The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • World Bank and its big stick

    World Bank and its big stick

    • Who colluded with two firms to rob Nigeria’s vulnerable?

    The suspension of two Nigerian firms and their chief executive officer over alleged corruption by the World Bank comes at a time the country is in dire need of economic revitalisation . The two companies, Viva Atlantic and Technology House Limited, together with the Managing Director and CEO, Mr. Norman Didam, were debarred for 30 months for alleged fraud, collusion and corrupt practices linked to Social Safety Nets Projects in Nigeria.

    It is highly disappointing that the poor and vulnerable could be so shortchanged by the companies through very unethical practices during a 2018 procurement and ensuing contract process. Details of the alleged corruption included falsified company experience, submission of fake manufacturers’ authorisation letters and inducements to project officials.

     The bank views the actions as undermining the integrity of the social safety net initiative designed to benefit Nigeria’s most vulnerable.

    Nothing can be more embarrassing to Nigeria than being punished by the global apex bank, for misdemeanor of this magnitude. Nigeria already has huge image problems generated by social misdemeanors like militancy, insurgency, etc.

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    And the Nigerian officials who colluded with them to defraud the country: who are they and what would be their punishment? Why was it very easy for the companies and CEO to get willing allies in those alleged to have been induced? Individuals and companies doing business in or with Nigerians can only treat the people the way the indigenes treat their citizens. They must have done a good work of understanding the lack of care for Nigeria’s most vulnerable and taken a cue.

    Issues of this magnitude fester because the system seems to lack accountability. The reward and punishment system seems non-existent and there seems to be room for impunity across board. This scandal must not be left for the World Bank to clean up. There must be thorough investigations, starting from how the companies were registered and those that didn’t do due diligence, that ought to have prevented the mess under review. The way each country takes law and order often defines the socio-economic choices people make. All those involved in the scandal must be named and shamed and duly prosecuted as a deterrent to future offenders.

     The attitude of Nigerian leaders at all levels must change in ways that dignify human lives. The situation of the more than 137 million people living in multi-dimensional poverty must be reversed through systemic change. This issue must be a wake-up call to the governments to tighten the noose on officials in the private and public sectors of the economy.

     The world is waiting to see how Nigeria would handle this scandal.

  • Cable theft, civic watchmen

    Cable theft, civic watchmen

    • Citizen vigilance will stop stealing of cables that give us light

    Nothing dramatises the impact of sabotage to power transmission more than the confession by the power minister, Adebayo Adelabu, that “my office is in darkness.”

    He was referring to the work of vandals who destroy power cables across the country, so much so that, in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, darkness encroached upon the first house of the country. Aso Villa, that is.

    “It can be depressing when we have just completed a transformer installation and few weeks after, they are brought down by vandals,” the minister said.

    According to Ndidi Mbah, the public affairs manager of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), “Transmission lines taking power to parts of Abuja have again been attacked by vandals. The incident occurred in the early hours of Friday at the 132kv transmission line and underground cable transmitting bulk power to the 132kv Central Area transmission substation, Katampe, in the Central Area of Abuja. This has affected the supply of electricity to Maitama, Wuse and Garki.”

    But it is not restricted to Abuja. The TCN reported that within six days, that is January 9 and January 14, vandals destroyed 18 transmission towers in three states, Rivers, Abia and Kano. The minister had earlier lamented that similar atrocity plunged Bayelsa State in darkness.

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    On January 14, vandals targeted towers 146, 147, and 149 along the Owerri/Ahoada 132kV line in Rivers State and made away with base brackets and compromised the integrity of the towers.

    In Abia State, Engr. Azuh Lucky, head of the lines department in the southeast, revealed the theft of nuts, bolts, and structural members from towers 160 to 162 on the Alaoji/Umuahia 132kV line, which was under repair on January 13, 2025.

    Up north in Kano, towers 105, 106, and 107 along the Katsina-Gazoua 132/33kV transmission line were critically damaged by vandals on January 9, 2025, “compromising their structural integrity and risking collapse.”

