The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Life expectancy

    Life expectancy

    •Although this is said to be improving in Nigeria, it is still not good enough

    Despite the stressful lifestyle most Nigerians go through daily, it is surprising that life expectancy has reportedly improved in the country by eight years. Hitherto, the country’s life expectancy since 1990 has been 46 years. But the 2014 report of World Health Statistics (WHS) that has just been released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that the nation’s life expectancy is now 54. This is however still an appalling improvement considering the enormity of resources at the nation’s disposal that could have been deployed to improve medical standards and healthy habits necessary to prolong human life span.

    Life expectancy is crucial to national development and growth, being the number of years lived in good health by citizens. By this latest report, when a citizen dies at any point before 54 years in Nigeria, such death is considered as premature. This is why the ratio of occurred deaths below this age should not be higher, otherwise, Nigeria would be deemed to be relapsing in life expectancy. We know that death is inevitable but we are aware that medical science has proved that human life span can be prolonged through quality lifestyle and affordable medical care necessary to reduce the risk of early death.

    We doubt whether the prevailing harsh economic realities staring Nigerians in the face provide the congenial atmosphere necessary for healthy living. The pathetic state of most teaching hospitals and primary healthcare centres compounds the health woes of Nigerians. The  government’s commitment to health services and treatments, despite the huge budgetary investment in health, is suspect. For this reason, most preventable diseases have degenerated in most Nigerians, leading unfortunately, to their untimely deaths.

    Also, most avoidable health challenges, including malaria, tuberculosis and heart diseases, cirrhosis of the liver, diarrhoeal and Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), among others, as depicted in the report, are rampant in the land. They have become major sources of most premature deaths of recent. And when this is juxtaposed with government’s insufficient efforts in the health sector, it is curious to note that WHO could adduce a report projecting the country as improving in her life expectancy. Yet, we are aware that WHS, published since 2005 by WHO, so far, remains a reliable global source of information on peoples health in 194 countries.

    Particularly heart-warming is the revelation that Nigerian women still live longer than men in spite of the rampancy of child birth deaths, among others. But this should not detract from the fact that we still need to do more; partly by citizens – by embracing a healthy lifestyle and; largely by governments – through the provision of better and affordable medical care facilities in the country. It is sad to note that Liberia, Ethiopia and Rwanda are doing far better than Nigeria in this regard. How can these two African countries that are still recuperating from the ruins of war be recorded as having better life expectancy than Nigeria? Something fundamental is definitely wrong somewhere!

    All said, life expectancy of 54 years is an improvement though, but it is something that is too shameful to be celebrated by a country that professes to be the ‘giant of Africa’. If the average life expectancy of citizens in some other  countries with less resources than Nigeria is 80, with Japan, an Asian country topping global life expectancy record with 87 years, nothing stops Nigeria from reaching a considerable life expectancy height in the nearest future, with proper health/medical planning and purposeful direction.

     

  • SANs and corrupt judges

    SANs and corrupt judges

    •CJN’s criticism of the senior advocates is understandable  

    The assertion by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukhtar (CJN) that Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) who defend corrupt judges are equally guilty of corruption is a weighty indictment of her frustration with the judicial process. For, ordinarily, under our judicial system, courts encourage the appointment of pro bono counsel to defend the poor, charged with criminal offence. But corrupt judges understandably are a different kettle of fish, for most of them are stupendously rich, and can afford to hire the best legal minds to marshal their defence.  So what is likely irking the CJN is the effort by such lawyers to employ subterfuge and filibustering to frustrate the prosecution of corrupt judges.

    In essence, the CJN is throwing the dice back at those who accuse the judiciary of corruption, to say that, the fight against the heinous crime of corruption in the judiciary cannot be left to the administrative and judicial authorities alone. Justice Aloma Muhktar, who doubles as the Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC), the body constitutionally charged with the discipline of judges spoke at the Judicial Reforms Conference co-organised by the Nigerian Bar Association.

