The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • David Mark’ ungolden silence

    David Mark’ ungolden silence

    SIR: Reports have it that over half a million persons are living with the dreaded HIV/AIDS in Benue State. This figure keeps rising by the day and sees Benue sit right at the top with the most endemic states a la HIV in Nigeria. What this portends for the state is better imagined. A commissioner from the state once stated that the virus was having a great effect on their state from farming to education et al, what with the impact on the human resources.

    In March of this year, Nigerians decided that they were done with the ineptitude and insensitivity of the PDP since the inception of this democracy in 1999 and collectively decided to show them the door. This led to massive changes at the helm, from the Presidency to the two legislative arms of government which meant new faces/party at the helm of these hallowed chambers.

    Did anybody see Senator David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark at the hallow chambers during the just concluded ministerial screening? Did you notice his body language? Did anybody even hear his voice? He was aloof. He had this I-could- care-less-since-I-am-not -number one kind of mien. The man seemed so uninterested that one is wont to think what his business is in that house and it worries me.

    Senator Mark has been around for a very long time and has refused to leave the scene. The least he could do, having seen it all, is to jettison his self-worship and just begin to look at the greater good-that of his people. What I am asking/saying is, what stops Senator Mark from engaging one or all the potential ministers of health and taking them on on their plans to tackle the scourge of HIV/AIDS, not only in his state which has the highest number of people living with AIDS in Nigeria, but the whole country.

    Couldn’t the senator have asked how they plan to provide services where needed to the infected as well as the affected states? He could have engaged further and found out what plans they have as regards creating more awareness, especially in rural areas, so as to prevent the further spread of AIDS as well as stigmatization of people living with the monster.

    But no; our dear Senator Mark decided to keep mum when he had the opportunity to, for once, give his people the representation they deserve. He’s no longer the honcho of the house, so why belittle himself by saying anything. This is really low because it behooves him to work for the greater good even if it is to at least prove his beneficence.

    As it is, one cannot guarantee that he would raise a single bill to be passed in the senate. I just hope he gets over the loss and focus on the primary reason why he is there-to work for a better Nigeria.

    Bigger picture please, Senator David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark or take a walk.

     

    • Chiechefulam Ikebuiro,

    chiechefulamikebuiro@gmail.com.

     

  • NEMAP to the rescue

    NEMAP to the rescue

    •The North East Marshall Plan is imperative. But the government must get it right

    The Federal Government, on October 27, announced a redevelopment plan for the Boko Haram-ravaged North East.  Dubbed the North East Marshall Plan (NEMAP), it has short, medium and long-term components, complete with a “strategic national communication” segment, aimed at de-radicalising the local populace.

    The Office of the National Security Adviser announced NEMAP at a two-day media parley it tagged “Counter Violent Extremism (CVE) Media Roundtable; Reporting Responsibly on Violent Extremism.”

    The Guardian newspaper reported NEMAP has estimated N92.2 billion to fund intervention projects in immediate, intermediate and long-term economic reconstruction, emergency assistance and sundry development programmes, across the North East.

    Much of the medium-term plan is targeted at rehabilitating the more than two million internally displaced persons (IDPs), ensuring most of them return to their former bases and occupations.  But a segment of NEMAP will also address the needs of IDPs with no intention of returning to their former bases, in the epicentres of the insurrection: Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.  Another N116.4 billion is, in the long run, projected to resettle this set of IDPs, together with other interventionist programmes in physical and social infrastructure.

    But perhaps the most strategic of the NEMAP components is its communication segment, aimed at winning the war for the mind of the local populace.  Faced with grinding poverty,  neglect and sheer hopelessness, they had fallen for Boko Haram’s destructive charm.  Indeed, NEMAP would have been grossly incomplete without a communication component.  After clearing the environment of the insurrection-trigger of joblessness, poverty and hopelessness, the mind too should be cleared of the corresponding cobwebs.

    NEMAP is, therefore, not only welcome, it is must-do.  After falling under the spell of Boko Haram destruction and cruelty, the least the Nigerian state owes this much-repressed and depressed set of citizens is this intervention, to re-establish its dutiful presence.