    On January 17, the TCN said that electricity lines supplying power to various parts of Abuja were attacked and damaged by vandals.

    In December 2024, the 330 kilovolts (kV) Shiroro-Katampe transmission line was broken.

    In Abuja, items recovered from the suspects include two manhole covers, underground armoured cables, two diggers, and two vehicles, a Toyota Carina and a Toyota Corolla, which were allegedly meant to transport the stolen items.

    This shows that the perpetrators are not just roughnecks on personal missions but criminal cartels who make it into a sustained business.

    The suspects, identified as Nafiu Ibrahim, 19; Shefiu Sadiq, 21; Yahaya Musbau, 24; Mohanzam Muktar, 20; and Yunusa Ma’aruf, 19, are all from Kurfi Local Government Area in Katsina State.

    Earlier, the TCN announced that the electricity lines supplying power to various parts of Abuja had again been attacked, stolen and damaged by vandals.

    “This shows that we don’t love ourselves, this does not happen in many other parts of the world,” noted Minister Adelabu.

    In the last quarter of last year, it was not just the organised vandals that tampered with our enjoyment of light, but the bandits who saw it as another way to disrupt our way of life. They operated in parts of the north, including Niger and Kogi states, and thought they had crippled the state.

    The security forces have staved off their acts so far, and the key element in this triumph is vigilance. It led to the arrests of seven persons in Abuja for stealing manhole covers and armoured cables. The competence of linesmen was fruitful but the real work was done by civic watchmen, that is ordinary citizens. They reported a shop in Dei Dei Panteka Market in the FCT and 20 manhole covers were recovered in one fell swoop by the police.

    Our light lies in our hands.

  • Diezani loot?

    Diezani loot?

    •Beyond relying on other nations to help repatriate stolen funds, our institutions should be strengthened for probity.

    Nigerians are now used to being informed that some huge sums believed to have been corruptly taken from the public coffers had returned somehow, somewhat. So was or has been the case with the “Abacha loot” for years. Now, it is “Diezani loot”.

    Although, lawyer to Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, the former Minister of Petroleum Resources under the Jonathan administration continues to protest her innocence, the appellation has stuck. Her lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), explained that the yacht that was seized by the government of United States was rather from Mr. Kola Aluko, known to be one of the former minister’s associates.

    But, the United States government told everyone that the proceeds of crime was from Mrs. Alison- Madueke. There are suggestions, too, that there is more from where the $52.8 million came. In the United Kingdom, she has been standing trial for sleaze allegedly shipped to that country from Nigeria during her tour of duty.

    There has been a rage over the audacity of the United States to dictate how the money so returned should be dispensed. The Proceeds of Crime Agreement signed on behalf of the USA and Nigeria indicates that $50 million would be spent on rural electrification and renewable energy through the World Bank, an indication that the US has no trust in the governance system and structure in Nigeria. The remaining $2.8 million is expected to be committed to funding the International Institute of Justice to help the counter- terrorism efforts in East, West and North Africa.

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    This is a call for Nigeria to strengthen its governance structure. It is not the first time that foreign countries from which stolen funds are repatriated would slam conditions on our country.

    We must also take another look at our justice system that relies on other countries to help retrieve funds illegally funnelled out of the country. It is unfortunate that investigation, prosecution and sentence take so long without attention to the maxim that justice delayed is justice denied. It took trial in the United Kingdom for similarly misappropriated funds to be retrieved and the guilty punished.

    As things stand in the country today, with a retinue of senior lawyers whose extortionate fees could be paid by the super-rich ever ready to bring up all tricks to protect their clients, public officials would be too glad to dip their hands into the national pie. A radical change must be effected immediately.

    It is obvious that Nigeria is hardly held in any high esteem by other countries, including those in Africa where we pride ourselves as the giant. The onus is now on President Bola Tinubu to do something about the country’s image. In appointing ambassadors to other countries, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Presidency must collaborate to ensure that only the very best who have proved their mettle in the public or private sector are so appointed. Members of the Senate who have the constitutional responsibility of screening the nominees should also be diligent in carrying out the duty. We cannot continue to fail our country. The foreign missions should be strengthened to perform their tasks in the country’s best interest.

