The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Stopping HIV among children

    Stopping HIV among children

    •The authorities must pursue this objective with all seriousness

    At a press conference in Abuja to mark the World AIDS Day 2024, Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) Dr Temitope Ilori complained about the rate of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), saying, “Our country continues to face a significant challenge in preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV.” The theme was: “Take the Rights Path: Sustain HIV Response, Stop HIV among Children to End AIDS in Nigeria by 2030.”

     She, however, stated that the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare recently established a national-level acceleration committee, aimed at ensuring that no child is born HIV positive in the country.  World AIDS Day, observed every year on December 1, is a global initiative to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, show support for people living with HIV and to remember those who have died from AIDS-related illnesses.

    Since the AIDS (Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) pandemic hit the global community decades ago, governments across the world have taken measures to prevent and manage both HIV and AIDS.  Enough awareness has been created about the reality of HIV, which causes AIDS, which often leads to death if not well managed. Importantly, pharmaceutical companies rushed out antiretroviral drugs to disrupt the development of HIV into full-blown AIDS. For instance, American basketball legend Magic Johnson, who has lived with HIV with good management for more than three decades, illustrates advancement in the management of HIV.

    The most vulnerable demographic regarding HIV are unborn babies because they share a lot of blood and other body fluids with their mothers. This gave birth to the global programme called Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. Many countries have embraced this life-saving programme, which has helped in saving many children from being infected by the virus.

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    But Nigeria with its huge population has been lagging behind. Despite a global PMTCT target of 95 percent, Nigeria’s coverage remains at just 33 percent, leaving a significant 62 percent gap uncovered. UNAIDS lamented that Nigeria has one of the lowest declines in new HIV infections among children. Some of the negative percentages are embarrassing for the nation and must be treated as a national emergency.  For Nigeria to have 14 percent of global child HIV infections, and the global highest with 21,000 new infections among children, is very worrisome.

    As if that is not bad enough, it is estimated that 160,000 children aged 0-14 are living with HIV in the country, and there is an alarming figure of 15,000 AIDS-related deaths annually. UNAIDS country director for Nigeria Dr Leo Zekeng stressed that addressing mother-to-child transmission is both a medical and human rights issue. “Stopping babies from being born with HIV/AIDS and ensuring access to quality services is a fundamental human right,” he said.

    Deputy executive director of programmes for UNAIDS Dr Angeli Ahrekar said: “The future of Nigeria’s children cannot be left unchecked; concerted and urgent action must be taken to avert children being consigned to live a lifetime with a virus that is now preventable. We need to end the vertical transmission of the epidemic to have an AIDS-free generation in Nigeria.”

    We demand that governments at all levels in Nigeria be more concerned about the healthcare needs of all citizens. Unborn children are the most vulnerable of all humans. NACA must be very deliberate in planning for the PMTCT programmes to be as optimally effective as they are in better managed countries. It is appalling that Nigeria sends out Technical Aid Corps to other countries but cannot deliver health services efficiently to its born and unborn children.

    The Federal Ministry of Health in collaboration with relevant agencies must be concerned about the disaster and embarrassment from the failure of the PMTCT in Nigeria with all the resources available. A critical analysis of the narrative portrays the country as very careless about the welfare of her children.

  • Lagos electricity law

    Lagos electricity law

    • A good development that should revolutionise economic activities in the state

    Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu signed the Lagos Electricity Bill, 2024, into law on December 3, signalling the independence of Lagos State from the strangulating and debilitating grip of the national electricity infrastructure. While the implementation of the new law and its fruits will take time to mature, we applaud the giant leap to freedom.

    The law will enable Lagos to regulate the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity within the state. The efficiency from such prospect could double the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the state, which stood at N41 trillion, as at the end 2023.

    The governor gave a glimpse of the benefits at the ceremony: “We want to create a Lagos where businesses no longer need to rely on costly, alternative power sources. This law will ensure that SMEs can thrive without the burden of sourcing multiple power solutions.” He went on: “We are committed to lighting up Lagos, ensuring that all residents can go about their activities with the confidence that they will have access to power around the clock.”

    The impact of a 24-hour electricity supply on the economy of the state and welfare of the residents would be enormous. The state economy, which is reputed to have grown from N27 trillion to N41 trillion in the past four years, could further double. As noted by the state commissioner for budget and planning recently, Lagos is “currently ranked 7th in terms of GDP in Africa.” He went on: “We contributed at least a minimum of over 20 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP and you will find that over a period of review, during the first term of Mr Governor, we are moving in the right direction.”

