The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • So long, too long

    So long, too long

    •It’s taking too long to deliver the NIN, a vital tool for planning data

    “So long, too long” is a hit song by the late Majek Fashek, one of Nigeria’s most popular reggae artistes ever. But that track aptly captures Nigeria’s national identity card project.

    Seventeen years after an Act of the National Assembly (NIMC Act 23 of 2007: enacted on May 25, 2007); and 15 years since the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) was set up in 2010, the National Identification Number (NIN) scheme isn’t exactly a roaring success.

    Indeed, the first attempts were made under Second Republic President Shehu Shagari (1979-1983) — or more accurately, under the then outgoing military Head of State, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo. Obasanjo launched the project on September 1, 1979: the final month of his ruling junta. He handed the project over to President Shagari on October 1, 1979. 

    That initial scheme, under President Shagari, launched at the initial cost of N15 million before it got stuck, only delivered national identity cards to Gen. Obasanjo and a few others. That remained the story until the final days of Obasanjo’s presidential tenure, when the outgoing president signed the NIMC Bill into law, on May 25, 2007 — four days before he left office!

    So, If you factor in these first attempts, one could say the idea has been hovering in the air since 1979: 46 years ago! So long, too long! Is there any jinx linked to the project, such that it always jerked awake at Obasanjo’s dying tenure, both as junta head and elected president?

    Between 2010 and now, the number of registrants is hardly anything to crow about. According to statistics that NIMC just released, two states with thumping populations, lead the list. Lagos tops with 12, 612, 334

    registrations, broken down into 6,870,915 males and 5, 741, 419 females.

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    Kano, the second most populated state in Nigeria, posted 10, 246, 055 registrants — 5, 924, 126 males and 4, 321, 929 females.

    For showing leadership — deliberate or inadvertent — Lagos and Kano deserve kudos. It’s rather nice to deduce that this pair, with big populations, seem anxious to leverage NIN to further boost their development planning. 

    Still, we should not rush to such conclusions. As impressive as the Lagos number seems, it would appear barely half of the state’s thumping population, which virtually explodes in the next second, being Nigeria’s first opportunity centre, to which natives of other states flock for jobs. 

    So, as it is, Lagos — as Kano — can do far better. The one is job magnet for all nationwide, the other is the commercial hub of the North. A fuller and accurate NIN would help the pair to better manage migration challenges, triggered by job pulls.

    If Lagos and Kano have at least tried to rally, this can’t be said of other NIN laggards. Mercifully, no region or geo-political zone has a bragging right here. All lug their laggards!

    The worst states with registrant numbers, according to NIMC data, are Ekiti: 1,143,102 (South West), Ebonyi: 990,775 (South East) and Bayelsa: 758,111 (South- South), in that order.

    However, the top 10 include Kaduna (6, 945, 818), Ogun (4, 926, 721), Oyo (4, 539, 340), Katsina (4, 019, 964), FCT of Abuja (3, 795, 690), Rivers (3, 532, 787), Delta (3, 198, 779 and Bauchi (3, 078, 996). Again here, there seems no geo-political domination as the numbers are well spread.

    Given the strategic importance of NIN for planning, the Federal Government should introduce a new blitz of enlightenment for citizens to be registered. The state governments too should galvanise their local governments to embark on such campaigns at the grassroots.

    Still, a vital corollary: NIMC must prime its logistics and technology to capture registrants in minimal time. Indeed, part of the lethargy is that budding registrants often complain over long queues and disorganised registration processes. 

    NIMC must show clear readiness for prompt and orderly registration — or it would have failed in its given national duty.

    The NIN story must change — and change fast!

  • Television lawyers

    Television lawyers

    •Legal authorities must sanction them for sanity to prevail in judiciary

    The alarm raised by the former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, which was supported by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, and the Chairman of the Body of Benchers (BOB), Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), over increasing ethical misconduct amongst lawyers, deserves a critical examination by relevant authorities. Sadly, for some lawyers, it is fashionable to misrepresent the judgments of the courts, and ridicule the learned judges, once a judgment does not favour their preferences. Such lawyers, use the conventional and social media as avenue to practice their trade.