    Nigeria needs every dollar, or even Naira, it could lay hands on. We cannot continue to borrow money only for a few to embezzle. To show that Nigeria is serious in the anti-graft war, we must speedily and diligently prosecute all  pending cases involving former public officials. Some party officials, governors and ministers who have been out of office for more than a decade have cases still pending against them at the courts of first trial. This is not the way to get corruption behind us.

  • A death and the gospel singer

    A death and the gospel singer

    •Timileyin’s alleged murder of Salome should not be swept under the carpet

    For the mother of Salome Adaidu, the slain Nasarawa State indigene serving the nation under the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), it has been an agonising one year. Having lost her husband about seven months ago, the gruesome death of her daughter, Salome, must be one of her scariest nightmares.

    Salome had allegedly been murdered by a gospel singer, Timileyin Ajayi.

    The Nigerian social media space has been suffused with varied stories of the alleged killing. This type of  killing, outrageous as the sordid details sound, has seemingly become more rampant in the country, given the recent increase in social crimes like kidnapping, assault and banditry. Thousands of Nigerians have been victims.

    Majority of the victims are often young women, either as victims of circumstances like those allegedly murdered for ritual purposes, in relationships, or even in actual marriages.

     There has also been a steady rise in domestic violence, with more female victims often explained out as due to economic or social issues, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The contradictions in the life and narratives of the alleged suspect, Timileyin, in the killing is curious. He is known as a gospel singer, in which case he is assumed to be a Christian whose tenets include obeying the 10 Commandments, one of which is, “Thou shall not kill”. His gospel singing presupposes he spreads his faith through songs. We wonder the nexus between his call and the alleged murder.

    The suspect has faced a barrage of media interviews and he has been very unapologetic about his alleged dastardly act. In fact, he has been sounding very discordant, fuelling rumours that he might have some serious mental issues. He claims he killed her because he saw some text messages on her phone indicating she was cheating on him.

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    While we understand that there are crimes of passion, we suggest that the state must carry out a thorough investigation to establish his mental health first.

    He claims he is not remorseful and makes other infuriating statements that seem to portray him as mentally challenged. To us, this angle of the story must be a pointer to the neglect of mental health issues in the society.

    The general outrage is understandable but mental health issues is a global problem handled by countries with all seriousness to preempt crimes and social disruptions like the one in question.

    Moreover, the security and law enforcement agencies must be better trained and empowered. It is sad that a crime as heinous as the one under review was discovered by citizens who were observant enough to accost the suspect after seeing blood dripping from a bag he was carrying.  The mob almost gave him the jungle justice before he was rescued by the police.

    There is limited policing of the citizens due to a number of reasons. The lack of sufficient manpower, monopolisation of the greater number of the policemen by politicians and top businessmen, and sundry issues impact on the efficiency of the police to do their duties to the citizens.

    Crime is a global issue but countries make and implement policies and laws that can deter people from criminality. Salome is not a lone victim of this type of crime. There are reported and unreported killings, especially by criminal gangs and bandits across the country. Sometimes, certain cases are brought to limelight due to the status of either the victim or the suspect, as in this case.

     In the case of another female gospel singer, Osinachi, an alleged victim of domestic violence by her husband, her status made her case newsy. But thousands are murdered daily for different reasons by different brands of criminals, some even for ritual purposes when the suspects are obsessed with becoming rich on the fallacious beliefs that human sacrifices would be their key to instant wealth, in lieu of hard and honest means of livelihood.

    We condemn any extra-judicial killing by either state on non-state actors. We as a country must be more proactive in prevention than reactionary. The judiciary and the state must work in unison to prosecute murderous criminals as a deterrent to others.

    We don’t want this case to be swept under the carpet like several others. It must be thoroughly investigated and culprit/s prosecuted.

