The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Menace of child labour

    Menace of child labour

    •Governments at all levels in the country must rise to stem the tide

    Nothing demonstrates how poignantly the world impoverishes itself and endangers her future than the recent revelation by the United Nations (UN) International Labour Organisation (ILO) that there are an estimated 168 million child labourers worldwide. In a statement to commemorate the ‘2015 World Day Against Child Labour’, the ILO explained that these children are aged between five and 14 globally and work in hazardous, low-paying and undignified conditions inimical to their health.

    Although there is a seeming ray of optimism in the ILO’s claim that the number of child labourers decreased by approximately one-third since 2000, the organisation implies that the situation remains desperate and cannot be handled with complacency. According to the ILO, Asia and the pacific region still have the largest total number of child labourers numbering about 78 million, sub-Saharan Africa continues to record the highest number of child labourers relative to population with a figure of 59 million i.e. 21 per cent of this disadvantaged population.

    In the words of the ILO, “As things stand the aspirations of many parents for their children, and of children themselves, for a decent education, will remain unfulfilled dreams. Many girls and boys have no chance to attend school. Some try to combine school and work, but all too often must drop out of school even before the age of employment and become child labourers”. This unsavoury situation effectively jeopardises the future productivity, usefulness, self-esteem and prosperity of such children. It is the world that becomes the ultimate victim for this, bearing such consequences as destructive social vices on the part of the disoriented youth, including premature pregnancies, high abortion levels, and incidences of Acquired Immunity Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) or dysfunctional acts of violence.

    It is noteworthy that the United States (US) Department of Labour in its 2010 report claimed that Nigeria was then witnessing one of the worst forms of child labour. The agency pointed out that the situation was worse in agriculture and rural areas where children worked for long hours and for a meagre pay with their families. There is no doubt that the conditions in Nigeria have worsened considerably since then. The quality of governance has deteriorated badly. Corruption in particular has grown to unprecedented levels with corresponding decline in the diverse spheres including education, health care and job opportunities.

    Indeed, Nigeria is reputed to have one of the highest rates of school age drop- outs in West Africa. It is not surprising that in most of our major cities, thousands of under-aged children who should be in school engage in street trading or serve as domestic servants while others are barely literate apprentices to mechanics, vulcanisers, carpenters, panel beaters and other menial workers.

    This dismal situation in Nigeria has unquestionably been alarmingly compounded by the Boko Haram insurgency which for the last five years disrupted security of lives and property in large swathes of Northern Nigeria. A thorough study is certainly needed to accurately assess the implication of the brutal campaign against western education in the region by the insurgents for youth education and child labour.

    It is for these reasons that the change, which Nigerians emphatically voted for in the last general elections are quickly made to begin to bear fruit. This is particularly for the future of our much abused children. They must be provided with functional, affordable and qualitative education, efficient and effective health care and liveable, decent communities. Their parents must be provided jobs that can enable them meet their obligations to their wards. These call for urgent, creative and purposeful actions in diverse directions by the new administrations at various levels. It is only when these conditions are met and more clement socio-economic conditions created that the country’s extant laws against child labour can be more realistically enforced.

  • That NASS ‘red card’

    That NASS ‘red card’

    SIR: Nigerians overwhelmingly voted for President Muhammadu Buhari largely because of his anti-corruption stance and credentials as a strict disciplinarian. His emergence as the president was meant to signal an end to impunity. In fact, many Nigerians believed that the president will take decisive steps in restoring the dignity and credibility of all arms of government as well as institutions of state. More so, one expected a president who prioritize ‘the fight against corruption’ to be interested in everything concerning the new Nigeria project without reservations. It is against this backdrop that many expected the president to be interested in politics of the National Assembly.

    However, to the consternation of those in the school of thought, the president announced that he was not interested in the leadership of the National Assembly. He said; “I am prepared to work with any leaders that the House or Senate selects. It doesn’t matter who the person is or where he or she is from”.

    Lest we forget, the National Assembly is key to the success of any administration as many policies of the government must filter through it. Therefore, the leadership of the National Assembly is a key determinant factor of government’s pace and the kind of government policies that will see the light the day. The credentials of those to lead the National Assembly ought to have been a great concern of the president, especially if the fight against corruption must succeed.

    The loophole created for the administration by the president himself, through the said declaration was capitalized upon by vultures and hawks within and outside the president’s party. This resulted in the controversial emergence of Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara as Senate President and Speaker House of Representatives respectively against the wish of their party (APC).