    But a plan is just a plan,  unless it is rigorously implemented.  This is even very true of NEMAP, given the trauma the local population have gone through; and the high penchant to doubt if there would ever be any change for the better, beyond mere rhetoric.

    That is why the Federal Government should be very sure of NEMAP’s funding.  Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said a part of it would come from Nigeria’s Sovereign Wealth Fund (NSWF), managed by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA); the sovereign funds of other nations, interested in investing in NEMAP; local and foreign investors, and, of course, international development  and donor agencies.

    But if NSIA is involved, then the Federal Government needs to consult extensively with the states.  The NSWF belongs to the central government and all of the states.  So, no party takes from that fund, without the say-so of all of the owners. So, while the Federal Government should be less cavalier pushing NEMAP as some example of “manifest goodness”, the states too should be patriotic in giving their approval.

    The North East might indeed be a geographical area; but the principle of damage to one, damage to all should apply here.  Besides, a destroyed North East, as a component part of Nigeria, sooner than later comes to haunt the whole polity.  Aside, citizens from all over Nigeria live there.  So, its rehabilitation should be the prime concern of all.

    But even with funding secure, NEMAP’s success may not be guaranteed.  A rigorous structure must therefore drive the programme.  On this score, its timeline of two years is reassuring.  That means everything must be done, within that time frame, to attain its set goals.  To make this possible, however, there must be a driver — a specific person to drive the project; someone on whose table the buck stops: for praise; or for blame.  The Marshall Plan of post-World War 2 Europe was run that way.  There is no reason NEMAP should not.

    NEMAP is serious business.  The Buhari Presidency should ensure it doesn’t peter down to some illicit pork.  The North East must be fixed and Boko Haram totally defeated.  Then Nigeria can resume its normal development process, very demanding, even at the best of times.

     

  • Wrong move

    Wrong move

    •It is definitely no time for increase in electricity tariff

    Penultimate week, Bloomberg reported Sam Amadi, chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Agency (NERC), as announcing another cycle of hike in electricity tariff. According to the NERC chief, the planned increases, to be effective by mid-November, will range from five to 40 percent depending on the power provider and class of customer. Bloomberg cited weak naira, rising gas and infrastructure cost as supporting the hike at this time.

    Hard as NERC would try to justify its latest plan, it seems unlikely that Nigerians would be persuaded of its merit.

    First, much as Nigerians have welcomed the noticeable improvements in power supply in the last four of five months, there is little evidence to show that anything has changed in any fundamental sense to warrant any hike in tariff. The relapse observed in the sector in the past few weeks would seem enough proof of how far the road ahead for the sector to hit the semblance of stability remains.

    Second, the non-realisation of the deliverables promised to electricity consumer in the wake of the privatisation of the distribution companies remains a sore point. We refer here to the specific promises by the owners of the distribution companies to inject fresh capital to modernise equipment and systems, to overhaul their business models to ensure value delivery to the electricity consumer. Those promises have remained forlorn, two years after. That failure is at the heart of the technical/operational hiccups experienced across the board; it explains why the old rule of the thumb tariff regime subsists.

    Are Nigerians needlessly obdurate on the issue of tariff reviews? We do not think so. Indeed, with the exception of NERC and the distribution companies (Discos) both of which continue to pretend not to have heard, electricity consumers have sufficiently made the point that they would be amenable to reasonable tariff increases so long as these are non-arbitrary and reflect the actual unit of electricity consumed. The issue, therefore, is hardly the 5, 10, 40 or any arbitrary percentages that NERC and its cohorts in the distribution companies would deem fit to impose now or in the future.

    However, it is significant that the discos that have neither successfully enumerated their customers nor invested any appreciably to upgrade services, would seek to extort Nigerians via another cycle of tariff hike. Is it not the reason they are ever so eager to pass off their internal operational inadequacies as commercial losses?

    If we may ask – how long would it take the discos to conclude on their consumer enumeration exercises? We are here talking of an exercise so basic, and fundamental to their revenue projections. Related to this is how long would it take to make pre-paid meters available to all?

    Why make the luckless paying few the burden bearer for those that the discos cannot bring into their revenue net? Is NERC not complicit in this failure to carry this fundamental task out?