    The signing of the Lagos Electricity Bill is one such right direction and we commend the state government, both the legislature and the executive, on this. Should electricity be constant in the state, small and medium enterprises which are reputed to be the bedrock of modern economies would prosper. We imagine the difference constant electricity would make in the life of even big manufacturing companies, some of which left Nigeria because of energy challenges. Being the commercial nerve-centre of the country, adequate power supply in Lagos would boost the national economy significantly.

    Clearly, electricity supply is a major challenge to industrialisation and quality of life of Nigerians. With a population of about 230 million, the country needs around 40.6 terawatt hours of electricity, whereas only about 24 gigawatts hours were supplied in 2023. The problem associated with electricity supply in Nigeria, according to experts include, inadequate power generation capacity, transmission and distribution networks, sub-optimal pricing and subsidies, operational inefficiencies of the distribution companies (DisCos), regulatory uncertainties and policy inconsistencies.

    These bottlenecks, states can overcome, now with their fate in their hands.

    According to Lagos State Electricity Board, LSEB, Lagos State needs between 10,000 to 12,000 megawatts of electricity in the next decade, which is about 90 percent of the current national installed 13,000 megawatts capacity. It says, about 15,000 megawatts of the 45,000 megawatts of estimated alternative power supply in the country is located within Lagos.

    The research showed that only about 31 percent of households were connected to the national grid as at 2020. The shortfall is clearly massive, and only direct state control of private investments could impact the huge market waiting to be tapped.

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    Sadly, research indicates that despite the generating capacity, only about 3,500 MW to 5,000 MW is typically transmitted to the final consumers in Nigeria. And the reason is not far-fetched. The national transmission grid is comatose, and the result is perennial failure. According to the World Bank, the country has struggled with poor power supply for several decades, a challenge that is estimated to cost businesses about $29 billion yearly. The Energy Progress Report 2022, ascribed to Tracking SDG 7, indicates that Nigerians “have the lowest access to electricity globally, with about 92 million persons out of the country’s 200 million population lacking access to power.”

    No doubt, one of the major causes of food insecurity plaguing the country is poor electricity supply, which makes food preservation a huge challenge. With poor supply of electricity, made worse by the incessant collapse of the national grid, households cannot preserve cooked and uncooked food in their freezers. Even small scale businesses which deal on frozen foods experience huge losses, and when they cannot carry on with the huge cost of alternative electricity supply, they usually close their business.

    We hope state-inspired generation, transmission and distribution networks would substantially solve these challenges.

    Lagosians will count on the promise by the governor who said about the bill: “It is a bill that we believe will change the economic landscape and usher in socio-economic benefits for our citizens in Lagos. It is not about us; it is about the whole market and an entire system. So, it is important that the system is fully carried along, and they should see it as a win-win.”

    He further promised: “we want, at the end of the day, for Lagosians to be the full beneficiaries of what the bill is about. We all want to see affordable and accessible light all around our state. We all have a common objective, which is to develop and improve the energy infrastructure of our state.” Hopefully, the cries of the Manufacturers Association Nigeria, (MAN), about the grievous effect of poor electricity supply would become a thing of past in a few years.

     President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who has hinted at the possibility of some multinationals returning to Nigeria surely has efficient power infrastructure in mind, to do the magic.

    With the Lagos Electricity Law in place, the state has joined Ondo, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Oyo, Edo and Kogi, to enact their own electricity laws. Nigerians are anxiously waiting for the benefits of the new law.

    We count on Sanwo Olu’s promise that the Law “will transform into economic benefits for citizens so that people can have a better security network in terms of making Lagos a true 21st Century economy and not being scared or worried about night or illumination in some parts of the city. We want to light up Lagos. We want our citizens to feel the benefit and effects of this legislation.”

  • 753 duplexes

    753 duplexes

    •We need transparency on culprit’s identity and how the units are allocated and proceeds used

    Few stories about corruption stun Nigerians. But the report that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has executed a forfeiture of 753 duplexes and other apartments came as a scandal of the first rank. Many Nigerian jaws dropped.

    The news has brought with it quite a few puzzles. The commission said it belonged to a top government operative who had been fired from office. Eyes and speculations pointed to former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele.

    This raised two issues.

    First, there was silence in the Emefiele camp. Neither his lawyers nor his publicists responded. This is curious because the EFCC characterisation fitted him, and it was in his interest and that of truth for him to clarify the situation. Not a few people believed he was the culprit. His silence is being calculated as guilt.

