The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • ‘Missing’ police firearms

    ‘Missing’ police firearms

    •Controversy over this seems to suggest that we have not heard the last on the matter

    Amid the country’s troubling security crisis, allegedly missing police guns generated controversy.  The Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC), on February 11, while considering eight audit queries issued to the police by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (OAuGF), highlighted the 2019 audit report stating that “3,907 assorted rifles and pistols across different police formations could not be accounted for as at January, 2020.”

    The acting chairman of the committee, Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi, linked this to “the insecurity we are having in Nigeria today,” arguing that “If this number of firearms is in the hands of enemies, that means we are not safe. Even the police are not safe.” He also observed that “these firearms, rifles were procured with taxpayers’ money and Nigerians have a right to know what happened to them. The public should know the whereabouts of these arms.”

    The Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Police Accounts and Budget, Abdul Suleiman, who represented the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, told the committee that “no firearm is unaccounted for,” and appealed for “more time” to enable the police to submit “a full report.” Continuation of the hearing session was fixed for February 17.

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    However, the Force Headquarters issued a statement on February 13, countering “news alleging that 3,907 arms are missing from the Nigeria Police Force.” Force Public Relations Officer ACP Muyiwa Adejobi said: “These allegations are misleading and inaccurate.” The statement acknowledged that periods of civil unrest in which police officers were killed and their arms stolen, and attacks and looting of police facilities and armouries, had resulted in loss of arms.  But the police said many of such arms had been recovered.

    Furthermore, the police noted that auditors may not find all arms present during visits to the armouries “due to the issuance of weapons to personnel for operational purposes.” According to the statement, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has a statutory and annual internal auditing process, and its standard operating procedures include stringent measures to ensure controlled movement and proper accountability of arms.  The police stressed that “there has been no outrageous record of unaccounted or missing arms” on the scale indicated in the 2019 report of the OAuGF.

    The argument of the police that the audit record in question was compiled “prior to the current Inspector-General of Police’s tenure” does not excuse the force from providing satisfactory explanations. Egbetokun was appointed in June 2023.

    For instance, the committee noted that only 15 policemen either died or sustained injuries and were recorded as losing their guns in the process, which is a far cry from the number of arms unaccounted for.

    It is disturbing that almost 4,000 firearms are involved in this matter. The huge number of allegedly missing guns suggests lax monitoring, contrary to the defence of the police. Indeed, the figure stated in the 2019 audit report prompts questions about the current condition of police armouries, including whether there might also be missing guns under Egbetokun.

    Notably, in October 2024, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, alleged that there were policemen and soldiers who sold or hired out arms and ammunition from their formation to criminals. He made the shocking accusation in Abuja during the destruction of arms by the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons. “We have to find a way of putting a stop to this if we want to recover our country and live in peace and stability,” he said, adding that a sizable number of illicit arms being used to commit crimes in the country originally belonged to the government.

    It is crucial to track and recover police firearms that have fallen into the wrong hands, and to identify and punish police personnel involved in arming non-state actors. The controversy over the allegedly missing 3,907 police guns demands greater oversight and accountability within the police force.

  • Bring back the ATM

    Bring back the ATM

    •Nigerians expect better services with CBN’s new charges on withdrawals

    Nigerians will be right to dub the current season one of tariff increases. Just when the noise over the increase in telecommunications tariff had barely died down, the train berthed in the financial services sector –with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reviewing the charges on Automated Teller Machine (ATM) services.

    Under the new approved charges, effective March 1, a N100 fee per N20,000 withdrawal will be applied at on-site ATMs (those located at bank branches). For withdrawals at ATMs of other banks, an off-site withdrawal will attract a N100 fee plus a surcharge of up to N450 per N20,000 withdrawal. In the same vein, customers withdrawing from their bank’s ATMs will continue to enjoy free withdrawals.

    As for international withdrawals using debit or credit cards, the CBN says that banks and financial institutions are now permitted to apply “a cost-recovery charge equivalent to the exact amount charged by the international acquirer”.

    The apex bank gave basically two reasons for the upward review: “rising costs and the need to improve efficiency of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) services; and the need to accelerate the deployment of ATMs and ensure that appropriate charges are applied by financial institutions to consumers of the service.

    It says this is in line with Section 10.7 of the extant CBN Guide to Charges by Banks, Other Financial and Non-Bank Financial Institutions, 2020.

