The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Terror funds

    Terror funds

    • Govt should not rest on its oars until the financiers are arrested and prosecuted

    The Federal Government has taken action against individuals and entities implicated in terrorism financing by designating them as terrorist groups and financiers on the Nigeria Sanctions List and freezing their bank accounts. Top on the list of the 16 individuals whose several bank accounts have been frozen is the notorious, Finland-based Simon Ekpa, who allegedly heads a splinter group of the  Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

    The idea of freezing their bank accounts was recommended by the Nigeria Sanctions Committee at its meeting in Abuja. According to the committee, the action was in line with Section 54 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act of 2022. Additionally, banks have been mandated to report suspicious transactions to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) for further analysis.

    Lakurawa, a relatively new militant group notorious for attacking local communities in North-Western Nigeria and across the border with Niger is also included in the list of terrorist organisations, given their heinous activities. Officials insist that  Lakurawa is affiliated with jihadist factions in Mali and Niger, and its militants have for years settled in communities along the Nigeria-Niger border, mingling with natives, marrying local women and conscripting vulnerable youths.

    We commend the Federal Government for coming out hard on these groups and individuals who have been linked to terrorist activities in the country. It is however very disturbing that some of the masterminds of these groups and the alleged financiers of their nefarious activities are often not resident in the country. It would be necessary for the country to take more diplomatic actions with countries linked to these alleged criminals causing problems for Nigeria.

    The splinter group of IPOB that Ekpa is allegedly heading has been accused of being the mastermind of the ‘Sit-at-home’ programme that has not just cost the country social and economic instability, especially in the South East, but has claimed lives and made social life very unstable in the region.  They have been accused of grooming and financing some youths who have been tagged ‘unknown gunmen’ who keep hunting down and murdering citizens.

    Read Also: Insecurity: Police arrest bandit drug suppliers, female arms dealer

    These groups have turned living in Nigeria into a nightmare for their victims. The Lakurawa group, for example, now adds to the other jihadist groups like Boko Haram, ISWAP and several other groups kidnapping, killing and maiming citizens in the country. Nigerians in the last decade have seen a huge escalation of these social ills with the attendant tolls on lives and properties.

    While we commend the steps taken so far to tag these groups rightly as terrorists, we still feel that more actions are needed.

    We remember that the President Muhammadu Buhari government at several times bandied names of some alleged financiers of terrorism in the country but Nigerians never saw any concrete deterrent actions taken against those so fingered.

    Fighting terrorism is a global issue that requires seriousness, determination, inter-agency collaborations and international co-operation.

    That there are indications that some of the jihadists come in from neighbouring countries is very indicting of our border control agencies. How is our territorial integrity protected if terror groups easily flow into the country, establish bases and  even have the liberty to recruit youths to join them? This is a very serious indictment on the agencies that are supposed to ensure such inflow of criminals doesn’t happen. However, it is a known fact that Nigeria has some of the most porous borders in the whole of Africa.  Uncontrolled immigration and open borders are open invitations to terrorist gangs.

    The fact that a Simon Ekpa could have been coordinating terror attacks from Finland for years, with the government only beginning to show interest in his extradition to answer for his alleged crimes is an indictment on the country itself. He had been able to mobilise funds and recruit agents for his criminal activities and seemingly appears untouchable.

    And our banks; what due diligence do they apply before and after accounts are opened? Does the government need to come in before these accounts are frozen and their owners named? Throughout the world, funds are diligently monitored to forestall slush funds being channelled to funding criminality. Nigeria’s financial sector has  questions to anwer. What punishment would the government met out to banks that had provided a safe haven for terrorism financing?

    We look forward to this angle being addressed because terror and funds are like five and six. When criminals are starved of funds, they remain powerless. The government must, on this issue of terrorism, be seen not just to bark but to bite real hard.

  • Pension fines

    Pension fines

    • It is high time defaulting employers were named and shamed to encourage compliance

    The Pension Reform Act (PRA), 2014, has come to stay, and must not be allowed to go the way of the old pension scheme, which saw pensioners die on queues to receive their earned pensions. To achieve that, the provisions of the PRA on contributions by employers and employees must be jealously enforced, while the proceeds must be timeously transferred to Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), and only lawfully invested.

    We wonder why employers would not regularly transfer monies already deducted from their workers, as provided by the PRA.  

    The report that humongous penalties have been recovered from employers is quite revealing. It stated: “Since the commencement of the recovery exercise in June 2012, significant milestones in recoveries of unremitted pension contributions have been made. As of December 2024, a total of N28.187 billion has been successfully recovered from 911 employers. This amount comprises N13.829 billion as outstanding pension contributions and N14.348 billion in penalties for late remittances.”

    It is strange that employers would prefer to delay payment and pay penalties, instead of paying as at when due.

    Perhaps there is need to sensitise company owners, especially shareholders, with respect to quoted companies. We wonder why company managers should expose the shareholders to such huge losses, because that is what the penalties paid amount to. For, it is unlikely that those who retained the deductions could have profited as much from the delay, to justify the penalties for late payment. If company owners understand the dynamics of income and expenditure of their companies’ financial statements, they would raise vital questions.