  • Electoral trust

    Electoral trust

    •The 2023 IReV electoral glitch shows how IT can boost or undermine the polls

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) just insisted its initial failure to upload results into its election result viewing portal (IReV) did not alter the result of the presidential poll.  That might well have been.

    Still, INEC itself would be the first to admit that failure led to a lot of doubts — some, honest and genuine; others, cynical: from bad losers, playing a bad-tempered blame game — particularly the presidential results, where the sweepstakes were very high.

    It’s good, therefore, that INEC is committing itself to averting such glitches in future polls.  That is the sane and logical path to tread.  The government should avail INEC the critical funding to make such a noble dream a living reality.

    To be fair, elections have got progressively freer and fairer since the electoral reforms started with the 2011 elections.  Responsible for that positive turn was the progressive introduction of IT to bolster the electoral process. 

    But the row over IReV in 2023 put a dent on that progress — even if again, most of it was from sore losers.  INEC’s duty, however, is to avoid such free opportunities to bad-mouth its hard-earned achievements.

    In a detailed 526-page report on the 2023 general elections, which INEC just released, Sam Olumekun, the INEC national commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education, explained how the glitch happened and why it did not affect the accuracy of the results. 

    A part of the report is worth quoting verbatim:

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    “In configuring and mapping the election results for the presidential and NASS (National Assembly) elections, the commission created 470 election types, consisting of one presidential constituency covering the entire country, 109 senatorial districts and 360 federal constituencies,” he explained. “Each senatorial district and federal constituency election on the data base was mapped to their respective states.  However, the presidential election result is a single, countrywide constituency and therefore, does not belong to any one state”.

    Shorn of its IT lingo, INEC simply did not make enough data configuration for the presidential election — being “a single countrywide constituency” — the way it did for smaller constituencies as the 109 senatorial seats and 360 House of Representatives.  That logically explained why IReV delivered in the NASS election but crumbled in the presidential election, until the error was corrected.

    That error — pre-poll negligence, no matter how honest — should not have been allowed to happen.  Yes, it was the first time INEC was deploying IReV in the general election, after it had proved a winner in previous off-season polls.  Maybe one should have expected such mistakes with heightened processing of huge electoral data?  But that is exactly why INEC should have anticipated such, and made adequate provisions.

    Still, it is praise-worthy that INEC quickly rallied to correct the glitch.  At the same time, it fended off hackers who could have cashed in on the momentary confusion, to smuggle fake results into the INEC result data base. 

    Nevertheless, averting such ruinous optics would have been the best option.  Imagine if the IReV didn’t suffer that glitch?  INEC could have avoided the negative hubbub, of election losers and their media and election-monitoring allies, to wholesale discredit the election.  That’s what it has pledged for the future and that is what it must deliver.

    But as INEC commits itself to saner future polls, politicians too must grow out of their election-season errancy.  It’s almost standard fare that every election won is perfect; every election lost is a catastrophe. 

    That’s childish, churlish and condemnable.  An election must necessarily produce two results: win or lose.  If every time you lose you cry wolf, when do we know those rare times you are well and truly done in?  We should stop de-marketing our elections, simply because many of our politicians just can’t face losing with grace. 

    Still, INEC is the starting point; and it must do its bounden duty — and be manifested seen to do so. IT can either push faith in elections or fire bitter doubts.

    INEC should deploy IT for transparent elections and credible results.  If it does, the bitter hubbub of sore losers would progressively develop into self-mockery.

  • Lawless?

    Lawless?

    •The police aren’t doing their image any good by ignoring verdict on slain journalist

    With the way the Nigeria Police is carrying on over the killing of an Abuja-based journalist, you would think it is a lawless organisation. The force is spurning a court order to pay N50million in compensation to the family of the slain journalist, and that isn’t good for a body established to preserve law and order in this country.

    Alex Ogbu was killed by police personnel on January 21, 2020, during a protest by members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria who were demanding the release of their leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky. The Abuja-based journalist was felled in the course of his covering that protest. The police initially claimed he died after falling and hitting his head on a stone, but an autopsy found that the primary cause of death was haemorrhage due to gunshot injuries inflicted by a bullet fired by one of police operatives while trying to contain the Shi’ite protesters.