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    To begin with, it’s hard to ignore the biting operational environment under which the review has become not only necessary but also inevitable. Rising costs apart, there is also the daily logistical nightmare posed by the act of moving cash to the various dispensing points around. Reports of banks shutting down a good number of their ATMs, especially those located in far-flung areas, deeming their continuing operations difficult, unprofitable and perhaps unmanageable would ordinarily seem enough bases. And with experts painting a general picture of the unit cost for processing ATM notes in Nigeria as one of the highest in the world, the position of the CBN would seem beyond contention.

    The truth of the matter is that cash-loving Nigerians are already paying premium just to have cash for their daily transactions. Surely, the CBN could not have been oblivious of the irony of the record boom in the activities of cash merchants – the ubiquitous Point of Sales (PoS) operators, having a surfeit of bank notes to dispense at premium rates, whereas the banks, the source of the funds, never seem to have cash to pay to their customers, whether in the banking halls or in their out-of-action ATMs.

    For much as Nigerians have shouted themselves hoarse over the question of how the ATM operators are able to get cash and the banks unable to get same, the same has largely been left unanswered by the CBN beyond the tame explanation that the banks have enough cash to meet their daily obligations. Nothing said about what seems to be the gradual, but apparently deliberate displacement of the ATM machines by the hordes of out-of-control PoS operators!

    So, will the review bring the ATMs back? That question is one that only the CBN can answer. Here, a lot will depend on how the banks respond to the development. However, given the concerns, long expressed by Nigerians, on the possibility of a good number of the ATMs being owned by bankers, the best Nigerians can do is give the apex bank’s rationale on ‘the need to accelerate the deployment of ATMs’ the benefit of the doubt.

    Do Nigerians want to see more vitality in the ATM sector? The answer would obviously be positive. In the first place, it offers them the benefit of choice, of competition. Secondly, the convenience it offers in the payment ecosystem is beyond measure. Third, it remains one of the surest paths to further deepen the financial services sector. Moreover, the channel, unlike the PoS terminals, is easier to regulate. So, as unwelcomed as any upward tariff may appear at this time, Nigerians, already used to paying premium for services, albeit through the back door, cannot wait to see the fruits of the improvements as promised by the apex bank. 

  • Good restart

    Good restart

    •The Lagos-Ibadan cargo train should hallmark cargo by rail to all parts of Nigeria

     Good news: the restart of the Lagos-Ibadan cargo service on February 10. In a well publicised event, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), with APM Terminals, relaunched that service. It takes cargo from the Apapa Ports to the dry port at Moniya, Ibadan. That service never should have been halted.

    The first trip, on that relaunched service, moved 35 containers — akin to removing 35 trailers from the road: with the cost of fuel, lubricants, tyre gauges, road degradation from heavy bulk, not to mention noise and environmental pollution, for 35 different articulated vehicles!

    That, in a nutshell, shows how valuable buzzing nationwide rail roads are: the Western network (with its emerging standard gauge); the Eastern network (with its revamped narrow gauge); and the promise of the new West-East line (the rail component of the Lagos-Calabar coastal road). Rail roads may well railroad sanity into the economy with more lasting roads.

    Add the standard-gauge central lines, the Ujevwu-Itakpe rail hub, which operates from the Abavo station, Agbor, deep in the South-South, into Kogi (in North Central), which spur could also connect the federal capital of Abuja, and everyone could see the value deepened rail could add.

    This is saying the trite: deeper rail linkages in the transport of cargo, across long distances within a vast country like Nigeria will, other things being equal, radically bring down cost and give inflation a bloody nose.

    That is the present allure of rail; and the

    regnant powers, federal and state, should tap into rail investments — a putative game-changer for an economy overheated by avoidable costs.

    Which is why this statement, from

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    Kayode Opeifa, the new NRC managing director, should be music to everyone’s ears: “We are committed to ensuring that the movement of goods, from say Lagos to the Kaduna Dry Port, in Kaduna, is achieved by the second quarter of the year.”

    But Dr. Opeifa wasn’t quite done, espousing his dream NRC, now that he drives it: “We are determined, just like we promised Niger Foods and the Niger Government, that we will do everything possible to get cargo from Niger, Mokwa, Jebba, and wherever their Inland Dry Port is situated. Also,” he added, “we are committed to ensuring that people from Kaduna and Kano can move goods, particularly for exports.”

    Dr. Opeifa has packed a reputation as a committed and passionate public official, right from his time as Lagos transport commissioner, chair of the federal task force to drive chaos off Tin-Can Ports, Apapa, Lagos, and his stint at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) service in Abuja.

