The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Internal refugees

    Internal refugees

    •Boko Haram-inspired Northern Nigeria’s crisis highlights the United Nations’ focus on an increasing world trend

    In a thought-provoking wake-up call, the United Nations (UN) highlighted the unprecedented scale of internal displacement in the country in the context of worsening global statistics on domestic refugees. The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, observed: “Never before in United Nations history have we had so many refugees, displaced people and asylum-seekers. Never before has the United Nations been asked to reach so many with emergency food assistance and other life-saving support.”

    It was fitting that Ban Ki-moon focused on this reality at the yearly meeting of the organisation’s High Commissioner for Refugees’Internal refugees  Governing Executive Committee in Geneva; and it is instructive to note that his speech not only mirrored the escalating problem, but also illustrated   his concern, which was underscored by the fact that he is the first UN secretary-general to address the committee in a decade.

    “Some of the challenges are on the front pages,” he said, adding, “These include people fleeing from war and civil strife from the Central African Republic to northern Nigeria; from the Horn of Africa to the Sahel.”  It is a serious cause for alarm that Ban Ki-moon said more than two million people in Africa had been forced to leave their homes this year.

    Indeed, it is unsurprising that he mentioned northern Nigeria. Such inclusion should have been expected, given the five-year-old violent campaign by Islamist terrorists in the region, operating under the name Boko Haram. It is no news that as a result of frighteningly regular bombings, raids and kidnappings carried out by the terrorists,Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states have become unlivable for a large number of people.  Out of 33 million internal refugees across the world, about 3.3 million Nigerians are internally displaced because of the insurgency, according to the 2014 Report of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre and the Norwegian Refugee Council.  Perhaps even more disheartening is the continuation of the murderous activities that encourage displacement.

    However, it is noteworthy that the tragedy of forced homelessness in the country, which is what such dislodgement represents, has other angles beyond the actions of terrorists. The different faces of internal displacement can be seen in victims of flood, those who suffer because of settler/indigene clashes or as a result of conflicts between cattle rearers and landowners, to mention just a few of the various situations that create internal refugees in the country.

    What is to be done?  Ban Ki-moon’s perspective on the solution is enlightening. He said: “This requires greater resources and more political leadership. It also requires unprecedented cooperation by the international community.”  In addition, he emphasised a need to place human rights at the centre of people’s thinking and collective efforts in the field.

    There is no doubt about the usefulness of Ban Ki-moon’s approach, particularly in relation to the Nigerian experience. The question of political leadership and state capacity, for instance, is at the heart of the country’s anti-terror war; and it cannot be overemphasised that the restoration of peace in the affected region would go a long way in addressing the increasing displacement of the affected.

    Furthermore, in the case of natural disasters, like flood, for example, there is a need for greater empathy not only by those in political offices, but by well-resourced private entities as well. It is socially helpful to encourage the thinking: Be your brother’s keeper. The UN chief suggested that countries with displaced populations ought to reflect their needs in national development plans, which is a wise idea.  Also important is the promotion of human rights through a sustained awareness campaign, which would help in tackling unreasonable discrimination and tendencies that breed disunity.

    For Nigeria, Ban Ki-moon’s expressed unease should prompt a local response by the political authorities, the private sector and the larger community. The country should not just give more thought to the problem of internal displacement and the issues that fuel it. Action must be taken to check those things that make a place uninhabitable for people who might otherwise wish to live there.

     

  • Kerosene rot

    Kerosene rot

    The abysmal dysfunction that characterises Nigeria’s petroleum industry has been brought to the fore, once again, by the abnormal and illegal profit being reportedly made on the sale of Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) by some marketers. Although the official price of the product is fixed at N50 per litre, it is reportedly being sold to Nigerians above N100 per litre. Thus, since the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) supplies 11 million litres of DPK daily to marketers, the latter make excess profit of N550 million, which translates into N16.5 billion monthly and N148.5 billion between January and September, this year.

