The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Faded number plates

    Faded number plates

    • FRSC should not punish innocent vehicle owners for its own inefficiency

    Nigerian car owners have Mr. Chinwike Chamberlain Ezebube to thank for having the courage and confidence in the judiciary to sue the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) for impounding his vehicle, claiming he was driving with a faded number plate. Nigerian vehicle registration plates in current use were introduced in 1992 and revised in 2011. Curiously, most of the lettering on the plates have faded too soon over the years.

    This is the kind of experience you have in a country where the people rarely question agencies and ministries of government for shoddy jobs; they rather resign to fate and complain to each other in frustration. Normally, for cases concerning transportation and ancillary issues, the National Assembly committees on transport ought to exercise oversight duties on the ministry and agencies in that sector. Sadly, not a lot of effort is put into the oversight duties by the legislators. If the reverse was the case, Mr. Ezebube might have had no need to take the FRSC to court, because the situation might have been addressed earlier.

     The fading of the number plates has had most people complaining in silence because it costs pretty much to acquire one. Ironically, the FRSC, which, unfortunately, is the issuing agency of the number plates, has turned around to arrest car owners and their drivers, and in most cases have forced them to pay fines in addition to the embarrassment, delays and the financial implications of being so apprehended.

    As the local parlance often goes, ‘every day for the thief, one day for the owner’, the FRSC’s impounding of Mr. Ezebube’s vehicle with the claim that his number plate had faded became the albatross of its indiscretion. He had, through his lawyer, U.G.Nwokedi, on February 13, 2024, asked a Lagos High Court to determine the following: “Whether the defendant, pursuant to Section 5 (g) and Section 10 (3)(f) of the Federal Road Safety Commission Act 2007 being the sole designer and producer of vehicle number plates in Nigeria, is not absolutely responsible for the quality and durability of the vehicle number plates as are produced by it?

    In his judgment, Justice Aluko gave an order restricting the commission “from declaring it an offence to drive with a faded vehicle number plate. “By way of conclusion, I hold the view that the defendant cannot criminalise the use of a faded vehicle number plate, and has no power to impose a fine on the plaintiff for using a faded vehicle number plate, or impound the plaintiff’s vehicle on such grounds without the order of a court of competent jurisdiction”.

    Read Also: FG threatens to take over incomplete Lagos-Ibadan expressway sections April

    This judgment comes as a huge relief to car owners and even ordinary commuters who are sometimes delayed on transit because the FRSC officials had impounded a vehicle they were being transported in.

    The judgment makes a lot of sense. If the FRSC solely produces the number plates, why should the car owners be punished for their low quality?

    Beyond this judgment, however, it would be interesting to get answers from the agency. Nigerians had been using the old number plates that had no issues with fading out of the letters or numbers. Other countries whose vehicles are often imported into the country as used vehicles have number plates still as good as new, even when the vehicles themselves are old and worn out. Why would the FRSC be penalising poor Nigerians for their own failure to produce number plates of international standards?

    The FRSC is not alone in these crassly tacky official failures. ln many cases, most government agencies do or supervise the production of low quality government infrastructure and services that impact on the welfare of the people and no one ever gets fired or punished for such low quality jobs. Somehow, it does appear that the only thing seen as criminal action is just financial corruption. Official negligence is not always punished so as to deter others.

    This court judgment is good and in a way justifies the citizens’ confidence in seeking redress in court.

    We however feel that the FRSC ought to be made to pay for damages in that instance to the plaintiff, given the ordeal commuters have gone through with them over what is officially their own fault.  Government agencies and ministries must be held accountable through the weight of the law. That, to us, is the only way to have a functional society.

    We equally applaud the courage of the plaintiff in approaching the judiciary in a country where there seems to be a total loss of faith in it. It spells hope that the court did not fail him too.

  • Niger blast

    Niger blast

    •Suspect must be found and prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others

    Sadly, Nigeria’s poorly regulated mining sector witnessed yet another tragedy on January 26, following “the explosion of dynamites,” which police said “occurred in densely populated residential buildings” in Sabon Pegi, Mashegu Local Government Area of Niger State. “The suspected dynamites were stored in a residential house by one Yushau for a purported mining activity,” the Niger State Police Command said in a statement, adding that the incident “affected about 12 houses in the area.”  A report said the death toll rose to 25.