    Read Also: PROFILE: Meet new Rivers Sole Administrator Vice Admiral Ibas

    Workers must also be vigilant. The various workers’ unions and loose groups of workers should exercise vigilance with regards to the remittance of their pension funds to their Pension Fund Administrator (PFA). The workers’ unions should periodically demand from their employers the status of remittances to the relevant fund administrators. It is not wise to ignore the disease at its early stage, and wait until it is malignant, or becomes intractable. It was the failure of the old pension scheme that made government to resort to contributory pension.   

    Nigerians witnessed the calamity that befell pensioners before the reforms enshrined in the PRA. It was common to see pensioners sleeping in the open, while awaiting unending verification exercises by governments. Many, especially government retirees, even died queuing to get their pensions. Employers in big private companies resorted to cooperatives and private pension managers, with all the problems associated with its management.

    Going forward, PenCom may need to name and shame recalcitrant defaulters, to put more pressure on them to obey the provisions of the PRA.   

    From the report, the level of default is quite alarming. Perhaps in anticipation, the PRA had provided for the appointment of recovery agents in Section (92)(2) of the Act. Adumbrating on the work of the agents, the report stated: “The key responsibilities of the recovery agents include reviewing the records of the employers and determining outstanding pension liabilities from January 2005; computing the penalty on outstanding pension contributions; serving demand letters on defaulting employers; requesting for remittance of outstanding pension contributions with penalty after obtaining a ‘no objection’ from PenCom, and obtaining evidence of remittance of outstanding pension contributions/penalty into the employees’ retirement savings accounts.”

    Pension reform should achieve the purpose for which it was instituted. Luckily, so far, the PRA has proven to be very resilient, and its management determined to realise the full benefits of the new pension scheme. We urge the management not to rest, but to rigorously pursue the recovery of all outstanding fines. We also urge employers to pay timeously. Furthermore, pension funds should be invested only in accordance with the PRA. Pensioners must never be subjected to the humiliation of the past era.

  • Fall in prices

    Fall in prices

    •Encouraging as this is, some measures still have to be put in place to let these reflect in some sectors

    It is generally agreed that some of the key causal factors that drove high inflationary rates, worsening the cost of living crisis attendant on the removal of fuel subsidy and the merger of the parallel exchange rate markets have begun to thaw as the various economic reforms of the President Bola Tinubu administration begin to bear fruit.

    For instance, food cost inflation, which is perhaps the most critical element in compounding economic hardships, has in recent months witnessed reversals, with substantial reductions seen in the prices of staple food items.

    The downward trend in food prices has been attributed, among others, to enhanced security in agricultural zones, easing of tariffs on selected food imports and general increase in supply of staple food items. A recent market survey in Lagos by ‘BusinessDay’ reported that “the average price of a 50kg bag of foreign parboiled rice now sells for N85,000, depending on the brand and size of grain as against N110,000 sold five months ago. A 50kg bag of local parboiled rice now sells for an average of N95,000 in the city, compared to N105,000 sold three months ago.

    The price of a big basket of fresh tomatoes has dropped 70 per cent in Lagos from an average of N120,000 to N35,000. In 2024, Nigerians could not afford to buy tomatoes, owing to the price surge that forced consumers to opt for alternatives like ‘banga’ and paste, combined with dried pepper and beetroot.

    Another major driver of inflationary spirals has been steep increase in pump fuel prices and associated rise in transportation costs. But, here again, price reductions are being experienced as the competition between the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) has resulted in both entities severally reducing the pump price of petrol sold at their respective outlets, as well as their partners’. Indeed, the reality of this gradual fall in prices has led some organisations and cartels in the petroleum sector to try to keep prices high, even when the forces of demand and supply are operating in such a way as to compel the fall in prices of certain commodities.

    For instance, members of the Petroleum Products Retail outlets Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) have described such competitive reduction in fuel prices as inimical to their business interests and survival. According to the President of PETROAN, Mr Billy Gilly-Harris, “I have always said that every business can only survive by making some minimal profits that are commensurate to the price of paying the cost of doing business. We are fully aware that the international prices of crude oil and other related expenses are also being reduced. But when we invest to buy products at say N880, we are not going to sell at that price. And if such products become reduced to N840, N850, N860 or even N870 per litre, it becomes challenging how we will be able to recover our costs”.

    But the removal of fuel subsidy and the increase in the number of domestic refineries as well as the deregulation of the petroleum sector are predicated on the expectation that greater competition will allow the forces of demand and supply to come into play and ultimately result in the most efficient and affordable prices as is gradually happening now.

    Read Also: How economic predators ganged up against Tinubu over fuel subsidy removal, by Bamidele

    It is therefore up to PETROAN to redesign its business model to operate profitably within this paradigm.

    As the competition intensifies with more domestic refineries coming on stream, it is expected that this will increasingly be reflected in reduction in transportation costs.

    Unfortunately, the reduction being seen in key drivers of inflation such as food, energy and transportation costs is hardly reflected in the cost of goods and services, especially by corporate organisations in key sectors of the economy. Citing astronomical operational costs, various corporate organisations have hiked their tariffs in recent times, thus compounding the economic hardship.

    Thus, managing the relationships among business operational costs, corporate revenue and profitability as well as price levels of diverse commodities and services has become a key issue as Nigeria’s economy gradually begins to look up, following a period of protracted crisis.