    In her remarks, she said “we (the NJC) receive petitions and we have always tried to hear from both sides. But many times many affected judges complain that they are not given fair hearing. Some will come with as many as six SANs. Those SANs who go with them are equally guilty”. She also said: “the NJC is trying its best to ensure that those that are corrupt or that have cases of misconduct proved against them are shown the way out”.

    As head of the judiciary, Justice Mukhtar cannot be averse to the intricate adversary judicial process that we practice, which deems an accused innocent until proven guilty, neither could she be opposed to the fundamental right of an accused to be defended by a counsel of his or her choice. We believe that the point the learned CJN is making is not that we should not follow the law, but that we should not use the law to frustrate the society, and we agree with her on that. That perhaps explains why the constitution imbues the NJC with a quasi-judicial authority to, among other things, discipline corrupt judges. The body populated mainly by judges and lawyers is like a peer review, but with the constitutional power to sanction.

    Because we believe that it will also be constitutionally impossible to limit the intervention of the courts and the lawyers in the process of dealing with corruption in the judiciary, we think the solution lies with strengthening the criminal justice system of which the judicial process is the anchor. That is perhaps why the indictment of senior lawyers by the learned CJN should also extend to other institutions in the administration of our criminal justice process. For, it is this tenuous criminal justice process that lawyers exploit to compound the difficult effort by the NJC to bring indicted corrupt judges to book, whether at the administrative level or even when the matter is adjudicated in the open court.

    Indeed, we believe that if forensic evidence is procured indicting a judge; and the trial court/administrative authority is untainted, then it will be difficult for any lawyer to employ any antics to frustrate the process. We also appreciate that the learned CJN was by her exhortations urging lawyers to exert moral rectitude in their business; after all they are first and foremost officers in the temple of justice. The import is that no effort should be spared to cleanse the judiciary of corruption.

  • Govt-contrived fuel crisis?

    Govt-contrived fuel crisis?

    •Only this can explain why fuel importers can be owed a staggering N300bn

    Will the Federal Government ever be able to inter the ghost of contrived scarcity of petroleum products? In the wake of fresh reports that the club of fuel importers are bracing up for another cycle of showdown over non-payment of subsidy claims, the question has become pertinent. Last week, some reports actually put the amount outstanding to the marketers at about N300 billion.

    As a result, some of them are threatening to shun importation for the third quarter. Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, admitted much to the fact of backlog of the bills when she stated that payment of claims to verified marketers, amounting to N45 billion, was ongoing.

    Nigerians are now familiar with the ding-dong game between the Federal Government and its partners in the fuel import bazaar. Ever since the last failed attempt by the government to ram the removal of subsidy agenda down their throats, Nigerians appear unlikely to see the last of the episodic simulation of crises in the downstream petroleum sector anytime soon.

    The story today is that the fuel supply chain is under threat – courtesy of endless verifications and interminable procedures put in place by the finance ministry. Claims running into N300 billion are said to be locked in, with grave implications for fuel supply.

    To start with, the story would probably have made sense if at the end, Nigerians are guaranteed that what is paid for from the treasury actually represent the value of fuel brought in by the marketers. The truth however is that this is ever hardly the case, which then raises the question about what the procedures seek to achieve.

    Of greater concern to us however is that the Federal Government has shown neither the interest, nor the willingness to resolve the fuel-supply conundrum in any fundamental sense. It prefers, instead, to latch on to the lingering hope that wearied citizens would, somehow, surrender to it the final word on the subsidy question.

    It seems to us that Nigerians are even  less likely now to accept the subsidy-removal pill than they were in January 2012, precisely because the Federal Government, aside failing to earn their trust, continues to demonstrate benumbing capacity for bad faith. Notable examples in this regard are, the failure to start work on the three proposed Greenfield refineries; the dumping of the recommendations of the 22-man panel led by former finance minister Kalu Idika Kalu on the overhaul and privatisation of the nation’s four refineries; and not least, its failure to clean up the monumental corruption in the petroleum sector.