    It’s good that the new NRC MD also revealed how his corporation was tackling part of its rolling stock challenges: an NRC subsidiary already assembles wagons at Kajola, Ogun State, off the Lagos-Ibadan standard-gauge line. That facility, you would recall, was the Chinese rail contractors’ gift to Nigeria, to feed the entire West Africa in wagon supply.

    Still, how can the NRC fulfil its pledge to, by June ending, drive cargo by rail from Lagos to Kaduna and vice-versa, when the Lagos-Ibadan standard-gauge rail is yet to be linked to Abuja, as part of the Lagos-Abuja-Kaduna-Kano modernised rail?

    If the NRC is thinking of maximising activity on the old narrow-gauge western network, that would be fine too. Moving heavy bulk on those old rail lines is still better than moving them on the roads, and thus shortening their life spans, with wear and tear.

    So, the NRC ambition should draw fresh attention to extending the Lagos-Kano rail from Ibadan, thus duplicating activities as reported on the Kaduna-Kano segment of the same corridor.

    Completing the entire Lagos-Kano stretch is the best way to complement the new NRC dreams. It’s a win-win: more business and revenue for NRC; lower cost for the economy.

    Clearly, the future is rail. So, the Federal Government should double efforts to tap into funding for these critical rail infrastructure. It’s time to counter, with a greater zeal, the culpable neglect of this critical corridor, during the military years.

  • Something cheery

    Something cheery

    • Federal pensioners to smile soon as government sources N758bn to settle their entitlements

    In a move akin to killing two birds with one stone, the Federal Government has approved clearing of all pension arrears to all categories of its retirees under the Defined Benefit Scheme. It has therefore given approval to the Debt Management Office (DMO) to raise funds needed to settle the arrears.

    Clearing the backlog of pensions would not only help the government to lay to rest the monumental debt, but also put an end to the sufferings of the beneficiaries.

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) granted the approval to DMO to source the funds during day two of its meeting at the State House, Abuja, last week. The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, made the disclosure to newsmen after the meeting, chaired by President Bola Tinubu.

    According to Edun, “Equally important and addressing the issue of social interventions is one regarding pensions; there was an approval for the government through the Debt Management Office to raise a Federal Government bond of about 758 billion naira.”

    Edun added: “that is to clear up the backlog of pension liabilities owed various categories of pensioners who are owed funds under the defined benefit system that preceded the defined contributory pension scheme that came into force in 2004 and of course, was updated with a new act in 2014.”

    We commend the government for its magnanimity to clear the backlog. Its decision to review the benefits alongside wage reviews carried out within the period the debts were owed is equally commendable. Merely paying the actual pensions owed would have gladdened the hearts of many of the pensioners. That these would be topped up in line with new minimum wage adjustments would gladden their hearts the more.

    Many of them could have lived longer if they had received their pensions as and when due, but they died out of frustration from inability to pay house rent, school fees, pick medical bills, which naturally they should access for free, given their old age and the sacrifices they had made towards the country’s development in their prime.

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    It is disheartening that governments in the country have been toying with the plight of pensioners. They have been subjected to all manner of indignities, from unending verification exercises that had led to many of them slumping on verification queues, with some dying in the process.

    It is really sad that the very people who are subjecting pensioners to inhuman treatment often take care of their own benefits as soon as it is clear they are exiting the system. Yet, many of them only spent a fraction of the time the old citizens spent in service. This is a disincentive to current public servants who are forced to provide for their own retirement through corrupt practices since they are not sure the pension would be there for them tomorrow.

    We appeal to the government to facilitate the process so that a significant number of the beneficiaries of this magnanimity who are fortunate to be alive to hear the good news can also be partakers of it.

    Moreover, the government, and indeed successive ones should endeavour never to pile up the benefits of people who had served the country diligently in their prime. They deserve their entitlements while still alive.

  • Reform overdue

    Reform overdue

    • Changes are needed to speed up prosecution of electoral offenders

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has for the umpteenth time confessed its difficulty in prosecuting electoral offenders and urged reforms towards efficiency. It’s about time the electoral body was heeded.

    INEC chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu said the commission was having a rough time with the backlog of persons accused of electoral offences despite efforts at progressively enhancing the functionality of the electoral system. It would require marked changes in the legal framework and electoral infrastructure to get a handle on the challenge, he argued.