    The threesome spoke at the maiden annual lecture of the BOB and the presentation of the report of the directions of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) in Abuja. Fashola, who was the keynote speaker, asked rhetorically: “When is the LPDC going to set and enforce new rules for television lawyers?” He went on: “When can a judge refer a petition for unethical conduct in the course of trial against a lawyer?” He noted that in the past “it was an anathema to argue your case on television.”

    Like Fashola and other reasonable Nigerians, we are appalled at how lawyers twist the cases of their clients or that of other persons, in which they have personal interest, to gain unmerited sympathy in the public domain. While urging for measures to stem the tide, the CJN said: “It is instructive to note that the Body of Benchers, as the apex institution of the legal profession in Nigeria, is uniquely positioned to lead the charge in this regard.” She however cautioned: “The enforcement of professional discipline among legal practitioners, through the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC), is a vital function that must be pursued with fairness, transparency, and unwavering resolve.”

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    We are by no means saying that lawyers cannot disagree with the judgments of courts. Like every other Nigerians, lawyers are entitled to the fundamental rights provisions in the 1999 constitution (as amended), which in section 39(1) provides for the “freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinion and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.” But we doubt whether the fashionable practice of some lawyers appearing on television to denounce, without facts, the judgments of the courts can be excused as an exercise of a fundamental right. In disagreeing with a judgment of a court, a lawyer is entitled to raise jurisprudential, statutory or even ethical arguments, showing why such judgment is wrong and proffering or canvassing an alternative view point. Such a robust academic exercise helps the development of the judicial process, as both judges and litigants may gain alternative insights to the issues

    canvassed.

    But what rankles is the practice of some lawyers making bogus claims whenever any judgment didn’t go their way. Another common practice amongst the so-called television lawyers is to distort the judgments of the court. Even when the language of the court is clear, such lawyers give false colouration to the judgments, in other to confuse the minds of the public. After laying such allegations and creating doubt in the mind of the ordinary person, the lawyers who claimed that the judges acted corruptly take no further step to bring a petition and evidence before the National Judicial Commission, empowered by the constitution to discipline judicial officers.

    While the concerned lawyers gain popularity within the public as fearless and bold, the image of the judiciary is dragged in the mud, for what amounts to mere speculation or disingenuous misrepresentation of facts of a case. We agree with Fashola that disciplinary steps should be taken against such misconduct by lawyers. And we urge the BOB to take steps to rein in such unethical lawyers.

  • A familiar paradox

    A familiar paradox

    • Banks’ superlative profits serve the economy better where these reflect on the larger society

    It is a kind of paradox of which Nigerians are only too familiar: Of banks posting superlative figures of performance even when all that the ordinary citizen can see and feel is an

    economy that is, at best, still stuttering. The season, an inescapable part of the banks’ end of year offerings, is again set upon us as the banks reel out the figures of performance in the past year. As would be expected, newspapers have since focused on last year’s performance of the five tier 1 banks – all of which, between them, control not less than two-thirds of the industry and so are euphemistically regarded as systemically important.

     From their books have come the finding that their combined pre-tax profit have risen by about 70 per cent to N4.56 trillion just as their net profits after tax also surged by 66.2 per cent as at December 31, 2024. Their total assets during the period is also said to have risen to N108.21 trillion compared with N72.80 trillion in the preceding year. These – and this is remarkable – were said to have been driven by operational growth, rather than the usual extraordinary items such as foreign exchange (forex) revaluation gains as was the case in Y2023.

    Interestingly, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has a similar story of stewardship to tell. This time, it is about the country’s Net Foreign Exchange Reserve (NFER) position. According to the apex bank, the NFER, at the end of 2024 stood at $23.11 billion – the highest level in over three years. This is said to be a marked increase from $3.99 billion at year-end 2023, $8.19 billion in 2022, and $14.59 billion in 2021. Not only that, the gross external reserves also increased to $40.19 billion, compared to $33.22 billion at the close of 2023. The increase, it says, reflects a combination of strategic measures undertaken by it, including a deliberate and substantial reduction in short-term foreign exchange liabilities – notably swaps and forward obligations.