    For instance, in the banking sector, there has been an increment in Automated Teller Machine (ATM) transaction charges as a fee of N100 per N20,000 withdrawals will be paid by customers from other banks withdrawing from ATMs within a bank’s premises. In the same vein, customers transacting from ATMs outside the premises of their banks such as at malls, markets and other public locations will be charged N100 and an additional N500.

    In the telecommunications sector, the National Communications Commission (NCC), recently approved a 50% tariffs hike which pushes the minimum price of calls to N9.6 per minute from N6.40, increases the cost of SMS from N4 to N6 and raises the cost of 1GB of data from N287.5 to N431.25 while the average price of calls rises from N11 to N16.5 per minute.

    In April 2024, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved a 300% increase in electricity tariff for ‘Band A’ customers, from N68 KWh to N225 KWh but this has currently been pegged at N209.50. The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Energy, Olusola Verheijen, recently hinted that electricity tariffs will inevitably have to rise by about 66% from N116.18 to N193.63 to reflect the cost of producing and supplying it.

    While undeniable high operational costs is one side of the story of running business enterprises in Nigeria, the other is the high level of profits being realised by corporate organisations, which does not appear to be reflected in decisions as regards tariff rates.

    For instance, in the first half of 2024, 10 Nigerian banks were reported to have achieved impressive profit growth. Guarantee Trust Holding Company led with a substantial N905.6 billion profit, representing an increase of 223% from the preceding year, followed by Zenith Bank which recorded N578 billion profit, representing a growth of 98%. First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Holdings recorded a net profit of N525.3 billion in nine months of 2024.

    Media reports of a study by PwC indicate that Nigeria’s telecommunications sector experienced impressive growth in 2024 with mobile service revenue rising to $7.6 billion. Growth in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector is said to be driven more by an increase in mobile subscriptions than higher average revenue per user.

    Even in the beleaguered electricity sector, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports that electricity distribution companies (DisCos) in Nigeria made a total of N291.62 billion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, noting that the revenue derived by DisCos rose by 17.91 percent compared to the N247.33 billion recorded in Q1 of 2023, even though there was still a decline in electricity supply in the period reviewed.

    We must note that the exchange rate has stabilized and lowered from it was a free months ago by over 150 naira. This has not tempered corporate greed.

    It is obviously against the background of erratic tariff hikes despite obvious corporate profitability that the resurgent regulatory agency, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), is currently embroiled in a legal tussle with MultiChoice Nigeria Limited which had dragged the commission to court to prevent the latter’s threatened administrative sanctions against it “over frequent price hikes, potential market dominance abuse and anti-competitive prices within the pay-TV industry”. The FCCPC deserves the support of all Nigerians in its insistence that MultiChoice must justify its latest price adjustments and comply with fair market principles or face regulatory sanctions.

    We urge the requisite authorities to continue to intensify efforts towards achieving price reductions in key drivers of inflation such as agriculture, transportation and energy costs for the overall benefit of the economy.

    Prices of agricultural commodities can further be substantially driven down by continued efforts to improve on security, intensification of roads construction and rehabilitation of roads between food production areas and urban markets, provision of silos and storage facilities to drastically reduce food spoilage, and the introduction of marketing boards for specific food commodities as promised in President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, to insure farmers against price failures and motivate them to produce more.

    In a similar vein, all hands should be on deck to ramp up operations in the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, make the Kaduna refinery operational and ensure that ongoing construction of modular and other refineries are completed on schedule to enable them join the current healthy competition in that subsector.

    And most critical of all is the imperative of substantially boosting electricity supply and bringing down energy costs through greater functional efficiency, which will be a major game changer for the economy.

  • Apologies not enough

    Apologies not enough

    •Air Force men who raided Ikeja Electric must face the law

    It’s so reminiscent of the “mad dog” syndrome, that involved Ayodeji, the second son of the late Basorun MKO Abiola in 1988. Deji’s slight auto accident with Air Force corporal, M. Danjuma, had unruly Air troops invading the MKO home in Ikeja. It was during the best-forgotten era of military rule.

    Air Vice Marshall (AVM) Nura Imam (retd), then the Air Officer Commanding (AOC) their Ikeja base, and member of the military ruling council, claimed the brutes, in Nigeria Air Force (NAF) uniforms, were “mad dogs”!  We never knew how the force dealt with those

    “mad dogs”.  Were they punished?  Those that survived — did they give them anti-rabies jabs?

    It would appear such “mad dogs” still teem in the Air Force, despite a democratic clime of 25 years and counting.  That should explain the raid on the Ikeja Electric (I.E.) corporate headquarters in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.  They came from that same Sam Ethnan Airforce Base, Ikeja.  This is utterly execrable and must be condemned by all.

    To be clear: I.E., as other electricity distribution companies (DisCos), is not exactly a model corporate citizen. With its lousy service delivery, it has, almost universally, earned the scorn and contempt of all.

    As corporate traders, DisCos are even more reviled — and fairly and legitimately so.  They are widely believed to steal from their customers, via the brazen fraud called estimated billing. Their notorious disconnection gangs also bully households and businesses, for daring to resist paying thumping bills I.E. and Co. cook up for supplying darkness. 

    I.E. and other DisCos have transitioned into whatever they are today, after the so-called power reforms, largely in name. Either as the precursor Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), or as the utterly ineffective DisCos, the ruinous spirit of the defunct National Electricity Power Authority (NEPA) was never defunct.  That spirit still rules the roost in DisCos!