    Understandably disturbed about this situation, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), has directed that all marketers sell the product at the appropriate price or face sanctions. However, revelations by some marketers indicate that the official price of N50 per litre is unrealistic and defies economic rationality. Going by the template of the PPMC, the cost price of kerosene per litre is supposed to be N42.95, including a five per cent refundable deposit, which is reportedly never refunded. The N50 approved selling price thus accommodates a profit margin of N4.60 per litre for the marketer.

    However, other costs that the official price appear not to have taken into consideration include N3 per litre for transportation of the product to the depot, N3 per litre as depot charges, and another N1 per litre for transportation of the product from the tanks to the petrol stations. There are also allegations that marketers incur additional costs in bribes to petroleum industry officials that result in further cost escalation. If the marketers are in business to make profit and not to engage in charity, they can certainly not sell at the official price. What is at play, therefore, is the gross inefficiency, opacity and graft that continue to be the bane of the industry.

    It is important for the government to let the public know the modality for arriving at the official price of N50 per litre for the product. Is provision made for the payment of subsidy to the marketers to bridge the difference between the actual cost and the regulated price of kerosene? If so, why is the product being sold at the current astronomical price? Ironically, the DPR has threatened sanctions against retail outlets caught selling the product above the approved price. Yet, kerosene is hardly ever available at filling stations, including the ones owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)! What moral right has the government to sanction private retail outlets when its own filling stations cannot even make the product available to the public in the first instance?

    The Managing Director of the PPMC, Mr Haruna Momoh, sounds helpless and clueless when he laments that “It is the wish of the government to make kerosene available but our research from when we came in is a totally different picture to compare with the good intention of the government. The product is diverted to neighbouring countries and also used for production and construction”. It is the responsibility of government to find solutions to problems and turn good intentions into effective public policy. The failure of government to bring to book so far those indicted in last year’s fuel subsidy fraud illustrates its tolerance of the massive corruption in the petroleum industry partly responsible for the current astronomical price of kerosene. If the potential of the industry had been more effectively and transparently managed, gas would have replaced kerosene by now as a cheaper, safer and healthier source of energy for most Nigerians. Until that is possible, the government has a duty to make kerosene available and affordable to Nigerians.

  • Great feat, dubious claims

    Great feat, dubious claims

    •Nigeria’s triumph over Ebola in record time is a thing to cheer. Not so, the dubious claims that have followed that success

    That the first Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) patient in the United States, Thomas Eric Duncan, died on October 8 again reinforces Nigeria’s stunning triumph over the disease, which has been ravaging Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

    Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian, brought EVD into Nigeria on July 20. By September 27, it had been contained; and the country declared free of the virus. While it lasted, it claimed seven lives, out of 19 confirmed infections. The dead included the heroine, Dr. Stella Adadevoh. But 12 survived, including medics, Dr. Morris Ibeawuchi and Dr. Ada Igonoh, who contracted the virus, in the cause of their care for Ebola patients. By all standards, this is a world class feat, given the not-too-impressive state, across the board, of Nigeria’s health care system.

    But the feat was not happenstance. It came because someone, somewhere showed leadership; and able medical professionals rose to the occasion, even at the risk of their own lives.

    Still, as success has many relations and failure is an orphan, bogus claims have been coming as to who and who were responsible for the swift containment of EVD.  In no time, President Goodluck Jonathan and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have corralled the success, and are freely throwing it about on the hustings as a Jonathan Presidency achievement, with an eye on boosting the president’s election chances in 2015.

    To the extent that President Jonathan is both head of the Nigerian state and government, and the containment has happened under his tenure, the glory is his — but only vicariously. However, to go full blast and claim credit, when the president, his men and his party — and indeed all Nigerians — know that the success did not derive from any presidential initiative, is sheer fraud.

    Indeed, the Jonathan presidency manifests perhaps the vilest problem of contemporary Nigeria: the penchant to rush to claim false glory. Such a ruinous mindset is responsible for Nigeria’s debilitating corruption and its wealth-without-work syndrome.

