The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Akpabio, keeping governorship in the family?

    Akpabio, keeping governorship in the family?

    SIR: But for the memo to Governor Godswill Akpabio by the Forum of Akwa Ibom State PDP Governorship Aspirants signed by the 22 aggrieved governorship aspirants, Akwa Ibom people would never have known that Emmanuel Udom, the man who is bearing the PDP flag for the 2015 governorship elections, is the incumbent governor’s maternal cousin. The memo in question that revealed Akpabio-Udom relationship, appeared as an advertorial on page 71 of the The Nation On Sunday of December 21.  If Udom succeeds Governor Akpabio it would be the second instance that such a dynasty would occur in the South-south of Nigera: namely when Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan succeeded his cousin, former Governor James Ibori in Delta State.

    Barrister Godswill Akpabio was the same person, at the heat of the primaries, that produced him as PDP’s flag bearer for the governorship election in 2007, accused then Governor Victor Attah, his mentor and benefactor, as scheming to install his (Attah’s) son-in-law, Dr. Bob Ekarika, as governor of Akwa Ibom State. In the words of Akpabio, ‘that would amount to creating a dynasty in Akwa Ibom State’. By imposing his cousin, Emmanuel Udom, on the party and on the state, Akpabio is promoting the very ‘sin’ that he roundly accused his predecessor of in 2007 and he is trying to achieve this forcefully through a gubernatorial primary that was everything but democratic. With this attitude of Akpabio, he can be described as “pot calling kettle (Attah) black”.

    Akapbio had, after forcing the former SSG Umana Okon Umana to resign, invited and appointed his cousin, Emmanuel Udom, in his place.

    I recall that former Governor Victor Attah, in 2002, appointed Akpabio his commissioner in the Ministry of Petroleum. Few months later, when the PDP asked Attah to replace his deputy, Chris Ekpenyong, Akpabio having come from the same senatorial district as Ekpenyong, was handy, but for the refusal of the elders of Akwa Ibom PDP. Attah then moved Akpabio to a grass-root ministry –Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs – with the intension of grooming him to succeed him. But Attah shifted his support the last minute.

    Governor Akpabio may be feeling that he has succeeded in making his maternal cousin, Emmanuel Udom, the PDP’s flag bearer, while former SSG, Umana Okon Umana, is the APC’s flag bearer for the 2015 governorship elections. Worthy of note is that Akpabio ignored all other aspirants, including some that have been with the PDP since 1998 and preferred his maternal cousin. All other aspirants are shouting foul. The people of Akwa Ibom state have vowed not to allow the impunity to stand hence their rooting for the APC candidate.

    • Obong Akpan Koko

    Uyo, Akwa Ibom State

  • No to transition

    No to transition

    •The calls to postpone polls and set up an interim committee lack democratic or patriotic merit

    With the elections around the corner, some Nigerians are articulating views intended to change the course of this democracy. They have either called for a transition committee, or expressed open doubts over the prospects of the polls next month.

    These views leap out of platforms of those known to be patriots, or statesmen or politicians with a measure of respectability. But their premise derives from the age-old tendencies that truncate the tide of our politics or frustrate our optimism as a people.

    This misguided fervour gained currency during the national conference convoked last year. Some of the participants called for the postponement of the elections, while others thought that it was wise to set up a transition body to oversee the nation’s move towards a stable political era.

    We disagree with this standpoint, and we also see it as influenced not only by opportunism cloaking as principle but also anti-democratic in its impulse. We cannot overthrow a democracy in the interest of democracy. It is a philosophical absurdity. We believe all those who espouse this tendency should stop forthwith, or else they would kindle the flame of subversion against the best system of popular persuasion known to humans.

    The fulcrum of their position is that we are not institutionally ready for the elections. Some have argued that The Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) lack of readiness means we are not going to have satisfactory elections. Some others have adverted to the turbulence of the northeast where the ravages of the Islamic sect Boko Haram have cut through large swathes of Nigerian territory. Some others say that the period between the emergence of party nominees and the elections were brutally short, making campaign time insufficient for the people to assess their candidates and for the characters, programmes and philosophies of the candidates to trickle down the electorate.