    An advocacy group known as ‘Justice for Alex’ took up the matter against the police and plied a case in court for three and half years, by which it sought compensation for the journalist’s family. On June 21, 2023, Justice Mohammed Abubakar of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Kurudu, Abuja, held the police guilty of Ogbu’s death and ordered payment of N50million to his family in compensation.

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    The journalist’s widow, Francesca Ogbu, called a press conference lately where she lamented the police’s refusal to comply with the order of court. Addressing journalists in Abuja, she said: “To date, the police have not complied with the court order. They also did not appeal against it, showing sheer scorn and impunity towards the pronouncement of a competent court of the land.”

    According to her, multiple efforts were made to secure justice in line with the order of court, which included writing letters to the Police Service Commission, the Ministry of Police Affairs and the Inspector-General of Police, but all to no avail.

    The widow said: “Several efforts have been made to make the police see reason and obey court judgment, but all have not yielded desired results as police authorities have adamantly ignored the court order and deliberately frustrated all attempts to pay the family the judgment sum awarded it. Letters have been written to the Police Service Commission, the Ministry of Police Affairs, the National Assembly and the Inspector-General of Police on this issue. Distinguished Senator Abba Morro has also written to the Inspector-General of Police to honour the judgment, but was also met with a rebuff.” She added: “This press conference is therefore to bring this to the knowledge of the world, to let the world know that the police have refused to obey a duly pronounced court order.”

    The PUNCH newspaper, in a report, said it reached out to Force Public Relations Officer Olumuyiwa Adejobi, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), for the agency’s comment on the case, but he requested to know the Investigative Police Officer  (IPO) in charge of the case, among other details.

    If the police’s disposition on this mater is as the Ogbu widow claimed, the force leaves much to be desired in its attitude to court orders. Court verdicts, especially when they are not appealed, are laws that must be obeyed. The sad irony is that had it involved other parties, it would have fallen on the police to ensure compliance with court orders. But now, it is the police spurning a court order!

    We also find it disturbing that various authorities overseeing the police force appear to be complicit in its disobedience of court order, going by the account of the Ogbu widow. It is curious, for instance, that letters allegedly written to these authorities elicited no response as could have made the police do the needful.

    As it stands, it is doubtful the FCT court order can yet be appealed given the effluxion of time, meaning it is the final word of law on the matter. Since the order has to do with monetary compensation, the court could consider ascertaining the balances in the force’s bank accounts and impose garnishee order on those with sufficient funds to effect justice for the slain journalist’s family.

    Meanwhile, the circumstance of Ogbu’s death is a reminder on the need for Nigerian security operatives to ensure compliance with global best practice on containing civil protests and other citizen actions, so to prevent collateral casualties.

  • Illicit forex demand

    Illicit forex demand

    • Regulators have to be more creative in battling the operators

    Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, last week offered a rare but candid insight on the scourge of foreign exchange volatility that the managers of the economy will do well to pay closer attention to. The occasion was The Platform Economic Outlook for 2025 organised by The Covenant Nation – a Lagos-based church. “Nigeria’s biggest problem with forex”, he said, “is not the supply of forex; it is the illicit demand for forex. If I want to be politically correct, I will say it is the discretionary demand for forex in both the public and private sectors. In the public sector, there are people who control our resources and feel that, first and foremost, it is their own money for the time that they are there. They collect those monies, and they are chasing dollars to buy. Even the Central Bank said that when they release FAAC, the exchange rate just seems to misbehave during that period. One million here, two million here; and that is still going on. We don’t need that dollar, but we are still buying it. That is an artificial demand, or, put differently, discretionary demand”. He didn’t stop there. “The bigger the size of corruption, the bigger the impact of that discretionary demand. It is happening also in the private sector. A majority of the average Nigerians have not seen a dollar banknote in their life, but the elite, the high-net-worth individuals, the super-rich, and some of the middle class have. There is a self-fulfilling prophecy when you think that naira will lose value. You are converting all your savings to dollars. The domiciliary account balance has increased by more than $6bn in the last 18 months. The balance is over $30bn”.