    But the EFCC complicated the story implying that it did not identify the culprit. Here is EFCC spokesman Dele Oyewale’s response:

    “The allegation of a cover-up of the identity of the promoters of the estate stands logic on the head in the sense that the proceedings for the forfeiture of the estate were in line with Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act, which is a civil proceeding that allows for action-in-rem rather than action-in-personam.

    “The latter allows legal actions against a property and not an individual, especially in a situation of an unclaimed property. This Act allows you to take up a forfeiture proceeding against a chattel who is not a juristic person. This is exactly what the commission did in respect of the estate. Individual in situations of unclaimed assets.”

    The cat had been let out of the bag. It was a legal and procedural remorse from the agency, but it had already imbued the public with the facts. It is regarded as a sort pf scandal within a scandal by a section of the public that the agency was hiding the facts in legalese, especially by arguing that since it is not a crime of one person, it did not merit public consumption. However, the matter was heard in court, and for that to happen, the judge must know the rigour and details of the investigation.

    Investigation now show that Emefiele was suspected to be the culprit and he acted through facades.

    The document showed, among other things, that he operated through other individuals and also companies.

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    For instance, the investigation showed that the former CBN chief connived with Ifeanyi Omeke who “ran several errands for him, which included purchase and perfection of title documents for

    several properties located in highbrow areas of Lagos and Abuja.”

    Investigators located the property on September 17, 2024 “with the assistance of a surveyor from the Abuja Geographical Information Systems, using search results and coordinate,” the document revealed.

    Three companies paid N2.2bn for the property “in criminal maneuvering of layering proceeds of illegal activities of Mr. Godwin Emefiele.”

    The Abuja property with 753 duplexes and other apartments are located in the Cadastral Zone area of the capital city.

    The story is a reflection of a corrupt routine in the plunder of the Nigerian patrimony. They install fronts, so as to conceal their larcenies.

    The recovery followed a ruling delivered on December 2, 2024, by Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the FCT High Court in Apo. But if this came to light, it is because many public officers have been able to conceal their acts. Blessed are those whose sins are covered. Emefiele’s apparently is not. The EFCC investigation did not limit the indictment to Abuja. Lagos State is also in the picture but that, perhaps, is also under investigation.

    There are still assumptions and questions. Are the 753 duplexes fruits of the former CBN’s cases presently under prosecution?

    They include procurement fraud, forgery of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s signature, and a few other charges. A fraud case involves $4.5bn and N2.8bn and the printing of N684.5m notes at the cost of N18.96bn.

    “The commission whilst investigating the alleged monumental fraud carried out by the immediate past Governor of the CBN and his cronies traced and discovered several properties reasonably suspected to have been acquired and or developed with proceeds of unlawful activities,” noted the EFCC.

    The report said the former CBN governor “negotiated kickbacks in return for allocation of foreign exchange to some companies who were in desperate need of foreign exchange for their lawful and legitimate businesses.”

    The revelation that it was originally meant for a “mass housing development” is curious. Is it a government programme appropriated for personal use? Again, if three companies paid N2.2bn to buy the property, what are their names? If the EFCC says it will not mention a person but a chattel, who are the corporate concerns?

    The 753 duplexes may be a fruit of corruption, but they are a boon to the country. If the EFCC describes it as the single largest corruption recovery, it cheers the heart that this corrupt find is not in Dubai, or the United Kingdom or the United States, or any of the shadowy communities outside the country in islands and archipelagoes that fascinate our official thieves. This is a find we can use.

    This is bigger than rice or beans acquired at the border by the Nigerian Customs. It is not a fleet of cars that they auction off. This is a thriving property which is doubly beneficial to many citizens. Though they are uncompleted for most part, the Federal Government can sell them to willing buyers and help with shelters for Nigerians.

     Two, the proceeds will be useful as resources for development.

    The EFCC has, in the past year, recovered billions of naira that have been ploughed into important projects like the student loans scheme. We can say, under Olanipekun Olukoyede, this has been a very fruitful war on filth. We urge him to continue, even if the commission has been dodgy on the identity of the thief. In due course, it will come to light from its own portal, though they have done it without admitting.

    But in allocating the homes, we need transparency. Nigerians should be told how each of the units is sold and for how much. Many will recourse to their math heads to ascertain how much the government raked in from this “venture.” We must make sure that this corruption find “pays.”