    How the Federal Government handles the issue of the outstanding claims to the marketers is entirely its business. From the amount, we see very little chance that the marketers would be able to bring in new cargoes – a situation which leaves the government the only wise option of expediting action on the claims.

    We may well add that neither the Federal Government nor the marketers deserve our empathy; the fuel importers for exploiting the weakness of the industry to make illicit gain; and the government for not moving in the right direction in terms of driving a virile downstream sector, the result of which OPEC’s sixth largest producer of crude oil relies almost entirely on importation of refined products. To the extent that the latter is at the heart of the cyclic crisis, both would remain, in our view, equally complicit.

  • Democracy of soldiers

    Democracy of soldiers

    • Whether to cause mayhem, guarantee election or an impeachment, deployment of soldiers endangers this political order

    We live in what is clearly on the surface a civilian dispensation. But how come we have soldiers as formidable and even ominous presences today? Is the civil order ceding its preeminence to the logic of primitive force?

    This conundrum stalks us as a nation today. Just over a week ago, on the streets of Lagos, soldiers sparked into rampage and parts of Nigeria’s biggest city, precisely Ikorodu Road, was held hostage to beatings, harassments, mauling and murder. It was a case of footloose impunity.

    The beginning of the story was rather clumsy. A BRT driver reportedly killed a soldier on an okada riding on the BRT lane, forbidden for other commuters. The soldier died. That provoked the soldiers to fury, and they surged onto the main arteries in a part of the city, and descended on all BRT buses they could lay their hands on.

    In the end, they mauled some of the BRT drivers and murdered two. They also made a bonfire of some of the buses. They returned to their barracks after the carnage.

    This is, to say the least, an irresponsible act by those employed on tax payers’ sweat to protect the country. Soldiers are not expected in decent environments to operate in civil societies except in states of emergency, and such instances are rare.

    But that act of high-handed butchery was inexcusable. Granted that the BRT driver killed the soldier, and the fellow military had a right to be enraged. The way to pursue their indignation was not to take the laws into their hands as they did in the previous weekend. The BRT driver ought to have been prosecuted, and a thorough investigation would have shown whether the BRT killed the soldier as an act of manslaughter or deliberate foolishness.

    That would have saved us the carnage and the disgrace to which they exposed the military institution. They also by their acts tarnished a force that has paraded many men and women of honour over the years.

    Yet we are surprised that the military brass has not condemned the act. Rather, the public relations officer of the Nigerian Army said it was not the soldiers that fomented the primitive show. “It’s not true that soldiers destroyed buses or set any bus on fire,” he said. “What happened was that a BRT bus knocked down a soldier and killed him. As usual in Lagos, so area boys and a few soldiers stopped at the scene. The GOC has dispatched military policemen to the scene to help restore order.”

    That sort of language of denial does not elevate the dignity of the army. All witnesses, including media reporters unanimously testify to the culprits as men in uniform. Pictures also abound to corroborate the incidents. Apart from the buses that burned down to skeleton and the two persons killed, a sense of panic gripped the citizens on Ikorodu Road during the unfortunate episode.

    We see no reason why citizens would lie against the army and we see also no justification for the soldier not to accept what went wrong and hold its men to account.

    What happened is a reflection of the length to which the military has been allowed to intrude on the civil order. Since they left the corridors of power in 1999, the civilian political class has not pried itself loose from the strings of the army. It has resorted to various acts of fiat in defiance of the constitution, and this has led to the employment and deployment of soldiers. This has become routine, and it increasingly teases the soldiers out of their traditional role as guarantors of the territorial integrity of the nation.

    We witnessed similar show of military force in the recently held Ekiti election. Prior to the election, soldiers were deployed for partial acts of impunity. While some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) bigwigs had thoroughfare into the state, the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) bigwigs were barred from entering to attend legitimate campaigns. This invoked past debates about diarchy in the country, which is a misnomer.

    Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State reported he was barred from any access once he arrived the Akure Airport. A captain with gun-toting men said they were acting on orders to stop him. He reportedly watched while the defence minister of state, Musiliu Obanikoro, cruised through on his way to Ekiti State.