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    Most Nigerians, we daresay, will find this analogy easy to relate with. In fact, there could hardly be a better characterisation of the paradox of a country which, although barely makes enough forex to cover its import bills, yet whose over-indulged elites either maintain a disproportionate trove of forex in secret vaults locally for their convenience, or devise all manner of mechanisms to transfer them abroad. To state that the current mechanisms for forex management have not exactly had their desired effects is merely stating the obvious. In fact, the characterisation of illicit forex demand, while apt, could easily have been a window into the broader story of organised crime, corruption, criminal sabotage, influence peddling and possibly terrorism that the country has had a hard time battling. Yet, it stands to reason that the situation being described could never have been without the unscrupulous activities of many of the so-called licensed Bureaux de Change operators (BDCs) and their alter ego – the so-called black market. So intrinsically linked are their activities that it has become nigh impossible to separate them. The least that could be said of many of these ubiquitous operators is that they not only dictate what happens in the forex management segment but have largely played the enablers of those activities so correctly identified by Oyedele.

    With networks vast and large, and their ancillary infrastructure so deeply entrenched and often times far beyond

    the visors of the regulators, their staying power should, in the context, be understood from the standpoint of the insatiable even if illicit demands of their elite, above-the-law patrons.That is why the mission to sanitise the sector has proven tough and difficult – although not necessarily impossible.

    At this time, the least the CBN and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) in particular could do is to find more creative ways to address the problem. From more effective ways to monitor the activities of BDC operators, to stricter monitoring at the borders to deter forex trafficking, to renewed clampdown on the dollarisation of the economy, right up to tracking the nexus between the monthly activities of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) and the activities at the parallel forex market segment, there is surely a lot the authorities can do to stem the menace. The time to begin is now.  

  • Abysmally low

    Abysmally low

    • It is incredible that only about 100,000 of 1.9m POS operators are registered

    The effort by regulatory authorities to get the Point of Sale (POS) operators to register with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is commendable, as the advantages are legion. With an estimated 1.9 million POS terminals operational across the country, identity tracking poses a serious challenge, if an operator is not registered. So, we commend the formalisation project undertaken by the CAC to help POS operators to get registered.

    But, the report that only 100,000 operators have taken advantage of the special window is worrisome. With banks’ lethargic in the performance of their service of making cash available to customers, POS operators have become the major source of cash- backed financial transactions in the country.

    From small amounts to several millions, the POS has become the medium of transaction for many Nigerians, and sometimes these transactions are done while the customer is on transit. Where the transaction fails after the customer has been debited, there is usually the challenge on how to track the POS operator, especially when unregistered.

    Getting the POS operators to register with the CAC is important, not just for the customers but also for the nation’s security. Kidnappers and sundry criminals also use POS to execute their nefarious activities. Movement of ransoms and other illicit monies done through unregistered POS can pose a challenge to security operators working to solve a crime. 

    According to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigerians paid approximately N2.23tn as ransom to kidnappers between May 2023 and April 2024. Though disputed by security agencies, the amount is staggering. Most of that money would have passed through POS, and where the operator is unregistered, the illicit financial flow maybe difficult to trace. We therefore urge the government to review the security implications of non-registered POS operators, and determine whether to ban banks and customers from patronising them.

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     If the fear that they constitute an untraceable link to criminal activities is true, then the matter should be treated as a security challenge, not merely a commercial choice to register or not.

    With banking halls turning ghostly, POS operators are taking advantage to rip off customers. The amount to charge customers for cash sometimes depends on the whims and caprices of the operator, which should not be so. Again, while banks sometimes claim they have no cash to dispense on their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), POS usually have, at high cost.

