The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Still valuable

    Still valuable

    •The Fed Govt should take a look at the Jonathan administration’s confab report for possible implementation

    When he paid a condolence visit to the family of the late elder statesman, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, in Lagos last week, it was inevitable and understandable that former President Goodluck Jonathan would, in his remarks, make reference to the National Conference convened by his administration, and which sat for several months in 2014. For, Chief Adebanjo was one of those who urged the then President to organise the conference, to help bring about one of his ardent desires, which was to see the emergence of a restructured Nigeria run along the lines of true federalism.

    While commending Adebanjo for his role in actualising the conference, Dr Jonathan regretted that his administration, for reasons beyond its control, could not forward the proposals of the confab to the National Assembly for deliberations and enactment of accepted suggestions into law.

    The reasons cited by Jonathan for his inaction on the proposals however sounded feeble and amounted to making untenable excuses. According to him, the raging crisis within the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which saw some key officers of the National Assembly joining others in rising against his administration, made it impossible for him to take the necessary actions to actualise the key proposals. The opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) had at the time dismissed the idea of the conference as an afterthought and a distraction.

    That the administration, despite having many more months in office before fresh elections and the expiration of its tenure did nothing about the conference report unfortunately seemed to lend credence to the perception of the opposition. This is particularly because the considerable resources expended on organising the exercise appeared to have been a complete waste, since no effort was made to implement its proposals.

    Inaugurated on March 17, 2014, the National Conference was composed of about 492 delegates representing diverse interests and stakeholders in the Nigerian project, and Dr Jonathan said they were given total authority to discuss what they considered good for the country. It broke into 20 committees and, at the end of its deliberations, made over 630 recommendations covering virtually every sector of our national life.

    Among its proposals were that anyone aspiring to be the country’s President must be a degree holder, rotation of the presidency between the North and the South, and the governorship among the three senatorial districts of each state, as well as the utilisation of excess revenue for exploration of mineral resources in every part of the country.

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    In the sharing of funds from the Federation Account among the three tiers of government, it suggested that the Federal Government should be allocated 42.5%, the state governments 35% and local governments 22.5%, as against the allocations of 52.68%, 26.27% and 20.60%, respectively, for the three levels, which was then in operation.

    It also recommended that the President should select no more than 18 ministers from the six geo-political zones while not more than 30 % should be appointed from outside the legislature and at the same time, the number of political appointees pruned to reduce costs, with greater reliance on staff of ministries, among others.

    Quite a number of the recommendations could have been implemented administratively without recourse to the legislature, contrary to the impression created by Dr Jonathan. But then, it is not too late for successive governments to forward the proposals of the conference to the National Assembly for consideration, in its ongoing efforts to effect constitutional reforms.

    The President Muhammadu Buhari administration obviously felt no obligation to act on the report of a conference that was not touched by the administration that convened it. But that should not be the attitude of the President Bola Tinubu administration.

    Indeed, positive proposals of the 2005 Political Reforms Conference convened earlier by the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration but thrown out entirely because of the administration’s suspected third term agenda should also be dusted up for consideration. After all, these exercises were organised with scarce public resources.

  • Poor optics

    Poor optics

    •The row between Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is beneath the institution.

    The storm in Nigeria’s premier lawmaking chamber concerning the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, should not have happened. At a time when the nation is grappling with cost of living and the woes of lawless young men in the name of bandits, the Senate ought to be immersed in ideas and legislations that would help the executive branch to lift the country.

    Rather, we are witnessing a descent into indecency. Two matters have arisen in the past couple of weeks.

    One, the senate president and Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan created an ugly scene when Senator Akpabio refused to accept any motion from Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan over subsisting house rules. The rule in question requires a senator to speak on the floor of the house only from their designated seat.

    The second was the petition of sexual

    harassment made by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan against the senate president.

    The latest of the matter was the suspension of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months.

    The most worrying of this drama is that more important matters have taken a back seat in the social media, breakfast, lunch and dinner discussions, while the major media outlets, both print and electronic, have generated a feeding frenzy over this turn of events.

    The house rules aspect of this theatre has unfortunately been submerged as the imagination of the public has turned

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    prurient and yielded to scandal instead of law. The allegation of sexual misconduct is a very crucial matter and should never have been kicked aside when it involves a woman and a powerful man. Yet, we should never allow it to detract from our sobriety of judgment.