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    To the extent that these developments symbolise hope for the economy, Nigerians have reasons to rejoice in them. For the CBN in particular, we acknowledge what is, increasingly, a refreshing bust of fresh air after the trauma of the opacity and reckless abuses that characterised the deployment of the monetary policy tools under the immediate past regime. Then of course are the overall financial system stability and the measured wave of recapitalisation, both of which can only bode well for the ambitious targeted growth of $1 trillion by 2030 set by President Bola Tinubu.

    Yet, despite these, Nigerians could not be accused of being unreasonably insistent about what these actually come to in real terms, particularly at the micro and the macro levels of purchasing power, inclusive growth as indeed the fundamentals of economic diversification. For, just as a number of the worries daily expressed by Nigerians might be deemed as traditional, they have remained largely unanswered. We refer here to the daily frustrations with the wave of charges and the ruthlessness with which they are levied on customer accounts by banks, the age-long restrictions right up to the prohibitive costs of credit and even access by individuals and businesses, big or small. To the extent that the answers to how these bode well for the goal of financial inclusion have remained somewhat elusive, it is about time the economic management team sat together to address them holistically and realistically. After all, the idea of banks serving as an oasis of prosperity even when the larger economy remains enfeebled can only be a misnomer; if anything, the expectation is that the prosperity of an enabler, which is what the banks truly are, should translate to the prosperity of the enabled as indeed the overall society. Time, in our view, to focus on the goal of a more inclusive growth. 

  • Taxing the poor

    Taxing the poor

    • It is sad only one percent of the rich pay tax

    The idea of a fair tax system has puzzled societies, especially since the 20th century when many believed an egalitarian approach would solve the obsession with bridging the huge gap between the rich and poor. Nigeria has not been immune from this.

    According to a report, published and released by Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA), Oxfam Nigeria, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and Oxfam Novib, of the top rich bracket of Nigeria, only one percent pays taxes.

    Titled: “Taxing the rich: Nigerian fair tax monitor thematic report”, the organisations called for progressive taxation of 99 per cent of the wealthy who evade their obligations.

    TJNA, an African network of civil society think tanks, trade unions, feminist groups, youth-led and faith-based organisations, and community-based organisations operating across African countries, has placed its fingers in one of the markers of poor resource management in the country.

    In the modern era, a country that cannot make its rich pay helps perpetuate a lopsided society, and also generates resentment among the poor.

    It is also benumbing that one per cent of Nigeria’s richest account for 25.5 per cent of the nation’s wealth, while the bottom 50 per cent owns only 4.7 per cent. It is the way of capitalism all over the world, most obvious in western society that compiles more credible data.

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    The report also says Nigeria could reap over N4.59 trillion ($6 billion) annually from taxing just 4,690 wealthy individuals. Oxfam asserts that implementing an annual net wealth tax would raise more than $6 billion with rates at two per cent on wealth over $5 million; five per cent on wealth over $50 million and 10 per cent on wealth over $1 billion.

    “This would be enough to more than double the government’s health budget or reduce households’ out-of-pocket health expenditure by 40%. There are 4,690 individuals with a net worth of $5

    million or more, with wealth totaling $107.2 billion, and 245 individuals with $50 million or more with a combined wealth of $56.5 billion,” they said.

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    The report suggests a tax rate of one percent on the stock value of shares. This could bring in an approximate revenue in Nigeria of $492 million annually or $389 million annually from just the 11 largest companies, the report claimed.

    In spite of dodgy manoeuvres, the big corporations and individuals still exact special favours by way of tax exemptions and incentives. It amounts to fiscal injustice as their privileges do not demonstrably add to greater wealth or revenue to society.

    The poor bear the burden. They pay the most taxes and suffer the worst consequences. The new tax bill is expected to play a big role in reversing this one-sided position.

     Large corporations and high-net-worth individuals, it reports, frequently exploit legal loopholes to minimise their tax liabilities.

    “Strengthening tax compliance through better enforcement, closing loopholes, and increasing transparency are key steps towards a fairer tax system, the report says.

    It also tackles property taxation and calls for reforms as well as the introduction of a direct net wealth tax to create a more balanced and just fiscal framework.