    If we may conclude, we see service – rather than tariff – as the main issue. By their relentless obsession with tariff hikes, NERC and the discos have merely elected to put the proverbial cart before the horse. Had the Discos shown commitment to service delivery as they have done with their regular obsession with tariff issues, the sector would have been out of the woods by now.

    It is bad enough that the electricity consumer is routinely called upon to pay for services that are never enjoyed. However, the very idea of being called to pay more for less is not only offensive, it deserves to be roundly condemned.

     

  • Welcome, fresh thinking

    •A US$ 25bn fund, to roll back recession, is charting a new economic path

    During the last electoral campaigns, the All Progressives Congress (APC) pledged a regime of  change that would encompass vigorously combatting corruption, aggressively fixing the country’s broken infrastructure, massively creating jobs for the unemployed and expansive welfare spending to offer succour to the multitude of Nigerians under the scourge of poverty.

    This basket of promises was predicated on the continued availability of a substantial inflow of revenue to meet the huge financial outlay involved. Today, the ruling party faces a vastly different and less promising reality. It has inherited an economy in the doldrums.

    Ever since the drastic drop in the price of oil by almost half last year, the country’s revenue earnings have plummeted severely. This implies the virtual fiscal crippling of an economy almost totally dependent on oil exports and one which failed to utilise earlier prolonged periods of fuel price buoyancy to build a diversified economic base with a solid infrastructure network.

    Apart from colossal budgetary underperformance, the national currency has been considerably weakened and external reserves grossly depleted. Thus, most states are practically insolvent and unable to perform the basic function of meeting wage obligations to their workers. Economic growth has slowed to about 2.35%, which is reportedly the lowest in a decade. Yet, basic infrastructure remains derelict and incapable of facilitating meaningful economic resurgence.

    While not hiding the gravity of the situation from the Nigerian people, the government has commendably not pressed the panic button and has engaged fresh thinking in confronting the economic challenges. It has demonstrated the resolve to defy conventional wisdom, which in the past would have dictated the introduction of drastic cut in spending, austerity measures as well as currency devaluation. Experience has shown that these measures only deepen economic contraction and worsen poverty.

    While the monetary authorities continue to do all they can to stabilise the value of the Naira, exchange rate controls introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are designed to curb non-essential imports and stanch the external haemorrhaging of foreign reserves.

    The efficacy of these measures will undoubtedly be strengthened by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo’s recent revelation, in an interview with Bloomberg, that the Federal Government plans to create a $25 billion fund through public and private financing to stem the current slide to recession.

    Explaining the rationale for the planned initiative, the Vice President said “We think that the way out of this, what some have described as an impending recession is actually to spend rather than to cut back in any way”. We believe that this is sound economic reasoning and the right way to go.

    This is particularly so as the proposed fund is targeted at investment towards improving the current abysmally low level of power supply, which is a disincentive to a higher level of economic performance as well as modernising critical infrastructure like roads and rail transportation. These investments will stimulate economic activity by boosting public works, create jobs and ultimately help evolve an investment-friendly environment.

    Another key target area of the fund, according to Professor Osinbajo, is agriculture and here the target is to enable the country achieve self-sufficiency in rice production within 24 months. Meeting this target will result in huge foreign exchange savings that could be more productively utilised to enhance further economic capacity.

    Of course, the failure of many such brilliant ideas in the past teaches us that there is a wide gulf between intention and realization. The government must, therefore, possess the political will to ensure that this worthy idea does not become the victim of the kind of corruption, opacity, nepotism, incompetence, inefficiency and sheer impunity that have often constituted the vast grave yard of grand ideas in Nigeria.

  • One man’s meat

    … Could be everybody’s poison, so Nigeria must respond appropriately

    The recent declaration that processed meat and red meat are linked to the occurrence of cancer is a stark reminder of the need for Nigeria to fully enforce its regulations regarding the importation of processed foods, nutritional and dietary standards, and consumer protection laws.

    The International Agency for Research in Cancer (IARC), an agency of the World Health Organisation (WHO), claims that processed meats like ham, bacon, sausages and hot dogs can increase the risk of colorectal cancer. The agency also stated that the consumption of red meat such as beef, lamb and pork is linked to the development of pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer.