    That brings the matter to Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola’s Independence Day address intervention on the matter. Mr. Fashola should know. It was his initiative and prompt intervention, when the federal authorities were still literally snoring, that saved the day.

    Were roles to be reversed, and the Jonathan presidency was in charge in Lagos, and the Fashola governorship elsewhere, perhaps Lagos and the rest of Nigeria would perhaps now have become endless EVD graves — at least given the condemnable tardiness with which President Jonathan handled the Chibok girls kidnap saga.

    Governor Fashola did well to have dutifully intervened — and naming names of the real Ebola heroes and heroines, not politicians willfully profiting from it: Dr. Adadevoh who lost her life to save her country and who President Jonathan did not even consider meriting a national honour for her heroism, Drs. Ibeawuchi and Igonoh, who contracted Ebola but survived the ordeal; the quad of Dr. Jide Idris, Dr. Yewande Adesina, Dr. Wale Ahmed and Dr. Kayode Oguntimehin, all Lagos State Government officials, who the governor referred to as “first responders”; Dr. Abdul-Salam Nasidi of the National Disease Control Centre, Abuja, Dr. David Brett-Mayor of the World Health Organisation, Prof. S. A. Omilabu, a virologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Peter Adewuyi, that the governor said led the tracing team for the first two weeks of the EVD breakout; and the dedicated team of nurses: Mrs Funmi Lagbokun, Mrs. Modupe Aiyedun Davies, Mrs. Basirat Adeoye, Ms. F.O. Bamgboye, Mrs. K. O. Oshisanya, Mrs. Kazeem Abioye, Mrs. Abiola Lasaki and Mrs. K. Adesina.

    The governor has done well by giving these names. They are authentic national heroes, in the cause of their routine duties.

    For the political leadership, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, Minister of Health, also deserves his place in the sun, for ensuring Federal-Lagos State cooperation while the battle was hot.

    But the greatest accolade goes to Mr. Fashola himself. He proved that with prompt, efficient and effective leadership, Nigerians are as capable as any other people in the world.

     

  • Sell them now!

    Sell them now!

    We wonder what the Federal Government is still doing with our moribund refineries

    IF Nigerians still harboured any pretension that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) would ever get the nation’s four refineries to function optimally, the latest figures emanating from the corporation ought to settle that. We refer to the corporation’s record of output for the month of June, which shows the combined refineries delivering a measly 10.46 percent of their installed capacities.

    That month, for instance, we are told that the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) could not produce a litre of fuel. The two refineries in Port Harcourt could at best deliver an average of 17.96 per cent. As for the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), the best it could was a mere 13.44 per cent of installed capacity. In other words, out of the 445,000 barrels per day combined capacity of the refineries, they could only deliver 10 percent.

    In 2012, that is two years ago, the same refineries operated at an average of 31.1 per cent capacity.

    The situation prompted the petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to declare at the sidelines of the June 2012 meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, Austria, that: “At this point in time, we are trying to ensure that our refined petroleum products are produced in the country within the next 24 months or so. To do that, we need to do the TAM of the refineries that we already have on ground, we have already moved into the first phase of the TAM of Port Harcourt, using the original people that built them. So, at the end of this year, Port Harcourt should be up to 90 percent capacity and by the end of 2013, Kaduna, and then Warri will follow suit.”

    The TAM was expected to have cost the nation $1.6 billion. And that was long after two of the refineries – the one in Port Harcourt and Kaduna – were sold by the departing Obasanjo administration for $700 million in 2007, only for the sale to be reversed by the Yar’Adua administration later that same year.

    The point made in our earlier editorial bears reiteration here: the refineries have become drain-pipes that the nation hardly needs.

    We understand all the arguments that have been made against their sale. Most of them are no doubt persuasive, particularly those about not selling these vital assets to cronies of top officials of government at give-away prices. Fears about possible lack of observance of due process in the sale process have also been expressed. These issues, with due respect, are simply more ideological than economic. They are unhelpful to the cause of charting the way forward. A better way to frame the issue is to ask whether it makes sense to continue to pump public funds into the refineries even when there are no guarantees that the NNPC or the Federal Government can ever get them to deliver real value.