    None of these can work without single-minded approach and sincerity, even if its recommendations are set in motion, including a call for enhanced digital infrastructure, optimised disclosure process, investment in capacity building and linking transparency and public spending on social services. The last recommendation has fuelled cynicism among the poor and larger society.

    A comprehensive wealth registry, viable auditing mechanisms, and credible institutional oversight will help.

    It is a definition of exploitation when the wealthy enjoy while the poor fund the infrastructure that enable them. 

  • Rethinking Humphrey Nwosu

    Rethinking Humphrey Nwosu

    The late NEC boss deserves national honour.

    As widely reported in the media, on March 27, 2025, the Nigerian Senate rejected the motion to honour the late Professor Humphrey Nwosu, a Professor of Political Science, who was Chairman of the defunct National Electoral Commission (NEC) from 1989 to 1993. Professor Nwosu died on October 20, 2024, at the age of 83, and was buried on March 28, 2025.

    The motion proposed that the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) be named after him in commemoration of his role as “a hero of the June 12, 1993 election.”

    However, some senators held a different view, arguing that Professor Nwosu lacked the courage to conclude the announcement of the results. It is noteworthy that on July 2, 2024, the House of Representatives passed a resolution requesting the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration to immortalise Professor Nwosu whose leadership of NEC conducted the watershed election of June 12, 1993, which unfortunately was annulled by the military regime of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd.). Similarly, on March 24, 2025, the current Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, a Professor of History, called for Professor Nwosu to be duly honoured. Meanwhile, June 12 has been declared as a national holiday in commemoration of that historic election, and in honour of the heroic defence, including with his life, of his victory by the winner, Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola.

    There were three key aspects of the June 12 issue. These were the pre-election, election day and post-election activities. With respect to pre-election activities, NEC, under the leadership of Professor Nwosu, took the novel decision that what was called “Option A4” was going to be adopted as the voting method on election day. This would require voters to line up in front of the pictures of their respective preferred candidates to enhance transparency and minimise, if not eliminate, voting fraud. NEC also effectively complemented political parties’ campaign efforts to enlighten the electorate and generate voters interest.

    In addition, NEC resisted frivolous attempts to stop the election, using questionable judicial means. Moreover, NEC undertook an efficient distribution of electoral materials, even to very difficult terrains.

    With respect to election day activities, the chaos that was anticipated from the untested Option A4 voting system did not materialise, and the voting took place without major incidents across the country.

    Meanwhile, the different polling agents of the two political parties which existed at the time were given copies of the election results at the polling stations at the end of the voting. So, without waiting for NEC, each of the parties could collate its results and know its relative performance in the election.

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    Understandably, the election was widely declared as generally free and fair by both local and foreign observers. In fact, it was judged as the freest and fairest election conducted in the country.

    With respect to post-election activities, NEC started the official collation of the authenticated results from the different states of the federation, and by June 16, 1993, only the result from Taraba State was left, and it was already in transit to the NEC national collation centre. NEC therefore projected that the collation of results would be completed and the formal announcement would be done around June 17-18, 1993.

    Meanwhile, it had become clear that Bashorun Abiola, the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) won the election and awaiting the Taraba State election result was just to fulfill all righteousness.

    The National Republican Convention (NRC), whose presidential candidate was Alhaji Bashir Tofa, therefore went ahead to concede victory and congratulate Abiola’s SDP.

    As Professor Nwosu further noted in an October 24, 2014 interview with Sahara Reporters, it was at this point that the Babangida administration interrupted the result collation and announcement processes, and dissolved the electoral commission on June 23, 1993. This effectively made Professor Nwosu a former chairman of a defunct commission, and deprived him of any locus to continue to announce any further results.

    In summary, Professor Nwosu led NEC to excellent performance in the pre-election and election day activities of June 12. With respect to the post-election activities, Professor Nwosu led NEC to commendable performance before matters were taken completely out of his hands by the military regime. He deployed his intellectual and administrative endowments to organise the June 12 model, world-acclaimed free and fair election. That election demonstrated our capacity as a nation to do right, irrespective of the challenges. To deny Professor Nwosu, who is by all standards a national hero, his well-deserved honour is, as such, not just an act of ingratitude to him as an individual, but amounts to abjuring the devotion to principle, innovativeness, and single-mindedness.