    Speaking in Abuja at the commission’s first quarterly consultative meeting with the media in 2025, Yakubu expressed concern that nearly two years after the conduct of the 2023 general election, several electoral offences cases are still pending in courts. “Through our collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), cases involving 774 alleged offenders from the 2023 general election are being prosecuted,” he said, adding: “So far, successful prosecutions have been recorded in Kebbi and Kogi states, while our collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on vote-buying has yielded similar results in Lagos, Kwara and Gombe states.

    Yet, many cases are still pending.”

    The INEC boss cited lack of clear legal framework and timeline for handling election-related crimes as contributors to prolonged trials. He called on lawmakers to expedite the process of establishing an electoral offences commission and/or tribunal to ensure timely dispensation of justice and thereby strengthen Nigeria’s electoral system. “A major obstacle to the speedy dispensation of justice is that electoral offences are not time-bound as is the case with post-election offences through the tribunals,” he said. “Furthermore, they (electoral offence cases) are solely prosecuted by magistrate’s and state high courts in the jurisdiction where the alleged offences are committed. No priority attention is given to such cases as the courts deal with a variety of other cases. Consequently, electoral offences are carried over from one general election to another, which may sometimes affect diligent prosecution of the cases,” he explained.

    Yakubu argued, in essence, that it wasn’t for lack of trying by INEC that there is delay in bringing some suspected electoral offenders to justice.

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     Only lately, the Senate approved a request by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for termination of the appointment of some former Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) accused of misdeeds during past elections and taken to court for prosecution by the electoral body. “Judicial and legislative action in the last few days underscores our effort to deal with offences involving officials of the commission assigned to carry out designated responsibilities. However, it also highlights the challenges we face in dealing with electoral offences,” the INEC boss said. “The recent successful prosecution of a Returning Officer in Akwa Ibom State is a case in point. The commission had been diligently pursuing the case, which arose from the 2019 general election. In this particular case, it took nearly six years to achieve successful prosecution at the trial court,” he further stated.

    A ready way out, in Yakubu’s view, is creation of a dedicated body apart from INEC to fast-track the prosecution of suspected electoral offenders. “It is imperative to renew our call for the creation of an electoral offences tribunal that has a specific jurisdiction and limited timeframe for the speedy dispensation of cases,” he said.

    Prosecution of electoral offenders is

    the most serious chink in INEC’s armour; it is also potentially the greatest saboteur of its exertions at upscaling the integrity of the electoral system. This is so because failure to vigorously bring electoral offenders to justice has the effect of encouraging impunity and inducing more recruits onto electoral violations in the notion that they would likely escape being held to account.

    Meanwhile, the economics of prosecuting electoral offenders does not add up for INEC. The delay in the pace of prosecution before the courts means the commission would have to retain legal representation at huge costs for the time cases respectively take. That, obviously, is why it has had to enter into collaboration with members of the NBA, which you could bet is on pro bono basis. But you could also bet that lawyers who are offering their professional services out of sheer goodwill would not be readily available for endless prosecution of cases. That may explain the lack of diligent prosecution Yakubu talked about.

    But there’s really no argument strong enough, in our view, against creation of a dedicated body to prosecute electoral offences. If government is now creating geopolitical commissions to promote regional development, the argument about not wanting to increase the electoral bureaucracy does not fly. And it should cost nothing for the laws to be reworked to prescribe timelines for prosecution of electoral offences. These can be done if there is the will.

  • Reverse medical tourism

    Reverse medical tourism

    This signals hope that with the right atmosphere, Nigeria can regain its glory in heathcare

    About six months ago, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), convened its inaugural Healthcare and Medical Expo in Ikeja, Lagos, to address, among other issues, the challenges of medical tourism by some Nigerians over the years. They addressed the issue and its impact on not just the health sector but on the Nigerian economy, given how capital intensive medical tourism can be, especially to a developing economy like Nigeria.

    The NMA President, Prof. Bala Audu, declared that there was an urgent need to reverse medical tourism. In his words, “We want Nigerians to seek medical care within the country, and attract patients from other countries to come to Nigeria for medical care. Nobody wants to invest in a space that’s not profitable. We need to ensure doctors are appreciated for their training and receive correct remuneration”.

    The NMA President and his members must have been elated to hear an excited Vice President Kashim Shettima claim that Nigeria is experiencing a rise in reverse medical tourism, with patients from the United States and other countries seeking kidney transplants in the country, due to affordability and highly skilled medical experts.

