed by what has become derisively known as “the Nigerian factor”.

    Although, the decision by the leadership to step up awareness campaign on the processes of administering the fund helped clear the fog a little, the rumour had been allowed to persist a little too long, such that many thought all the defence was an afterthought. Quite a number of applicants and their parents had come on the social media with their own narrative. Some said they applied and heard no word from the fund. Others said while they were notified of their successful application, they have not been paid and had to raise money from other sources to pay the institutions. Most damaging was the allegation that some institutions were making illegal deductions from money deposited for the beneficiaries. This calls for thorough investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices (and other related offences) Commission (ICPC) that has already stepped in.

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    And, given the importance that the Tinubu administration appears to attach to the scheme, it must be speedily done and the findings made public. We cannot afford to have a repeat of the investigation into activities of ministers and officials of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs that has become endless. The longer it takes, the more doubtful the public would become and it will rub off negatively on confidence in the government.

    This is a time that the Federal Government should woo the youth and give them a sense of belonging. It is good that Mr. Sawyerr has pointed out that the figures being bandied around are all false. He disclosed that N203 billion, not N100 billion has been released to the fund, while about N53 billion has been disbursed to the institutions. He explained that beneficiaries are paid through the institutions, while their upkeep allowance of N20,000 each monthly is paid directly into their accounts. Any student whose monthly stipend has been paid into the account, but is being hounded for tuition knows that something has gone wrong. We hope that the ICPC would involve seasoned accounting and auditing firms in the probe.

    President Bola Tinubu and his Minister of Education should take keen interest in the probe and keep the agitated public informed at every stage. One lesson that the fund and the government should learn from this is that the age of keeping things under wrap is gone. This is the age of democratised media space. The social and new media is agog 24 hours of the day, and where the correct information is not made available, the mischievous would take over and manufacture something for those thirsty for information. By the time information managers are playing catch-up, it might have become too late.

    Another leg of the unfortunate incident is the statistics that beneficiaries are drawn more from preferred sections of the country. The narrative is that applicants from the South South and South East regions were ignored. This concern should not be dismissed but thoroughly probed to discover the reason. Were the regions truly ignored? Did students just refuse to participate because of their parents’ reservation? Whatever be the reason, it is obvious that there are many indigent students in all parts of the country, with many crying that poverty is eating deep into family income.

    It is a call for an intensive awareness campaign to make parents accept that it is in their interest to embrace the scheme. It is true that many Nigerians loath loans, given the predilection of commercial banks to compound interests and thereafter take over property used as collateral. The difference in this should be explained to all by the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and other information dissemination bodies in the country. The money being disbursed belongs to all Nigerians, and it is not enough to make it available, but to ensure that all deserving students are carried along.

    Statistics from NELFUND indicates that while the highest number of applicants, 157,831 came from the North West, the least, 27,098 are from the South East, followed by 37,180 from the South South. Before the next round of consideration of applicants, deliberate action should be taken to bridge the gap and assure all that there is no discrimination against any part of the country.

    All efforts should be made, also, to give speed to consideration of applications, and students tutored on how to successfully apply through the portal. This is the digital age and students should be carried along on how to handle simple applications. Where some have made mistakes, they should be informed and given a second chance. The loan scheme must work in the interest of all deserving Nigerian students of our public tertiary institutions.

  • Worthy partnership

    Worthy partnership

    • North West, North Central governors’ decision to unite against terrorism is laudable

    The decision of North East and North Central governors, at separate meetings, to weld each bloc into a single, doughty shield against terrorism is highly welcome.

    But by the violence rocking the North — Boko Haram (North East), senseless killings  by raiders, who security agencies insist are foreign criminal herders (North Central) and bandit terrorism (North West) — that two-legged stool needs a reinforcing third leg.  The North West too should be part of that bulwark.

    Which leads to this critical point: both North East and North Central could suffer dire insecurity.  But the root of it, in each bloc, is different.

    The North Central states want to band behind a joint patrol front, because they realise many — if not most — of the killers that raid, maim and kill the helpless in Benue and Plateau (most recently); and Nasarawa and Niger, villages might just be fleeing the hot Boko Haram (North East) and bandit (North West) war zones, the military at their heels.  But they come to wreak havoc on helpless North Central villagers.