    Others have latched on to a prediction by a United States think tank that Nigeria would not survive 2015.

    The implication of these views is clear. It would mean that the transition from the present corps of office holders to the new set would be abbreviated. Basically, they are calling for the suspension of the Nigerian grund norm, the 1999 constitution. They are calling for the extension of the rule of President Goodluck Jonathan. They are setting an indefinite date for the end of this political dispensation, or they are calling for the end of this political dispensation. In clear terms, they are calibrating a coup against the constitution and against the democratic order.  We also recall that the presidency of Goodluck Jonathan had toyed with the proposal of a one-term presidency for seven years, and it did not enjoy widespread support in the country. In fact, it came across as self-serving and opportunistic.

    In some detail, the “transitionists” have called for the appointment of some prominent Nigerians to head this transition, and have suggested a sinecure status for President Jonathan. His role, they say, would be merely a conciliatory role. He would by implication be coerced into the exalted pose of a statesman. In order words, Jonathan may not have to run for president after a transition that might even last as long as two years.

    This position comes across either as naïve or cynical, depending on who is espousing what. Some of the proponents are trying to craft a new platform of relevance for themselves in the new proposed state. Others are trying to choreograph revenge against those who have gained prominence in the present state of things. Or is it a back room implementation of the Jonathan seven-year agenda?

    There are some questions that bear being asked. Under what legal canopy are we going to operate the transition system? Who would be the enforcer? For, if that transition programme exceeds May 29, President Jonathan would not have any authority to govern as president. He would be a dictator by committee, and the constitution would have been overthrown.

    The only time we had such an arrangement was by fiat, and it was after the debacle of the 1993 June 12 election. The military installed the interim transition under the control of the army, and it turned out to be a failure. It ushered in one of the darkest tyrannies in human history under General Sani Abacha.

    They are calling, in a civilian era, for a transition regime that is based purely on trust. That is why we believe that it is either inspired by naivety or opportunistic cynicism. No democracy works on the trust of a few men. Yes, a few men enrich the system but they work without a sense of entitlement.  They thrive on rules. Even when the United States started their democratic experiment, their founding fathers operated under rules.

    The claim that the campaign time is short may be valid, but it calls for a more intense and creative campaign by the candidates. The INEC has shown a lot of incompetence over the issue of personal voter cards and it creates unease when it said it was not ready in event of a runoff in a presidential race.

    We are not going to deny that there are problems, and there is disquiet in some circles about the prospect of violence and subversion in the aftermath of the elections. Rather than focus on the doubts and negativity, those naysayers should turn their energies to emphasise suggestions on how we could turn these fears into hope, concerns into peace.

    The national conference that took place in 2014 was a long exercise in debates, perorations, circumlocutions vapours of rhetoric that resulted in a document now gradually gathering dust like its predecessors. The National Assembly has distanced itself from it because they saw it as a plot to overthrow them.

    The fear that the election of either President Jonathan or General Muhammadu Buhari would touch off violence derives from the activities  of two militant groups: the Boko Haram insurgents in the north and the Niger Delta militants. Are we to surrender because these groups would bring us to our knees? Is it not by engaging our democratic strengths that we can eventually vote in those who can provide answers? We have had committees, changed military commanders, declared state of emergencies but the Islamic militants are not about to surrender. Rather, they are waxing strong and making mincemeat of our soldiers.

    The Niger Delta militants are also doing havoc, in spite of the amnesty granted them. As the so-called “transitionists” suggest, a transition committee would provide a template to change the country. It would have been idealistic if it was not naïve or cynical. On what powers or laws are they going to operate? Who would approve their decisions and on what document would implementation take place?

    Democracy is a system of laws and not of men. If violence or sectarian prejudice sullies our political landscape, we have to be ready to confront them as a people within the ambit of law. We have no choice but to have faith in the democratic process. Any alternative will be either anarchy or tyranny. We want neither.