    And who benefits from the current situation? Are these not the middlemen, contractors and their allies in the bureaucracy who see TAMs, as avenues to milk the nation dry? How does the economy which continues to shell out fortunes on imported fuel at great costs to its stock of foreign reserves benefit? Or the ordinary citizen on whose benefit the contraptions that are as good as scraps are supposedly held in trust?

    Is it not better to sell the refineries to willing private investors to stop the current haemorrhaging of the public till? For, while it is bad enough that the nation continues to live in the illusion that it owns refineries, the fact of the matter is that it has nothing of refining capacity to boast of. Most unfortunately, the scarce funds which could have been used in other sectors are pressed to service that corruption infrastructure that they have become.

    As it is, the nation would lose nothing by selling the refineries. Rather, it would relieve the treasury of the burden of the so-called TAMs that are nothing but drain-pipes.

  • The N213bn question

    The N213bn question

    •Why would govt want to give this huge sum to privatised power firms?

    ABOUT one year after the privatisation of Nigeria’s power sector, we are today at the threshold of disbursing a whopping N213 billion to the privately held firms. Shall we say this is the gain Nigerians have reaped from the divestment?

    Nothing else seems to have changed for the beleaguered consumer who for decades has borne the brunt of government’s ineptitude and mindless official graft that has been the bane of the power sector. Tariff has been reviewed upwards twice in the last one year while power supply has dropped in most places. Unannounced outages remain the norm. Prepaid metering which had started in earnest before divestment has been kept in abeyance while bills have become even more arbitrary and crazy now more than ever before.

    The institutional troubles besetting Nigeria’s electricity generation, transmission and distribution have not by any chance been scratched by the change of guards of November 1, 2013; the problems merely changed hands. The same troubles have remained at every leg of the power value chain.

    While some generation capacity has been achieved, it cannot be deployed because of the same old reason of inadequate gas supply to new plants. Transmission facilities are antiquated and inadequate. They are said to be undergoing frantic upgrade by the new holding firm, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). In like manner, the distribution arm of the chain suffers from the same acute obsolescence.

    To illustrate this gridlock in Nigeria’s power grid, what it means is that if more power is generated (as indeed it is), it cannot be fed into the national transmission grid because it lacks the capacity to carry much more now. And if perchance it does carry more, it may be difficult to discharge and distribute the wattages to the end-user because most of the present transformers and cables are not of this era. This is the sad tale of the Nigerian power sector today.

    The question then is: what has happened in the last one year after the transfer of national power assets to private owners? Why have there not been some massive upgrade, refurbishment and replacement of facilities by the new owners? This may well be the crux of the matter: the power reform process is said to have been fraught with discrepancies and had been less than transparent. In other words, the generating and distribution companies (GENCOs and DISCOs ) have been parceled to the wrong elements that have neither capital nor expertise to drive such a crucial sector of the economy.

    For instance, most of the so-called investors had borrowed from banks to purchase the assets and are either borrowing more or are applying the yields from the acquired firms to service the debts. They have made little investments of their own. And because they are cronies and party stalwarts who hurriedly ramped up special purpose firms to buy up the power assets, they are either balking at investing or they have no funds of their own to throw in. Either way, it does not matter because they do not have any personal stakes in the business. In fact some of them are actually already creaming off the paltry yields from the DISCOs and GENCOs.

    As it stands, the Federal Government is  stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. The new owners hold the nation to ransom and government cannot move against them to revoke their licenses because the scenario is akin to what the legendary Afrobeat musician Fela, described as ‘paddy-paddy’ business. Not after the divestment exercise had been hailed as the ‘biggest’ and perhaps the best in the world.

    The result of all these: government is shovelling a mind-boggling sum of N213 billion into a privatised power sector in what it nebulously termed ‘intervention fund’. Explaining this new move, Sam Amadi, Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC said the fund provided by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is for the financial viability of the sector and not “intervention as subsidy.” He said further that it is not coming from taxpayer or crude oil revenue.