    What Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan has thrown out is as yet an allegation, but a serious one. She has said she has concrete evidence and that should have led to a clear picture in her lights. But when the senate instituted a panel and

    gave her an opportunity to state her side of the story, she did not appear. That has not helped her case, and it shows she did not hold the institution of the senate in high esteem.

    She did not take the senate president to court on the sexual harassment issue, and that means she ought to have shown respect to her colleagues. She did not. Sexual harassment issues ought to attract our attention but only when we have evidence.

    This makes the main issue her act of misconduct. As a lawmaker, she ought to understand the value of due process and order. The senate president has the right to reshuffle the sitting arrangement in the chamber after a defection occurs. She ought to have acceded to the reshuffle. She did not.

    She was also accused on the floor of not respecting the institution of the senate by talking it down in interviews on radio and television. This is out of taste and a breach of decorum.

    Yet, we believe that the leadership of the senate went into haste in slamming a suspension on her, especially when she had gone to court to restrain the institution. There was no need also for a

    six-month hiatus on her career. The last person to raise dust in the senate was Senator Ndume, and he returned after two weeks. We hope that the six months verdict is a pie in the sky, and the woman would return to her duties as a lawmaker in short order.

    She represents a constituency, and suspending a lawmaker amounts to shutting out a community from our democracy. We believe, too, that she is one of a few female lawmakers and the optics of a female lawmaker in such a tiff is not good for democracy.

     We expect that the matter would be resolved soon and the august lawmaking body can return to the job the Nigerian people put them there to perform.

  • Controversial fiat

    Controversial fiat

    •Schools shutdown isn’t the best way of observing Ramadan fast

    Four states of the North – Bauchi, Katsina, Kano and Kebbi – have shuttered their respective school system for the 2025 Ramadan fast that commenced on March 1. The policy is ostensibly to ease the stress of the fasting period on Muslim faithful resident in those states.

    But the move has ignited controversy regarding its implication for non-Muslim residents, and eventual effect on education standard in affected states particularly, and the northern region in general.

    The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) deplored the closure of public and private schools in the four states and criticised lack of inclusivity in the process that produced the decision, not minding how it also affects non-Muslim students. CAN President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, complained in a statement that the closure of schools disrupted academic calendars and threatened the education of many students.

    “These states already face alarming rates of out-of-school children averaging 44 percent, far exceeding the national average. The lack of broad consultation prior to these directives is troubling,” he said.

    The apex Christian body argued that education, being a fundamental right, the measure by the four states infringed that right. “The closure of schools across these states, ranging from nursery to tertiary level, for an extended period disrupts academic schedules and threatens the educational advancement of millions of students,” Okoh stated, adding that the decision-making process lacked transparency and failed to involve broad consultations with stakeholders, including Christian leaders, educators and parents. “Policies impacting diverse populations – Muslims, Christians and others – demand transparent, inclusive dialogue with parents, educators, religious leaders and school proprietors. The absence of such engagement erodes trust and unity in our pluralistic society,” he said. “Globally, nations like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where Islam is central and Ramadan deeply revered, do not shut down schools for the entire fasting period. Instead, they adapt schedules, shortening hours or offering flexibility, to balance education with religious practice. A month-long closure, or five weeks in Bauchi’s case, is excessive and departs from sensible precedent,” he further noted, inter alia.

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    Another body, the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), faulted the policy and argued that school closure for Ramadan reinforced fears that Sharia law in affected states makes no distinction between Muslims and non-Muslims. The forum, in a statement by its national spokesman, Luka Binniyat, likened the measure to Boko Haram’s anti-Western education ideology and urged haste towards restructuring the country as would protect the diversity of rights and values of citizens. It also argued that the measure by the four states infringed presumed constitutional secularity of Nigeria. Some have counter-argued, however, that Nigeria isn’t secular but multi-religious.

    But another group defended the school closure policy and tackled CAN, in particular, for its criticism. The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) accused the Christian body of exhibiting double standard and meddling in matters that are none of its business. MURIC Executive Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, accused CAN of playing a meddlesome interloper in the affairs of Nigerian Muslims. “Firstly, Ramadan is a completely Muslim issue. It involves no other faith. CAN should stay out of it,” he said in a statement, adding: “Secondly, Muslims are in overwhelming majority in those four states and the state governments, in a democratic country like Nigeria, should not deny the majority Muslims what they wish. Furthermore, those four states have given the Muslim majority what they desire most based on the principle of ‘the greatest happiness for the greatest number’.”