     

  • Making Osun the scapegoat

    Making Osun the scapegoat

    SIR: At the close of last year, it was widely reported that the federal government and some states were owing workers up to, and in some cases, more than three months salaries. This allegation was first made by the secretary general of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Alade Lawal. His concern, on which he gave details, was the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government. However, The Punch in its usual mischief and anti-Aregbesola diatribe added some states to the mix, prominent of which is Osun. A few days later, regrettably, the president of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) just took the newspaper’s false report verbatim and also included Osun prominently on the list of states owing workers three months salaries and in which industrial action could commence.

    This is unfortunate. If The Punch had done any investigation as it claimed, it would have known that as at the time of the report, it was only November 2014 salary that was outstanding since the October salary had been paid. So much for mischief and adversarial reporting that makes no distinction between truth and falsehood.

    We must however have a holistic understanding of the salary situation. When Governor Rauf Aregbesola was sworn in November 27, 2010, the total wage bill in the state was N1.6 billion. The following year, the minimum wage act was passed into law and it became binding on all states. By 2012, all states of the federation had complied, making Osun wage bill to rise to N3.6 billion.

    By the same token, with higher oil prices and increase in the pump head price of refined fuel locally, Osun’s revenue jumped to N4.6 billion, which was relatively safe, wage wise. However, by July 2013, Osun’s revenue had dropped to N2.8 billion. Within the same period, Aregbesola had shored up internally generated revenue from the meagre N300 million he met to N1billion, thus he was still able to pay salaries usually by the 26th of every month. However, allocation has dropped progressively since then and the last allocation Osun got for November 2014 from the Federation Account was N1.03 billion. There is no magic to this. Aregbesola should be commended for the astute manner he has managed the state’s economy, implementing wondrous projects and still fulfilling obligations to workers in spite of dwindling revenues.

    The grim options before any state in this situation is either to reduce its workforce size to a sustainable level or find creative ways to generate revenue. The governor has chosen the latter and should be commended. Dwindling state allocation is a time bomb that portends the grave danger of state meltdown and the federal government should be held accountable for the malaise of oil theft and underproduction, which brought this about, not states trying to cope with the consequences.

    • Adekunle Ajayi,

    Mushin, Lagos

  • The evil called outsourcing

    •Banks have no basis for such inhuman policy

    The true worth of labour of most banking staff in the country remains an intriguing poser in view of the denigrating recruitment process most banks in the country have in place. The banks do so under the guise of outsourcing staff so as to cut cost. But the trend has created a Frankenstein monster styled as contract staff/casual labour and usually at the detriment of those recruited. The policy gives no career security, commitment or fulfilment to victims but favours just two parties – the outsourcing firms and the banks.

    The above was aptly amplified by the reported pathetic case of one Mrs. Dorothy Anya Igwe who was outsourced to an unnamed bank in Ojo area of Lagos State. Her story: She fell ill while on official duty and got official permission from the outsourcing company to visit the approved hospital. After getting well, she got a medical report of fitness from the approved hospital that she tendered on resumption of duty.

    But to her chagrin, her salary for the duration of her illness from April to September, 2014, was stopped. Her complaints reportedly led to her being relieved of duty. She was recalled months after but finally sacked after her continuing insistence that she must be paid her arrears of salary. Igwe was left in the lurch by the outsourcing company and the bank that denied her and also failed to pay her arrears of salary. There are several unreported examples of Igwe-type ill-treatment in the banking industry.

    Perhaps, it is high time the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) beamed its klieg-light on all reported labour abuses by the banks through this inhuman staff outsourcing. The policy is even insensitive to the peculiar nature of banking business as strategic positions such as bank secretary, operations officer, vehicle/ bullion van drivers and security operatives are among others that are outsourced from designated companies.

    These outsourced staff handle vital information in bank/customer relations and bank operations’ secrets that could easily be compromised since outsourced staff owe no allegiance or commitment to the banks. They can leak sensitive information that could give impetus to fraudsters’ operations against banks or which could lead to armed robbery attacks against the banks, with insider connection. The risks for banks involved in this oppressive recruitment approach lacks rational economic sense for its continuation.