    This is not just a case of the military being deployed to intimidate the opposition in a binary political order of two parties, but also to intimidate the citizens. Inside Ekiti State, soldiers were deployed everywhere. Although the election proper was adjudged fair, the process did not rise up to civilised standard because of the air of intimidation and regimentation.

    In Adamawa State, soldiers were also ordered to surround the residence of the chief judge of the state because of the sword of impeachment Damocles hanging over the state governor Murtala Nyako. Whatever warranted such an air of terror is not clear.

    It is obvious that the soldiers have taken up roles that traditionally belong to the police force. What this means is that the civilian authorities have done little in the way of enriching the principal ingredient of political order: adherence to the supremacy of the rule of law.

    Secondly, the pervasive presence of soldiers imbues the civil society with a sense of force as normal. During the anti-subsidy riots and shutdown of many cities in the country, we also witnessed the show of force by the soldiers in Lagos. This bred great resentment in a people who saw it as throwback to a forbidden era when a few uniformed men struck terror down the spines of a nation. The Jonathan administration was not able to justify its argument that the Lagos State Government requested the Federal Government for the troops.

    This is democracy, and when soldiers increasingly act as though they are not subordinated to civil authority or when the political brass uses them as cynical instrument to mow down opposition, we have in our hands a system roiling with poor portents for tomorrow.

     

  • Restore trust to douse the fire in Gaza

    Restore trust to douse the fire in Gaza

    THE LATEST mini-war between Israel and the Hamas movement is as unwinnable for either side as previous rounds in 2009 and 2012. Though it has stockpiled thousands of rockets and some longer-range missiles, Hamas lacks the ability to inflict serious damage or casualties; a new anti-missile system has blocked most of the warheads headed toward Tel Aviv and other populous areas. Israel, for its part, can target Hamas commanders and infrastructure in Gaza but probably can’t entirely silence the rocket launchers. A ground invasion of Gaza, for which troops are now being mustered, would cause heavy casualties and, if it destroyed Hamas, leave Israel with the task of governing the territory and its nearly 2 million people.

    Both sides thus seem to be playing for tactical rather than strategic gains. Israel would like to reduce the military power Hamas has built up since the last conflict, slightly more than 18        months ago; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said his aim was to stop the rocket attacks and restore “quiet.” Hamas hopes to win concessions, including the release of operatives recently rounded up by Israel and the opening of its border with Egypt, in exchange for a cease-fire.

    Those goals hardly seem worth the bloodshed — nearly 50 people reportedly had been killed in Gaza by late Wednesday, including civilians — or the economic losses to both Palestinians and Israelis. In fact, neither side wanted war. Hamas had just agreed to back a united Palestinian government with the West Bank-based Fatah movement, while Israel quietly offered a truce before the escalation of hostilities on Sunday. As so often happens in the Middle East, acts by extremists forced these events: the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers allegedly by Hamas militants apparently acting on their own; the revenge murder of a Palestinian by Israeli thugs; the initial firing of rockets from Gaza by small militant groups challenging Hamas’s authority.

    The first imperative in these circumstances is to stop the fighting before it escalates beyond the control of either side. That will be harder than in 2012, when the Obama administration teamed with Egypt’s then-Islamist government, but contacts at least have begun. The larger challenge will be finding a way forward from what, before the new fighting, was already a dangerous low point in Israeli-Palestinian relations. Since the collapse of U.S.-sponsored peace talks in April, both sides have been gravitating toward militant strategies: Israel is contemplating new settlement construction, while Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is relaunching his campaign to obtain Palestinian membership in international organizations, such as the International Criminal Court, that then can be directed against Israel.

    Obama administration officials argue that this deterioration proves that it was right to pursue a comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement. In our view, the failed U.S. effort, with its tight timetable and disregard for the obvious unwillingness of leaders on both sides, merely raised expectations that could not be met, making a backlash inevitable. What’s needed is not another diplomatic blitz but a more patient, incremental and sustainable effort to restore trust between Israelis and Palestinians, improve economic conditions in the West Bank and Gaza, and create the foundations for an eventual settlement. That is if the fire in Gaza can be put out.