    The Director-General, Niger State Emergency Management Agency, Abdullah Baba Arah, was reported saying the incident “occurred early in the morning, at about 7:30 am.” He explained that the explosives were kept in an apartment rented by “a local artisan miner” for his workers.

    A statement by the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development also blamed the incident on illegal stockpiling of explosives, and further explained that the explosion was triggered by an electrical spark.  The minister, Dele Alake, said security agencies “have been put on the trail of the suspected culprit. He will be apprehended to face justice.”  The fleeing suspect should be found, arrested and prosecuted without delay. This should serve as a deterrent to others.

     The minister also said the Federal Government “remains committed to ensuring that mining operators adhere to strict environmental and safety standards.”  This is the crux of the matter.

     Illegal mining activities were said to have been ongoing in the area for a long period. The country is mineral-rich, and this has led to the rise of many illegal miners, particularly in remote areas where arrests are difficult and where safety procedures are hardly followed.  Nigeria is blessed with about 44 different minerals, present in commercial quantities in about 500 locations in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. Mining them should be a blessing, not a curse.

    Apart from the storage of explosives in residential areas, the use of dynamites by miners close to residential areas is also common. Both are dangerous.  Anthony Adejuwon, who leads the Urban Alert group that advocates accountability in the mining industry, said explosives should be kept far away from residential areas, noting that “the use of these explosives is not controlled and because they are not controlled, anybody that has easy access can keep it anywhere.”

    Read Also: Tinubu approves N80 billion for Alau Dam reconstruction

    A year ago, a similar incident occurred in the Bodija area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. An evening explosion in the city consumed lives and damaged properties on a large scale.   The state government said the blast was caused by explosives stored for use in illegal mining operations. It blamed “illegal miners” who stored “Water Gel Type Based Explosive” in a duplex on Number 8b, Reverend Aderinola Close, Old Bodija, Ibadan. Justice has not been served.  Such an approach to law enforcement is likely to be counter-productive.

    The use and purchase of explosives without a permit is a breach of the Explosives Act of 1964 and the Terrorism, Prohibition, and Prevention Act of 2022. It is puzzling how those involved in illegal mining are able to circumvent the law enforcement and regulatory process that should have detected and prevented their violation.

    Last month, Alake, while receiving the British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Jonny Baxter, at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja, said President Bola Tinubu had approved the establishment of the Nigeria Solid Minerals Corporation, which would significantly transform the mining sector and lay the foundation for its sustainable development. He outlined the government’s plans to improve the country’s mining sector, including strengthening of the regulatory framework, among other things.

     From all indications, there is a need for the Federal Government to pay greater attention to the issue of illegal mining. Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris, who described the Niger tragedy as “man-made,” said the President had directed the National Orientation Agency (NOA) “to intensify campaigns and advocacy efforts, particularly targeting those engaged in illegal mining.” More than this, the authorities must ensure law enforcement is a priority and effective.

  • Guilty as charged!

    Guilty as charged!

    •It is significant that Halliburton lost $6.9m tax payment appeal case to Nigeria

    The judgment of the Supreme Court, penultimate week, has put to rest the dispute between the Federal Board of Internal Revenue Services (FBIRS) and a foreign registered entity, Halliburton West Africa Limited (HWAL), whose affiliate in Nigeria, is Halliburton Energy Service Nigeria Limited (HESNL). In the lead judgment, Justice Emmanuel Agim, upheld the judgment of the Court of Appeal, and affirmed that there is no evidence to show that HESNL had been taxed on the same income before.

    The HWAL had approached the Body of Appeal Commissioners (BAC) in 2002, after the FBIRS made an additional assessment of US$6,927,248 for the tax years of 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999 on HWAL, which it challenged as double taxation. HWAL lost at the BAC, but her appeal at the Federal High Court was successful. The FBIRS appealed to the Court of Appeal, which upturned the judgment of the Federal High Court. HWAL further appealed to the Supreme Court, which delivered her judgment penultimate Friday.

    The five-member panel of the apex court dismissed the appeal marked SC/CV/311/2014 as lacking in merit and awarded a cost of N2 million in favour of FBIRS. Of note, the judgment of the Court of Appeal was delivered on December 2, 2014.

    From 2002 when the dispute arose, to the final judgment, the matter had dragged for more than 20 years, which we consider too long for a commercial dispute. We hope with the appointment of full number of Supreme Court justices, matters will be dealt with more expeditiously.