    He made the statement during a courtesy visit by the Nigerian Association of Nephrology, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, ahead of the association’s 37th Scientific Conference. Shettima said that the growing reputation of Nigerian hospitals in providing world-class kidney care was already reaching the global audience.

    “There is reverse medical tourism these days fundamentally because of the level of care at some of our hospitals,” he said. “Recently, 13 patients from the United States came to Nigeria for kidney transplants at Zenith Medical and Kidney Centre because it is much cheaper here, and they receive the same level of expertise available anywhere in the world” said an excited Vice President.

    We commend Zenith Medical and Kidney Centre for flying the nation’s flag with world-class staff and equipment good enough to make them a referral place to come to, even for foreigners. This, to us, is evidence that with the right funding and highly skilled manpower, the best healthcare can be obtained in Nigeria, once more.

    This case is not an isolated or new one. In the 1970s and ‘80s, Nigeria was a great recipient of medical tourists. A place like the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, was a destination to medical tourists, including those from the oil-rich Middle Eastern bloc.

    The nation must try to regain that position in the healthcare sector.

     While we celebrate this feat, it is apposite to remember that Nigeria’s budgetary allocation to the health sector has not been admirable for decades now. The 2024 budgetary

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    allocation was 4.6 per cent, as against the 15 per cent recommended in the Abuja Declaration. Even though the the 2025 budget was a bit better with 5.18 per cent of the annual budget allocated to the health sector, there is still room for improvement.

    At least, our teaching hospitals must return to being the centres of excellence they had hitherto been. This can only happen with better funding that can power research and investment in medical infrastructure and training.

    Economic and health experts insist that Nigeria’s economic growth is inseparably linked to development in the health sector. The incessant exodus of highly skilled medical professionals and patients seeking medical care abroad is an ill-wind that blows no one any good.

    While we celebrate the fact that Nigeria now attracts health tourists, we advise that the country must seize this opportunity to upgrade the health sector generally. The political leaders on their part must also be seen to be owning the home healthcare services because they represent the best of the country and their patronage is enough to make them Nigeria’s healthcare ambassadors. It would be contradictory to celebrate foreign medical tourists at home while our leaders are medical tourists to other countries.

    Beyond the recently reported cases, there have been other people coming for medical tourism due to the low cost and expertise displayed by our medical personnel. Nigerians are some of the best professionals in different medical fields across the world. They only need well-funded and secure medical facilities to come back and invest their skills and earn more foreign exchange for the country.

    We feel that a collaborative effort between governments and the private sector can greatly improve the health sector. With the right environment, even foreign investors sure of a return on investment would come rushing to invest in the sector, thereby creating jobs and impacting on the people positively. 

    Medical tourism is a huge foreign exchange earner. India, UK, Canada and the United States are great beneficiaries of medical tourism and this impacts on their economies positively.

    The government should also realise that the Zenith Medical and Kidney Centre is a private sector investment, with possibly no government funding. Medicare is expensive and government must work with the private sector to have more of such specialised centres of excellence that can attract Nigerian and other medical tourists. Most of the government-owned primary and secondary health facilities across the country are not well funded, and this impacts on the health of citizens. There must be more budgetary allocation to the health sector and government must be deliberate in making investment by the private sector very attractive.

    The good news from the Zenith hospital is a very encouraging one as other investors can now see the possibilities of return on investment. Given the viability of medical education in the country, there must be a deliberate effort to train and keep the medical personnel being trained at very subsidised rates in federal universities at home, to contribute to the country’s development. The lure to go abroad to practice is one that comes from lack of facilities and good renumeration, having spent years studying.

    Many Nigerians in the diaspora would equally want to practice at home but are often discouraged by the poor infrastructure and low pay.

    As the saying goes, a healthy nation is a wealthy nation. If Nigeria believes in this axiom, it is then a logical step to upgrade the heath sector in a way that, instead of celebrating just Zenith Hospital, we can celebrate many others in other fields of medicine. The good thing is that expanding the tourism sector through investment in healthcare is almost a low hanging fruit. The enthusiasm this report has generated must be the incentive for a more vibrant health sector.

  • EFCC’s headache 

    EFCC’s headache 

    • The commission should investigate fraud allegations over its recent car auctions

    Any story of fraud or suggestion of fraud regarding the body designated as the anti-corruption czar upends the raison d’etre of such an organisation and puts in peril the whole fabric of moral values in the society.

    That is a problem plaguing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over recent car auctions and their integrity. The auctions that took place between January 20 and 27 have now been mired in controversies ranging from technical hitches perceived as technical manipulation, surreptitious switching of bids and outright ouster of participation of some citizen bidders.