    We therefore appeal to the Senate leadership to facilitate the re-presentation and approval of the motion to honour Professor Humphrey Nwosu duly.

  • Uromi mob killings

    Uromi mob killings

    • Perpetrators must be fished out and punished

    Savage killings in Uromi, Edo State, recently grabbed the headlines, further highlighting Nigeria’s security challenges, ethnic prejudice, weak law enforcement, and other underlying issues.

     Sixteen travellers, who were described as hunters, were attacked and killed by a mob after vigilantes found Dane guns in their vehicle. A viral video of the tragic March 28 incident showed how the victims were overpowered, tied to used tyres, doused with petrol, and set ablaze. The locals had concluded that they were kidnappers. But there was no evidence to support such a conclusion.

    Mob action is condemnable. It cannot be justified by the alleged frequency of kidnap cases in the area, which possibly triggered the incident. 

    Indeed, official accounts confirmed that the victims were hunters, mostly from Torankawa village, Kano State, who were returning home for the Eid-al-Fitr celebration. The incident shows the importance of identity documents, which could have been useful in clarifying their identities. 

    They were travelling to Kano from Port Harcourt. “Our journey was peaceful from Port Harcourt until we reached Uromi, where trouble began,” one of the survivors of the attack, Dayyabu Yahya, narrated. “Vigilantes stopped us. I was seated in the front seat. They ordered our driver to step out of the vehicle, but he refused. In response, they flogged him. They also ordered the other passengers to get down, beating us before grouping us together.”

    He continued: “They inspected our belongings but found nothing suspicious—only some licensed Dane guns, which hunters use. There were about 27 passengers in the vehicle. I can’t say how many of us are missing, but I know that two passengers were hospitalised.”

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    Another survivor, Mustafa Ali Kassim, said “the vigilantes started beating us as we stepped out of the vehicle. They later stood back and allowed the locals to continue the assault while they watched. Realising that we would likely be killed, some of us ran for our lives—I was one of them.”

    Ethnicity may well be a factor in this tragedy. The victims were from the northern part of the country. The attack occurred in the southern part of the country and was carried out by southerners.  It is concerning that the mob took the law into their own hands. Suspicion is not guilt. The alleged kidnapping suspects should have been handed over to law enforcement personnel.

    The role of vigilantes in this incident underlines the failure of state actors who ought to be responsible for stop-and-search operations. Official security personnel would have acted differently. The authorities must ensure that vigilantes do not take over the roles of the security forces.

    Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo should be commended for his prompt intervention to defuse tension and discourage reprisal attacks.  He paid a condolence visit to Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and they both visited Torankawa village, where most of the victims of the tragedy came from. He assured the people of Kano that justice would be served, adding that 14 suspects had been arrested in connection with the incident. He promised to pay compensation to the affected families.  This demonstrates empathetic leadership.  

    Importantly, he also played down ethnic prejudice and promoted unity, stating his commitment to maintaining harmony between the Hausa community in Edo and their hosts and stressing that the attack did not reflect the values of the state.

    He added that President Bola Tinubu “is deeply disturbed by this incident and has directed security agencies to spare no effort in bringing the perpetrators to book.” This is a critical aspect of the incident. It is necessary to send a strong signal that mob action is unacceptable and will be punished.

  • Role retreat

    Role retreat

    • •Third term bid flips America’s renown as paragon of constitutional adherence

    For ages, the United States of America prided itself as the model of constitutional adherence in the practice of democracy. The country projected itself as an exemplar of the due process culture and respect for term limits in political office, and it often derided leaders in climes like Africa where people cling to power on the argument that they are indispensable and are needed for continuing survival of their nationhoods.

    Now, that story is changing and America seems headed in the path of those same societies it used to deride – no thanks to a touted bid by current President Donald Trump to seek a third term in the office.

    The bright spot of libertarian culture has come a long way from barely a decade ago when former President Barack Obama pontificated to Africa about the menace of leaders refusing to step down, warning that the continent would not get out of the backwaters if many of its leaders settled for being presidents for life.

    Speaking at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2015 during a tour of some African states in the closing months of his presidency, Obama said nobody should be president for life. “I don’t understand why people want to stay so long, especially when they have got a lot of money,” he told the 54-member body in an apparent jibe at African leaders who had done just that.