    As a result of these findings, IARC has put processed meats in its Group 1 category, where substances like alcohol, asbestos and tobacco smoke are also found, although they have different levels of risk. Red meat was put in the Group’s 2a category.

    Nigeria must respond to this warning with all the seriousness that it deserves. Once upon a time, cancer used to be identified mainly with industrialized nations, reflecting their more sedentary and indulgent lifestyles. That is no longer the case.

    There are an estimated two million cases of cancer in the country at present, with 100,000 new cases developing annually. Breast cancer is the most prevalent, with prostate cancer, cervical cancer, colorectal cancer and oral cancer also becoming increasingly common.

    While most of these cancers are treatable if discovered early, they are very expensive to treat, and Nigeria lacks the facilities required to do this effectively. The result is that wealthy citizens seek treatment abroad, while their poorer compatriots content themselves with whatever is available at home.

    Given the country’s manifest inability to cope with a rise in cancer cases, it is obvious that preventive strategies are the most appropriate response to IRAC’s warnings.

    In the immediate short-term, Nigeria must step up its surveillance of imported processed meat. At present, the country is a virtual dumping-ground for all kinds of food items, a significant proportion of which are either expired, uncertified or deemed unfit for human consumption elsewhere.

    To this end, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) must ensure that unwholesome food items are no longer allowed easy passage into the country. NAFDAC has an ally in the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), whose remit is that of ensuring that consumers are not exploited or victimized by firms doing business in the country.

    Increased enlightenment campaigns should complement the enhanced surveillance of processed meat. Nigerians must be educated on the connections between specific lifestyle and dietary practices and the likelihood of contracting cancer. For example, it should be continuously stressed that smoking still has the highest risk factor for cancer, while those of processed meat and red meat are far less.

    In the absence of the comprehensive scientific information on cancer in Nigeria, rumours and anecdotes abound, with the result that the citizenry are at the mercy of quacks, faith healers and scammers whose ruthless exploitation of the situation only worsens matters.

    Nigerians themselves must undertake a comprehensive review of their own lifestyle and consumption patterns. Decades of aping western lifestyles has put them in the paradoxical situation of enduring western ailments without enjoying western standards of medical care. Apart from the explosion of cancer cases, steep rises in diabetes, heart disease and childhood obesity show how over-indulgence has had disastrous consequences for the nation.

    It is time to cut down on the consumption of fast foods that are replete with sugar, salt and fat. Meat should be consumed in moderate quantities, whether it is processed or not. The intake of carbonated soft drinks, beer and spirits must be reduced. Nigerians should exercise more. Those who live to eat often discover that what they consume ultimately turns around to consume them.

  • Ways to improve quality of education in Nigeria

    Education is the “pillar of development and determinant of technological, political and socio-economic growth and development of nation any”. Whoever becomes the Minister of Education in the President Muhammadu Buhari administration must hit the ground running as there is a lot of work to do in this sector.

    The ministries of education must provide adequate infrastructure such as electricity, pipe borne water; class room blocks/lecture halls in our schools. Our schools’ laboratories, workshops and vocational centres should be adequately equipped with the necessary modern facilities. As this cannot be achieved by the government all alone, there is need for all stakeholders as well as corporate bodies to support in executing such projects. Current and relevant textbooks and internet facilities should be provided in our schools to allow for easy teaching and learning.

    One of the many ways to improve falling standard of education in the country is to return our schools, especially secondary schools, to the missionaries. Since the foundation of a child’s education is built from the primary and secondary schools, there is an urgent need to return schools at those levels to the missionaries. When our schools were run by the missionaries, the standard obtained then was equal to the standards obtainable in any part of the globe. The government should in the interest of our educational development return our schools to their original owners- missionaries.

    The quality of teachers/lecturers in our schools across the board today is nothing to write home about, as many of them are employed  on the basis of “who you know” at the expense of merit. To check the quality of teachers/lecturers in our schools, the government as well as education stakeholders in the private institutions must embark on the conduct of periodic test and screenings for teachers to ascertain the quality of education they impart to our students. Teachers and lecturers should be encouraged to improve on their teaching skills and academic qualifications in order to meet current global teaching standards. Training and retraining exercises should also be organized for them to acquaint them with the use of computers and relevant teaching tools.