    We therefore call on the CBN to come out and state clearly whether or not it supports this exploitative outsourcing of staff in banks and other companies in the nation. The Ministry of Labour and Productivity seems to have failed in setting the policy template necessary to improve employment conditions by discouraging discrimination among staff, not only in the banks but in other big corporate entities as well. Quite unfathomable is the fact that workers in the country are in the doldrums. It is unimaginable that the CBN and the labour ministry will tolerate an outsourcing employment regime that gives no conditions of service and where the outsourcing firms, apart from paid consultancy service fee running into millions, also get a huge percentage from the salaries of the contract workers every month.

    Most banks declare huge profits annually, and based on what they declare, they should be able to employ desirable staff and pay them respectable remuneration, not the trifle under the guise of staff outsourcing that is known as a strategy adopted by companies in distress to cut staff cost and rationalise departments and operations.

    We know that some banks in some other countries have adopted outsourcing of staff as a cost-saving measure, the point is that their environments are different from ours: labour does not come cheap in some of these countries unlike here where labour is relatively cheap. Moreover, people who are not getting commensurate pay cannot be said to be employed in the real sense of the word; they are therefore susceptible to all the temptations that the unemployed are exposed to.

    What we are saying is that staff outsourcing is cruel, improper and uncivilised, not only in banks but in all entities that want the public to see them as respectable.

  • Nest eggs

    •Getting pensions right is a matter of will  

    Aviable, efficient and sustainable pensions’ scheme is an indispensable feature of a modern economy. Not only are pensions a significant form of social security for large numbers of vulnerable people, they provide a humongous pool of investible funds that boost economic growth and prosperity. An efficient pensions’ scheme also enhances motivation of workers in their active years, thereby improving national productivity.

    It is because of its significance as a catalyst of national development that the absence of a functional, organised and effective pensions’ scheme had for decades been a key obstacle to the realisation of Nigeria’s transformational objectives. There are however promising indications that our once dysfunctional pensions’ scheme is systematically being modernised and sanitised with positive results. Years of reforms such as the Pension Reform Act No. 2 of 2004 and the Pension Reform Amendment Act of 2011, which have been consolidated in the 2014 Pension Reform Act, are obviously beginning to bear fruit.

    An indication to this effect is the report that Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) have paid N17.96 billion to 4,119 workers who lost their jobs this year. The money refunded to the sacked workers represents 25% of their contributions to the Contributory Pension Scheme of the PFAs when they were in service as required by the law.

    The purpose of this provision is to enable workers have some funds to live on or invest in business before they secure new jobs and sources of income. It is noteworthy that this succour for the affected workers was made possible because of innovations in the 2014 Pension Reform Act that addressed weaknesses in previous laws. For instance, the previous law required a sacked employee to wait until he or she could not get a new job for six months before accessing 25 percent of his pension contributions. Under the new law, the waiting period was reduced to four months to ameliorate the plight of workers.

    Again, previously sacked employees had to produce evidence of dismissal by employers before being qualified to withdraw part of their pension savings before getting a new job. Consequently, a worker who was forced to resign from work could naturally not produce a sack letter and was unable to claim this right. However, the new law expands the scope of those who can benefit to include workers who are sacked, voluntarily retire, resign or disengage from employment. Furthermore, when sacked workers get a new job, they can go back to their PFAs for the application of the appropriate retirement benefit approach.

    It is also significant that the PFAs were able to pay the affected workers their dues promptly within the requisite time frame. This is an indication that the pension funds in their care are being efficiently and professionally managed. Thus, one of the objectives of the pension reforms, which is to ensure that contributions and investments made with pension funds are protected against risks and abuses by managers is being realised.

    To this end, the law provides for the initiation of criminal proceedings and appropriate sanctions against both employers who fail to deduct or remit pensions contributions and PFAs that engage in unethical practices. All too often we have had cases of financial institutions squandering funds put in their trust and bringing millions of unsuspecting depositors to ruin.