    We ask: where is the CBN getting this huge sum from? Would these private firms repay the money? Was there no due diligence before the power assets were acquired? Was this fund approved by the National Assembly? Would the CBN intervene in other private sector concerns? Questions and many more un-asked questions in this murky power business.

  • Case for community policing

    Case for community policing

    In the face of rising crime rates and increasingly diverse and complex problems in the society, the traditional model of policing has come to be viewed as an ineffective approach to fighting crime. In the light of this, an approach to policing that places great emphasis on police-community relations, and on the usefulness of engaging the community in problem identification and solving efforts, has emerged under the banner of “community policing”. Most countries, especially those in the advanced democracies of the world, have adopted the community policing model of law enforcement as an effective strategy for fighting crime and criminality.

    Traditionally, police outfits have responded to crime after it had occurred and, therefore, are structured to support routine patrols, rapid response to calls for assistance from danger, arrests, and follow-up investigations. Community policing, on the other hand, calls for a more strategic and thoughtful incorporation of all these aspects of police business into an overall broader police mission focused on the proactive prevention of crime and disorder. In a nutshell, community policing rests on the belief that law-abiding citizens in the community have a responsibility to participate in the police process.

    In 2004, community policing was introduced in Nigeria under IGP Tafa Balogun. The endeavour was an attempt by the Nigeria Police Force to improve on its performance. It was the Force’s effort to change crime prevention and control to a modern and professional policing capable of providing maximum security to lives and property in Nigeria. Unfortunately, community policing culture has failed to make any meaningful impact in the Nigerian environment due largely to corruption, institutional constraints (police officers’ resistance to community policing), inadequate manpower (both in strength and expertise), insufficient education and training, inadequate equipment, and poor conditions of service of the average policeman.

    No doubt, the ultimate success of community policing in Nigeria will depend on the effective implementation of the following programmes; (i) Weeding out corrupt elements in the police force; (ii) implementing a comprehensive strategy to overcome the challenges that may militate against instituting community policing by addressing issues like community participation in community policing, community policing as an anti-corruption tool, human resource development for community policing and decentralizing policing duties and responsibilities. It also includes restructuring police formations and computing the actual cost of executing community policing operations in Nigeria. Other aspects of the programme must include a comprehensive training and re-training of the entire police force on the philosophy and culture of community policing, as well as the education, counseling and sensitization of the citizenry on the practice of community policing, including their roles as participants in the fight against crime and criminality in the society.

    There is no doubt that Suleiman Abba is on the right track as far as the quest to put a handle on crime and criminality is concerned in Nigeria. His vision for community policing is spot on. Community policing has the capacity to break down the barriers separating the police from the public in crime prevention and control matters, while inculcating in police officers a broader set of community service ideals. As a matter of fact, community policing will promote and support organizational strategies to address the causes of crime, to reduce the fear of crime and social disorder through problem-solving tactics and community-police partnerships.

     

    • Nkem Ibekwe,

    Abuja.

     

  • The $5.7m arms deal

    The $5.7m arms deal

    Coming on the heels of the $9.3m similar scandal, calls for caution in taking reprisal actions against S/Africa

    The Jonathan presidency appears very prone to scandals. The frequency has now become so casual that historians in years to come, referencing Nigeria of this era, may refer to it as one of ‘one week, one trouble’. Last week, just as Nigerians were trying to make sense of the senseless hauling of humongous $9.3 million cash, illegally into South Africa, for so-called arms deal, in a private citizen’s aircraft, another scandal broke that South Africa has again seized another $5.7 million, also paid under questionable circumstances to a South African firm, for arms. While the Nigerian government is fretting and threatening retaliatory measures, the South African government is subjecting the monies to investigation.