    The presidency has since announced the president’s readiness to work with the new leadership of the National Assembly. Whether this declaration is grudgingly made is another issue. But news filtering from the presidency has it that, the president is deeply worried by the development in the National Assembly. If this information is anything to go by, why is the president worried? He said he was ready to work with any leaders that the House or Senate selects. Today, ‘any leaders’ have emerged; Bukola Saraki as Senate President and Yakubu Dogara as Speaker. Why is the president afraid? Or is it that the duo did not fit into his description of ‘any leaders’?

    My take is that the refusal by the president to be interested in the politics of the leadership of the National Assembly is costly mistake that has left him (President) with a red face. This opinion is expressed not oblivious of the fact that the constitution provides for separation of powers. But that does not stop the president from ensuring that the leadership of the National Assembly is comprised of people with clean credentials. I believe the President must have learnt new lessons from this. But for standing aloof and masquerading as Pontius Pilate, the president deserves a red card.

     

    • Hundu Saaku Anthony

  • Ports injustice

    •An NPA order allows a firm, INTELS, to profit from impunity at our ports

    The concept of fairness has always been central to the free enterprise system. But the Nigerian ports have waxed astir with a case of palpable unfairness suggestive of legitimised monopoly. This is in the context of a recent directive purportedly handed by the Jonathan administration in its dying days.

    According to the directive, the only port concessionaire in the country known as INTELS has been given exclusive rights to handle all vessels with cargoes of oil and gas in its ports in Warri, Onne and Calabar. This implies a monopolistic privilege.

    The mysterious order emanated apparently from the desk of the top brass of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) at the behest of the former minister of transport under the Goodluck Jonathan administration. Why should such an order go out of the portals of a minister in a democratic system dedicated to the rule of law, due process and the principle of equality?

    The activities of INTELS have generated resentment among port operators in the aftermath of the 2006 ports reforms undertaken under the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration. INTELS alleged monopolistic practices within the oil and gas domain were a part of the reasons for the reforms. The idea was to make the ports free for every vessel or company bringing goods to our shores.

    The reforms were sequel to a committee set up by the Obasanjo administration in the interest of free enterprise. The committee was headed by Dr. A.S.P. Sekibo. When it finished its work, the committee’s recommendations were unambiguous. It asked the NPA to “ensure that cargo owners are free to patronise any truck of their choice for the freight of cargo discharged in the Oil and Gas Free Zone,” emphasising that “importers of oil and gas cargo should be free to choose their ports of preference.”

    Again, the government has an ongoing agreement with NPA and the Bureau of Public Enterprises designed to create an atmosphere of trust and collegial peace. The contract, in article 18.2, stated that “no change, amendment, or modification of this agreement shall be valid or binding upon parties hereto unless such change, amendment or modification shall be in writing and duly executed by the parties hereto.”

    The INTELS monopoly is taking place without any tweaking of the contract based on any meetings or consultation. Barely two years after the 2006 port reforms, the Minister of Transportation, Prince John Okechukwu Emeka, released a directive similar to the one recently unleashed by the Jonathan administration.  But the Yar’Adua administration stepped in and restored the rule of law. The former president responded to a flurry of petitions from INTELS’ fellow port operators.

    The ports reforms constituted one of the legacies of the Obasanjo tenure, and it is worthy of emulation in compliance with best practices around the world. For the Jonathan administration to have revived this act of lawlessness only underlined some of the capital wrongs of his era.

    Oil and gas forms a major plank of the nation’s imports, and for just one company to corral it as though the industry exists for its own profiting is the sort of impunity that this nation should not accept. It runs against every tenet that justice inspires in commerce. Indeed, every port operator does not run the ports for charity. They pay dues to the federal purse, and it will asphyxiate some and invigorate others. That accounted for the port reforms. INTELS is the metaphor of this impunity.

    The concept of equality of ports and port operators opens the system to efficiency and choice. Vessel owners and cargo owners will pick ports that work best for them, not only in efficiency but also in reaching their ultimate consumers or customers. What if a port in Warri is forced to handle cargoes intended for Lagos customers? The cost of carrying the goods to Lagos will cost the business in time and money.  It negates simple business sense.

    The Buhari administration will do well to reverse the order.

    “The ports reforms constituted one of the legacies of the Obasanjo tenure, and it is worthy of emulation in compliance with best practices around the world. For the Jonathan administration to have revived this act of lawlessness only underlined some of the capital wrongs of his era. The Buhari administration will do well to reverse the order”.