  • Friend, not fiend

    Friend, not fiend

    The trend of mowing down policemen must stop in the interest of the society

    The news report that not less than 229 police officers were gunned down within 22 months between January 2023 and October 2024 is frightening. It is a confirmation that so much has gone wrong with the soul of the society.

    One of the features of a state is that it has a handle on the levers of security. It was enough for policemen to be armed with batons in those days, and scoundrels would scamper. It is no longer so. Insurgents, bandits, terrorists and all manner of criminals now described as gunmen would take on policemen anywhere, anytime. Unfortunately, this is no longer restricted to any part of the country. The Boko Haram insurgents in the North East, bandits of the North West, agents of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of the South East, militants and oil thieves of the South South, ritualists and kidnappers in the South West have all made efforts to snatch the monopoly of violence from the state.

    How did the country get to this sorry pass, and what could be done? The Nigeria Police Force (NPF), being a civil force, is meant to protect the ordinary people, operate as professionally as possible. By doing so, and being armed, the NPF is meant to exert minimum violence in the course of performing its responsibility. However, in recent years, it has become the primary target of criminals who see police officers as the obstacles on their way to perpetrating evil in the land. Thus, in many parts of the country, criminals are known to have gone to police stations to gun down policemen on duty. They are known to have taken on men deployed to ensure security on the road, and safeguard lives and property, especially when we all are asleep at night and armed robbers or assassins choose to strike, using the cover of darkness.

    They deserve to be well treated by the state that they represent, and the general public for whom they work. Statistics showing that 118 were killed in 2023, and 111 in the first 10 months of 2024 is an indication that something should be done urgently to change the established order. This would include the quality and mode of training, use of technology, ramping up the number and funding of the force. Rather than the usual rancour between the force and the Police Service Commission over who should be in charge of recruitment, promotion and discipline, this time calls for all stakeholders to put heads together to fashion out new strategies and tactics to make the police force more effective and efficient.

    In this wise, we call on President Bola Tinubu, not only as the Commander-in-Chief and Chief Security Officer of the Federation, but also as Chairman of the Police Council to get personally involved in working out a way of making it more modern.

    It is good that so much is being voted for purchase of modern equipment for the Nigerian Armed Forces that has already been dragged outside their primary duty of warding off external aggression and securing the country’s territorial integrity; but unless the police force is equally equipped to regain its composure and command respect, the country would continue to be embroiled in insecurity, and many of the men in uniform would remain target of attacks by enemies of the state.

    While the force itself and many of those in authority remain opposed to establishing state police, the NPF relies so much on the sub nationals for its operations. To reduce the pressure on the men of the force, there is an urgent need to approve the establishment of state police, properly trained and armed. This would necessarily necessitate amending the constitution that makes provision for “a Nigeria Police Force” and as such precludes state forces. This, of course, is not new as we have pointed out in previous editorials, as we had even Native Authority Police all over the country in the First Republic.

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    We are not unaware that the integrity of the policemen has been compromised for some time. Some policemen have been caught receiving bribe from accused persons, carousing with women of easy virtue and even young ladies in detention. It is true that many have been disciplined when allegations against them are proved, but much more should be done to weed out the bad eggs. And, more importantly, there is the need to tighten the recruitment process and training scheme to keep out potential black sheep.

    As we make deliberate efforts to protect the public, we must ensure that those fighting to keep us safe are secured. The police force cannot rely on kinetic means of keeping out the bad elements; it needs to step up its engagement with the populace. It needs intelligence from the people in performing its functions. The slogan “police are your friends” should resonate more with the people who should begin to see them as friends indeed.

    In areas ravaged by terrorists, men of the Nigerian Armed Forces have realised the need to bond with the people if they are to succeed in their mission. The police authorities could borrow a leaf in their own interest and ours.

  • Recruit more

    Recruit more

    •Operating with inadequate Air Traffic Controllers is risky for the aviation sector

    Traffic controllers generally direct the flow of vehicles and machinery on roads and other work sites. They are indispensable, irrespective of the kind of transportation. Before the advent of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), for instance, vehicular traffic on Lagos roads was chaotic. Preventable accidents occurred, with attendant deaths and injuries just because there were inadequate traffic control personnel to enforce order. Not that LASTMA has completely eliminated road accidents; but the authority has been invaluable in reducing the number of accidents and also in terms of the sanity it has brought to bear on Lagos roads.