    The progress recorded in pensions management and administration shows that reforms can indeed achieve their stated goals in Nigeria where there is the will to see them through. We commend and urge all stakeholders to continue to work towards strengthening and institutionalising the pension reforms to make them sustainable and irreversible.

  • FRSC’s permanent ‘temporary’ Driver’s Licence

    SIR: When the idea of a new drivers licence was conceived Nigerians had reasons to fear as with any such process in Nigeria.

    Though the era of when any Tom, Dick and Harry whether qualified or not could acquire a drivers licence just sitting in the comfort of their homes can be said to be over, the process of acquiring it still leaves much to be desired.

    Almost a year since I got my temporary drivers licence, I am still to be issued with the permanent one. Yet, a few who applied months after me have gotten theirs. As things are going, I fear that my yet-to-be-issued drivers licence would expire without me even seeing it!

    Curiously, one of the employees of Federal Road Safety Corps feels that considering when my data was captured he was “sure” that my permanent drivers licence should be ready. That those at the Vehicle Inspection Office may not take their time to check “very well”. And true, there are many drivers licence there that their “owners” have not “come” to collect!

    Every two months, I am required to go to the licencing office to renew it. I see the same crowd forced every two months to do the same process. One man with a smile on his face said for almost two years he has been renewing his own. Some who are tired of complaining just shrug it off. Some don’t even bother anymore to check whether their permanent one is ready, but just thrust their paper in front of the person who stamps it for renewal. Equally, the person who stamps it hardly looks up to see the person he is stamping their paper. It is all part of a boring routine.

    The idea of the temporary drivers licence to expire in “60 days” was conceived because it was thought that by that time the permanent one will be ready.

    Perhaps, they can learn something from the voters card. I suggest that subsequent issuance of temporary drivers licence should carry an expiry date that the permanent one would normally carry. After all, what really makes them “temporary” or “permanent” is not actually their dates, but the material they are made of!

    In addition I feel, three years validity for a well “scrutinized” drivers licence is too short. Four years would have been good, but five years would have been better.

    I see the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Boboye Oyeyemi, as a dynamic man, with the right zeal as his predecessor to push for innovations.  I hope though that my permanent driver’s licence would see the light of day before it expires.

     

    • Dr Cosmas Odoemena,

    Lagos

  • Amaechi vs DSS

    Amaechi vs DSS

    Security agencies cannot circumscribe freedom of speech

    The warning issued by the Department of State Security (DSS) against the use of inciting and inflammatory statements by politicians in the run-up to the February 2015 general elections once again shows how partisan and unprofessional government agencies and parastatals have become in recent times.

    In a statement signed by Mrs. Marilyn Ogar, the DSS’s Deputy Public Relations Director, the service claimed that it would no longer tolerate the use of “unguarded” statements by politicians whose actions it described as “irresponsible, selfish and against our collective well-being as a nation.” Warning that no one was above the law of the land, Ogar specifically denounced “a serving governor” who had apparently called on members of the Armed Forces to “rise up in protest against constituted authority.”

    Even by the abysmally low standards of neutrality found in most government agencies, the DSS stands out for its notoriously partisan approach to the performance of its duties. Ever since it became more visible with the rise in insurgent activities in the country’s north-east, the service has made no attempt to hide its support for the government in power, even at the cost of its own image in the eyes of the citizenry.

    The service appears to believe that attacking perceived political and other opposition to the Jonathan administration is synonymous with ensuring national security. In August last year, it all but accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of attempting to bribe DSS personnel during the Osun State gubernatorial elections. No one has been charged to court on the matter. In the same month, Ogar infamously asked why bomb blasts do not occur when the APC won elections, only to become manifest when the party lost them. Even the respected “Bring Back Our Girls” campaign has not escaped DSS attention, having been described as fraudulent and a political tool.