     

  • Making of a gangland

    Making of a gangland

    • Are street gangs getting the better of Lagos city?

    If the manner of his killing was most gruesome, the brazenness of the gang suggested a total absence of government. Thirty-year-old Sodiq Shittu was ambushed by a neighbourhood gang on Lawani Street in Mushin, a suburb of Lagos, last Friday. It was during the daylight, about 4.00 on the evening. Apparently monitoring him, the mob accosted Sodiq, brought him down; someone cracked his skull with a hammer and his eyes were gouged out. Then one of the hoodlums hefted a large stone and smashed his head with it. They were about to set the body ablaze when Sodiq’s friends and some residents managed to chase them away.

    In the last one decade or so, violent neighbourhood gangs have continued to blossom in some areas of Lagos State and the more the authorities attempt to stamp them out, the more they seem to fester and grow in scale and intensity.

    The areas of the state most notorious include Mushin, Fadeyi, Idioro Somolu-Bariga, Mafoluku, Isale-Eko and Ajah. A menace that used to be restricted within the hot zones of Mushin and Idioro has spread to numerous other impoverished, high-density neighbourhoods in Lagos. In fact, as gangs get away with their nefarious activities and their members grow in notoriety and ill-gotten means, they become role models and influencers of neighbourhood kids.

    As some gang members become ‘influential’ among some government and security circles, the evil tends to duplicate itself and spread like virus to other communities. A gang is not worth its name if it is not killing and maiming as frequently as it can get away with. And the more gruesome its mode of attacks the better its fearsome reputation; aren’t fear and dreadful terror the mainstay of mob gangs?

    Violent mobs will also express themselves the only way they know thus will always spoil for fights with other gangs in sight. Supremacy tussle is therefore the order of the day in areas that are gang-infested. Each fight comes with the collateral damages of innocent residents hurt and vehicles and even houses burnt. Such stories abound in these past few years.

    It is worthy of note that between attacks and counter-attacks; reprisals and even more vicious reprisals, many more groups are born. According to reports, in the early days, the gangs were subterranean as well as surreptitious in their operations but in recent years, they would strike anytime they choose and their weapons are sometimes more sophisticated than the law enforcement agencies’.

    They have become so rampant and brazen that hardly any week passes without an incident of attack in one part of Lagos or the other. In Sodiq’s street alone, that was the third gang attack and killings since March.

    The police in Lagos is obviously overwhelmed. Being undermanned, underequipped and untrained for this new challenge, they merely carry on in their old, routine manner. When arrests are made on some occasions, the gang members are often ‘bailed’ or sprung. They return to the community more emboldened and more vicious.

    Neighbourhood gangs are primarily the evil babies of the state government. So, only the state can deal with the menace and the new government must resolve to do so now.

    Governor Akinwunmi Ambode seeming to understand the challenge, had upon being sworn in, ordered that all unauthorised arms in the state be turned in. It is a commonly known fact that politicians often blamed for the festering of these gangs, may have armed many more of these hoodlums during the last election.

    Gov. Ambode must determine to eliminate these murderous gangs for good before they make the state an uninhabitable jungle. Some of the few measures to be taken quickly include a review of laws on arms ownership, cultism, hard drugs peddling and use. In the short run, a special task force on gangs and tribunal for expedited trial of suspects may be considered.

    In the long run, local council authorities must be made to work better across the state so that they would afford the people more economic and social well-being, after all a gang is merely a violent expression of some sort of poverty.

    ‘Gov. Ambode must determine to eliminate these murderous gangs for good before they make the state an uninhabitable jungle. Some of the few measures to be taken quickly include a review of laws on arms ownership, cultism, hard drugs peddling and use. In the short run, a special task force on gangs and tribunal for expedited trial of suspects may be considered’

     

     

  • New government and PIB

    New government and PIB

    •The new National Assembly should take a fresh and comprehensive look at the bill

    The tales woven around the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) during the tenure of the last legislative assembly would fill a sizeable basket. It was most times full of fury, but empty in delivery. At the end of the tenure of the 7th National Assembly, what we had was an inchoate legislation, as only the House of Representatives passed a version of the many variants of the bill.

    Now that we have a new government, with a fresh legislative mandate, it will be their responsibility to sort through the labyrinth, and work to enact into law; a PIB that would take care of the many promises of the bill, as originally conceived. Such a bill should also stem any restiveness in the Niger Delta.