    If road traffic controllers are this invaluable, we can then better appreciate the worth of air traffic controllers (ATCs) whose primary concern is aviation safety. They direct aircraft efficiently to minimise delays. They manage the flow of aircraft into and out of the airport airspace, guide pilots during takeoff and landing, and monitor aircraft as they travel through the skies. In short, they contribute to the overall safety of the aviation system by effectively managing airspace, controlling traffic flow, and preventing conflicts on the airspace.

    It is against this backdrop that we view with serious concern the alarm raised by the airline owners under the aegis of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), to the effect that our airports are operating without the requisite number of ATCs. This is their area of operation and we commend their speaking out on the issue. 

    President of the association, Alhaji Abdulmumeen Yunusa Sarina, made this disclosure in Kano during the 53rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers’ Association (NATCA), with the theme, “Sustainability of the Renewed Hope Agenda in Aviation: The Imperative of Manpower Development and Efficient Air Navigation Services.”

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    The AON president, who is also president of Azman Group, chaired the AGM. He is unhappy with the inadequate number of ATCs even as he called for migration into satellite-based navigation to reduce flight delays.

    “Aside from adequate and quality training of Air Traffic Controllers, there is also the issue of having them in sufficient numbers to man the various Air Traffic Installations around the country.”

    It is this acute shortage of qualified ATCs that has prompted the recall of some retired traffic controllers to fill the gap. Not only that, those on duty are overstretched, as they work longer than they normally should. These long hours with irregular shifts could impair their performance.

    Not only that, as Alhaji Sarina noted, they also posed significant threat to safety in the aviation sector. Human beings would always be human beings. They cannot work without adequate rest. And when they do, there would always be consequences. For the aviation sector, these consequences could be dire. 

    Moreover, we must be concerned about these inadequate ATCs, especially with proven statistics that about 50 per cent of accidents in the aviation sector is attributable to human error. Hear Alhaji Sarina: “Human factors in aviation have been identified as being responsible for about 50% of major aircraft accidents. This can be as a result of aviation personnel being subjected to adverse physical and psychological working conditions that can eventually lead to serious problems.”

    We therefore join the AON boss in appealing to the Management of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to employ more ATCs to address the acute shortage.

    If, as the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, said, the ATCs are the “unsung heroes” in the aviation industry, we should treat them more deservedly by not overworking them.

    We seize this opportunity to urge the new executives of NATCA to keep the issue on the front-burner of their agitations with the airport authorities. It is in the interest of their members, the larger aviation sector and the air passengers, that we have enough of them to man our airports. We do not have to wait for air mishaps before doing the rightful.

  • Dangerous experiment

    Dangerous experiment

    •Herbalist who tried ‘bullet-proof’ charm on himself and sustained serious injuries is nowhere to be found

    Where is Ismail Usman? He is the “herbalist” who, according to the police, “in a misguided attempt to test the effectiveness of a self-made ‘bulletproof’ charm… shot himself in the stomach with a shotgun.”  The police said “the charm failed to protect him, resulting in life-threatening injuries.”   The alarming incident happened on November 23, in Kuchibuyi, a community in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    Usman was taken to Kubwa General Hospital for emergency treatment, and later transferred to Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital for further care. The police found the “homemade gun” he had used in his experiment and “an array of charms” in his home.  FCT police spokesperson Josephine Adeh said in a statement that he would face charges for unlawful possession of firearms and attempted suicide, both punishable offences under section 231 of the penal code.

    However, he was nowhere to be found when a group tried to locate him in order to “provide humanitarian assistance and use his case for public education and enlightenment.” Strangely, the police had no information regarding his whereabouts, according to the group known as the Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AfAW). The group said in a statement: “Usman was not at the Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital as speculated. Usman was referred to the hospital but did not go there. The police officer said they were told that Usman had returned to Katsina and could no longer be contacted. That the police had no information about his current location. They could no longer trace him.”

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     The police have a lot of explaining to do. The group said towards carrying out its mission it had contacted the FCT Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, who referred them to the FCT police public relations officer, who referred them to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Byazin, the division where the case happened.

    There have been several reports of people being seriously wounded or killed after testing so-called bullet-proof charms.  For instance, such an incident occurred in Onumu community, in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State, in August.  The police said one Alex Ezekiel went to a native doctor for a “bulletproof” charm. The native doctor had tried to test the efficacy of the charm by shooting him with a gun. The charm failed and he “sustained fatal injuries.” The police said the native doctor would be prosecuted after the investigation had been concluded.