    Coming on the heels of the tax reform bills presently before the National Assembly, we hope the FBIRS will be buoyed to effectively and efficiently exercise the responsibilities of its office. It is sad that foreign registered companies and even those with local affiliates, that diligently pay taxes in their home country treat Nigeria as if it is a tax haven. What they dare not do in their home country, they seek to do in Nigeria, with our lax tax laws and slow judicial system.

    Read Also: Nigeria condoles with Germany over demise of ex-president Kohler

    We hope the tax reform bills will take care of the challenges posed by foreign companies which use all manner of subterfuge like offshore intermediate firms, royalties, technical fees, understated profits and fake import invoices, to reap Nigeria of the monies due to her, as tax. Some of these foreign-based companies also rip

    Nigeria off with phantom home fees for bloated staff and equipment, which are not needed for the services they render. Sadly, Nigerian directors who are supposed to protect Nigeria’s interest in the companies sometimes collude with the foreign directors.

    Again, corruption and inefficiency in the FBIRS contribute to the enormous losses in tax collection in the country, and efforts must also be made to curb it. The new leadership at the FBIRS must ensure that tax collection is embedded in technology that is tamper proof. If the collection processes are technology driven, with a robust backbone, the incidence of FBIRS officials creaming off taxes due to the country would be a thing of the past. The body can also have an internal ombudsman to ensure efficiency and discipline amongst employees.

    The gray areas in our current tax laws that gave rise to the dispute which the Supreme Court resolved, should be captured explicitly in the new tax laws. We commend the Federal Government for coming up with a robust review of our old tax laws. Luckily, those who were initially opposed to the tax laws have keyed into it.

    Going forward, every effort should be made to ensure that efficient and equitable tax laws that are attuned to international best practices is applicable in Nigeria. Tax liabilities should be clear and unequivocal so that prolonged court cases will be unattractive over tax disputes.

  • Fresh danger

    Fresh danger

    •The authorities must quickly tackle the dangerous new sect

    News of the existence of a new sect suspected to be involved in “human trafficking and child separation” added fuel to Nigeria’s burning insecurity issue. The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), in a circular to all its directorates, zones, training institutions and commands, said intelligence revealed “the emergence of a new sect called ACHAD Life Mission International.”

    The sect’s headquarters is in Kaduna, while “its leader, one Mr Yokana, lives in Jos, Plateau State,” the NIS added. It also noted that the sect “neither believes in Islam nor Christianity but preaches the restoration of the African tradition and support to humanity,” and “has been canvassing for members both within and outside Nigeria.”

    The circular was signed on behalf of the Comptroller- General of NIS, Kemi Nandap, who said the agency’s officers should “stay vigilant, and report immediately any sign of the sect, and where possible arrest” its members.

    Indeed, it is concerning that this sect is said to be linked with human trafficking and child separation. The United Nations (UN) defines human trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power… for the purpose of exploitation.” Such exploitation includes forced labour, sexual slavery, or other forms of commercial sexual exploitation; it is considered a violation of human rights. Child separation indicates that the sect engages in separating children from one or both of their parents or primary caregivers, possibly for the purpose of exploitation.

    Read Also: ‘Nigeria to end HIV/AIDS public health threat by 2030’

    This development, coming about three months after reports of the activities of a new terrorist group known as ‘Lakurawa’ in the northern part of the country, adds yet another layer to the country’s security challenges. In November 2024, the group was reported to have seized five local government areas of Sokoto State: Tangaza, Gada, Illela, Silame, and Binji. The terrorists were said to be heavily armed and had also been terrorising Kebbi State.

    Director of Defence Media Operations Maj. Gen. Edward Buba had explained that “They exploited the vast borders from Niger Republic which stretch to Mali and which became porous as a result of the coup in Niger Republic to cross into parts of Sokoto and Kebbi states because the joint border operations with Nigerian security forces was experiencing gaps.”

    The activities of this new terrorist group have compounded the ongoing war against terrorism. The war continues because terrorist groups in the country are still active. The terrorists are no longer only Boko Haram members. The involvement of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and ISWAP (Islamic State West African Province) has made matters worse. The Boko Haram insurgency began in 2009. It is troubling that the insurgency in the north is now in its 16th year. It is at the heart of the country’s security crisis.

    Following the information on the activities of ACHAD Life Mission International, the security agencies are expected to tighten security at the country’s borders. In this context, the recently inaugurated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Technology Innovation Complex (BATTIC) must live up to its billing. The NIS boss had announced that it would “support real-time video surveillance to monitor unmanned border areas across the federation, ensuring a constant watch on border activities.”