    So, the anger against DisCos are understandable.

    Still, no one has the right to raid their space, injure their workers and destroy their assets.  That’s brazen outlawry.  It’s all the more condemnable because it was done, by some Nigeria Air Force (NAF) personnel on March 6, with legitimate arms.  No longer must we tolerate using legal arms to bully and maul law-abiding citizens and corporates.

    Not anymore too, must we tolerate the indulgent reference to outlaws in uniform as “mad dogs”.  We have had more than enough of that trash. It’s time

    to cull such brigands.  It’s clear they are unfit to wear the uniform they randomly abuse with their thuggery.

    Yes, the present AOC Logistic Command, AVM Adeniran Ademuwagun, has apologised for his

    men’s loutish behaviour.  That’s welcome. But a mere apology is not enough. Those involved must be arrested and tried.  If found guilty, they must bear the full brunt of the law. 

    Had AVM Imam-commanded base back then punished those involved in the MKO case, it’s most unlikely another set of uniformed outlaws, again from there, would do what they just did at I.E.  Such rank indiscipline must never, ever again be tolerated. 

    Read Also: Only 3% of Nigerian workers access consumer credit – CREDICORP

    The Air Force must ensure their officers and men respect the civil populace, who in return should honour them.  Military service is rare sacrifice that should be honoured by all — but not when soldiers misbehave.

    The cause of the hoopla was even more annoying, and here you must pity I.E.  If that base indeed owes I.E. N4 billion, what satanic sense of entitlement drove the troops, so much so that they must levy mayhem on their creditors? 

    If the AOC claims electricity is no luxury, but an imperative, at the base — we agree — why doesn’t the base pay what it owes?  Does it think after its show of shame, it would cow I.E. into submission, and push its gun-enforced right to access electricity without payment?  It should snap out of such costly delusions!

    It is welcome that the Federal Government has pledged to defray the debt.  It should do that fast.  But if the armed services continually fail to pay for the electricity they use, perhaps the Ministry of Defence should come up with first line charges from their monthly releases.  That way, they pay as routine, without much ado.

    Meanwhile, I.E. should cost everything the Air Force personnel destroyed, and push the bill to the Air Force for payment.  It should also sue for monetary compensation for the trauma its staff faced from that aggression. 

    It’s a polity ruled by law, not by force of arms by fellows kitted to protect and defend the civil populace.   Anyone that breaches the law must pay.

  • Bulwark against floods

    Bulwark against floods

    •The rebuilding and upgrade of Maiduguri’s Alau Dam are highly welcome

    On September 9, 2024, the news was dire: more than 30 people perished and hundreds of residents were displaced; and hectares of farmlands destroyed, by a gurgling flood, from heavy rains. 

    That triggered the collapse of Alau Dam, which submerged parts of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

    But from that same scene of tears and destruction has come cheery news: the Federal Government has commenced the reconstruction and upgrade of that critical facility. It’s even more exciting that the rebuilding and upgrading are coming with more value being added. 

    For the Alau Dam community, the value added, in social infrastructure, is the building of a primary school and a hospital, which Prof. Babagana Zulum, the governor of Borno State, announced at the reconstruction kick-off.  The repair/upgrade would cost N80 billion.

    “This project signifies not just the repair of a physical structure,” the governor declared, “but the revitalisation of hope and prosperity for our people.”

    These moves are exceedingly welcome. The government has earned itself plaudits for this earnest step to repair this facility and rebuild the economic and social life of the Alua Dam community, in the Jere local government area of Borno State.

    To the dam proper, Prof. Joseph Utzev, the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, exposed the government’s thinking, by the project.

    “It is evident that the reconstruction and upgrade of Alau Dam will significantly enhance the provision of potable drinking water, support downstream irrigation, boost socio-economic activities and enable flood control,” he explained, “while facilitating other viable socioeconomic activities capable of revamping people’s livelihoods and economic development.”

    Read Also: Wale Oke vows to oppose enemies of Nigeria, unites fellowship

    This matrix of wide socio-economic goals couldn’t have come at a better time, for Borno, domiciled in the poorest of Nigeria’s six geo-political zones, aside being the epicentre of the Boko Haram Islamist plague. 

    By 2023 tracking, the North East’s poverty rate was 76.5%, compared to the North West (75.8%) and the North Central (66.6%).  The corresponding rates for the other zones: South West (40%), South East (49%), South-South (62.6%).

    It’s indeed welcome that the government is adopting an all-round development vision in its repair and upgrade of Alau Dam.  If for Boko Haram alone, Borno deserves that relief.  The North East Development Commission (NEDC) simply has its work cut out for it.  That zone races against time, to recoup lost time in the development race.

    But back to Alau Dam.  The strategy of repair, over a two-year period, is no less laudable.  Phase 1 (from March 2025 to September 2026) is for immediate repairs.  That is targeted against any fresh flooding.  This phase is crucial, for it’s also to reduce, if not completely eliminate, any catastrophic flooding during the repair period. That will take some doing, though.

    Phase 2 (from October 2026 to March 2027) is to embark on an extensive and comprehensive de-silting of the dykes and water channels.  Aside, it’s also to upgrade the structure to be doughty enough to resist any future collapse, no matter the intensity of the flooding.