    He further accused CAN of being quick to defend the rights of Christian minorities in the North while allegedly ignoring the rights of Muslim majorities elsewhere.

    Religion is a deeply sensitive issue and extreme caution is needed in taking pitches on matters affecting the faith of others. But if this holds true for objectors to the school closure, it no less does for its promoters, especially governments of affected states that should have widely pre-consulted and gotten all on board since the policy affects Moslems and non-Moslems alike.

    Interfaith harmony dictates that one is mindful of the sensitivity of the other and should go the extra mile to make room for that sensitivity. Christian faithful only last Wednesday commenced the Lenten season, and it would be grossly errant if governments of predominantly Christian states were to shut down respective school system for the 40-day duration of that season just to serve the interest of their majorities. Jeremy Bentham’s doctrine of ‘the greatest happiness for the greatest number’ that MURIC referenced has to do with unintended unhappiness of the smaller number, not their deliberate affliction with unhappiness as the policy in focus entails.

    Our view is that religion is strictly personal, whereas education belongs in the commonwealth. Besides, education is the most strategic investment in the future and should never be reduced to opportunistic shopping card for seasonal political capital.

    If state governors concerned aren’t keen on withdrawing the controversial policy, they should do the needful to get the buy-in of all stakeholders and unveil plans to recover the time that will be lost by students during the Ramadan school closure. 

  • Sheathe your swords

    Sheathe your swords

    Now that the battle for the soul of Rivers has been won and lost, the gladiators have to bury the hatchet in the interest of the people

    When the simmering crisis in Rivers State began, leading to the fear of the impeachment of incumbent Governor Siminalayi Fubara on October 29, 2023, former Governor Nyesom Wike appeared to be the overbearing pugilist, and his successor Governor Fubara appeared to be the meek underdog. However, as the crisis evolved, roles seemed to change.

    Then on December 13, 2023, Fubara established his fearsomeness, when he was associated with the demolition of the chambers of the Rivers State House of Assembly, allegedly to prevent the legislators from sitting there, presumably to stop him from being impeached. Fubara’s utterances also increasingly became a foreboding.

    On May 9, 2024, when asked by journalists why he was at the legislative quarters, he replied: “Is the assembly quarters not part of my property? Is there anything wrong in going to check how things are going on there? You are aware of the developments. We have a new speaker, and I went there to see for myself how things are. There might be a few things I might want to do there for the good of our people.”

     The new speaker he referred to is Victor Oko-Jumbo, one of Fubara’s four loyalists who claimed to have removed the 27 who were loyal to his rival Wike – the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

    Fubara provided space for the four legislators at the Government House, and he was transacting official businesses, including budget presentations and the screening and approval of commissionership nominees, with them to the exclusion of the 27 legislators.

    With respect to the 27 lawmakers loyal to Wike, Fubara said ominously on May 6, 2024: “the young people … who claim that they are assembly members, are not assembly members. They’re not existing. … Their existence [depends on] me allowing them to exist. If I derecognise them, they’re nowhere.” These claims recalled the personalised absolute political authority which King Louis XIV of France assumed, in the 17th century, by declaring, “L’état, c’est moi.” (‘I am the state.’) Fubara went ahead to stop the salaries and entitlements of the 27 legislators.

    Moreover, when he decided to organise local government elections on October 5, 2024, in compliance with the Supreme Court judgement of July 11, 2024, which ruled that only democratically-elected officials should run local government administrations, a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered him not to go ahead with the polls. The judgement also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to provide the state with the voters’ register and that the police should not provide security for the planned election. Fubara ignored the judgement and went ahead with the election.

    His actions threw Rivers State into a web of litigations. Then on February 28,

    2025, the Supreme Court decided as follows: (1) There was no evidence that the 27 pro-Wike legislators had defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC); and so, they remain bona fide members of the legislature. (2) It was preposterous to demolish part of the legislative complex to prevent an independent arm of government from meeting, because of the fear that such meetings could lead to the governor’s impeachment. (3) It was absurd and illegal for the governor to be running the state with a three-or-four member legislature. (4) The budget of the state should be properly presented to the full legislature with the pro-Wike’s Martins Amaewhule as the authentic Speaker. (5) The local government elections of October 5, 2024 did not follow due process, and was therefore null and void. (6) The Central Bank and the Accountant-General of the Federation should withhold statutory allocations to Rivers State until democratically elected chairpersons are in place.