    Having identified the sect’s leader and his location, the security agencies should go after him and ensure that the sect is neutralised. It is unacceptable to carry out criminal activities such as alleged human trafficking and child separation, whether under the umbrella of faith or not. The authorities should send a strong signal that there is no room for dangerous groups.

  • Tariff quagmire

    Tariff quagmire

    •Parties must be ready to balance economic interest with affordability

    Telecommunications subscribers in the country have heaved a sigh of relief, with the (even if unannounced) postponement of the much publicised 50 per cent tariff increase approved by the sector’s regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The increase would have taken effect on February 1.

    But, no sooner had the tariff increase been approved than some civil society organisations, and particularly the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), kicked against it. The union consequently fixed tomorrow for a protest to drive home its point.

    It is not clear yet whether the NLC would go ahead with the protest or not.

    What is clear, however, is that, for the different folks in the Labour union, there are different strokes. Workers in the telecoms sector have objected to the planned protest. The workers, under the aegis of Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PTECSSAN) is unhappy because, according to it, the NLC did not carry it along before taking the decision.

    “It is our firm belief that the congress leadership has acted in error in taking these decisions without prior consultation with our union that operates in the sector,” PTECSSAN said in a letter to the NLC.

    Read Also: Nigeria condoles Germany over demise of former President, Kohler

    The telecoms workers’ body said the telecoms service providers are going through hard times due to removal of fuel subsidy and the fluctuating exchange rate that have combined to drive up cost.

    More specifically, it alluded to various increased costs of production, including the price of diesel that has jumped from N842.25 to an average of N1, 441.28 since May 2023, petrol from N198 to over N1, 030 in some areas, high cost of forex, among others, as factors that made the tariff review inevitable. The telecoms firms could not have articulated the points better.

    As if to drive home the point that all politics is local, the union wondered what the NLC expected the telecoms service providers to do if they were denied the tariff increase. It said rather rhetorically: “If a situation like this persists, what employers resort to is the termination of employment of workers. We are sure that you and the congress leadership will not be happy to see this happen, as we will not.”

    The tariff increase is getting increasingly complex as it has also become a legal matter.

    But it is instructive that the firms had been clamouring for tariff increase for some years; just that the NCC did not grant them the go-ahead. They had maintained that quality service could no longer be guaranteed under the present tariff structure. As a matter of fact, they had demanded 100 per cent review but the commission only granted 50 percent.

    We agree with the telecoms service providers that they deserve an upward review of tariffs. This is more so that the extant tariff regime has been in place in the last 12 years. But we are not in a position to know whether the 50 per cent approved for them is too high or low. What we know however is that the firms are in business to provide quality service and make money. And they are operating in a harsh business environment like other companies.

    Quality service is also partly a function of the price that consumers pay. This is why we cannot agree with the NLC that the congress would not accept any tariff hike that is beyond five per cent. Prices are not fixed based on rule of the thumb. It is a function of several coefficients.

    It is also heartwarming that, in the interim, the firms have submitted their individual tariff proposals to the NCC for review, since the 50 per cent approved is the cap beyond which none of them cannot go. This is the way it should be. After all, they came in as individual entities. They cannot now be behaving like a cartel because it is time to review tariffs.

    It is our hope that all the aggrieved parties on the matter would see the need to be reasonable and not be unduly rigid. A delicate balancing is required between business and affordability.

    But we agree with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) that whatever figure is ultimately agreed upon “ must come with improved services”.

  • Inexplicable surge

    Inexplicable surge

    •Rising forex bills on school fees and medical bills defy projections of downward trend

    Against all expectations that the 233 per cent depreciation of the naira between 2023 and 2024 will lead to decline in demand for forex, Nigerians’ appetite for the so-called proverbial Golden Fleece and its twin, medical tourism, would appear to be far from waning. According to an analysis of the trend by the Financial Vanguard, based on the data from the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), spending by Nigerians on foreign education and health services actually increased from $1.81 billion in the first nine months of 2023 to $2.3 billion (a whopping 26.6 percent) in the corresponding period of 2024. Whereas foreign education gulped $1.8 billion as against the $1.44 billion in the corresponding period of 2023, Nigerians reportedly spent $465.67 million on foreign health services in the first nine months of 2024, the figure for the corresponding months in 2023 was $366.05 million (a 24.8 per cent jump). The upward trend, which commenced in 2023 after a three- year decline from 2020 to 2022, is hardly surprising, driven, as it were, by a combination of factors that are inextricably linked to the state of the economy, particularly the intolerable level of youth unemployment as indeed the general state of medical services in the country.