    Still, why wait till disaster struck before embarking on a comprehensive de-silting? That would reflect the Nigerian aversion to routine maintenance.  If the dam had been regularly maintained, by as simple a chore as regular de-silting, perhaps that disastrous flooding would have been averted. 

    Surely, the country wouldn’t have needed to cough up N80 billion for this repair? Even with the added upgrade, it should have spent far less.  Besides, can anyone put a figure to avoidable human suffering, marked by lost lives and vanished living?

    Both the repair and upgrade phases of the dam point to a path neglected in the past.  That ruinous attitude must change on the part of the facility managers.  Otherwise, the dam would only be re-tooled for future flood disasters.  September 9, 2024 was one doom too many. It must never be allowed to repeat itself.

  • Abominable conduct

    Abominable conduct

    It is sad that some unscrupulous Nigerians would put up for sale critical medical and other items given by donor agencies

    The report that free drugs from donor agencies are on the shelves of drug dealers and traders is disheartening. In a raid by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), in collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) recently, drugs donated by the USAID, which are supposed to be given to patients free were amongst the drugs found in the various markets raided for unwholesome drugs in Lagos, Aba and Onitsha.

    According to Prof Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, the Director-General of NAFDAC, “we found products donated by USAID. We found antiretroviral for free use.”

    It is sad that crucial items badly needed by the poor and vulnerable in our society, and which have been given us for free, like mosquito nets, malaria drugs, drugs for the treatment and control of AIDS, and tuberculosis, are confiscated by the receiving agencies and persons in privileged positions and sold to traders. Thus, the poor, who are mostly vulnerable to these diseases have their challenges compounded, as they are denied access to these drugs that they cannot afford to buy.

    But for corruption, we wonder how drugs which have been donated to the country by donor agencies and other charitable organisations would end on the shelves for sale. Such disreputable conduct brings not only disgrace to the country, but in some cases a blacklisting by such donor agencies. Imagine where a donor agency raises funds and sends drugs to our country, based on what they consider needs assessment, and unscrupulous persons get hold of them and start trading on them. Such donor agency would not agree that our country needs such intervention. Yet, Nigeria, like most third world countries, badly needs such assistance.

    Read Also: Senate Face-off: The many lives of Natasha

    The emergence of Donald Trump as President of the United States has exposed many countries relying on the charitable support of USAID in their health sector. Despite protests at home and abroad, President Trump is taking steps to stop the activities of the agency, because he and his team see the agency as a conduit pipe for corrupt practices in foreign countries.

    There was even the allegation that the agency’s fund is used to fund terrorism in Nigeria. While that allegation may be wide off the mark, the abuses associated with using donated funds or materials for causes different from what the donor agreed to is an abuse that affects future donations.

    The common statement that the intention of the donor should be respected is important. But it amounts to criminality when drugs or materials which are supposed to be given freely are confiscated and diverted to the markets for sale. Such is not only a sin, but a crime which should be punished.

     We hope the security agencies would find out those who gave out the drugs and materials in their custody for sale. We believe that with painstaking effort, the origin and channel of the drugs and materials can be traced and those abusing the goodwill of foreign donors stopped. Nigeria, which is still afflicted by primary diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, diphtheria and even water- borne disease, is already exposed to secondary diseases like hypertension, cancer and heart-related ailments, and, with limited resources, needs all the support from generous donor agencies. So, unscrupulous elements must not be allowed to soil the reputation of our country or deny her of such needed support.

    But for the sagacity of the political leadership of our country, many persons under the aegis of USAID would have been thrown into the labour market, after the government of President Trump cut down, and even eliminated, in some cases, funding from the agency. Similar challenge will be faced in the various branches of our health sector when donated materials are abused.

    It is sad that what we witnessed with food items donated as palliatives during COVID-19 pandemic is happening in the health sector. We witnessed the horror associated with warehouses housing donated food items while the poor and vulnerable were hungry during the challenge posed by the pandemic.

    We consider the finding of donated items in the markets a national embarrassment. Such a thing has made our country a topic of discussion amongst international donor agencies.

    The NGOs involved in this bad behaviour should be fished out and punished, and if they are persistent, they should be deregistered. Those behind them should also be exposed and charged to court for their criminal activities, which also embarrass the country.

    We urge the National Assembly and other relevant organs of government to engage in rigorous oversight of the NGOs involved in receiving and distribution of such donated items. 

    We commend President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for directing the NSA to provide the needed support to NAFDAC, to take on these criminals masquerading as drug dealers. Without mincing words, they are criminals. Since they have no moral scruples about the disreputable conduct of selling donated drugs, the government owes it a responsibility to use every reasonable force to stamp them out.

  • Mabel Segun (1930 -2025)

    Mabel Segun (1930 -2025)

    •An educationist, author and literary giant dies at 95

    As a writer, the high point of her writing life was co-winning the Nigeria Prize for Literature in 2007. Sponsored by Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) company, the prize is rated as the biggest literary award in Africa and among the richest literary awards in the world. Her winning work, which was children’s literature titled ‘Readers’ Theatre: Twelve Plays for Young People,’ further cemented her reputation in the genre.