    The PIB as conceived was meant to bring international best practices to the management of the petroleum industry sector. A peep into the fundamental objectives of the Bill, shows so many advantages that it is difficult to understand why the many controversies among the stakeholders. In concept, the PIB was designed to vest the oil and gas resources in the sovereign state of Nigeria, establish a transparent procedure for the issuance of licences, leases and permits. It was also designed to infuse good governance, transparency, development of Nigerian content, sustainable development and community relations.

    Intriguingly, while nearly all the stakeholders are in support of the Bill, there is a fundamental disagreement as to what it should contain. In the past dispensation, it was a common tale that the main challenger of the PIB in its virgin format, was the International Oil Companies (IOCs), that were alleged to have forsworn that the bill would never be passed. At home, there were also some lobbyists who felt that the PIB was giving too much to the oil-bearing communities, at the expense of the wellbeing of the national financial coffers.

    Indeed, even among the oil-bearing zones of the country, there is disagreement as to who should be the recipient of the money that was due to be paid by the oil companies from their profit. In contention were those in favour of state government as beneficiaries, while others preferred the oil-bearing communities directly suffering the impact of the oil despoliation. There was also the issue of what percentage of the profit should go to the coffers of the state or communities, including what should accrue to the communities, whose belly the pipelines passed.

    The PIB was also envisaged as an opportunity to end the environmental degradation of the Niger Delta. Also, there were provisions for the criminalisation of the pipeline vandalism, which should be very urgent in the context of the challenges facing the nation presently. In pushing for transparency, the National Oil Companies, which will have separate policy, regulation and commercial divisions, were to be guided by the provisions of the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Act, 2007.

    So, it is strange that despite the enormous gains touted by the stakeholders to accrue from the PIB, politics was allowed to frustrate the passage of the bill by the 7th National Assembly. Now that a new government has been installed, it is hoped that the authentic PIB will be represented by the new government for passage. In other not to fall into the hands of those who opposed the bill previously, we urge the Buhari government to engage in wide consultations before making a move. We are also hopeful that the 8th National Assembly will give the bill the deserved attention, in the overall interest of the petroleum sector and the wellbeing of majority of Nigerians.

    ‘So, it is strange that despite the enormous gains touted by the stakeholders to accrue from the PIB, politics was allowed to frustrate the passage of the bill by the 7th National Assembly. Now that a new government has been installed, it is hoped that the authentic PIB will be represented by the new government for passage’

     

  • Army vs. Amnesty

    Army vs. Amnesty

    The true test of any democracy is its ability to regulate itself when situations so demand. It appears that Nigeria has arrived at this pass following the recent release of an Amnesty International (AI) report alleging wide-ranging perpetration of war crimes by the Nigerian military in its anti-insurgency operations against the militant Boko Haram movement.

    In a 133-page report titled Stars on Their Shoulders, Blood on Their Hands: War Crimes Committed by the Nigerian Military, the human rights body claims that over 1,200 people have been extra-judicially executed by soldiers or allied vigilante groups since February 2012. It also states that at least 20,000 people, mainly boys and young men, have been arbitrarily arrested and detained in inhuman conditions, resulting in at least 7,000 deaths. The anti-insurgency campaign, AI alleges, has been distinguished by “countless acts of torture” and enforced disappearances.

    Amnesty says its investigations took place between 2013 and 2015, and involved interviews with officers and men of the military, alleged victims and witnesses of military brutality, and visits to mortuaries where the corpses of deceased detainees were kept. It has named five senior officers of the Nigerian military whom it believes should be probed, and has forwarded its findings to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for further action.

    Nigeria’s military authorities have denounced the report, accusing AI of racism and bad faith. Its spokesmen have said that military operations have always been conducted with a view to minimising civilian casualties, and have pointed out that collateral damage is especially likely given the non-conventional nature of the conflict and the tactics of Boko Haram.

    These accusations are deeply troubling. Whether they are true or not, they imply the persistence of a disconcerting impunity and lack of accountability that has dogged the military in places like the Niger Delta and Plateau State. Prior to its six-week push in February 2015, the military campaign against Boko Haram was troubled by internal disciplinary issues which have seen dozens of court-martials and dismissals. Given the seriousness of the allegations, it is imperative that they be investigated thoroughly, completely and comprehensively.