    The latest warning issued by the service is simply the continuation of this ill-disguised campaign of calumny. Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, who was the main target of the latest DSS attack, merely expressed the opinion that soldiers engaged in anti-insurgency operations had a right to protest the lack of arms, ammunition and other supplies essential to success against the insurgents. Taken in context, it does not amount to endorsing mutiny or insubordination. The governor’s position has been supported by respected retired officers like General Ishola Williams (rtd.), who said that the 54 soldiers recently sentenced to death for mutiny had a right to refuse to go to war if they lacked the necessary arms and ammunition.

    The position of Amaechi and Williams is borne out by objective confirmation of the fact that the anti-insurgency campaign is not going as well as it should have because the soldiers are ill-equipped, poorly-resourced and badly-motivated. Why else did President Goodluck Jonathan seek an emergency US $1 billion loan if the armed forces had received all that they required? If criticism of the anti-insurgency campaign is simply partisan political sniping, why has he not visited Chibok since the mass abductions took place in April? Why was Major-General Ahmed Mohammed, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 7 Division removed after he was allegedly shot at?

    If there is anything Nigerians should be worried about, it is increasing partisanship of supposedly-neutral government organs, rather than allegedly inciting statements from politicians. The world witnessed the antics of the Nigeria Police and the DSS during the elections in Ekiti and Osun states last year, when both worked to suppress the political campaigns of the APC while providing protection and succour to candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). In December 2014, the DSS invaded an APC data centre on allegations that “unwholesome activities” were taking place within it. One month later, the service is unable to come out with any evidence to back up its accusations.

    The danger to the polity of blatantly partisan government agencies cannot be underestimated. It denotes a glaring lack of professional ethics and competence which will definitely undermine the efficiency and effectiveness of such agencies. The lack of trust spawned by the obviously-jaundiced statements of people like Ogar can only serve to erode public confidence and trust at precisely the moment when they are most needed, and by extension, can further weaken confidence in the operations of government as a whole.

    Rather than make common cause with any political party or public office holder, the nation’s security agencies should simply focus on their duties. If anybody falls foul of the laws of the land, that person should be taken to court. This is the least requirement, especially in a democratic dispensation where free speech is an essential ingredient. No one should attempt to take that right away under the guise of ensuring security in the country. We would have understood the concerns of the security agencies but for our experiences with them, especially in recent years. Agencies like the DSS would do well to remember that while governments are temporary, the self-inflicted damage caused to their own reputations by their partisanship will last much longer.

  • A legend departs

    Hot shot and IICC legend, Moses Otolorin, dies at 67

    Only one, of all his generation, Enugu Rangers’ Kenneth Abana, packed his thunderous shot.

    But not one matched his humongous throws; in anticipation of which heave, expectant fans roared, “Oko, Oko” (literally, Yoruba for flying stone), as it came off the huge biceps of the stocky footballer, and caused blind panic in the opponents’ 18-yard box, many times resulting in headed goals.

    That was the legend of Moses Otolorin, power-packed and stocky striker for IICC Shooting Stars (now SSSC) Football Club of Ibadan. On the score of his humongous hulk, many in deep affection called him “Agberin Ibadan” (Ibadan’s iron monger).

    But his hulk did not stop him from scoring crucial goals for the Ibadan darling team, accounting for more than half of the 15 goals that won IICC — and Nigeria — their first continental club football title, the African Cup Winners Cup (for then FA Cup champions) in 1976.

    Otolorin played in a star-cast IICC team, featuring the great Muda Lawal, goalkeeper Best Ogedegbe, Sam Ojebode (who was team skipper), Folorunso Gambari and Joe Appiah (all late), aside from the ultra-sharp winger and scorer, the ‘Mathematical’ Segun Odegbami and midfield maestro, Nathaniel Adewole; under the watch of the Brit, Coach Alan Hawkes.

    It was indeed the golden age of Nigerian domestic football, before the mass exodus into foreign, mainly European leagues, when darling local club sides like IICC, Enugu Rangers, Bendel Insurance, Raccah Rovers of Kano, Stationery Stores of Lagos, and later New Nigerian Bank of Benin, packed the stadium for frenetic and exciting Nigerian football.