     Nigerians indeed believe that the banks and the POS operators collude to cause artificial scarcity in the banks. A trending anomaly is that while some POS operators have newly-minted cash to sell, the ATMs dispense old cash, when the banks have it at all. Of course, the sale of freshly-minted cash by banks is a common phenomenon in our country. We see humongous new notes moved around and sometimes abused at social events and other ceremonies, while banks claim not to have new notes when approached by ordinary customers.

    Recently, the Central Bank imposed N1.35 billion fine on Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) for their failure to make cash available in the ATMs during the yuletide.

    To check the trend, security agencies should trace and prosecute the offenders, both in the banking sector and the POS operations. Registered POS operators can also be differentiated from unregistered ones by the compulsory display of registration number at the place of business.

    Clearly, the unearned income, like excess charges by POS operators or the fees from sale of new notes, which add no value to the national economy, merely fuel inflation across the country. We urge relevant monetary authorities to understudy the challenge posed by unregistered POS operators and proffer solutions for the good of our national economy.

    There is the need to codify the operations of POS, and adequate guidelines put in place for the benefit of our economy.

  • A veritable game changer

    A veritable game changer

    Katsina solar-powered tricycle initiative in promoting cheaper transport mode is the way to go.

    It appears that adversity is brewing innovation and creativity in the country. The step taken in Katsina State that has embarked on a pilot scheme of introducing electric tricycle is an indication that various parts of the country are beginning to see the need to device means of confronting its various socio-economic challenges.

    The innovation is particularly commendable because the tricycles are said to be produced by a local firm, IRS. Governor Umaru Radda has recognised that such a programme is best started as a pilot scheme, and tested by the end users in collaboration with the state government. Thus, the involvement of the tricycle riders in the state at this point. It is to be tested for durability and profitability.

    For almost two years now, since the free market principles have been introduced to the country, many of the poor people have been further impacted and have cried to the Federal Government to ease their pains. In doing so, many have overlooked the tiers of government closer to them whose revenues have greatly improved by virtue of the same policies.

    But, now, some of the state governments have risen to the occasion. In December 2023, President Bola Tinubu was invited by Governor Umara Zulum to inaugurate a set of electric taxis. In the same vein, the metro rail in Lagos has been improved to help in moving the masses around, while the neighbouring Ogun State is travelling the route of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Buses. Others have come up with other schemes in recognition of the part being played by transport in the raging inflation in the country. It has continued to rise month on month despite steps being taken by the fiscal and monetary authorities to tame it. Food inflation, in particular, is holding the people down. Cost of medical treatment, electricity and education, among others, too, has further impoverished the poor. And, in each of these sectors, transport is contributing to the soaring costs.

    Recently, in response to the taxation bills forwarded to the National Assembly by the President, all the 19 governors of the Northern states rejected the move and credited their position to the ravaging poverty in the region that they claimed would be exacerbated if the bills were passed as sent by the Federal Government.These are not ordinary times. It is a time that calls for ingenuity in leadership. Fortunately, there is nothing needed to ride the storm that is not available in the country. Human resources abound among Nigerians at home and abroad. We see the moves by states in this direction as an indication that if we pool together resources, Nigeria will soon turn the corner.

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    We commend the Katsina State government for recognising that the tricycles should be run for a while to study the challenges and device means of combating them. One of such challenges would have been if it were to depend on electricity. The producers recognised this and made the battery to be solar charged since the sun is available in that part of the country almost all-year round The benefits are not only in transporting people, even though it is said to have the capacity of hauling about 10 persons at a time, but its usefulness in transporting goods, especially in the rural areas. This could be a game changer for all.

    Besides the cost advantage, this is a time when conservationists globally are calling for checking climate change. There is a tendency in our clime to contend that it is a problem of the West; however, it is obvious that the heat from the ozone layer has badly affected our weather, too. The practical effect is obvious from the Chad Lake that has shrunk in recent years, affecting the livelihood of the area.

     It has also been linked to the growing insecurity in the area, and the movement downwards by pastoralists from the Sahel region.