     It is gratifying to note that, though he was excited by the judgement of the Supreme Court, Wike advised the legislators not to seek to impeach Fubara as governor.

    We implore the legislators to take this noble advice.

    It is also gratifying that Fubara has directed the chairpersons who emerged from the October 5, 2024 local government elections to leave office. However, he contradicted this positive gesture when he said to the youth: “Be strong. Don’t be perturbed. … I assure you at the right time you will get the instruction.”

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    Considering this seeming ambivalence on the part of the governor, it is necessary to counsel him not to escalate the tension in the state. He needs to calm down his rhetoric and ensure that all hands are on deck to organise a new local government election which would be optimally democratic. Governor Fubara should, in other words, avoid, as much as he can, any actions that can tease an impeachment move.

    The legislators also need to show due deference to the person and office of the governor. Wike should also sheathe his sword forthwith.

    While addressing a cross-section of Rivers State citizens on March 3, 2025, at the commissioning of a project, Fubara regretfully said: “Our leaders, … we have not … given you anything right from the time we started. We have been running a system where every time when we try to stabilise, one spanner will be thrown into our way. So, for that reason, it’s like bringing us to Ground Zero again, and we start afresh.”

     This echoes his October 7, 2024, sober reflection: “the wonderful jobs I’m doing in this state are not seen, because of the crisis. … I don’t feel happy hearing every time Rivers State is in the news for bad reasons.” He therefore has a personal stake to work in a conciliatory manner with the Rivers State House of Assembly and other key stakeholders within and outside the state to accelerate the development of the beleaguered state.

    All in all, the Supreme Court judgement of February 28, 2025, is an eloquent testimony to the fact that the rule of law still applies.

    It also shows that it was a grave error not to have optimally implemented the resolutions reached at the Rivers State reconciliation meeting convened by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at Abuja on December 18, 2023.

  • Unfortunate

    Unfortunate

    • Discovery of fake medication worth N1 trillion is a clarion call to monitor importation.

    What is happening? This question should be asked after the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC), last month revealed that about 87 truckloads of banned, expired or substandard medications were recovered from markets in Onitsha, Anambra State, Aba, Abia State, and Idumota, in Lagos. The only way to describe those who trade in such drugs is that they are merchants of death, and should be treated as such.

    We commend the courage of the director-general of the agency, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, who refused to be cowed by the powerful dealers in such dangerous vaccines, pills and other medications, and were sending her death threats as indeed they did to one of her predecessors, Professor Dora Akunyili.

    We are aghast that her directive that the markets be shut for a period generated so much  controversy, that soon took  ethnic and political dimensions, even when it was clear that those who had died or are indeed in the throes of death are not from any particular part of the country.

    Mrs. Adeyeye deserves to be fully protected and assisted in discharging this very important and dangerous responsibility.

    One other matter that has provoked public debate is the mention of the United States Aid for International Development USAID), as one of the major sources of the drugs. What could not be ascertained immediately is whether the authorities of the charity and development agency knew anything about the export of the consignments into the country, in view of the allegation by United States Congressman Scott Perry that USAID had been involved in funding terrorist organisations in Nigeria, under the cover of supporting development efforts.

    While that nexus is yet to be supported by concrete evidence, the fact that much of the drugs discovered, such as Tramadol, Diiazepam, Rohypnol and Nitrazepam are linked to criminals, has raised more eyebrows. This calls for intensive investigation by the Office of the National Security Adviser.

    The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, had earlier raised the alarm that terror organisations in the country are being funded from outside and solicited the support of international organisations in exposing the financiers.

    We expect that the three arms of government would cooperate in saving the country from the menace. NAFDAC should not relent in its efforts to sanitise the sector, and deserves more support from the Federal Ministry of Health, and collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), if we are to rid the country of criminals importing and distributing the drugs.

    We need to know the cartel behind importation of the fake drugs, the supply chain and those who may be aiding them in the Customs and Immigration. Unless we get to the root of the matter, this N1 trillion illicit activity is unlikely to stop anytime soon.

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    The authorities should also ensure that we step up budgetary allocation to the health sector and monitor the expenditure in view of our hitherto dependence on USAID and similar international agencies. If we did not know the danger in such dependence, policies introduced by the US President Donald Trump have opened our eyes to this reality.