    Just like in the first instance, there have been babbles of official reaction. But, why has Nigeria, which was once respected as the undisputed leader of Africa, become an object of international ridicule, even in Africa? While South Africa is invoking its laws, which allegedly have been broken by the alleged arms transaction, Nigeria on its part is threatening to deal with South Africa’s economic interests in Nigeria, for what it considers orchestrated diplomatic embarrassment by South Africa. Without equivocation, these developments go to confirm that Nigeria’s diplomatic standing in the comity of nations has fallen very low, for the status of a nation determines how she is treated by others under international relations. To stem the tide, those who are in charge of our country must rise up to reclaiming our international glory.

    Even while awaiting findings from South Africa, the two alleged arms transactions unfortunately show that our government officials have been very tardy over the so-called arms purchase transactions. While the ugly side of Nigeria was clearly exposed by the handlers of the $9.3 million, who illegally moved into South Africa such amount of money without any diplomatic cover, the second transaction shows tardiness, if as claimed by officials of the Federal Government that the company which was paid to supply the arms, shortly after lost the capacity to deliver. From the reports in the press it appears Nigerian officials who packaged the alleged arms transaction did not do a due diligence over the South African firm before entering into such an important contract, as they claimed.

    Before blaming South Africa for adding to our woes, our officials should note that the proximity of the two incidents also raises a legitimate alarm on the part of the South Africans, which entitles them to call for thorough investigation. While how and when their country turned to a haven for shady arms deals should be a source of worry to them, the fact that the Nigerian government in two quick successions has become a subject of investigation over arms transaction should worry our government, with regards to efficiency. What Nigeria is entitled to is to demand the application of the rule of law in the two cases and where applicable, international standards in the investigations. We think it would be unfair for Nigeria to demand that South Africa should ignore their local laws, or exercise them in a manner that is untoward, merely to cover Nigeria’s own shortcomings. The fact that we do many things with impunity in our country does not mean we should be angry with another country that believes in the sanctity of its own laws.

    We also disagree with the threat made by the National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki, that Nigeria would resort to strong arm tactics against South Africans’ economic interests in Nigeria, in retaliation for the monies seized by South Africa. While such tactics fall into what is referred to as real- politik in international relations, such a threat can only be legitimate where it is established that South Africa is extending similar unfavourable diplomatic standards to Nigerian companies doing business in that country. But, if as in the current imbroglio, Nigeria through her own inefficiencies or through unlawful conducts exposes herself to losses; it should bow its head in regret and work against a repeat of such tardiness the next time. That is the honourable thing to do, not bare-knuckle diplomacy, which may further ridicule the country in the comity of nations.

    As we have always argued, the Jonathan presidency must show by its conduct that it deserves the high office it occupies. While it should work hard to overcome the security challenges facing our country, we doubt whether in pursuit of that, it should resort to all manner of tactics. Indeed, if our reputation is secure as it should be, we fail to understand how any decent country would deny Nigeria access to arms, if we sought to buy. After all Nigeria has been always at the behest of the United Nations in quelling crisis across the world. So, why would South Africa, which Nigeria spent huge material and diplomatic resources to rescue from apartheid, refuse us arms, if we make a legitimate demand?

  • Mbu again!

    Mbu again!

    •A police officer who says he is a ‘lion’ gets angry for being referred to as ‘controversial’ 

    What a wonderful world! So, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu does not want to be remembered or referred to as a ‘controversial’ cop, yet he went the extra mile to acquire that ‘title’ during his tenure as commissioner of police in Rivers State? It took a reporter-cum presenter of the African Independent Television (AIT) to refer to the former police commissioner (now an assistant inspector-general of police), to see his red eyes. The journalist, Amaechi Anakwe, must have thought his reference to Mr Mbu as ‘controversial’ on the television programme, “Matters Arising”, was fair comment, which it really was; but Mr Mbu thought otherwise and ordered that Anakwe be detained.

    In their haste to teach an ‘errant’ journalist a lesson, and perhaps to show their lack of knowledge of the law, the Zone 7 Police Command which Mr Mbu heads could not even address the invitation to Anakwe properly, as they initially sent it to him in his private capacity. It was after the AIT management pointed this technical deficiency out that they dispatched another letter of invitation to the media house, following which the organisation released Anakwe and the company’s chief security officer to honour the police invitation.