    In a striking reversal of that incident, some years ago, a traditional healer in Imo State, Chinaka Adoezuwe, was killed after he instructed one of his clients to shoot him to prove the efficacy of the “bulletproof” charm he wore around his neck.

    Another shocking incident two years ago involved two children in Kwara State who were sons of a hunter. The police said the boys believed they had “fortified themselves” with a protective charm. One of them, Abubakar, then shot at his younger brother Yusuf, 12, using their father’s Dane gun. Yusuf was said to have died on the spot.

    It is curious that “bullet-proof” charms remain popular in Nigeria despite reports of fatal tests. The apparent disappearance of Usman, the herbalist at the centre of the latest case, does not help matters. The police should launch a manhunt for him and ensure that he is not only apprehended but also prosecuted. This will send a strong signal that experiments such as the one he performed are unlawful and punishable.

    Importantly, traditional medicine practitioners in the country should focus on life-saving therapies, not conduct life-threatening experiments. The FCT police boss had described Usman’s experiment as “reckless behaviour,” adding, “We strongly advise the community to avoid such dangerous practices.” Law enforcement will better drive the point home. 

  • Life is better

    Life is better

    •We welcome National Assembly’s jail term for drug offenders

    Drug trafficking and addiction are social ills that have changed most parts of the world in the last century. They seem to have worsened over the years, and with them the social effects on the world, as the most affected are the youth population that are either harmed or killed by addictions, thereby becoming less cognitively potent and less economically productive.

    Drug addiction is actually a chronic disease that instinctively propels individuals to long for a compulsive urge to take certain harmful substances that ultimately interfere with their sense of reasoning and even physical appearances. Sadly, drug business is a multi-trillion global business that has impacted global populations.

    Drug trafficking has always been fought by different countries in different ways. Some countries, especially in Asia and the Middle East prescribe the death penalty for offenders. Sadly, this capital punishment has not deterred many despite the grim consequences.

    In Nigeria, the most notorious state punishment for drug trafficking happened during the former General Muhammadu Buhari’s military administration in 1984, with the decree of death penalty for drug traffickers that

    was implemented retroactively and claimed the lives of three convicted traffickers. Despite global outrage against the decree, the three individuals were executed.

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    However, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) was later established via Decree 48 of 1989 and charged with eliminating the growing, processing, manufacturing, selling, exporting, and trafficking of hard drugs in Nigeria. Since then, the agency has tried over the decades to fight the scourge of drug abuse but the dangers of the menace still persist. The youth of Nigeria have been very dubiously creative in the ways they conceal, traffic, transfer and consume drugs of varied nature. At some point tramadol importation was an issue. There are reported cases of metachalphine, Methamphetamine nicknamed by the Igbo youths as ‘Nkpuru Mmiri’ which translates to ‘seed of water’. In the West and North of Nigeria, addiction to tramadol and even certain brands of cough syrup is widespread.

    It is against this background that we welcome the National Assembly’s decision to amend the NDLEA Act prescribing death penalty for drug traffickers or abusers to life imprisonment.

    We commend the efforts of the law makers as we equally agree that the death penalty is not a viable solution to drug trafficking or consumption. There was a time in the country when armed robbers were executed but it has not stopped robberies. As a matter of fact, the cases have worsened, as there are more social ills like kidnapping and banditry now. As they say, you can’t cure headache by cutting off the head.

    We urge the law makers to equally look into the laws that can prevent such indulgences rather than focusing on punishment. We feel that a good oversight function by the national and state assemblies would compel ministries and agencies to do their work in ways that the young people who form the majority of the drug trafficking and addiction rings can be educated and gainfully employed, so that drug taking or trafficking would no longer be an option.

    Most of the drug traffickers are often people that the systemic failure had impacted negatively, making them to seek the easier, even if more deadly options of trafficking in drugs.

    We equally believe that more education and enlightenment about the dangers of drugs can make the difference. Most young people are so ignorant about the effects of drug consumption. As the good book says,”My people perish for lack of knowledge”.

    A better focus on education and social forms of engaging the youths in other productive ventures can save the situation. 

  • New youth corps policy

    New youth corps policy

    •Decision to remove restrictions on organisations that could engage services of young graduates is appropriate

     The adjustment of the policy limiting the posting of youth corps members to select private and public sector organisations is welcome. Under the old order, the corps members could only be posted to four economic sectors, that is, education, health, infrastructure and agriculture. Most of the young men and women who were having their first opportunity at the workplace are routinely posted to secondary schools to teach. Thus, it is common to find engineers, technologists and lawyers sent to teach without previously acquiring the needed skills to impart knowledge.