    Naturally, the aggrieved persons have thrown the charges at the front door of the EFCC and accused it of lack of good faith. Involved were 891 forfeited cars and they were open to bids.

    It was supposed to be an avenue for Nigerians to buy good cars at low prices in a time that inflation and a strained economy had made such auctions welcome to many.

    Some of the stories baffle. For instance, a bid of N5,570,001 on a Mercedes-Benz C300 was the highest, significantly topping the closest bid of N2.7 million. The win turned into a dud as the vehicle became invisible on the auction website. When it reappeared, the bid timestamp was changed and so did the original bid time. His original bid time back-flapped from 4pm with the website now reading 11 am. A new highest bid suddenly popped up for N5,590,001, about N20,000 higher. And the timestamp showed 12 pm. A huge poser of fairness beclouded that bid. In some cases, some bids that were lower beat higher bids.

    The commission stayed away from the process but the body is in the centre of the storm. The commission’s decision not to directly intervene may now be its undoing because it had assigned the process to duly accredited and licensed auctioneers in line with provisions of Sections 4(a)(b) of the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act, 2022 and Section 55 of the Public Procurement Act, 2007.

    While welcoming the decision of the EFCC to investigate the allegations, National President of Auctioneers Association of Nigeria, Aliyu Kiliya, said the probe would help sanitise the system and restore public confidence.

    “The EFCC requested our backends so that they would watch and monitor what was happening during the auction and they have a way to audit what has happened during the auction. If you are not guilty, they will not do anything to you,” he said.

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     “The EFCC does not witch-hunt people but they want them to do the right thing. The system will show any manipulation of the bidding process, I believe that is why the EFCC wanted the auction done online,” Kiliya said.

    Seye Morgan, who is the Chief Auctioneer and the CEO of Rihago Auction Ltd., said, “We do not have a problem with the EFCC investigation of the process and the allegations because we were completely transparent in our processes. We have date and time stamps, and we have e-mail addresses, and phone numbers of bidders as part of our registration process. It is okay with us; we do not have anything to hide.”

    The EFCC’s image is at stake. Since its head and chairman, Olanipekun Olukoyede, had alerted the public that the commission had some bad eggs in its midst, we have witnessed its self-purge, with the firing of some of its staff. It was an act of institutional courage.

    We have also applauded the work of the EFCC for its earnest onslaughts on corruption, like the unveiling of the hundreds of houses connected to the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele.

    Whether it was a hitch or ambitions of itchy fingers, we need transparency in the investigation into the auctions.

  • Meeting housing target  

    Meeting housing target  

    • Involvement of private initiatives is the way to go

    A key feature of the acute incidence of widespread poverty in Nigeria is the inability of substantial numbers of the population to access affordable decent housing. As of 2024, the country’s housing deficit was estimated at 28 million housing units, a situation attributed, among others, to rapid population growth, the attendant acceleration of urbanisation and the consequent rise in the number of people unable to rent or own wholesome accommodation. The inevitable growth of overcrowded urban slums breed low quality of life and make more people vulnerable to communicable diseases, with negative implications for qualitative healthcare.

    It is against this background that President Bola Tinubu, in his Renewed Hope Agenda, promised during the election campaigns to target providing a cumulative 24 million housing units by 2028, which means providing at least four million housing units every year, from 2023. The sad reality, however, is that the country lacks the financial resources to actualise this plan from its annual budgetary provisions. Experts project that no less than N5.5 trillion will be required annually to address the current housing shortfall, with the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development requesting an annual allocation of N500 billion to support housing development.

    But in the 2024 budget, N27.6 billion was allocated to the ministry, and N404 million to the Federal Housing Authority (FHA). And for 2025, the ministry got N98.13 billion while N11.5 billion is earmarked to construct 20,000 housing units, of which 13, 612 are currently under construction through the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Initiative. In the face of this obvious dearth of public funding for mass housing, the initiative by the Tinubu administration to launch a N100 billion private-sector driven real estate financing scheme is a step in the right direction.

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    The Real Estate Investment Fund (MREIF), driven by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), aims to mobilise businesses and investors to contribute to the county’s housing development by raising N1 trillion to provide long-term, low-cost mortgage financing for home ownership. Given the high cost of land and building materials such as cement and iron rods, only a minuscule percentage of the population can afford to raise lump sums to build or buy houses at a go. The scheme thus makes the process of owning houses easier and more convenient for low and medium income groups by providing affordable mortgage loans with repayment periods of up to 25 years, and interest rates set at 11-12 percent, rates substantially lower than those offered by commercial banks.