    For the large army of young Nigerians unable to get jobs locally, the issue is actually a very straightforward one: the relaxation of the immigration rules in the destination countries, particularly in the last three years, has come with it, the desperation to seek whatever opportunities exist in those countries of which their country is currently unable to offer. To this class of Nigerians, it remains the surest pathway to legal immigration of which the issue of the prohibitive costs ranks at the bottom of the pecking order, at least when considered against the future promises of remittances in the face of the continuously shrinking value of the local currency.

    Read Also: Nigeria condoles Germany over demise of former President, Kohler

     To the extent that it continues to present them a rational choice in the face of the shrinking socio-economic opportunities in the country, it seems unlikely that the pressure will dissipate anytime soon.

    So is the issue of medical tourism a familiar one. The rich and the powerful, long persuaded of the inadequacy of our medical services, will continue to avail themselves of world-class medical services that their money can avail, even if at humongous costs to the nation’s treasury. 

    For us, the issue is not whether those Nigerians have the right to deploy their monies as they please but whether the country does not urgently deserve a different direction by way of addressing those fundamental drivers of the trend, particularly now in the increasingly disturbing anti-immigration wave blowing globally.

    We also agree – and the various universities’ unions have more than made the point, that the over $1.82 billion spent by Nigerians to pay tuition fees in foreign universities is not only a national embarrassment, but an indictment of the university education system in the country. The unions in particular, have wondered aloud, if those amounts spent on foreign fees, wouldn’t have made a huge difference were these to be expended on local universities, in terms of raising their status among their peers internationally, and thus attract foreign students in what could have translated to a win-win for all.

     It is the same way that Nigerians have railed against the penchant by the elites – political and economic – to hop into a waiting aircraft – in search of treatments for ailments that could have been handled locally had they given attention to the provision of those facilities and the training of the high-level expertise which they consider as lacking.

    So, we do agree that the humongous amounts involved should be a source of worry; for us however, the greater worry would be the failure to pay closer attention to those enablers underlying them. 

  • Waste of time

    Waste of time

    • Reps’ proposed bill to make voting compulsory is legislative vanity

    A bill is reportedly being considered in the House of Representatives to make it compulsory for every Nigerian who has attained 18 years and above to vote in elections. If it passes, the bill will amend certain sections of the Electoral Act 2022 to make voting mandatory for all Nigerians of eligible age.

    House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas sponsored the proposed legislation titled “Bill for an Act to amend the Electoral Act 2022 to make it mandatory for all Nigerians of majority age to vote in all national and state elections, and for related matters.” The bill seeks alteration of Sections 9, 10, 12 and 47 of the Electoral Act 2022, and prescribes penalty for any Nigerian of voting age who fails to cast his/her ballot in elections. Among others, it also seeks to mandate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)  to compile a voter register having names of all Nigerians who are 18 years and above and are, thus, eligible to vote in elections.

    The explanatory memorandum says the bill is aimed at addressing “large-scale apathy towards performing a vital civic duty in electing Nigerian leaders.” It added: “The percentage of registered voters that present themselves for actual voting is abysmally low and requires parliamentary attention.”

    Whereas the Electoral Act 2022 in Section 9 requires INEC to compile, maintain, and update on a continuous basis, a voter register bearing names of all persons “(a) entitled to vote in any federal, state, local government or Federal Capital Territory area council election;” the proposed bill seeks to alter the clause to stipulate persons “(a) who have attained the majority age of 18 and are entitled to vote in any federal, state, local government or Federal Capital Territory Area Council election.”

    Also, the proposed law seeks addition of a new sub-section (4) to Section 47 that will provide as follows: “(a) It shall be mandatory for all registered voters who have attained the majority age of 18 and above to vote in all national and state elections;

    Read Also: Humility a waste of time, says Asake

    “(b) A person who has attained the majority age of 18 years who refuses to perform his civic duty to vote commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not more than N100,000 or imprisonment for a term not more than six months.”