    On that occasion, Obama called on the AU to ensure leaders respect their respective constitution and step down when their term ends; he specifically called out Burundi where President Pierre Nkurunziza had just then been controversially re-elected for a third term. “Sometimes you will hear leaders say ‘I’m the only person who can hold this nation together.’ If that is true, then that leader has failed to truly build their nation,” he argued. He indeed joked about his own chances of another term in office, which he was constitutionally barred from seeking. “I actually think I’m a pretty good president,’” he said. “I think if I ran, I could win. But I can’t!”

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    It is doubtful if Obama recognises his own country today, or if he would be so superciliously disposed towards the power bug syndrome he criticised. President Trump lately affirmed that he was contemplating seeking a third term in the White House, and that he wasn’t joking about it. He served as president from 2016 to 2020, and is presently into a second term that began in January and will run till 2028. But he says he isn’t ruling out seeking a third term.

    Speaking in a phone interview with an American news medium last Sunday, the president said: “A lot of people want me to do it (referring to his allies). But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.” Asked if he truly wanted another term, he responded, “I like working,” making clear he was “not joking” about trying to serve a third term. “But I’m not… It is far too early to think about it,” he added. Still, he pointed to his poll numbers, saying “a lot of people” would like him to hold office for a third term.

    The 22nd Amendment, added to the American constitution in 1951 after President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected four times in a row, says “no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” Amending the constitution to scrap the two-term limit would require either a two-thirds vote of Congress or two-thirds of the states agreeing to call a constitutional convention to propose changes. Either route would then require ratification from three-quarters of the states. It is ordinarily a long and hard road to such amendment.

    But Trump gave indication of having trump cards under his sleeves. Asked whether his strategists had mapped out plans to allow him to seek a third term, he said, “There are methods by which you could do it.” The news medium prodded him on a possible scenario whereby Vice President JD Vance would run for president and then pass the role to Trump, and he responded: “That’s one method. There are others.” He declined detailing those methods, though.

    There is currently a pall of silence hobbling America’s political class, suggesting that Trump might run up against only a whimper of resistance. Meanwhile, his allies are plying an advocacy. Among them, his former strategist Steve Bannon was reported saying Trump would “run and win again in 2028,” adding that the camp had “a couple of alternatives” on how he could proceed despite the two-term constitutional limit. It is just sad to see America join the rogue squad and leave the world without an ombudsman of democracy.

  • Kind gesture

    Kind gesture

    • Reintroduction of bursary awards to students of Oyo State origin is the way to go

    When free education scheme was reintroduced in primary and secondary schools in states of the South West in the Second Republic, undergraduates also received bursary awards to promote educational advancement. Indeed, many indigent students used the opportunity to move up the social ladder and many equipped to thereby later make their contributions to national development.

    Governor Seyi Makinde’s decision to vote about N550 million to assist final year undergraduates of universities and polytechnics, and students of Medicine, Law and Aviation in the country is commendable. This is indeed one mode of supporting the underprivileged. If other states could adopt the same mode, the people would begin to appreciate the government and gradually build up confidence in their leaders.

    It could be said that more could be done, but this is certainly a step forward. There are some wallowing in abject poverty who need full scholarships to sponsor their children and wards in schools. The Oyo State governor should consider these, too.

    Coming after the Federal Government’s loan scheme, other tiers of government and corporate organisations should travel the same road in the overall interest of the society. If institutions in the United States of America could consider awarding full or part scholarship to the brilliant, women, athletes and the vulnerable in the third world, the privileged in our society and all tiers of government should step up the support system.

    We believe that this is the first step by the Seyi Makinde government, and that his successor in office, especially if he is of another political party, would not cancel the programme.

    Nigeria must not wait until she begins to play catch-up with other African countries before taking serious measures to improve education. We suggest that the Oyo State government should take a step further by immediately incorporating Education students to the scheme. Education is fast becoming a sector for only those who have no choice. There are hardly students who set out to study Education courses in schools. This trend must be reversed in the interest of all. Scholarships and bursaries should be introduced in schools if the golden age is to be restored.