    The allegations revolve around fundamental human rights issues which cannot be ignored by any nation that is genuinely interested in the welfare of its citizens. Long before local and international advocacy groups took notice, indigenes of north-east Nigeria were complaining about the military’s heavy-handedness, especially the way in which it demolished homes and carried out arbitrary arrests and detentions while searching for suspected militants. Such complaints deserve to be looked into on their own merit.

    There is also the fact that a more nuanced approach to the anti-insurgency campaign is likely to facilitate its lasting resolution. Repressive tactics by the military ultimately serve to help Boko Haram by attracting more people to their cause. The young men of the north-east must never be put in a situation where they feel that they have to choose between being maltreated by the military and fighting for Boko Haram.

    Rather than impugn the integrity of organisations like AI, Human Rights Watch and local human rights groups, the military would do well to cooperate in the investigation of these accusations. It is difficult to see what these organisations hope to gain from making false accusations against our military which, for all its faults, has been widely acknowledged for superlative peace-keeping performances around the world.

    Fortunately, the Buhari administration has reacted to the Amnesty report with a better attitude than its predecessor and has promised to look into it. Nothing less than the setting up of a high-powered investigative panel will suffice. It must be made up of distinguished citizens with backgrounds in the military, the judiciary and civil society, and must get to the truth of the matter, regardless of who is exposed.

     

  • Blues from JP Morgan

    • Is it trying to stampede the Buhari government?

    Last week, JP Morgan, the United States lender, announced plans to eject Nigeria from its Government Bond Index for Emerging Markets by the end of the year. The reason it gave was that Nigeria needed to restore liquidity to currency markets in a way that allows foreign investors tracking the benchmark to transact with minimal hurdles. It claimed to have given Nigeria till this month to increase liquidity in its currency markets or face ejection from the bond index. This time, however, it claims it is extending the deadline by another six months ostensibly to enable the new administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to have a firm handle on things.

    For an economy that was until recently the toast of international rating agencies, this latest development would merely add to the string of woes which attenuated the dip in global oil prices. The auguries, would ordinarily seem far from good: aside forcing the investors tracking it to sell Nigerian bonds from their portfolios potentially resulting in significant capital outflows, the development, it is feared, would raise borrowing costs for the country already suffering from a sharp drop in revenue.

    By the way, JPMorgan only added Nigeria to the widely followed index in 2012, the second African country after South Africa to be included. It added Nigeria’s 2014, 2019, 2022 and 2024 bonds.

    Should the development stoke panic in the local economy? We clearly do not think so. At best, it is merely a wake-up call. Yes, Nigeria, an emerging economy at this time and a fringe player in the global financial markets –stands to gain from retaining the bank’s listing as against being out.

    With due respect to JP Morgan however, the need to restore liquidity to the currency market, being canvassed as basis for ejecting the country from the bond typically betrays an obsession by international agencies with symptoms rather than the underlying disease. But even more asinine is what appears to be a move to stampede the new Buhari administration and the financial authorities into precipitate actions.

    Why extend the deadline by six months if we may ask? Why not 12 or even 24 months if the idea is to give the administration a breather? More than JP Morgan would perhaps care to appreciate, Nigerians understand the source of the current crisis. They recognise that the issue at hand requires more than the tinkering with the currency markets, which is akin to seeking treatment for ringworm while leaving a more malignant leprosy unattended to.

    Again, we dare to ask: what was the main catalyst in 2012 when the bank added Nigeria to the index, which is missing now? Except for the single factor of oil prices which held high and steady then, we cannot find any difference. So, what happens in the unlikely event of oil prices rebound? Would the bank then change its mind? Such scenarios ought to compel a more fundamental, if not entirely rigorous rethink of its approach to the whole issue.

    The truth, however, is that Nigerians did not elect their leaders only to have them pander to international agencies, no matter how well meaning. They elected them to get the job done. Today, the main challenge is how to diversify the economy in quick time; how to ensure a quick turn-around in the infrastructure situation, and to create jobs for the army of the unemployed. The government should bear in mind that it is their performance on those indices that ultimately counts; not what these international agencies think.

  • Wobbling FMBN

    Wobbling FMBN

    •It is depressing that the bank can only provide loans to 60,000 of its 4m contributors

    What a disturbing trend that dearth of housing which for decades has become a serious challenge to the nation is continuing because of avoidable official incompetence. Isn’t it scandalous that the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) shamelessly revealed through Lawal Isa, its head of corporate affairs, that “there are currently about four million Nigerians that are registered and are contributing to the National Housing Fund (NHF) but the FMBN has been able to provide mortgage loans to only about 60,000 or 1.5 per cent of contributors.’’