    Besides, many corps members are known to roam organisations seeking absorption for the compulsory one-year service. This is, indeed, a waste of manpower and contradicts the objectives of the five-decade-old scheme.

    The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Scheme was introduced by the General Yakubu Gowon administration to aid unity and promote social interaction among the younger generation of Nigerians.

    Thus, graduates from Zamfara in the North could be posted to Bayelsa in the South South. Even this objective is being wantonly breached by the young ones, in collusion with officials of the scheme, especially in the wake of insecurity in parts of the country.

     It was also introduced to equip the young graduates with necessary experience for the workplace, but when they are restricted, they continue with their theoretical knowledge only.

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    We have argued in the past that preparation of students for the workplace should start at school. There is an urgent need to incorporate more practical exposure to theoretical knowledge, especially in professional courses. When they are so exposed, many of them would already know where to go for service and after service, based on their performance. But, as it is today, they are usually rejected by firms for the short industrial attachment. They therefore end up only receiving letters of participation not backed by needed experience, and even in some cases, the letters are forged. Ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) should absorb as many of the professionals posted to them for the one year scheme. It is all in the interest of the nation.

    However, as the Minister of Youth Development, Mr. Ayodele Olawande, pointed out on the new policy, the essence of the adjustment is to ensure that the young graduates are posted to organisations in the public or private sector that are relevant to their courses of study. He said, “I now direct as follows: lifting of all restrictions.” He said the corps members could now be posted to “select banks and other private sector organisations, including those operating in oil and gas, to commence with Lagos and Abuja.”

    We wonder why states like Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Delta where major oil companies operate, and commercial states like Anambra, Kano and Kaduna are excluded. We hope the government would look into this as soon as possible.

    We hope too that this directive would not apply only to federal MDAs, as states are expected to be major beneficiaries of the scheme. The young men and women came out of the states and would eventually return there. Therefore, all tiers of government should work together to get the scheme repositioned. Managers of the scheme should develop a method by which the deployed participants are monitored towards ensuring that they are properly engaged, not merely marking attendance in their places of primary assignment. This had been the lot of many posted to the public sector in the past.

    Nigeria that had been a net exporter of young talents over the years through the Technical Aid Corps, and had received applause from other African countries, cannot fail to successfully review the youth corps scheme now to align with her development plans.

    There is the need for a wholesale review of the NYSC scheme. Posting of participants is only one of the things calling for change. All leaders, including those in the executive and legislative arms of government should be involved, and those who teach in the tertiary institutions must be brought on board in the process.

  • States win dice 

    States win dice 

    • Supreme Court ruling on lottery is a score for federalism

    The issue of lottery and its dynamics has been an ache in the federation. It is seen as a very important revenue stream for either the centre or the states. The Supreme Court put paid to the controversy recently when, by a majority, it ruled that states are now the mainstay of the law.

    It ruled that the Federal Government should take its hands off lottery, and that states should now superintend it. This gives the legislative powers to state houses of assembly rather than the National Assembly.

    What it means is that revenues that accrued to the centre since the law was put in place in 2005 will now go to the states. However, the apex court ruled that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) falls within the purview of the National Assembly.

    The Supreme Court took care to look at the residual list, exclusive list and concurrent list. The exclusive list, which stands under the canopy of the federal law, was dismissed as a controller of the lottery, or, as it described it, “a game of chance.”

    Quoting section 4(4)(a) and (b), the court said the concurrent philosophy does not hold because the national legislature and the state legislature cannot claim it at the same time. It is therefore the residual law, which prioritises the states, that prevails.

    Referring to section four of the constitution, the apex court stated that states should now take their powers that have been taken from them for decades.

    The judge also declared that sections 17, 18, 19 20, and 21 of the National Lottery Act 2005 made by the National Assembly are inconsistent with the Constitution, adding that the National Lottery Act is inconsistent with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

    Many see this not only as justice for the states, but as justice for revenue allocation and earning. More importantly, it is seen as a score for federalism.

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    Many states welcomed this, especially Lagos State, which has been at the vanguard for years, for fiscal equity. The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, described the judgment as “a historic victory for the rule of law, federalism, and the constitutional rights of states.”