    While no country is an island to itself, Nigeria has enough natural resources to cater for the needs of her people. Things like vaccines, paediatric and geriatric care medicines, as well as those meant for treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) should not be allowed into the country by enemies of the state who are only interested in profit. The relevant laws should be reviewed to enable those found behind the deadly trade face tougher penalties.

    While the death penalty being canvassed by some may be extreme,

    long years behind bars should be considered, and where the death of anyone is traced to the use of expired or substandard medications, security agents should fish out the culprits and charge them for murder.

    It is shameful that life expectancy in Nigeria in 2023 was put at 61 years, and the average in Africa was 63 years. Algeria and Mauritius led the way with 77 and 76 years, respectively. Nigeria, with the human and material resources available in all sectors should be leading Africa in human development index. It is not too late to wake up and ensure that Africa is no longer a consumer of products rejected in the West as is the case now.

     The National Assembly should not sit by, limiting itself to lawmaking. As it oversights ministries and agencies of government, in addition to holding the power of the purse, it should restructure its activities, with a view to checking criminal tendencies in the public and private sectors.

    It is time to do the needful in ensuring that Nigerians do not die needlessly as the younger ones continue to decry the situation in their country, with many voting with their feet.

  • First face

    First face

    •Television’s own Anike Agbaje-Williams (1936 – 2025)

    Her impressive performance as an accidental stand-in radio announcer at the old Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), Ikoyi, Lagos, which she joined in 1955 after her secondary education, marked the beginning of her journey in broadcasting and took her to great heights. Before her broadcasting skill was discovered, she was a junior technical worker in the corporation’s engineering department.  

    Her voice and face later earned her employment as a broadcaster at the old Western Nigeria Television (WNTV), the country’s first television station, which started operations in 1959. The station was later known as Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Ibadan.  

    Recognised as the first female television staff announcer and broadcaster in Nigeria, Anike Agbaje-Williams, who died on February 26, not only made a name for herself in broadcasting but also inspired generations of women by her pioneering role. She was 88 and hailed from Abeokuta, Ogun State.

    President Bola Tinubu, in a posthumous tribute, described her as “a trailblazer.” Indeed, she broke barriers in her heyday. Apart from her television presence, she was also recognised as the first female voice on the country’s first commercial radio under the old Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service (WNBS). She later worked for the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS). Her broadcasting career spanned over three decades, and she retired as director of programmes in 1986.

     In the course of her career, she attended training programmes in Glasgow, Germany and USA, and studied management at the former University of Ife, Nigeria.

    “Journalism takes priority over everything in your life,” she observed in a 2014 interview, adding, “Whether you are well, sick, sad or happy, in broadcasting the slogan is that ‘the show must go on.’” She recounted an unforgettable incident during her career that illustrated her passion for her work and her commitment to professionalism.

    According to her, “There was a day when I had a temperature of 105 degrees and I had to handle a live show on television. As usual, the slogan the show must go on was what kept ringing in my head. I had no other option than to soak a blouse of mine in cold water, wore it and wore another dress on it just to keep my temperature stabilised for the period I was going to handle the show.”

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    She continued: “I presented the show which lasted over 30 minutes. I had to look composed and put up all the strength I could gather within me, had a diplomatic smile and carried on with the show. Immediately I said good night ladies and gentlemen, I collapsed. I was immediately rushed to the hospital and was there for a week where I was given intensive treatment. That day is always first in my mind because the doctors told us that we took a big risk with the kind of temperature I had to have gone on with the show.”

    As a broadcasting veteran, she expressed concern about broadcasting practice in the country in the present era.  She said: “The standards are falling every day. Every day you hear wrong pronunciations and stress on words… Wrong dressing is also on the increase. You see a broadcaster on television and you will think she or he was just picked from a party or carnival to come on screen. There is also limited commitment to the job.”

    Her achievements in broadcasting opened other doors for her. She was notably appointed a member of the advisory committee on the prerogative of mercy by the Nigerian government. Professionally, she was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award, Nigerian Broadcasters Awards (2011) and Rockcity Golden Voice Award (2014), among others.

    She will be remembered for her contribution to the growth of broadcasting in the country, and for being an inspiration, particularly to female professionals. 

  • Mysterious escape

    Mysterious escape

    Police must explain how two murder suspects escaped in Anambra

    For late Justice Azuka, the unfortunate victim of the rising social crimes like robbery, kidnapping and ritual killings in Anambra State, the real meaning of his name, ‘Justice,’ might escape him, both in life and death. This is due to the sad news that two of the suspected criminals earlier arrested by the police in connection with his murder have escaped from police custody.