    The good thing though is that the matter has now become history as a senior magistrate’s court in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja last week Friday, discharged the reporter who was sued by the police for alleged defamation of character, after the prosecutor asked that the matter be discontinued. The police apparently saw, even if belatedly, the hopelessness in pursuing the matter.

    But that such an incident happened at all is deplorable. It is a reflection of the culture of impunity that has gained ascendancy in the Jonathan administration, as well as the abuse of office which Mr Mbu has become incessantly notorious for. As an AIG, Mr Mbu should have known what constitutes defamation of character; he ought to have known that referring to someone as ‘controversial’ does not necessarily fall under this heading.

    It would interest Mr Mbu to know that if ever any Nigerian police officer qualifies to be called ‘controversial’, he is; and that is defensible. The way and manner he carried out his assignments in Oyo and Rivers states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory, leaves no one in doubt that he deserves the appellation.

    Indeed, only a few weeks back, he announced with glee that he is a “lion” who tamed the “leopard” in Port Harcourt, referring to Governor Rotimi Amaechi, with whom he had running battles throughout his tenure as the state police commissioner, and even after.  Many observers of Mbu’s career in the state concluded that he was more of a politician ready to make President Goodluck Jonathan’s wife’s wish his command. He wantonly disrupted legislative operations in the state even as he dislodged peaceful protesters perceived to belong to the opposition. When he was eventually transferred from Rivers State to the FCT, he still could not hide his bias for the government with his attack on unarmed campaigners of #BringBackOurGirls.

    Evidently, Mr. Mbu has come decades late as it is impossible for him to enjoy the kind of impunity he cherishes as a police officer. He must be ruing why he is a police boss at this age when emphasis is on the rule of law and due process.

    If a police officer with his kind of record does not want to be called controversial, then no one else would qualify for that appellation. We wonder why a self-acclaimed “lion” would pick offence at someone merely referring to him as ‘controversial’.  How many of Mr Mbu’s contemporaries are in focus for the wrong reasons as he is, due to the unprofessional manner he has been discharging his assignments in the locations he served before his promotion? If Mr Mbu does not want to be called ‘Mr Controversial’, then he should mend his ways. As the saying goes, ‘he who does not want to get wet should not go near the brook’.

  • Felicia Oluwaremilekun Oyo (1952-2014)

    Felicia Oluwaremilekun Oyo (1952-2014)

    • An Amazon of Nigerian journalism departs

    The noble chambers of Nigerian journalism were markedly affected by the death, last week, of Dame Remi Oyo, one of its most distinguished yet profoundly unassuming practitioners. Even in a profession which had more than its fair share of outstanding individuals, she stood out for her pioneering spirit, her dedication to duty, and her unwavering commitment to the professional and moral development of others.

    Dame Remi’s journalistic career was built on the twin pillars of electronic broadcasting and news agency reporting. She joined the then Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) in 1973, leaving in 1981 for the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) to become Desk Editor. Four years later, she left the agency as Principal Editor, the first woman ever to attain the position. She then went on to Inter Press News Agency as its Nigerian Bureau Chief, eventually becoming its West African Bureau Chief. Working in an era which predated the age of information technology, Dame Remi demonstrated the speed, accuracy and comprehensiveness that were essential to the news agency reporting of the time.

    While she was making her mark in the field of news agency journalism, Dame Remi was also carving out a previously-untrodden path for women in the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Nigeria’s pre-eminent professional association for editors. She was the guild’s first female secretary and its first female president. These magnificent achievements, coming as they did in an industry overwhelmingly dominated by men, is ample testimony to the excellence she brought to the performance of her duties.