    Another way to improve our educational standard is through regular review of our schools’ curricula to accommodate new topics. Topics bordering on entrepreneurial and computer skills should be included. Subjects that teach creativity and innovativeness should be introduced across the board in educational institutions.

    Last but not least is the welfare package of teachers. Money and good working environment are two major motivating factors for workers. Therefore, good teaching environment should be provided for them and their salaries paid as and when due. There should be a system in place to reward hardworking teachers/lecturers and punish the lazy ones. It should also be noted that regular review of teachers/lecturers salaries will help put an end to incessant strikes in our schools.

     

    • Umoru Abdulkadir Ileonikhena

    IJu – Ishaga, Lagos  

  • Enter, the new Ooni

    Enter, the new Ooni

    •Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi succeeds Okunade Sijuwade

    With the October 25 endorsement by the Osun State government, Prince Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, 40, emerged as the new Ooni of Ife, succeeding Oba Okunade Sijuwade who passed away in July.

    A statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, said the choice of Ogunwusi of Giesi Ruling House as the town’s traditional ruler “follows the completion of the due process by the kingmakers and communication of their decision to government.”

    This closure, coming nearly three months after the death of the former king, marks another beginning. It is a plus that the selection process was not unduly prolonged, considering the intense rivalry and controversy that usually complicate royal succession in these parts. Importantly, Ogunwusi’s largely uncomplicated and uncontroversial emergence suggests a popular choice, which is good for communal stability.

    Although the role of royalty in a democratic polity remains a subject of debate, it is worth observing that Ogunwusi’s age holds a generational promise. In addition, with his education in Accountancy, and his corporate background as a director of Imperial Homes Mortgage Bank Limited, he is expected to bring modern thinking and methods to an ancient office.

    It is noteworthy that his publicised agenda reflects a sense of responsibility as well as a sense of purpose. He said in a statement: “The Ile-Ife of ‘my dream’ will be strategically positioned to empower its people socially, economically and culturally, to bring about the desired developments…there is a huge possibility for Ile-Ife to experience tremendous growth through industrialisation and developmental projects.”

    Ogunwusi has his work cut out for him, given the circumscription of royal power by democratic institutions, and the associated diminution of its developmental capacity. It is reassuring that he appears to appreciate the challenges.

    He said: “Many might argue that the tasks before me are incredibly monumental and impossible. However, I do not get easily swayed by the idea of impossibilities.”  It is hoped that the Ogunwusi will walk the talk.

    It goes without saying that in an age marked by the reign of democratic politics, the Ooni-elect will need to reign with a democratic understanding and sensitivity to the will of the people. Notably, the importance of democratic consciousness in the palace was an issue during the reign of the late Oba Sijuwade whose political leanings attracted public criticism and who endured charges of non-progressivism and political incorrectness.

    To be relevant, and to sustain the radiance of the throne, Ogunwusi will need to demonstrate not only cultural glow but also political gumption.  A king must be able to feel the public pulse with accuracy, and flow with the popular will communicated by his subjects.

    Ile-Ife’s recognition as the ancestral and spiritual home of the Yoruba race imposes a burden on its traditional ruler to be of exemplary conduct. As a symbol of the values of the ethnic group, Ogunwusi must project its Omoluwabi ethos, which emphasises social responsibility, and be a true ambassador of its essence.

    With the commencement of traditional rites leading to his coronation, it is time for Ogunwusi to reflect on his place in history and the opportunity he has to make history. When he is eventually enthroned as the 51st Ooni of Ile-Ife, and begins another stage of his life with the spotlight beamed on him and his conduct in public life, Ogunwusi ought to be guided by the saying, “To whom much is given, much is expected.”

    It is hoped that, under him, the ancient town will experience further modernisation in significant respects, and enjoy the benefits of the 21st century.  We wish him a fruitful reign.