    The bid by the Representatives comes against a backdrop of dismal level of voter turnout in Nigerian elections. Out of 93.47million persons registered as voters before the 2023 general election, only 24.9million voted in the presidential and National Assembly polls, representing a meagre 26.72 percent voter turnout – the lowest since the country’s return to democracy in 1999. Compared to 34.74 percent voter turnout in the 2019 general election, there was a decline by 8.03 percent, and it marked a far cry from 50 percent voter turnout that INEC had said it was targeting for the poll.

    There is doubtless cause to be worried over the trend of voter turnout in Nigerian elections. But the remedy the lawmakers are proposing smacks of legislative vanity and an idle expedition. Not that compulsory voting is unheard of in the practice of democracy across the world. Countries like Australia, Belgium, Brazil and Singapore, among others, are known to have adopted mandatory voting at some point of their nationhood history. Others like Austria, Cyprus, Italy and the Netherlands once practised and have dumped mandatory voting.

    Proponents of compulsory voting say it should boost system legitimacy, since democratically elected governments are more legitimate when higher proportions of the population participate. Opponents argue, however, that making voting compulsory intrinsically negates the freedom of choice involved in democracy. Besides, it has been proven that forcing people to vote results in high number of invalid and blank votes, as people are only dragged out to polling centres when they aren’t really keen on making reasonable electoral choices.

    We argue that the bid by Reps is sheer hypocritical exertion, considering that many of the lawmakers pushing for mandatory voting at elections are not always available at legislative sessions to vote on bills and motions as is their statutory mandate. In any event, the proposed bill does not address the question of why registered voters don’t show up at elections. The answer lies between the level of trust people have in the electoral process and the quality of governance they get from those voted into power, but the proposed bill makes no attempt at addressing those issues.

    Besides, the bill seems oblivious of the logistical nightmare it would pose to capture every Nigerian from age 18 in the voter roll, since voter registration must also now be made compulsory; and that is not mentioning the unwieldy logistics of prosecuting violators of the new provisions, which expectedly will be humongous in number.

    While it is highly desirable that voters turn out at elections, it remains the duty of political players to get out the votes through motivation by good governance delivery, not by the spurious bill the lawmakers are working at.

  • Egbetokun’s leadership, police recruitment and conflict management

    Egbetokun’s leadership, police recruitment and conflict management

    • By Olumuyiwa Adejobi

    The efficiency of the Nigeria Police Force, which happens to be the lead security agency in internal security, to combat the increased rates of crimes and criminality across the length and breadth of Nigeria has over time been undermined by a persistent shortage of manpower. With a population exceeding 200 million, the police-to-citizen ratio remains far below the United Nations-recommended standard of 1 officer to 400 citizens making it extremely tedious for the NPF to carry out its core and other secondary responsibilities as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended. This deficit has severely hampered the Force’s ability to tackle insecurity effectively. However, the recruitment process itself has over the years been plagued by controversies, particularly disputes between the Police Service Commission (PSC) and the NPF, inefficiencies, and delays in the onboarding of recruits.

    At the core of the recruitment crisis lies a protracted conflict between the Police Service Commission and the NPF over who holds the constitutional authority to conduct recruitment exercises. While the Constitution empowers the PSC to handle appointments and promotions, the NPF argued that operational realities necessitate its direct involvement in the process. These disagreements escalated into seeking the intervention of the court as regards the interpretation of the Schedule defining the powers of the PSC and the Police Service Commission Act in 2023. The Supreme Court of Nigeria in its ruling, however, ruled in favour of the PSC, but tensions persist, continuing to hinder positive progress in resolving the manpower deficit. 

    Amid these lingering challenges, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun Ph.D, NPM, has emerged as a transformative leader. As a fellow of the Society for Peace Studies and Practice (SPSP) coupled with his vast experiences in policing for more than three decades, Egbetokun has leveraged his conflict management expertise to foster understanding, collaboration and mutual existence with the PSC for the benefit of the NPF. By building a working relationship with the PSC chairman, DIG Hashimu Salihu Argungu, mni, retired, a thorough-bred, seasoned, and disciplined officer, and encouraging dialogue, he has reduced institutional friction, disequilibrium, and created a solid template for cooperation with the shared goal of addressing recruitment challenges, and other inadequacies effectively. 