    He attributed the setback to several avoidable challenges,, including “…lack of access to land; inadequate funding for the housing sector; inaccessibility of mortgage loans due to lack of proper titles to properties; low income of prospective borrowers, which affects affordability; and cumbersome procedures for obtaining governor’s consent to land transactions, which is also costly.’’

    It is sad that FMBN, known at inception in 1956 as Nigerian Building Society (NBS), being a joint venture of the Commonwealth Development Corporation and the Federal and Eastern Governments of Nigeria has failed to meet public expectations. The problem encountered could not be that of ownership structure or that of putting proper legal framework in place because the Federal Government’s Indigenisation Policy that was backed by Indigenisation Act, 1973, caused the centre government to undertake 100 percent ownership of the NBS which led to its being renamed FMBN.

    The sad reality, 42 years after, is that the contributing Nigerians have not significantly benefited from the supposed mobilisation of long-term funds, lending volume and expansion of mortgage lending services. Even, FMBN’s administration and management of the contributory savings scheme through its empowerment vide the National Housing Fund (NHF) establishment Act 3 of 1992 has yielded little or no result. The NHF has failed to be an effective housing contributory pool for the mobilisation of long-term funds from Nigerian workers, banks, insurance companies and the Federal Government, in order to provide veritable platform for the advancement of housing loans at soft interest rates to contributors.

    The FMBN Act 82 of 1993 and the Mortgage Institutions Act 53 of 1989 that gave the FMBN the status of apex mortgage institution in 1994 have failed to mitigate the difficulty of Nigerians to access housing loans.

    The revelations that FMBN wants to actualise the intent of section 14(2) of the NHF Act Cap N45 of 1992 relating to easy accessibility to loans by contributors for the purpose of building, purchasing or renovating existing homes/houses should not end at the level of rhetoric. At the moment, the country’s mortgage industry is at the verge of collapse and the quicker cheap sources of loanable funds to nurture and sustain affordable home ownership in the sector are provided, the better for Nigerians.

    The FMBN’s new initiative of granting concessionary loan windows to enable Nigerians access mortgages for home ownership is commendable provided it would not end dismally like previous attempts. The introduction of home renovation loan idea to avail contributors to the NHF the opportunity of accessing mortgage loans for the renovation or improvement of their existing homes, good as it may be, is just a palliative because millions of others are still struggling to build a shelter of their own.

    It is high time the Federal Government decided whether or not it still needs FMBN. It is criminal for hardworking people to contribute money with the promise of getting loans when in the end such loans would not be forthcoming. The truth is that the organisation needs urgent recapitalisation and focused management if the housing needs of millions of average income Nigerians must be actualised.

  • Now that the rains are here

    SIR: For generations, rainfall has been known to serve as showers of divine blessings as it had always provided the needed blessings that mankind needed for survival. Rain water has constantly been nature’s solution to drought and famine. Therefore, while the approaching of the rainy season delights the farmers and also a boost to electricity supply, for residents of Lagos, a coastal state, the wet season is not always the best time of the year. It is a period that comes with the intimidating challenge of flooding. And when it happens, many homes are swamped, property worth fortunes are destroyed and sometimes human lives are involved as the tide sweeps away everything in their path, leaving residents to recount tales of woes. To an average Lagosian, rainfall could be a curse rather than a blessing. Usually, whenever it rains heavily across the state, there is a rise in the Lagoon and ocean, which automatically locks up all the canals already blocked with litters by residents due to indiscriminate dumping of refuse. This naturally  results in flooding noticed in the metropolis. However, flash flood is noticed on the road after continuous rainfall which, soon after, disappears after the canals are able to empty into the water bodies.

    It is a known fact that usually flooding occurs in the metropolitan areas as a result of urbanization which leads to generation of more wastes that are being dumped indiscriminately in the drainage channels. To forestall the occurrences of tragedies that have characterized this season previously, the state government has been cleaning, clearing and de-silting of drainages and canals on the highways and streets in the metropolis prior to the coming of the rains. Therefore, the residents of the state should brace up to the task of ensuring a zero tolerance for flooding by fulfilling their own part through constant cleaning of the drainage channels and by desisting from dumping their wastes arbitrarily. Lagosians should take the issue of obtaining approvals before erecting their buildings in order not to build on drainage channels, thereby blocking free flow of water whenever it rains.