    Beyond bursaries, the Oyo State government, and indeed others, should consider meeting up with the UNESCO recommendation of budgetary allocation for education. The global body has said no government should vote less than 26 per cent of its budget for education. If government at all levels in Nigeria were to adopt this, there would be adequate funding for providing educational infrastructure, training and retraining of teachers, promotion of scholarship in higher institutions, and generally restoring the sector to its pride of place among others in the country.

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    While security of lives and property is imperative, and feeding of the nation’s teeming population must be given priority attention by all, education is the only means of supporting these in the long run. ‘Area boys’, the ‘almajiri’, out-of- school children would stand in the way of curbing insecurity and promoting modern farming. A population of more than 200 million cannot be fed with hoes and cutlasses that belonged in the 19th century. All these require budgetary support as we move on to a modern era.

    We call on President Bola Tinubu to ensure that education budget moves beyond the 10 per cent that has been the highest in the past 10 years. If it is not possible to move up to the recommended 26 per cent immediately, an increase to at least 15 per cent in 2026 is desirable.

    Ultimately, the decision is the electorate’s. As we move towards 2027, sub nationals should not be allowed to run with the narrative that education is the responsibility of the government at the centre only. The 1999 Constitution puts education on the concurrent legislative list that permits both the federal and state governments to legislate. The Oyo State government, as indeed a few others, have shown that it is possible to support schools and students. This is only the minimum. They should move higher, and be joined by others, including the local government councils.

  • Ifon-Ilobu crisis

    Ifon-Ilobu crisis

    • This time, govt must dig up the root to solve the problems once and for all

    Accounts from both sides demonstrated the intensity of the recent conflict between Ilobu and Ifon communities in Osun State, which led to the imposition of an initial 24-hour curfew by the state government. Another community, Erin-Osun, was also involved. The fighting was reportedly triggered by a land dispute and resulted in wide-scale destruction of properties and human casualties.

    Ilobu and Ifon have a history of violent clashes each other. This latest incident underlines the need for the state government to definitively address the causes of the recurring communal clashes and the harvest of destruction. 

    According to the National President of Ilobu Development Union, Olufemi Salako, “It is a pre-planned and premeditated attack on Ilobu community.” He said: “This time around, it is not about Ifon and Ilobu fighting over disputed land, it is about the determination of Ifon-Osun and Erin-Osun communities to completely exterminate the Ilobu community.” He added that “over 100,000 people” had been displaced as a result of the attack and “properties worth over N2billion” destroyed.

    Spokesperson for the Ifon community, Akeem Adekunle, claimed that Ilobu people had attacked them. He said: “The video where Ilobu people, mostly children and women, are trooping out of the town is their strategy when they are ready for full-blown war. They will evict anything that can be a burden to them during the war and will remain only the full-grown men and their warriors to strike so that they won’t suffer any casualties.”

    It is commendable that Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke and some members of the state executive council visited the three communities involved in the crisis for an on-the-spot assessment. He condemned the level of destruction they observed, noting that the crisis gave the state a bad image.

    The Osun State Police Command said three suspects had been arrested in possession of a Dane gun, adding that a “thorough investigation will be conducted” and suspects prosecuted. The investigation should be carried out without delay.  The police also reassured the public that they were “monitoring the situation to fish out trouble makers and their sponsors, who will face the full wrath of the law.”

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    The governor should also be commended for subsequently reviewing the 24-hour curfew and replacing it with a 17-hour curfew, with effect from March 28, “to alleviate the suffering of residents of the three towns and provide an opportunity for them to attend to their immediate needs.”

    However, it is disturbing that the communal crisis may be re-ignited. Governor Adeleke said during the Eid-al-Fitr celebration he “received reports of some people planning another round of conflict in Ifon, Ilobu and Erin Osun towns.”  He threatened to re-impose a 24-hour curfew, adding that security agencies had been instructed to increase surveillance to ensure no attack is carried out.

    Importantly, he declared that traditional rulers of the towns “must call their subjects to order,” threatening to remove from office any traditional ruler where violence reoccurs. Indeed, the traditional rulers can be instruments of lasting peace, given their status in the communities and their grassroots influence.