    During her tenure as NGE President, she established a befitting secretariat for the guild, and helped to initiate capacity-building programmes which saw the blossoming of individuals who have gone on to become stars of the journalism profession. In the heady days of the return to civilian rule, it was Dame Remi’s level-headedness and good sense which ensured that the journalists were able to take full advantages of the freedoms that were newly available to them in the wake of democracy’s return.

    Her appointment as Senior Special Assistant (SSA, Media and Publicity) to President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003 was an opportunity to bring her many talents to bear upon a position that was something of a poisoned chalice. Most of the previous occupants of the position had been dismissed as charlatans in the popular eye, no thanks to their tendency to see it as a licence to pour invective upon anyone perceived as opposed to their principal.

    Again the first lady to occupy the position, Dame Remi gave the SSA’s office the dignity and respect that it deserved. She ensured that the views and activities of government were publicised clearly, comprehensively and professionally. Local and foreign journalists came to rely upon her perpetual readiness to assist when they required information or access. Press conferences organised by her office were exemplary for their promptness and efficiency. Good news was announced without crowing; bad news was delivered with appropriate decorum. Such was her success that Dame Remi’s reputation was further enhanced by her tenure as SSA, in spite of the often-unsavory standing of the Obasanjo regime.

    In 2007, Dame Remi’s career moved full circle when she returned to NAN as its Managing Director. The agency had been badly-hit by the rise of the internet age; it faced a shrinking clientele and a growing perception that it was no longer relevant in the scheme of things. Her response was to re-position the agency to be better able to take advantage of new developments in information technology and provide new services in order to ensure its continued relevance. The success of this strategy has been seen in NAN’s increased customer base and heightened profile.

    Dame Remi Oyo was a rare breed of journalist: a committed professional who was also a genuinely warm person. May her soul rest in peace.

  • Mental illness as time bomb

    Mental illness as time bomb

    SIR: Today, October 10, is World Mental Health Day, a day set aside by the World Health Organisation (WHO), to raise awareness of mental health issues and mobilize efforts in its support. The day is meant to create an avenue for all stakeholders on mental health issues to freely discuss and share experiences about their job. This is quite important in view of a recent research which reveals that about 240 million people across the world experience depression and other symptoms of mental illness during their lifetime. Thus, if not properly addressed, mental illness could as well turn out to be a time bomb waiting to explode in an already troubled world.

    Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions that often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life. Serious mental illnesses include major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and borderline personality disorder.  Mental illnesses can affect persons of any age, race, religion, or income. Mental illnesses are not the result of personal weakness, lack of character or poor upbringing.

    The causes of mental illness are complex and vary depending on the particular disorder and individuals. Genetics, early development, drugs, a loss of family member, disease or injury, neurocognitive and psychological mechanisms, and life experiences, society and culture, can all contribute to the development or progression of different mental disorders in people. The most common view, however, is that mental disorder tend to result from genetic vulnerabilities and environmental stressors combining to cause patterns of dysfunction or trigger disorder.

    No matter how seemingly the effects of mental health issues are, whether it is depression, epilepsy, dementia alcohol dependence or death, they can be managed effectively with the affected individual living a reasonably normal life.

    In Lagos, an average of 14.1 percent of the total population suffers from one mental case or the other. It was this realisation that, perhaps, made the state government to adopt a policy that aims to respect the rights of residents with mental disorder. The objective is to guarantee social justice and equity for victims of mental illness as well as ensuring that the rights of people suffering from mental disorders are respected. This new approach by the state government includes sufficient and detailed strategies aimed at reducing the impact of mental health in the state.  The basic components of the state’s mental health policy include promotion aimed at conducting awareness programmes and educating the people on the effects of substance and alcohol abuse, primary care and access to services, treatment guidelines at health care level, services for people with severe mental illness, reduction of workplace stress and the risk of suicides and human resources for mental health.

    We have for long allowed stigma and a now unwarranted sense of hopelessness to erect attitudinal, structural and financial barriers to effective treatment and recovery of victims of mental illness. It is hoped that the occasion of this year’s World Mental Health Day would help, in small way, to break down these barriers.

     

    • Tayo Ogunbiyi

    Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.