    There some flood plain areas in the state which are susceptible to flood. Areas like Ajegunle, Owode Onirin and Owode Elede in Kosofe Local Government Area, Kuramo Beach, Alpha Beach on the Island as well as Mende- Maryland, Ijora- Badia and Iwaya among others fall in this category. As a result of the incessant rainfall which seems to have begun for the year, the Lagos State government has advised residents living in the low line areas (flood plains) to relocate due to the rising level of water from the rainfall. This is essential for affected residents because of the persistent rains since March which had led to the rise in water level of the lagoons and rivers as a result of back-flow into adjoining low line areas.

    We must take our destiny into our hands and do all the needful to ward off avoidable natural calamities. Hence, the need for everyone to support the state government in protecting the environment.

    • Bilkis Bakare

    Ministry of Information & Strategy,

    Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja.

  • Sleeping legislators

    Sleeping legislators

    Just a day before the Senators had to bid goodbye to the Red Chamber of the National Assembly, they chose to do what was unprecedented in the annals of law making anywhere in the world as 46 Bills were introduced, rules suspended and all passed, awaiting presidential assent. It was a classical example of how not to make laws.

    Chairman of the Rules and Business Committee, Senator Ita Enang, guided his colleagues in suspending Order 79 that spells out the procedure to be adopted in legislation. He explained that, having been passed by the House of Representatives where the due process was reportedly followed, it would amount to a waste of time if the Senate, too, had to pass the Bills through the First, Second and Third Readings. As far as Senator Enang was concerned, it would amount to duplication of efforts if the Bill had to be referred to the relevant committees to examine the clauses and advise accordingly on what should be done.

    To the senior lawmakers, it was sufficient to adopt whatever had passed through the Green Chamber on that last day of deliberation by the Senate. It was preposterous. It negated all that informed the establishment of bicameral legislature. The Senators were quick to forget that there had been many cases when the two chambers disagreed on Bills, including Appropriation. They had to sit at Joint Conference in such cases to iron out the differences. The few dissenting voices were quickly drowned and overruled by the majority.

    In electing the senators, the electorate had assumed that they were men of great experience and knowledge. If, as the senators averred in suspending the due process, there was no need further scrutinising whatever had passed through the other House, then they had presented a perfect argument for scrapping the Senate. It is a justification for the loud suggestion that bicameralism is sheer waste of scarce resources, especially with the very high cost of maintaining each of the federal lawmakers and the chambers.

    If anyone needed proof that the senators had been indolent for much of the 48 months they were in office, that single incident provided it. What were they doing that the Bills piled up so much? Most times, they were in their towns and villages politicking and engaged in irrelevancies. They were only interested in their fat salaries and allowances to the detriment of the primary task that they were elected for. The argument that they had to do so in view of the resources committed to the process by the House of Representatives is lame. The rule expects them to have complemented the House. The Rules and Business Committee, the Senate Leader and the presiding officers failed in doing their jobs of tracking developments in the other House. Had they been alive to their responsibilities, they would not be waking up to the reality 24 hours to the expiration of their tenure.

    In a country crying for patriots and nationalists, the privileged lawmakers are only interested in feeding fat on the public. They are doing less than was demanded of First Republic legislators who had to perform the task part-time, yet they (present lawmakers) concentrate more on destructive plots and schemes than building a new society.

    As senior lawmakers, the National Assembly members, especially senators, should realise that lawmakers at the state level look up to them for guidance. Nigerians have incessantly complained about the quality of services rendered by state lawmakers, describing the legislature at that level as mere rubber stamp. The senators owe it a responsibility to these men and women to show enthusiasm in the performance of their task.

    We call on the eighth National Assembly to learn from the foibles of the preceding Assembly by offering quality services in making laws and ensuring that the executive works in the overall interest of the people. There are so many laws that are out of tune with today’s reality. Some of the laws date to the colonial times and the fines imposed are simply ridiculous. We expect that the statute books will be cleaned up to set the stage for a dynamic society. All public officers, be they in the executive, legislative or judicial arms of government should realise that we live in borrowed times. There is a budding crisis of expectation and sleeping legislators have no place in the new scheme of things.

    President Muhammadu Buhari had pledged his commitment to effecting the necessary changes that would make the country better. The lawmakers should similarly change the lackadaisical approach to doing their job.