  • Rescue helicopters

    Rescue helicopters

    •The challenges of traffic and crime bring potentially new solutions

    The announcement that the Lagos State Government plans to buy three more helicopters to tackle the surge in crime, and traffic snarl, reflects an imaginative look at the twin problems agitating the residents of Nigeria’s most populous city and business hub.

    Governor Akinwunmi Ambode said in a radio programme that the government has put in place plans to procure, in the next month, three helicopters with modern-day gizmos.

    Governor Ambode also noted that he had revved up arrangement to bolster the operations of the Marine Police and the Nigerian Navy on the waterways. He indicated that he had a holistic view of tackling insecurity and chaos in the city state.

    We are aware that two helicopters were procured by Governor Ambode’s predecessor, but he plans to get new ones fitted with state-of-the art gizmos. This will enhance the fleet.

    The recent robbery in the FESTAC area of Lagos demonstrated new thinking in the devilry of the bandits. They landed through the waterways, operated, shot and killed and carted away bags of money. They found easy exit in the waterway.

    Where a helicopter is available and called into action, law enforcement agencies would not be hemmed in by the snarl of traffic. Such helicopters do not only have the ability to aerially monitor the bandits as they flee but are equipped enough to coordinate its activities with other law enforcement units.

    This is the practice in Europe and the United States. The helicopter does not merely monitor. It also is armed with modern weaponry so that it can unleash firepower at the bandits.

    On the tackling of traffic, we also know that in a dense city like Lagos, with interlocking highways and mesh of roads, gridlocks happen unpredictably. It could be caused by an unhinged articulated vehicle, a flood or even a broken-down car, or a vehicular collision.

    What a helicopter does is coordinate with the traffic centre and inform where a gridlock is and where a traffic menace is developing. In the United States, this has been a useful way in keeping traffic under control in such cities as Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago.

    But the use of helicopter is by no means a silver bullet. Lagos State is a burgeoning city in which the citizens must play a role. But more importantly, a cooperation between federal agencies and the state are essential.

    Lagos has had a number of crises over traffic chaos arising from the trailers packed around the Apapa-Oshodi Expresway and a few others, and how a lack of resolution has spilled all over the state, frustrating mobility, commerce and profit.

    Senator Oluremi Tinubu has raised the matter on the floor of the Senate and asked the Nigerian Ports Authority to work with the Lagos State Government to ease the traffic. This shows that institutional bottlenecks within the control of a federal-state cooperation stand in the way of easing the tension.

    The Lagos governor also spoke of activities in restoring some of the pothole-ridden roads that have slowed traffic and led to standstills. It is a work-in-progress.

    What it means is that templates for tackling challenges change as the problems wax more complex.

    As the rains subside and even disappear in the coming weeks, the atmosphere will be ripe to work unhindered on the roads; and the helicopters can turn on the heat on the hoodlums harassing the peace.

     

  • Changing ethnic politics

    Changing ethnic politics

    SIR: Beauty of democracy is its dynamism.  It is a system that has the intrinsic maneuverability to swing to the side of progress.  President Muhammadu Buhari’s stance on governance obviously has the semblance of a military style leadership.  One supposes that it is the case of an apple not falling too far from the tree.  The president has without adherence to the clamour of many Nigerians to balance the ethnic diversity of members of his administration, stayed in the region of his comfort.

    On the surface, this cold approach appears unacceptable considering the nation’s political background fraught with issues of ethnicity.  On top of the mind, Nigeria and Biafra civil war which the memory of atrocities committed in an effort to secure regional power is still disturbing to many survivors.  Notwithstanding, the stubbornness of a soldier or discipline, if you like, may mount the front to advance Nigeria to a zero ethnic system.

    One foresees this conundrum unraveling in the nature of the proverbial Igbo saying; the voodoo doctor concocted one potion, another one killed the voodoo doctor.  Supposing that the president is biased in favouring folks from the North to fill various appointments in his administration, as it stands now, he has practically succeeded in accomplishing that objective.  One can also observe that regional activists are gradually pedaling backwards in challenging his late appointments.  Perhaps out of frustration or desire to give him the benefit of the doubt, the opposition is acquiescing to his design.