    Egbetokun has advocated for a recruitment process that emphasizes professionalism, merit, and inclusivity. The IGP, in collaboration with the decent Chairman of the PSC, champions fairness and transparency to combat corruption and nepotism which have plagued the system for years. His focus extends beyond numbers, with an emphasis on robust training programs aimed at equipping recruits with modern policing techniques, community engagement skills, and conflict resolution strategies. He is also advocating for the adoption of digital technologies to streamline the recruitment process and enhance efficiency. 

    Read Also: Why Egbetokun isn’t illegal IG, by AGF Fagbemi

    Egbetokun’s leadership approach demonstrates the power of collaboration, doggedness, accountability, and proactive engagement in addressing systemic and institutional challenges. By fostering trust, mediating institutional conflicts, and implementing forward-looking reforms, he is building a Police Force that is not only numerically stronger but also more professional, rule-of-law compliant, service-driven, people-friendly, and community-oriented. His ability to unite stakeholders around a common vision offers hope for a more effective and united police force, capable of ensuring national security and institutional excellence.

    IGP Adeolu Egbetokun’s leadership serves as a model for addressing systemic challenges through conflict management and collaboration.

    As Nigeria continues to navigate its surmountable security challenges, the combination of Egbetokun’s conflict management prowess and his partnership with the PSC leadership provides a renewed focus toward a more effective and united police force. Through their joint efforts, the recruitment process can be transformed into a vehicle for institutional excellence and national security. 

    In the end, IGP Adeolu Egbetokun’s leadership reminds us that sustainable reform is only possible through dialogue, cooperation, and a shared commitment to achieving greater heights. His approach is a testament to the power of effective leadership and Esprit de Corps in driving meaningful change.

    •Omooba Adejobi is a Public Relations Practitioner and Expert in Peace, Security, and Humanitarian Studies. Federal Capital Territory, Abuja

    princemoye@gmail.com.

  • Detty December

    Detty December

    •It was the best of time, but let’s prepare for it next time for greater prosperity

    To paraphrase the immortal bard Shakespeare in his play, The Tempest, all the revels of the holiday season are ended. Christmas revelry and reveries as well as New Year’s are now behind us.

    The period has now come to be known as Detty December, a time of joy and festivity, of vanity and family, of travels and homecoming, of revitalised friendships and romance. It is also a time to spend in defiance of amnesia of the state of the economy.

    This last experience was an irony. In the midst of inflation and cries of anomy, parties drowned complaints, beer froths replaced grimaces. But for most part, it was an opportunity.

    Lagos seemed to be the cynosure of Detty December. The state government came with some figures, which means they had anticipated the boom. It says between November 19 and December 26, 550,000 inbound flight passengers entered Lagos, most of them from the United States, Canada, Italy, South Africa and, of course, the United Kingdom. About 90 percent of them were Nigerians who came for tourism. It was not all international. An estimated 1.2 million tourists came to Lagos, and 60 percent of them thronged the city from the southeast and the FCT.

    It is not just a factor of the devaluation of the currency, but a time to understand that there is an epicurean boon in the Nigerian that lends itself to prosperity, if we take advantage. Because of the inflow of persons into Lagos, there are some statistics that some analysts see as conservative.

    Hotels ran out of rooms, as they recorded 15,000 bookings in December for N54 billion. Food and beverages lapped up N8 billion. The top 15 hotels raked in about N10.5 billion. Short-let apartments gave the economy N21 billion for 5,937 apartments. The top five lounges and nightclubs yielded N4.3 billion. Event centres boomed N1.2 billion in parts of Lagos Island generated N15 billion. These statistics are by no means definitive, and they are just the Lagos story.

    Read Also: Nigerian women key to Africa’s projected $29tn economy by 2050 – Shettima

    There were also record travels to the southeast – with tamp-down of insecurity -, and many travels to Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Osun and Oyo states. They also had boom times, but the figures are not recorded.

    “Wikipedia is monitoring,” alerted Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), former Lagos State governor, and noted that offshore remittances during the period amounted to four percent of the country’s GDP. He described it as a “developmental opportunity,” and asked pertinent questions, “Who is curating it? Who is branding it?”

    In the developed world, certain periods are marked out as revenue generating times for GDP through tourism. In the United States, for instance, Mardi Gras is a great time. Even Brazil has its own Rio Carnival with its samba parade. Sometimes, it is not festival but an event, like the Black Friday, for shopping.

    Our last Detty December just showed to us why the devaluation of the currency is not necessarily a blight but a bright chance. It attracts money into the system. Is it why the remittances are high and banks’ right issues are oversubscribed?