    Otolorin played his part well, so well that he got a few calls into the then Green Eagles, the Nigerian national male football side, though he never replicated the dominance he had in Shooting Stars in the national team. Elsewhere, with sheer earnings alone, and proper investment of course, he perhaps would have been made for life.

    Yet here, Otolorin died unable to raise a reported N400, 000 for surgery to save his life.  He reportedly died of prostate and anus cancer.  This is despite the fact that, after retiring from football, he joined the sporting staff of Kwara State Polytechnic, in his native Ilorin, as football head coach. He retired from that post 2010.

    At 67, Otolorin was not old. But neither was he young. Perhaps with prompt and proper medical attention, he would have lived his last days in better comfort, despite his ailment; maybe his life would have been stretched by a few more years.

    But alas! N400, 000 stood between him and this possible benefit. That is a shame of monumental proportions. It ought to temper everyone.

    Still, Otolorin’s life and death should be a lesson to our sports people. Sports, as a profession, has a very short life span. At 40, you are probably retired. Yet, life goes on for many years. With fame, sans fortune, especially at the local front, it becomes doubly difficult to start begging for help, over virtual basics.

    Over and over again, the sporting fraternity has proved not so adept at being a brother’s keeper. All they do is hee-haw (if they respond at all!) until the inevitable happens — and they begin their crocodile tribute: O, he was the greatest of his generation; he died when Nigeria needed him most and allied cant! This has happened over and over.

    So, the present sporting professionals must beware. They should put away resources for the proverbial rainy day and make wise investment to tide them over, long after their careers are history. As a class, the sporting community should also encourage some pan-community insurance policy, that can take care of the most vulnerable. After all, a chain is as strong as its weakest link.

    Moses Otolorin, in his heyday, brought joy to millions of Nigerians. He deserved at least some sunshine in his winter years. That, he died, not having — again, very unfortunate. But let that be the last time a famous sports name would die like that. Our deep condolences to the family he left behind.

  • Ebola breakthrough

    Ebola breakthrough

    Good news, except that local scientists are outside the loop

    News of significant progress in the development of effective vaccines to prevent Ebola virus infection deserves notice, particularly considering the expert confirmation of their safety. “This is the first study to show comparable safety and immune response of an experimental Ebola vaccine in an African population,” according to Dr Julie Ledgerwood from the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health, USA. Dr. Ledgerwood, lead author of the findings from the first trial of filovirus vaccines in Africa published in The Lancet, gave a helpful insight into the importance of the experimental success:  “This is particularly encouraging because those at greatest risk of Ebola live primarily in Africa, and diminished vaccine protection in African populations has been seen for other diseases.”

    The two new DNA vaccines that code for Ebola virus proteins were developed from the Zaire and Sudan strains and the Marburg virus protein; and they have opened fresh possibilities in the counter-Ebola international campaign.  Dr Ledgerwood said:  ”These findings have already formed the basis of a more potent vaccine, delivered using a harmless chimpanzee cold virus, which is undergoing trials in the USA, UK, Mali, and Uganda in response to the ongoing Ebola virus outbreak.” It is a reflection of the seriousness with which scientists are treating Ebola, as well as the gravity of the disease itself, that the trials leading to the reported findings took place about four years ago, before its current occurrence.

    It is worth mentioning that the evolving 2014 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak has thrown the West African sub-region, in particular, into understandable apprehension. Indeed, the scale of the epidemic has acquired a global tint, forcing the international community to acknowledge that it constitutes a major public health crisis.  Against this background, the positive news about Ebola vaccine development has far-reaching implications not only for African populations, but also for other peoples across the world.