    Nigerians are outraged, even as questions are being asked about the fact that while the sad incident happened during the tenure of the last commissioner of police (CP) in the state, Nnaghe Obono Itam, it took the new CP, Ikioye Orutugu, to brief the public about it. That is very telling.

    The late Azuka was a legislator who represented Onitsha North I Constituency. He was kidnapped on the last Christmas Eve, on his way to his village to celebrate the yuletide. His body was later found at the foot of the Second Niger Bridge in the state. Just shortly after some of the suspects were arrested by the police, news came that two of them had escaped from the police.

    The sad escape of these alleged criminals and the circumstances of it all are scandalous. As law enforcement officers, it is their primary duty to ensure the arrest, protection and prosecution of arrested suspects in every crime, more so one that is as heinous as alleged murder.

    In this particular case, the scandalous narrative is about how the police allegedly took the already arrested suspects to lead them to the home of another suspect who kept stolen vehicles used by the syndicate.

    It is even more outrageous that the police with such calibre of alleged criminals ran off to pursue another suspect, giving room for the already arrested suspects to escape.

    We too question this narrative.

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    Many individuals and groups like the Human Rights Writers Association  (HURIWA) insist that, “the inefficiency of the Police Service Commission (PSC) in dealing decisively and swiftly with rogue police operatives, has been the incentive for some police operatives to engage in trade-by-barter with criminals”. HURIWA believes that this escape again, “showed the many decades of corruption, indiscipline, lack of professionalism and the impunity in the Nigeria Police Force.”

    The speaker of the state house of assembly, Somtochukwu Udeze, expressed outrage at the update given by the police on an issue he had earlier commended the efforts they had put into investigating and arresting the suspects. He insists the police must make efforts to re-arrest the fleeing suspects and ensure that the late Azuka gets justice.

    We find it very disconcerting that this incident has again pointed to the systemic dysfunction in the Nigerian police, which has one of the lowest trust and confidence ratios amongst the Nigerian public.

    Just recently, the first black leader of the Tory Party in the United Kingdom, the Nigerian-British Kemi Badenoch, narrated to the world the corruption her family experienced when some Nigerian police officers allegedly stole her brother’s shoes and wrist watch. This incident very clearly puts her allegation in better perspective.

    While we express our outrage over this incident, we equally realise that this

    incident is not some Halley ’s Comet. There are a string of cases where the tackiness of the police had been in the public domain. There have been escapes of other suspects in other cases and in most cases, because the victims are not public figures, their stories are hardly told.

    A little professionalism would have prevented the present scandal. We don’t know that the police need to carry ‘murder suspects’ to go arrest their accomplices without any form of leash like handcuffs or leg manacles to pre-empt any effort to either be hostile or escape. The escape narrative somewhat sounded so anbsurd and, therefore, suspicious to be narrated by any law enforcement officers, much less, the police. There was no iota of the display of training that comes before and during police recruitment and regular trainings.

    In all, we demand a thorough investigation and punishment for those found culpable. The police need to redeem their image at this time.

  • Shedding weight

    Shedding weight

    • •Ban on 60,000 litres trucks is welcome but not enough to check articulated vehicles’ crashes

    As part of efforts to curb road accidents involving particularly fuel tankers, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has banned trucks carrying over 60,000 litres of hydrocarbon products, with effect from March 1.

    NMDPRA’s Executive Director, Distribution System, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, Ogbugo Ukoha, announced the decision during a briefing in Abuja.

     “Beginning 1st March, trucks with capacity in excess of 60,000 litres will not be allowed to load in any loading depot of petroleum products.

    “By Q4 2025, we will also preclude the loading or transportation of petroleum products of any truck in excess of 45,000 litres. That is the breaking news for today,” Ukoha said.

    The decision appeared to be the consensus of stakeholders during a meeting with NMDPRA. The meeting had the leadership or representatives of the Department of State Services (DSS); Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN); Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), in attendance.

    Others were Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON); Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA); Federal Fire Service; Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), among others.

    Interestingly, both the National President of NARTO, Alhaji Yusuf Lawal Othman, and the Public Relations Officer of  IPMAN, Chinedu Ukadike, agreed with the decision, especially as they noted it was all about safety.