    “I got diverted to children’s books because I wanted to raise the genre. I felt that it was a neglected genre,” she said in a 2020 interview to mark her 90th birthday. According to her, “Some think children’s literature is easy to write. They don’t know it’s more difficult than adult literature. This is because you have to go into their minds. To write for children, you have to write for different ages and that’s why it’s difficult.”

    Mabel Segun, who died on March 6, aged 95, founded the Children’s Literature Association of Nigeria in 1978 and the Children’s Literature Documentation and Research Centre in 1990 in Ibadan, to promote children-related creative writing and encourage reading among children. She was recognised for her influence on African children’s literature and her role in “the deconstruction of colonial children’s literature for African youth.”

    She won her first literary prize in 1954 – the first Nigerian Festival of the Arts Literature Prize. Her winning short story was titled ‘The Surrender’ and published after her university education. She was said to have written, co-authored or edited 12 children’s books, including ‘My Father’s Daughter’ (1965), which was used as a literature text in schools all over the world. She also published poetry for children. 

    Her body of work includes five books for adults, including a poetry collection, ‘Conflict and Other Poems,’ a collection of short stories, and a selection of her radio talks. Her books have been translated into German, Danish, Norwegian and Greek, and her work is included in the anthology ‘Daughters of Africa’ (1992). She was a founding member of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), established in 1981.

    In another interview, she ranked herself within Nigeria’s literary history, saying she was ‘the second Nigerian female to be published abroad.” To buttress her claim, she explained that, in 1954, three poems she wrote were translated into German and published in a German anthology. She had contributed short stories, poems and essays to the Ibadan University College magazine, the ‘University Herald’ (1950-54).

    Read Also: NSIA, partners launch $500mn fund for distributed renewable energy in Nigeria

    Her path to prominence as a writer was a tough one. “My first husband burnt my first yet-to-be-published novel because he did not want me to become famous. Luckily for me, it was a white judge while we were in England who presided over the case. He dissolved the marriage,” she said in an interview in 1998.

    Born in Ondo, in present-day Ondo State, she studied English, Latin and History at the University College, Ibadan, and graduated in 1953. She later trained as an editor and public relations practitioner in the United Kingdom and America.

    She had stints in the country’s public and private sectors and was Chief Federal Inspector of Education in 1982 and Senior Research Fellow, Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, from 1982 to 1989. She did various jobs, but her writing was constant.

    In 2009, she received the Nigerian National Order of Merit Award (NNOM) for lifetime achievements. Her selection for the prestigious award, the highest academic award in the country given by the Nigerian government, spoke volumes about her outstanding contributions.

    Segun also made history as the first Nigerian female table tennis player in 1951. She played table tennis at university and national levels, and also played badminton. Her triumphs included silver medal, first ever ladies singles, Lagos, 1954; gold medal, national women’s doubles and mixed doubles, Enugu, 1963; gold medal, women’s team event, West African Games, Cotonou, 1964; and bronze medal, first all-Nigerian badminton women’s singles, Lagos.

    In recognition of her various contributions, the Nigerian government, in 2004, conferred on her the national honour, Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR).

    She will be remembered as a populariser of children’s literature and for her contribution to literary enterprise in the country.

  • Colourful Okupe (1952-2025)

    Colourful Okupe (1952-2025)

    •The Iperu prince, who held his own in politics, succumbed after a long battle with cancer

    Dr. Adedoyin Okupe loved life and would have done anything to hold on to it for much longer. For 16 years, he was said to have sought help around to keep prostate cancer at bay. The search for solution took him to Israel and the best local hospitals in Nigeria.

    Having survived COVID-19 in 2020, the family thought the worst was over. He told his story to all, but a resurgence was too fierce in its affliction for the man who started his professional life as a medical doctor.

    Born in Iperu-Remo in Ogun State, the prince attended Igbobi College and the University of Ibadan. He cut his professional teeth at the high brow St. Nicholas Hospital on Lagos Island before he joined Dr. Seyi Roberts and Dr. Ladi Okubadejo to found the Royal Cross Medical Centre, Obalende, also on Lagos Island. Okupe was the medical director and loved by the people of the immediate environment.

    When General Ibrahim Babangida (IBB) lifted the ban on partisan politics for commencement of the Third Republic whose life was also tragically terminated by the military president, Dr. Okupe opted to join the National Republican Convention (NRC). Why NRC, when the Social Democratic Party (SDP) was more popular in the South West? The man said he was ideologically inclined towards the right of the centre. He emerged the National Publicity Secretary and put everything he had into selling the party of his choice.

    Dr. Okupe was a man of principle. As soon as IBB annulled the June 12, 1993 election clearly won by Chief M.K.O. Abiola, Okupe saw no reason for prevarication. He was a national agent for the NRC candidate, Alhaji Bashir Tofa, but denounced the party for contesting a result that was so crystal clear.

    Read Also: Top 10 travel destinations for Nigerians in 2025

    Under General Sani Abacha, he was detained for his position on national issues, but his head was not bowed. While he tried to contest the governorship election in Ogun State under the contrived election by General Abacha on the ticket of the United National Congress Party (UNCP), he was disallowed by the powers-that-be, the lords of the moment.

    In the Fourth Republic, he pitched his tent with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), deemed to be a centrist party. He caught the attention of President Olusegun Obasanjo who made him a Special Assistant on Media and Publicity. At that moment, it would seem that he had fully abandoned his first love, Medicine, for managing public affairs.