    However, it is relevant to highlight an important response by Dr. Saranya Sridhar from the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford in the UK, who said the findings deserved to be “the focal point around which the broader question of vaccine development, particularly for Africa, must be addressed.” Dr. Sridhar further said: “we must ask ourselves whether a filovirus vaccine should have been in more advanced clinical development.” In other words, it is possible that political and economic considerations may have hampered the speed of progress. Hopefully, the speed and purpose with which clinical vaccine development has been pursued, and has progressed, in the context of international response to the present Ebola outbreak, will be sustained for the good of all mankind.

    The scientific breakthrough holds useful lessons for local scientists in Africa, who should see it as a wake-up call. Beyond the interest and intervention of the international scientific circle, which should be commended, Africa-based scientists ought to be more involved in finding solutions to Ebola, especially given that the continent’s populations appear to be more vulnerable to the disease. Unfortunately, such expectations bring up issues of socio-economic underdevelopment and inadequate research and health infrastructure, among other negatives that constitute a drawback.

    In a profound sense, the international efforts to develop effective and safe Ebola vaccines reinforce the idea of a global humanity. The concept of a global village is given further expression through such all-embracing actions. For a disease with such deadly consequences and high fatalities, the wise saying that prevention is better than cure makes a lot of sense. It is hoped that Ebola vaccines will not only be perfected, but will also be available and affordable wherever they are needed.

     

  • Revisiting amnesty

    Revisiting amnesty

    The programme fails if the beneficiaries lack jobs

    Leader of the Niger Delta Democratic Front, Precious Iyoyo, has pointed out what obviously is a major flaw in the amnesty programme initiated for the Niger Delta militants by the Umaru Yar’Adua administration in 2009. The flaw is the inability of the government to provide jobs for the militants who were sent to various schools abroad to enable them acquire necessary skills that could guarantee them a meaningful lifestyle.

    Iyoyo, who expressed his disappointment with the programme in Port Harcourt, said “The truth is that it is frustrating to see the ex-freedom fighters that have been trained abroad and coming back home, they do not have anything to do; they have no jobs to fall back on. It is abnormal.”

    We agree with him. Whatever may be his motive, it is indeed bad if it is true that the ex-militants only acquired education and skills in various fields abroad only to come home to join the unemployment queue. This would not be strange though because successive governments   usually address national challenges using Fire Brigade approach. It shows the disconnect between planning and execution of government’s programmes.

    We recall the situation in the Obasanjo era when we kept importing heavy electrical equipment without consideration for the logistics of how to transport them to their various sites. It was long after the equipment had arrived and stayed idle that they were dismantled and taken to the various locations where they were required.

    When people are sent to school or for training, the aim is to make them acquire skills that can enable them put food on their table and be useful to themselves and the larger society. But when such people return from wherever they went to school or for training and cannot find something worthwhile to do, the purpose is defeated. Worse still is that they would have become more sophisticated in doing whatever they decide to do, whether for functional or dysfunctional purposes, and the result can only be imagined for people who had to abandon militancy due to promises of a better future that the government assured them before they embraced amnesty.

    Ideally, government ought to have worked out the job needs of people in the region before asking the militants to proceed to school. But it appears this is not the way government operates here. Do we even know how many we are, not to talk of the demographic breakdown of our population? Has the government even provided jobs for non-militants?

    However, nothing we have said should be misconstrued as condemning the amnesty programme. It was a good idea to redress decades of neglect in the Niger Delta region, particularly in the area of youth restiveness. The point is that there is hardly any policy or programme that is perfect. It is during implementation that some shortcomings manifest. The beauty of it is that in many other places, periodic reviews are done with a view to correcting identified lapses in policies; it is just that in our own circumstance, governments usually move on once such policies take off. We hardly have time for review.

    Anyway, since it is better late than never, the Federal Government still has the chance to review the programme to see how well it has fared, with a review to making amends where necessary. Iyoyo’s observation as well as those of others who have expressed opinions on the initiative should be worked on. The country cannot afford to return to the pre-amnesty era when the entire nation felt the negative impact of militancy in the Niger Delta region. The boys have to be meaningfully engaged to prevent their returning to the creeks or their being recruited by politicians to foment trouble, especially during the coming general elections.