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    Without doubt, many lives had been lost and a lot of property destroyed as a result of accidents involving trucks carrying over 60,000 litres of fuel.

    One of the most recent such crashes occurred in October, last year, when an overturned fuel tanker exploded at Majia, Jigawa State, killing at least 153 people who had rushed to the scene of the accident to collect leaking petrol.

    What the frequent accidents tell us is that there is a problem somewhere that needed urgent attention. Indeed, Nigerians had been expecting some form of action, with the frequency of road crashes involving this category of articulated vehicles in particular.

    The ban on these vehicles may not be all that would be required to reduce road crashes caused by, or involving them; but it tells us that the regulatory agency is concerned about the wave of the crashes.

    We commend the NMDPRA, the various transport unions and other stakeholders for putting safety first. There is no doubt that the decision would affect some of their members who own these trucks, especially so that many of them obtained bank loans to procure the vehicles.

    But this is the way it should be. Safety first. Life has no duplicate. The truth of the matter is that  many of those accidents were avoidable.

    But they still happened due to a number of factors; from inadequate care of the vehicles on the part of the owners, leading to brake failures; to the urge to maximise profits by stressing the drivers beyond their coping mechanisms.

    We also have law enforcement officers  who look the other way when some of these apparently rickety vehicles move past them on the roads, after the officers had been compromised. The government also shares in the blame because of inadequate maintenance of many roads in the country.

    So, banning of fuel tankers of any capacity cannot alone stop road accidents. It can only reduce the

    capacity of such vehicles to wreak havoc on the roads. The ban would also somewhat help extend the lifespan of the roads because they were not designed for the heavy loads that these articulated vehicles carry.

    In all, we welcome the ban on the vehicles but it must be complemented by other measures. Traffic officers must be more alert to their responsibilities while the truck owners too must ensure the roadworthiness of their vehicles, as well as better manage the human aspects of their operations.

    Government too must work more on the road networks nationwide, because trucks would still be required to transport fuel from the depots to the filling stations.

    There is also the question of how to minimise the loss of the owners of the banned tankers.

  • Timely response

    Timely response

    • It is good that south west governors are teaming up to fight bandits fleeing the North

    Faced with increased offensive bombardment from the Nigerian Armed Forces over the last several months, terrorists and bandits who had been running rampant in the Northwest geo-political zone of the country have reportedly been fleeing from the area and relocating to other parts of the country they consider safer for their nefarious activities.

    Forests in the Southwest geo-political zone have been identified as one of the choices of the dislodged terrorists, as a number of them have been apprehended in recent times, in different states in the zone.

    Speaking at the state’s annual inter-faith service for public officers in January, for instance, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State had alluded to security reports that, in his words, “some bad elements from the Northwest are relocating here due to military heat in their zones. But we will find and deal with them”.

    And earlier in the year, the Department of State Services (DSS) sought an order from a Federal High Court in Abuja to detain 10 suspected members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) arrested in Ilesha, Osun State, for 60 days, pending the conclusion of ongoing investigations. Also, in January, the Ondo State commander of the region’s security outfit, Amotekun, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, told the media that over 300 suspected criminals had been arrested in 15 locations across the 18 local government areas of the state over a period of three months. He stated that a good number of those apprehended and paraded to the public were bandits who were escaping severe military onslaught in the North, and seeking shelter in the Southwest.

    Against this background, the decision of the six governors of the Southwest to mount a joint coordinated security surveillance to combat ISWAP terrorists in the region is commendably proactive and welcome. Reading the communique issued at the end of a meeting of the Southwest Governors Forum (SGF) in Lagos on February 14, the Chairman of the forum, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, spelt out the plans of the governors towards actualising this objective.

    In his words, “The forum agreed to establish a joint surveillance monitoring team to oversee and coordinate security efforts across the Southwest region. As part of this resolution, the forum has committed to deploying advanced technology, including aerial surveillance systems, to enhance security operations”.

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    Continuing, Sanwo-Olu said “Additionally, the forum resolved that its special advisers on security collaborate on intelligence gathering and sharing among state security agencies, local security networks, and federal law enforcement authorities among the Southwest states”.

    There is no doubt that the establishment of the Amotekun security outfit in the Southwest states has considerably enhanced the capacity of the states to fight assorted crimes and  associated insecurity. However, greater inter-state collaboration among these outfits will improve their operational efficiency and efficacy in no small measure.