    President Goodluck Jonathan also loved his style and brought Okupe on board to burnish his administration’s image as Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs. In that role, some tagged him and others who worked with him as attack dogs of the government.

    Dr. Okupe was not yet done with his political movement. Under the Buhari administration when the political scene had dramatically changed, with the emergence of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the medical doctor-turned politician could not stand the PDP’s inability to stand up to the new party. He teamed up with Mr. Peter Obi to seize control of a more neutral Labour Party (LP) and fight the 2023 presidential election. At first, he was Director-General of the Obi Campaign Organisation, and later was used as what became known as placeholder as running mate. As soon as the party settled for Datti Baba-Ahmed as vice presidential candidate, he stepped down. But, he soon felt disgusted with politics of the ‘Obidient’ Movement that was driving the wheel of the campaign and chose to watch the scene from the sidelines for a while, before he finally announced a parting of ways with the party.

    Dr. Adedoyin Ajibike Okupe breathed his last on March 7 when he failed to recover from a doctor’s operating table. For more than three decades, he played his part in the politics of Nigeria. After the emergence of Chief Bola Tinubu as President of Nigeria in 2023, Okupe did not hold back in supporting his policies as the way forward, even though he did not join the party, nor was he appointed to any office in government. He was seen as a statesman.

     Did death deny him a chance to be Alaperu of Iperu? No one can answer that again now. The man paid his dues and bowed out when he was two weeks away from his 73rd birthday. A torrent of tributes, from President Tinubu, to Governor Dapo Abiodun, Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party and others have continued since his demise was announced by the family.

    He fought and moved on to higher realm at the appointed time.

  • Suicide pills

    Suicide pills

    •NAFDAC officials need extra security against a daredevil cartel of cold-blooded citizens who imperil our lives with over N1 trn fake drugs

    Given past reports of discoveries and seizures of fake and adulterated food and pharmaceutical products in parts of the country, Nigerians could never have been in doubt about the depth of the scourge that they face in the foods and medicines sector, that threatens their survival. Whether it is over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, foods and drinks, or even the restricted prescription life-saving drugs, the story of mindless counterfeiting and fakery by unscrupulous merchants and importers may have long ceased to shock Nigerians.

    However, the latest announcement of the seizure of illicit and fake drugs valued at over N1 trillion is not only a measure of how the scourge has metastasised, but has assumed a dire existential one. By now, Nigerians must have come across the update on the recent large-scale enforcement operation by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), about how three major open drug markets located in Onitsha, Aba, and Lagos, are

    responsible for the heft, and with it the heightened threats on the lives of the agency’s operatives.

    The wreckage is immense. The poor who want diabetes drugs, want hypertension relief, diarrhea cure, malaria holiday, all pay to die. They pay for drugs to live another day but enrich the ruthless to puff another year with money of other people. Those innocents, rich or poor, expire so cartel goons can enjoy. We cannot let this continue. Those who take those medicines take poisons, and unconsciously swallow suicide pills.

    In the first place, the activities of those behind the merchandise of death amount to a declaration of war on the country, particularly the innocent, unsuspecting fellow citizens. Even that is merely to admit to what is already common knowledge of the devastation being wreaked, on a daily basis, on the nation’s public health. Secondly, the seizures recorded in the three markets could be attributed to painstaking intelligence, yet they could, in fact, be a tip of the iceberg in a nation. Poverty and illiteracy have made the attraction to those cheap but dangerous toxins merely compounds  of the national tragedy.

    The third, and which must be no less concerning, is what the large-scale seizure suggest: either that the war on fake and adulterated and substandard drugs has not matched the imperatives of the current time, or an evidential erosion of the gains the country recorded in the past.

    Read Also: Umahi sets November 2025 deadline for East-West road completion

    Fourth is the foreign dimension to the crisis, going by the recent BBC Eye investigation of how an Indian pharma firm, Aveo Pharmaceuticals, based in Mumbai, is fuelling West Africa’s opioid crisis.The latter, beyond mere attestation of where we are, or even a candid window into how things have degenerated over time, must have been a shocking revelation on the activities of unscrupulous foreign drug makers for whom the illicit trade is just business.

    In fact, the BBC actually filmed one of Aveo’s directors, Vinod Sharma, holding a box of pills made in his factory proclaiming: “This is very harmful for their health — but nowadays, this is business.” This is a firm, said to manufacture a wide range of pills under different brand names, using among the mix of ingredients tapentadol, a powerful opioid, and carisoprodol, which aside being banned in Europe, is not known to have been licensed for use anywhere in the world, particularly as they are known to cause breathing difficulties and seizures.

    At this time, we cannot but commend NAFDAC for raising the tempo. Equally worthy of commendation is the agency’s collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), which not only provided the security backup but ensured that the agency was enabled to do its job. We urge that the model be retained as the standard, going forward.

    However, keeping the affected entities out of their illegitimate businesses can only be the first step. The next step is to ensure full restitution in accordance with the law. We expect that to complement the current drive to sanitise the foods and drugs sector.  Moreover, given the emergency that the menace has assumed, we would go as far as to recommend that the Nigerian Customs Service, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and no less, the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria be enlisted in the fight, as all of them, in various shades and degrees, have legitimate interests in their regulation. It should neither be seen as a one-off fight or an ad hoc one.