    The Managing Director of MOFI, Dr Armstrong Takang, explained that the scheme will be actualised through a blended finance structure where public funding sourced at one per cent, is combined with private sector investments to reduce borrowing costs. It is anticipated that private sector actors such as asset managers and issuing houses will raise the N100 billion from the capital market. The reported success of the first phase which raised N150 billion to achieve the housing development goal raises optimism that this second phase will also meet the desired target.

    We support all efforts to continually increase the stock of houses available such that as supply outstrips demand, prices will fall and more people across income categories will be able to own houses. However, government must not relent in efforts to reduce the prices of building materials, particularly cement, which we have local raw materials to produce in abundance. The Nigerian Building Research Institute (NBRI) and other professional institutions and stakeholders should also continually strive to discover alternative raw materials and construction techniques that can help bring down costs without compromising durability and safety.

  • UCH as metaphor

    UCH as metaphor

    •It is sad that such iconic institution could be in darkness for 101 consecutive days

    There is something awe-inspiring about the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan. It is physically imposing and architecturally attention-commanding. It also has a history that is almost mythical regarding the dazzling medical expertise and professional exploits of its personnel. This is a hospital which, history has it, had a distinguished clientele of patients who included the Saudi Royal Family.

    It was therefore nostalgic and a cause for cheer when the Minister of Health, Professor Muhammed Ali Pate, was reported in ‘The Nation’ Newspaper in a story titled “Patients from U.S., UK now patronising Nigeria’s health facilities, says Pate”, to have said: “‘You can see that, piece by piece, we are rebuilding our health infrastructure. We are not just improving basic healthcare at the frontline, but also strengthening our tertiary institutions with critical equipment,’’ Pate said.

    ‘The Nation’ further reported: “The minister stressed that Nigeria’s growing healthcare capabilities were already drawing international patients. ‘This is already happening, including people from faraway places like the United Kingdom and the United States. Despite what we may want to believe about Nigeria’s healthcare system, there are good things happening. The transformation that the President promised is beginning to happen, and we need to sustain it,’ he said.”

    As cheering as this news item should ordinarily have been, it has generated some cynicism and skepticism. This attitude has been largely due to the slew of unedifying news headlines about UCH in the media. The most image-degrading of them include this  January 23, 2025 one from TVC News: “Medical students protest prolonged power outage at UCH Ibadan.” The key message is that UCH owes the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) N378 million and the company has requested the hospital to pay 60% of this debt before it could be reconnected to the national grid.

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    Going by the parlous financial situation of our tertiary medical institutions in general, this is indeed a tall order.

    President of the demonstrating students, Bolaji Aweda, presented their demands as follows: (1) that the Federal Government should take measures to restore light to the hospital, because the Band A classification of the hospital has hiked the electricity tariff beyond the hospital’s ability to pay; (2) the Federal Government’s policy of 50% electricity subsidy for the federal teaching hospitals, as promised since August 2024, should be implemented expeditiously; and (3) a general reform of the health sector  should be undertaken. 

    So, as UCH continues to be unable to appreciably offset its indebtedness to IBEDC, and the hospital continues to be without electricity to perform its core functions, resulting in the restiveness of the students and patients of the hospital and their relatives, the hard-earned reputation of UCH continues to slide. Being an iconic tertiary health institution, any unsavoury experiences the hospital may have has the potential to be seen as the symbol of what obtains in, or what awaits the other teaching hospitals in its category nationally.

    Should that be the case, such ordinarily commendable developments and on-going efforts to enhance the equipment in the nation’s tertiary health institution, as the Minister of Health has announced, could only attract skepticism.

    In fact, that the UCH electricity disconnection problem has gone on for over 100 days indicates that the hospital’s stakeholders and our national elite are appreciably incapable of outrage.  There is therefore the critical and urgent need for all and sundry to pay optimum attention to finding an effective and enduring solution to the UCH electricity crisis.

    In this regard, it is hope-inspiring that the Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu, visited the hospital on February 10. As reported by the Premium Times issue of that day, “Students of UI staged another protest carrying placards with messages such as “+100 Days of Darkness: Save UCH” and “Medical School Is Hard Enough—Give Us Light”, demanding urgent action from the government.” The paper further reported the students union president as addressing the minister as follows: “‘Honourable Minister, you are standing before the presence of 36,000 UI students. We are here to register our displeasure and ask why you have decided to do this to the heritage of Ibadan. The greatest medical institution in Nigeria has experienced a blackout for over 101 days,’ he said.”