    I pray that there will be no major disturbance in the process of our democracy.  One will hope that the Boko Haram insurgency will be suppressed soon as the president has announced and that there will be no other agitation to derail the system.  This scenario presents the president with the backdrop to effect his campaign mantra: Change.  He promised to fight insecurity, wipe out corruption, create employment, develop infrastructure, provide steady power supply and the litany goes on.

    The commonality in the long list of things to accomplish by the president in his change ideology is that no region in Nigeria is isolated from the social woes.  Every citizen suffers as a consequence of these problems which are collectively blamed on bad leadership.  What I am driving at is that in the end, if the president fails to fulfill his campaign promise, we all, irrespective of our ethnicity or region, will be the worst for it.

    If we choose to take the consideration that the president is clear in his vision to create a progressive Nigeria, it will be seen with time while he is in office.  I can never deplore living in a country performing at the height of its potential.  Nigerians have witnessed the politics of rubbish when charlatans ruled the nation.  Then, government abuse crossed all regions and ethnicities.  Nigerians are wise enough to separate the rice from the chaff.

    My summation is that if the Buhari administration fails, it will have regional implications because it is mostly dominated by the North.  Democracy has a way of remedying for this lack of performance.  Next election will be impacted by the outcome of the previous administration.  Electorates will vote without ethnic sentiment but for competence.

    • Pius Okaneme,

    Umuoji, Anambra State.

  • Not excellence

    Not excellence

    •Has UNTH truly gone to dust?

    It used to be described and indeed designated as a centre of medical excellence in Nigeria. Today, no one is sure anymore. Not many can vouch for the excellence of the over 50-year-old University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) in Enugu State. Until the recent past, it used to be the pride of the east.

    Apart from earning pre-eminence in heart ailments, including open heart surgery, any case which defied physicians anywhere in the east of Nigeria was referred to UNTH. The mere knowledge that a complex ailment had found space in UNTH would give patients a certain placebo-effect of relief.

    However, the report out of Ituku-Ozalla, the abode of the sprawling hospice cum institution of medical sciences, is quite unbecoming of the noble profession of medicine. The Association of Resident Doctors (ARDs) at UNTH during a press briefing last week, told the world that the complex is better off shut down than to pretend to be operational though its management systems had collapsed.

    In their words: “We have decided to embark on an indefinite strike over the entire failure in the system. The aims for which this tertiary hospital was established which is service, research and training have failed totally. UNTH being on strike is better. The hospital has been turned to a money collecting centre where patients are made to pay for oxygen when they did not use same.

    “In times of emergency, common investigations like HB, CT scan, blood banks tests cannot be done in the hospital. Patients are made to travel 20 km to private hospitals in the metropolis to do these tests which compound a simple ailment to a complex one. In (some) cases patients die as a result.

    “We carry out surgeries with torch and candle lights following power failure and dysfunctional generators. It is only the poorest of the poor that come to UNTH as a last resort…”

    Though there has not been any refutation from the UNTH authorities, the allegations are too grievous to be ignored and that they would emanate at all from the quarters of UNTH suggests a thoroughly deprecated situation. Even downtown clinics would never carry out surgical procedures under such conditions as described by the ARDs above.

    If the assertions of the ARDs are true by any margin, then we dare say that UNTH is in itself, in dire need of an emergency ‘surgical’ procedure that must be comprehensive and total. It means that the citadel of medical training and specialist medicare has gone to the dogs and is in need of urgent retrieval.

    We urge the federal government to immediately set up an enquiry to determine the true state of affairs at the institution:  when the rot set in; the root causes and why. It is also important to find out what level of funding has been availed the institution in the past five years for instance and what manner of management has been at the helm over this period. We must also remark that a few Federal Medical Centres have been in the doldrums with management at loggerheads with staff.

    The odious news coming from UNTH is not about the ARDs or the management of the UNTH; it is about Nigeria and her essence as an organic member of the human community. Medicine is standardized practice; a heart procedure in Nigeria, for instance, is the same anywhere on the globe. We cannot hope to earn the respect and regard of other peoples of the world if we allow a certain level of degeneracy to pervade important affairs of our lives. Is there a chance that the Federal Ministry of Health is on vacation?