    The governor’s threats should drive the point home: violence and destruction are unacceptable. The warring communities should embrace dialogue towards resolving their differences. 

    The authorities must look beyond settling the immediate crisis and seek an enduring solution that will put an end to clashes between the communities. Those behind the latest crisis should be identified and punished to serve as a deterrent.  Also, there is a strong need for proactive security measures that will prevent violence even when communal differences exist. 

  • No lethargy 

    No lethargy 

    • The crude-for-Naira policy is too critical for FG not to be proactive

    Dangote Petroleum Refinery (DPR), the biggest player in Nigeria’s renewed local crude oil refining market, just gave a crude wake-up call.  It could soon start selling its refined products in dollar, since the crude-for-Naira policy, for local refiners, seems slipping into a limbo.

    The Federal Government has since made a fitting response.  Zach Adedeji, chair of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and head of the committee that midwifed that policy, claimed it was here to stay — good! 

    But it was shocking that even as he spoke, a few days to the close of the first six-month policy trial window at the end of March, a new deal wasn’t still on the table. That’s culpable lethargy.  It’s clearly not good enough.

    If Dangote were to carry out its threat, the resulting shock could well send inflation — now trending down, if so slightly — flaring again.  That would be nasty for everyone: the administration with its tough reforms just earning grudging legitimacy with falling fuel pump prices, its political survival near its midterm, the economy rocking under high costs, and angry workers whose salaries can’t take them home.

    Fuel pump prices — petrol, diesel, kerosene, aviation gas — are a classic for cost-push inflation.  Even post-subsidy removal, they are too strategic for the market regulators not to have a tight grip on this petroleum downstream.  Fuel costs, with electricity still largely comatose, are too central to whatever gains the economy has made.

    That’s why those in charge must get cracking, and put a new deal on the table — lasting 12 months at the very least, with experience of the first six months coming in handy, even with the challenge of limited crude.  With the futures trading practice, a good part of present production is already sold off. But we must strike a healthy balance.

    That in place, no player — major or minor — would be in the position to issue such a disruptive statement as DPR just did.  The economic repair is still too tender for such alarmist blasts.

    Now, a word of caution for DPR.  Since the rebirth of local crude refining, when it pumped its first petrol in September 2024, DPR has been rather activist. If it’s not leading to flare pump prices, it’s leading the charge to slash them.

    That DPR does all of these is not the problem.  That’s the norm in a competition-driven market.  The problem is how it does it: virtually putting a gun to the head of competition — and in this latest instance, at the head of the industry and policy makers.  That need not be so.

    DPR price hikes and slashes often assume a price war.  Such manifestation — not a few claim — appears testing an operational template, such that puts DPR (or any future dominant market player) in a position to cynically play the market however it likes. 

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    Or, all too real and ruinously so: a few players, as in cement, banding together to sell the product at whatever price they like, notwithstanding that the overwhelming bulk of the raw materials are sourced locally.

    That must never be allowed in this rebounding petroleum downstream, or else the economy would trade away its natural advantage of reasonable fuel pricing, as a crude oil-producing country.

    DPR, among the biggest single-tranche refineries in the world, is private-sector funded.  That means loans must be serviced on time.  Needless policy laxity and lethargy could imperil all that. So, the government must do its bit — and speedily so.

    But the DPR managers should also realise that the Buhari Presidency treated the project as a national priority, if not outright emergency, offering the sponsors all help, fiscal and monetary, to deliver it.  The Tinubu government has walked that same lane.  That’s why DPR can’t afford to be too gung-ho in its operational style.

    An alleged testing ground for a future rogue player, or even an oligopoly a la cement, is neither here nor there.  Players can dream whatever sharp dreams they wish.  But the market regulators must ensure those remain what they are: colourful dreams never to materialise. 

    So, for our renewed petroleum downstream, here and now is the time to emplace doughty and robust anti-trust regulations, to checkmate any future market rascality.

    For now, let Zach Adedeji and co get cracking.  Nothing — absolutely nothing — must  threaten the crude-for-Naira policy.  Post-subsidy removal and its pains, it’s the least the government can do to birth reasonable pump prices and retain the people’s sympathy in very hard times.