    This may not be welcomed by all states as it will take away such allocation to states where lottery does not exist for pious considerations, especially in parts of the north. But it means that a state is now in a position not to accept forbidden money. It will make states focus on their potential for wealth rather than rely on the perspirations of others.

    We see this law as part of some moves to pursue true federalism. One of such moves was the creation of local government autonomy. That move means that state governments and local governments may no longer run joint accounts. This has been the practice since the beginning of this republic and it oppressed the local government.

    State governors took advantage to spend the local government share with impunity and reckless arrogance. The law, though now in place, is difficult to execute and it may take time and courage by progressive outliers to challenge the supremacy of the governors. The governors, for instance, handpicked the local government chairmen in a sweep of elections, and that means they control the purse strings through this lackey system.

    The tax bill that has attracted quite some criticism is also an attempt to make states account for their own resources. Some critics believe it will impoverish their region, that is the north, although the contents only call for resourcefulness and accountability.

    We expect the lottery ruling by the top court to help in this slow, but necessary journey to true federalism.

  • Simon Ekpa

    Simon Ekpa

    • In the net, at last, in Finland

    Although inexplicably belated, the arrest of a prominent agitator for the secession of the South-East of Nigeria from the country and self-styled prime minister of the government of Biafra in exile, Simon Ekpa, is long overdue and welcome. That he was able to openly perpetrate what amounts to terrorist acts against Nigeria by inciting violence in a part of the country through social media from his base in Finland, with no legal consequences for so long, is an indictment both of the Nigerian and Finnish authorities. While successive administrations in Nigeria had not demonstrated sufficient resolve to bring Ekpa and his accomplices to book despite the destructive impact of their activities on the country, Finland had no just cause to allow its citizen of Nigerian parentage to advocate violence and endanger the stability and cohesion of a country with which she is supposed to enjoy cordial diplomatic relations.

    Ekpa’s incendiary rhetoric and direct action to instigate violence in the South-East of Nigeria in the guise of agitating for the independence of the region was carried out with brazen impunity on social media. In particular, his directive to residents of the five states in the region to shun all socio-economic activities and engage in what was described as a ‘sit at home’ action on Mondays, had destructive consequences for the economy of the region. Although this campaign was initially undertaken purportedly to secure the release from detention by the Federal Government of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the separatist group, the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Ekpa and his collaborators continued with their criminal action even after IPOB had dissociated itself from them. Appeals from various individuals and groups in the South-East, including Kanu himself that the ‘sit at home’ action should cease were contemptuously defied by Ekpa who only became more belligerent and unbending.

    The ‘sit at home’ directive was enforced by those described as ‘unknown gunmen’ and scores of people who tried to go about their lawful businesses on such days were harassed and intimidated, with several lives lost. Not only could children not attend schools on Mondays, those who had critical public examinations to write were denied the opportunity to do so, not minding the negative implications for the educational development of the region. The disruption of economic activities in a region known for vibrant commerce led to the collapse of a large number of businesses and revenue losses estimated as running into trillions of Naira.

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    It is thus not surprising that Ekpa’s arrest elicited little or no sympathy from the South-East region that he was purportedly fighting for. For example, a faction of the Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, in a statement by its secretary-general, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, was optimistic that his arrest would result in an end to activities that had destabilised the South-East region for years. Decrying Ekpa’s alleged plan to declare a sovereign Biafran nation on December 2, 2024, the group noted that “His intentions could have sparked uncontrollable civil unrest and perhaps culminated in another Biafran war, a prospect that the Igbo people have conclusively rejected and remain unprepared to engage in”.

    Reportedly born in the 1980s over a decade after Nigeria’s tragic civil war between 1967 and 1970, Ekpa did not witness the massive destruction of lives and property occasioned by that conflict, not only in the South-East but in other parts of Nigeria. While an individual or group has the right to canvass for independence of any part of the country, such advocacy must be carried out peacefully without infringing the rights of others and violating the constitution.

    Although there is reportedly no extradition treaty between Nigeria and Finland, the authorities of both countries have a responsibility to ensure that the case against Ekpa and his accomplices is diligently prosecuted and justice done, to deter those who may seek to follow a similar pattern of behaviour in future. We believe that Finland, for instance, will be uncomfortable if criminal elements utilise Nigerian territory to perpetrate destabilising acts against that country.

    However, in addition to bringing to book advocates of separation that seek to violently break up the country, the Nigerian authorities should also take concrete steps to address perceived marginalisation and other feelings of disaffection that fuel such agitations.