    Again, last December happened upon us unawares. We did not build ideas, institutions, market designs and strategies to take advantage of it. As Fashola asked, are we thinking about recalibrating how we room in the period? During big events in western countries, persons rent out their homes for the period and make enough in a short time to pay off major obligations that even re-tweak their lifestyles. The former Lagos State governor referred to MICE -Meeting, Incentives, conferences and exhibition. How much of these will happen next time?

  • Recurring tanker explosions

    Recurring tanker explosions

    •These call for urgent measures to stem the tide

    Large numbers of deaths from explosions by broken-down or tumbled fuel-laden tankers, as people in nearby areas seek to take advantage of the situation to scoop or siphon petrol illegally, has become an increasingly frequent occurrence on highways in urban and rural locations across the country. Widespread publicity of these tragic occurrences, unfortunately, do not deter large crowds from refusing to learn the appropriate lessons and refraining from engaging in such hazardous practice when fuel tankers are involved in road accidents. On January 18, one of such incidents occurred at Dikko junction in Gurara Local Government Area of Niger State, resulting in the death of at least 98 persons and 69 injured, according to the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA).

    Surprisingly, barely two days after this tragedy, scores of people trooped out to scoop what was initially presumed to be fuel when another tanker fell and exploded in Bida town in Niger State. Fortunately, this time around, the content of the overturned vehicle turned out to be groundnut oil which was also scooped away in large quantities, but with no fatalities. In the earlier incident at Dikko junction, security men, including police officers and vigilantes who tried to prevent people from endangering their lives by scooping fuel were reportedly resisted and overpowered.

    On October 15, 2024, a fuel tanker exploded in Majiya town in Jigawa State killing about 200 people and injuring at least 124 others. The vehicle had reportedly tumbled while attempting to avoid crashing into a truck, leading to its content spilling on the road. About a month after this, a fuel-laden tanker erupted in flames at the Jigawa-Kano border, although there were no casualties on this occasion, thanks to the proactive action of the Kuho Village Head, Zubairu Ahmad, who not only alerted the Federal Fire Service but helped to mobilise people against going near the tanker. And, on January 25, many commuters were feared dead and eight vehicles burnt when a tanker conveying fuel fell and exploded at the Ugwu-Onyeama axis, Off Enugu-Onitsha Expressway. The number of fatalities was not immediately certain. Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) personnel and other security agencies were engaged in trying to extricate charred bodies of victims.

    Read Also: iSI commits to mentoring, funding young Nigerians seeking to study abroad 

    In 2020, the FRSC listed 1,531 fuel tanker accidents which claimed 535 lives, an indication of how rampant these incidents have become, and the situation has worsened since then.

    This is why the National Orientation Agency (NOA) did not have to wait for President Bola Tinubu’s directive to launch a campaign against the scooping of fuel when tanker accidents occur. Such a campaign ought to have been in place long before now, although it is never too late to start. The desperation of those who endanger their lives to scoop fuel from fallen tankers should remind the authorities of the need to intensify efforts to mitigate the level of economic hardships in the country, although poverty alone cannot be a valid excuse for such self-destructive acts.

    The frequency with which these tanker accidents occur raises a number of issues that should be urgently addressed to drastically reduce such tragic incidents and safeguard lives and property. First, is the practice of fuel being conveyed across long distances by road to various points of discharge. While the plan by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. to repair and put in use its several kilometres of abandoned fuel pipelines across the country will reduce the distance required to deliver fuel and is welcome, the option of transporting fuel by rail should be urgently considered, as this is safer, more cost effective and efficient than doing so through tankers.

    Again, the condition and road worthiness of the tankers is often questionable, raising questions about the effectiveness of the various agencies responsible for maintaining requisite safety standards of vehicles plying our highways. A related issue is that of the driving proficiency of those who drive the tankers and their compliance with road safety culture, such as abiding by stipulated speed limits, taking appropriate rest before driving long distances as well as refraining from consumption of alcohol and other substances that impair mental clarity while behind the wheels.

    It has also been pointed out that the state of most of our roads is deplorable and contributes significantly to traffic accidents involving fuel tankers and other vehicles. The need to avoid the large number of fatalities caused by road accidents and the attendant large scale economic loss that arise from destruction of property when accidents occur should spur the requisite authorities to more effectively tackle the humongous corruption, inefficiency and tardiness of contractors that is largely responsible for the unacceptable large number of bad roads in the country.