    So, the joint patrol proposal is smart thinking — mount sturdy sentinels at transit hubs as Lafia, and other areas, to face down and turn back the invaders.  Also focus on flash points as Wamba, Bokkos, aside other border areas between Nasarawa, Benue and Kogi states.  Smart thinking!

    The North East resolution has to do with Boko Haram, which current terror hits seem waking up a dying ghost.  But that could be more emotive than real, with due sympathies to the latest casualties.  No citizen should die that way, which is why the military should buckle up the more to face these latest challenges.

    Still, whether two legs as already proposed, or three legs signalling the North West buying into this bottom-up security philosophy, the states won’t make any appreciable impact without state police.  That is why the emerging protocol on the introduction of state police — for whichever states that can afford it — should be firmed up.

    For the North East and North Central, that would be resolution come to meet opportunity. 

    Remember, if the six North East governors and the six North Central governors — supported by the “federal might” of the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja, which geographically lies in North Central — it follows that they all hope to weave a parallel security infrastructure to the military operations already in place, to flush out the bad boys.

    The federal intervention has been trying its best.  Despite the latest hit-and-go reversals in Borno and Yobe states, the truth is that the government has been gaining against terrorism in the North. 

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    Unfortunately, terrorism is asymmetrical war, against ghostly forces that hit you and run, most times at the softest of targets. Double jeopardy: the hysteria in the media, after each successful terror attack, often wipes out past gains, at least in the very immediate, when anguish is deep, and emotions run high.

    Yet, it’s precisely because the federal forces are thin on the ground, given the vast tracts of un-policed territory, from where terrorists, bandits, and serial killers with no rhyme or reason, make hay.  From these un-policed spaces they launch attacks and also scramble right back there.  The less un-policed spaces, therefore, the less terrorists’ capacities to mount opportunistic raids.

    This home-grown, grassroots sentinel network would complement the federal forces, put more boots on the ground, and penetrate the most remote of villages, which now are often sitting targets for terror raids.

    Another thing: there is already an informal network of state vigilantes, now often backed by state arms.  The snag, though, is that the vigilantes bear low-grade arms, which are virtual toys in comparison to military-grade arms that terrorists wield.

    This is another reason state police is critical to this grassroots security network.  State police corps would have access to better arms.  These arms would also be placed in better-trained hands.  That should be a federal-state win-win that should redound in a far better security situation, other things being equal.

    So, with the military unrelenting in its current kinetic operations, and a fused geo-political security infrastructure tightly woven at the grassroots — North East, North Central and: who knows? North West — it would be logical to project that the days of these senseless killings may well be numbered.  That is very achievable, if those involved keep their mind to it.

    Still, the North East governors introduced another dimension, though not entirely novel: reinforcing kinetic campaigns with conscious and deliberate non-kinetic policies that not only declares an aggressive war against poverty but also boasts a healthy budget for social infrastructure that boosts education, health, access to electricity and generally improved living.

    On this, the North East governors just brought to the table exciting prospects: tackling the big problem of out-of-school children.  By 2024, by UNICEF numbers, Nigeria had 18.3 children that were out of school, for sundry reasons — one of the highest in the world, if not the very highest. 

    The Education Policy Data Centre (EPDC), in a report, claims 53% — more than half — of children in the North East are out of school.  This has been blamed on Boko Haram terrorist disruption.

    Though it’s not clear the share this North East internal number takes from the overall Nigerian tally of 18.3 million children, it’s clear out-of-school-children is a terrible demographic that must be taken into account in the war against terror.  Poverty and hopelessness easily aid indoctrination, which is the first step in radicalisation — the heinous philosophy that powers terror.

    The North East Governors’ thinking, on curbing out-of-school-children, is right on the money.  Other regions in the North — and all over Nigeria — should follow suit. 

    Even the South West, renowned as having the best development indices among Nigeria’s six regions, is also reported to, of late, be chalking up an increasing number of out-of-school children.  This should sound a national alarm.