    No less critical, as the governors noted, is the need for better coordination and cooperation among community vigilante groups, state government security agencies as well as the various Federal Government security agencies. After all, they all have a shared interest and objective in protecting security of lives and property in their areas of jurisdiction.

    And the envisaged deployment of modern technology to secure and safeguard the vast forests of the region, as well as interstate boundaries and territories, should be pursued with the requisite dispatch, beyond rhetoric. Given their critical roles as the interface between the communities and federal security agencies, the governors must also prioritise continuously better funding and equipment upgrading to boost the morale and performance of the Amotekun Corps and other state-owned security agencies.

    However, the issue of terrorists and bandits fleeing military hotspots in the North for other parts of the country is not one that affects the Southwest alone. Other zones will also most likely be the targets of these criminal elements in search of safer abodes to perpetrate their atrocities. Other zones must thus also take preemptive measures to thwart such outlaws and protect the lives and property of their people, which is the primary responsibility of government.

  • Path not taken

    Path not taken

    •IT offers surer route to fighting crime and securing the environment. Take it!

    On July 5, 2022, terrorists broke into the Kuje Custodial Centre, Abuja, with guns booming.  When the guns had quietened and the dust settled, 68 Boko Haram  prisoners had vanished, among the 879 inmates that could not be accounted for.

    Investigations later found that the close-circuit television (CCTV) system at the facility was a joke.  The terrorists blasted off the few mounted CCTV cameras.  But they could well have saved their bullets!  It was later found the cameras were non-functional!

    How different might all that have been — had the facility’s CCTV system been efficient and effective?  The resultant surveillance, from that system, top-notch?  And if, as a result, the terrorists were nabbed, even before they fired a single shot?

    That graphic paint shows the huge  — nay, stiff — opportunity cost, of not fully annexing IT to make that custodial centre near-impregnable.  Had it been otherwise, the jail-storming wouldn’t have happened, not to mention terrorists being sprung from jail.

    After the Kuje attack though, the Senate passed a resolution that all custodial centres be fitted with CCTV.  Three years later, it would be interesting to see how much the authorities have used IT to bolster security in our custodial centres.

    Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), is also a sad story on the wanton neglect of technology.  It could have helped to better secure the city’s facilities; and protect citizens resident there from violent and sundry crimes.

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    The especial scandal of Abuja is its failed CCTV project.  In 2008, leveraging a Chinese loan valued at at least US$ 490 million, though inflation and interest would later push it to US$ 500 million, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua conceived the wonderful idea of a CCTV-powered surveillance system to tightly cover the entire FCT.  The project started in 2010.

    Sadly, however, not much has come out of it.  The contractor not only allegedly vanished with the bulk of the money — at least relative to CCTV cameras installed. Not much has been heard of the project since then.  This is why Senator  Adamu Ailero, who was Abuja minister when the contract was awarded, is shrilly calling for the failed CCTV project to be probed.   But so far, parliamentary probes into the project have hit a brick wall.  That is not good enough.

    Meanwhile, for years after, Abuja had come under serious violent crimes and terrorist attacks, the most dreary being the Boko Haram attack on the UN Nigeria Office in the capital on August 26, 2011.  That Boko Haram vehicle-bomb killed no less than 23 people and injured more than 80 others.

    The same FCT had also battled bouts of kidnapping for ransom over the years, wilted under other violent crimes, especially in its far-flung outposts, and suffered “one chance” car-jackings. Though the security agencies have battled hard to control and curtail these crimes, leveraging IT would have made their work easier, and posted far better results.

    This conclusion is, therefore, trite.  Had the Abuja CCTV system succeeded, the city would have been far more secure.  So, the Abuja case is another painful testimony to an IT path not taken.  That should be corrected — and fast.

    Aside the Kuje Correctional Centre and Abuja story, the March 28, 2022 Abuja-Kaduna terrorist train attack, which resulted in the abduction of passengers, is yet another crime the use of technology could have helped to stave off.  It is welcome though that, post-attack, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has rallied to boost safety and security in its rail network.

    All things said, government at all levels must get more savvy at fully using technology to secure our environment.  But a point to start is correcting the sad Abuja story.  The failed CCTV project should not only be probed, and anyone found culpable tried and punished, the Federal Government should not rest until that project is fully mounted and smoothly running.

    Abuja is the federal capital.  Nothing should stop it from being the model Nigerian city, to others, in technology-powered security.