    Premium Times then reports: “Following a closed-door meeting between the minister, the UCH Management, and IBEDC, Mr Adelabu addressed the students, assuring them that power would be restored within 24-48 hours.” We hope that this promise would be kept timeously, and that, in fact, the UCH unedifying development would warrant the declaration of a state of emergency in the health sector of the country, to save the nation the trauma of seeing a national pride transform to a national shame.

    Meanwhile, we note the Federal Government’s decision to provide some of our tertiary institutions like UCH, University of Lagos, etc.  with mini-grid solar power as a way of reducing their electricity bills. This is another good initiative but it must not end at the level of intention; it must see the light of day. Nothing is too much to save these iconic institutions the embarrassment of power outage for over three consecutive months as witnessed at UCH.

  • Avoidable killer diseases

    Avoidable killer diseases

    •Concerted efforts needed to check malaria, TB, HIV, Lassa fever, etc.

    An in-depth report by the Leadership Weekend newspaper vividly illustrated, once again, the continued fragility and inefficacy of Nigeria’s healthcare system. Consequently, diseases such as malaria, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), tuberculosis, and Lassa fever, which have been virtually wiped out in many medium and high income countries, remain endemic here. Given Nigeria’s level of resource endowment, including her annual revenue earnings, there is no excusable reason why these diseases should persist, killing large numbers of our citizens.

    The deaths are clearly avoidable with more efficient and prudent management of fiscal allocations to the health sector, as well as greater effectiveness in running the sector, including personnel management, drug procurement and production, as well as a higher sense of seriousness and purpose.

    Nigeria reportedly records about 200,000 deaths as a result of malaria annually, making it one of the deadliest killer diseases in the country. The country accounts for 31 per cent of global malaria deaths, a situation attributed by experts to environmental challenges, gaps in healthcare infrastructure, as well as systemic failures.

    In the same vein, there are at least 400,000 new infections of HIV yearly and, as of 2022, an estimated 1.9 million people were living with the disease in Nigeria. The country has the highest burden of HIV in West and Central Africa, with the situation worsened by inaccurate and misleading information about the disease, the stigma associated with it, and lack of adequate facilities to treat those infected.

    It is also of little comfort that Nigeria ranks among 10 nations globally in incidence of tuberculosis burden, with over 200,000 new cases recorded annually. The impact of free tuberculosis testing and treatment is limited but inadequate funding and logistical challenges further compound the problem.

    The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reported over 7,000 cases of Lassa fever in 2024, with about 20 per cent of infected persons dying. With Edo, Ondo and Ebonyi states reported as epicenters of the disease, it is transmitted through contact with infected rodents or contaminated food, and worsened by weak surveillance systems and ineffective rodent control.

    The prevalence of these diseases has negative economic consequences due to reduced productivity of afflicted persons. Thus, Malaria No More UK , for instance, contends that potential benefits of malaria eradication in Africa will see the rise of the continent’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by an additional $126.9 billion if the UN target of reducing malaria by 90 per cent is achieved.

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    While increased allocation to the healthcare sector is a necessary condition to address these challenges, it is not a sufficient condition to achieve the desired objective of effectively checking them.

    To ensure that allocation of funds to contain these and other healthcare challenges achieve maximum impact, it is important to decisively check the incidence of corruption and criminal diversion of such resources, as well as mitigate waste and inefficiency. Other measures advocated by experts to enhance improved healthcare delivery include better public education on health issues, more effective regulation of drug sales to check the operations of street vendors and unlicensed chemists, as well as concerted efforts to enhance the morale of medical personnel through better welfare to stem the current high rate of migration of healthcare workers to other countries.

    It has been noted with deep concern that Nigeria relies heavily on international health donors for her disease control efforts such that 95 per cent of funding for the Nigeria Medical Research Institute (NMRI) reportedly comes from such organisations as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Ongoing initiatives by the President Donald Trump administration to ban the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which covers 96 per cent of treatment costs for infected persons in Nigeria, illustrates the urgent need for increased domestic funding for health care research and local drug production in Nigeria.

    No less critical is the need to enhance private sector support to boost provision of healthcare as well as enhance the spread of the country’s National Health Insurance (NHIS) to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure for qualitative healthcare services.