    Simply because the country has been here before, we cannot afford to forget some of the lessons. Already, the agency’s boss, Prof Moji Adeyeye, has sounded the alarm about her life, as indeed those of her staff, being threatened. Of course, we are not surprised that things have come to that. What it brings to mind is the Dora Akunyili era in NAFDAC. Her tenure, in the course of the titanic engagement with these merchants of death, saw her in close shaves with death. Therefore what is happening now is not something that should be difficult to imagine: a cartel that saw nothing wrong with investing trillions in the enterprise of death and societal disorder will think little of taking out those individuals perceived to be standing in the way of their illegitimate businesses. What the situation calls for, is a robust challenge that only the security agencies, particularly the

    Department of State Services (DSS), can guarantee. Thankfully, the battle has since been recognised by no less than the NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, as posing existential threat to the future of the country.  That is most certainly, a major step forward. He should get cracking with the challenge.

    Beyond all of the above however is how the entire foods and drugs manufacturing sector itself reacts to these threats. Surely, they have a greater job to do in product differentiation and packaging. After all, the challenge comes basically to ensuring that suicide pills are not allowed to find their way into our shores let alone into the domestic markets under any guise. The situation calls for an industry-wide rethinking of the current methodologies of sale, packaging as indeed marketing of not just prescription drugs, but any ingestible material put out for sale.

    To the extent that the challenge touches upon the public health, it is something that deserves to be taken seriously, now.

  • Needless controversy

    Needless controversy

    •It is clear that no governor can remove CJ without NJC’s recommendation

    Benue State governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, recently wrote to the state house of assembly accusing the state’s chief judge, Justice Maurice Ikpambese, of sundry infractions, including gross misappropriation of public funds, abuse of office by directing the flouting of a law duly passed by the state legislature, incitement of industrial actions against the state executive and fraternising with politicians and political office holders for favourable judicial outcomes.

    On the basis of these allegations, the governor requested the house to make the necessary recommendations for the removal of the chief judge, purportedly in line with Section 292(1)(a)(ii) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), forward a complaint to the National Judicial Council (NJC) to carry out an independent investigation of the allegations and authorise the immediate swearing-in of the next most senior judicial officer as the acting Chief Judge of Benue State.

    Acting swiftly on the request of the governor, the house went into a division, during which it was claimed that 23 members had voted for the removal of the chief judge, ruling that “The chief judge stands removed, and the next in line should be sworn in immediately as chief judge of the state”. However, 13 members of the house issued a statement dissociating themselves from the chief judge’s purported removal, contending that “The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, clearly states that a chief judge of a state can only be removed on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC), which is responsible for disciplinary actions against judicial officers, on an address supported by a two-thirds majority of members of the House of Assembly of a state praying for the removal of the state chief judge”.

    Read Also: Natasha/Akpabio feud: External plot to tarnish Nigeria’s image – NASAC

    The dissenting 13 members also stated that on the day of the purported removal of the chief judge, there were 31 members in attendance at the sitting, and of these, 13 members and the speaker did not vote, making it impossible for 23 members to have voted for the removal of the chief judge as claimed. Weighing in on the issue, both the NJC and the National Executive of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) described the action of the Benue State legislature as a nullity since judicial officers at federal or state levels could only be removed on the recommendation of the NJC, following stipulated investigative and disciplinary procedures.

    While the NJC admitted having received petitions against the chief judge, it said it had not yet investigated the veracity of the allegations, and so had not made consequential recommendations to the state government on the matter.

    It is curious that the governor and the state legislature are bent on removing the chief judge before requesting the NJC to investigate the weighty allegations made against him. This would appear to negate the principles of fair hearing and natural justice.

    But this is an utterly needless controversy as previous attempts to remove state chief judges by state governors and legislatures without the input of the NJC have always failed. For instance, the Osun State House of Assembly had in 2023 approved the request of the state governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, for the removal of the state chief judge, Justice Oyebola Adepele Ojo, for alleged misconduct, abuse of power, corruption and disregard for the rule of law, while a petition against her was forwarded to the NJC.

    The apex judicial disciplinary body however rejected the action of the governor and legislature as unconstitutional, and the next most senior judicial officer recommended to be sworn in as the state’s acting chief judge declined the offer, for fear of punitive action from the NJC. And in 2009, the then Kwara State governor, Senator Bukola Saraki, acting in concert with the state legislature purported to have removed the state’s chief judge, Justice Elelu-Habeeb, from office over alleged corruption, misconduct and high-handedness in handling the crisis in the judiciary, again without the involvement of the NJC.

    Giving a final ruling on the matter in 2012, a seven-man panel of the Supreme Court held unanimously that “The NJC is the only body that has been assigned the duty and responsibility of recommending to the governors of the states of the federation suitable persons for appointments to the offices of Chief Judges of the states and other judicial officers in the states.

    The same NJC is also empowered under subparagraph (10) of paragraph 21 to recommend to the governors of states the removal from office of the Chief Judges of states and other judicial officers of the states, and also to exercise disciplinary control over such Chief Judges of the states and other judicial officers of states”. The legal position which is in consonance with the principle of Separation of Powers is settled and there is no basis for the controversy in Benue State.