     We look forward to governors of states of the North East and North West, in particular, to embrace such innovations in the interest of their people and the country. The Federal Government alone cannot bear the burden of national development.

    But, this is not limited to those states alone. Even in the South people are crying about the impact of hunger in the land. Some parents are no longer able to send their children to school. Tertiary education has become so expensive that it is beyond the income of the average family, and despite the education loan introduced by the government, many have not been able to access it and thus unable to move on. Initiatives like this would help in conserving disposable income, and possibly promote savings at the family level.

    With more of such initiatives, the future is bright for Nigeria and the future generations.

  • Osoba at 90

    Osoba at 90

    • A historian who made history

    Two publications were on display during the celebration of his 90th birthday in his hometown, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State. One was titled ‘Critical and contentious issues in the modern and contemporary history of Nigeria – Collected writings of Samuel Olusegun Osoba.’ The other was: ‘Minority Report and Draft Constitution for the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1976.’ The second publication was attributed to Osoba and Yusuf Bala Usman.

    Both publications give an insight into Osoba’s life and work.  He retired from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, in 1991 after a distinguished career as a history lecturer. A two-day international conference held in his honour at Tai Solarin University of Education, in December 2023, underscored his stature as a scholar and progressive thinker.  The theme of the conference was: “History and the Persistent Struggle: Social Change, Nation Building and Constitution-Making in Post-Independence Africa.”

    At the event, Prof. Siyan Oyeweso described him as “a radical ideologist,” and “a foremost historian of the Nigerian left,” adding, “his strength is in the history of the oppressed and distressed people.” He said Osoba “spent his active service years actively involved in establishing cells around the university campuses leading to the establishment of several credible mass organisations with clear ideological focus.”  Also, Osoba’s daughter, Olayinka, said he “has always been about the masses, nation building in Nigeria, social justice, equity, human freedom.”

    This may well explain his disagreement with the majority members of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) set up by the military government in 1976, which drafted Nigeria’s 1979 Constitution. His membership of the 49-member committee was a testimony to his recognition. The 65-page ‘Minority Report and Draft Constitution for the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1976,’ authored by Osoba and Dr Yusuf Bala Usman, recommended the removal of immunity clauses for presidents and governors, and set the minimum age for political office eligibility at 30. Their expression of dissent was an act of courage, principle and patriotism. The military government rejected the minority report, which was later published in 2019 and presented by Osoba in Lagos. 

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    Born on January 9, 1935, in Ijebu-Ode, in present-day Ogun State,  he attended Ijebu-Ode Grammar School (1947-53); Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Ibadan (1954-56); University College Ibadan (1956-1959) and Moscow State University (1963-67). Earning his doctorate in Moscow, in the then Soviet Union and bastion of Socialism, was a defining influence on his socio-political perspective.  He taught in the Department of History, University of Ife, and OAU, Ile- Ife, following the university’s change of name (1967-91); his area of research interest was the social and intellectual history of modern Nigeria.

    He inspired generations of students at Ife. Importantly, he was a significant figure in the creation of the ‘Ife History School.’ His Marxist orientation influenced his approach to the teaching and writing of history, which critically focused on the actions of political actors and their implications for society.

     Regarded as the “foundational practitioner” of the radical political economy approach to history in Nigeria, he wrote notable essays that promoted this method. These, according to Ibrahim Abdullah in a newspaper article, include three “overlapping/interconnected” essays: “Ideological Trends in the Nigerian National Liberation Movement”; “The Nigerian Power Elite, 1952-65”; and “The Deepening Crisis of the Nigerian National Bourgeoisie.” They “lay the foundation for understanding the process of nation-making from the mid-1930s to the oil boom in the 1970s and the emergence of a Nigerian national bourgeoisie,” the writer stated. 

     In the course of Osoba’s academic career at Ife, he strikingly refused to apply for professorship in protest against the system, preferring to be addressed simply as ‘Doctor,’ despite his recognised qualification for professorship.  

    The celebrated historian’s work supports the study of history and underlines its value. We congratulate him as he enters his nonagenarian years.