     

    Washington Post

  • Soyinka is 80

    Soyinka is 80

    Hooray to the dramatist, poet, novelist, mythologist, essayist, memoirist, wordsmith, human rights avatar and culture icon…

    It was positively symbolic and significant that the prestigious $20,000 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa was presented to this year’s winner in Lagos, a few days to the 80th birthday, on July 13, of the colossus of letters that the award celebrates. Also, it was a fitting and remarkable coincidence that the genre considered for the fifth edition of the biennial celebration of literary brilliance on the continent was Soyinka’s own forte, drama. What is more, the illustrious Nigerian playwright and the first African Nobel Laureate in Literature brought his radiance to the event and crowned the prize winner.

    Interestingly, his remarks on the occasion bore the striking features of his life of adventure and social activism. He was quoted as saying: “I am going into the forest to celebrate my birthday. I invite you all. But bring your own weapons, because most of them are in the wrong hands.”

    Given his acknowledged mental fecundity and his acclaimed creative imagination, it is possible that Soyinka intended layers of meaning. Did his words, for instance, represent an allusion to the notorious Sambisa Forest in Borno State where over 200 abducted and still-missing Chibok schoolgirls were believed to have been initially caged by the Islamist terror group Boko Haram? Did he imply that the people have to design their own weapons of resistance to the oppression of power? Or did the weapons take a more biological tone of ferocious fangs, ominous claws and jaws of the wild?

    There is no doubt that Soyinka’s existence continues to emphasise the critical message of universal justice, and he has gone to great and admirable lengths in pursuit of this philosophy, which is best encapsulated by his famous one-liner, “Justice is the first condition of humanity.” It is commendable that he has consistently played the important role of the defender of human freedoms, especially in Nigeria, but also internationally. According to him, “The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism.” It is noteworthy that his conscientious antagonism to the agents of darkness is recognised and respected to the point that his voice is constantly anticipated in response to reactionary forces.

    True to this characterisation, Soyinka has an impressive history of courageous interventions in his country’s trajectory, including in particular his sensational and mind-boggling mediation in the combustible 1960s political crisis in the Western Region, his effort to avert the civil war that raged from 1967 to 1970, his committed opposition to the worst manifestations of military despotism and his unequivocal insistence on a truly democratic, accountable and participatory form of government. It is a testimony to his indomitable spirit that imprisonment and forced exile on account of unmistakable life-threatening danger proved to be weak restraining forces in his lifelong expression of the possibility of a better society.

    Indeed, in Soyinka, there is a rare conflation of the artist and the activist at a superlative level; and the portrait of the fighter is brightly coloured by creative essence. Undoubtedly, in his literary career, the icing on the cake must be the 1986 Nobel Prize for Literature, an honour he received in the same year he was awarded the Agip Prize for Literature. It is worth mentioning that for the Nobel decoration, which is indisputably regarded as the world’s biggest recognition for literary excellence, Soyinka was painted as a master of form and content “who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence.” There is no question that the accomplishment had the quality of a redeeming feature for the black man in a world corrupted by racism.

    However, one recent news-making episode not only demonstrated Soyinka’s heightened sense of decency; it also instructively showed that he was not uncritical and indiscriminate in his acceptance of honour. Notably, he created controversy by his rejection of the centenary award by the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan this year, describing the inclusion of the late military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha, “on the nation’s Roll of Honour”, as “this national insult.”  He delineated Abacha as “a murderer and thief of no redeeming quality,” adding, “I can’t think of nothing more grotesque and derisive of the lifetime struggle of several on this (Honours) List and their selfless services to humanity.”

    At the core of his expansive canonical oeuvre, which significantly reflects the influences of his Yoruba roots and covers drama, poetry, prose, movies and music, are the human condition in the social context and the exploration of truth.  ”Books and all forms of writing are terror to those who wish to suppress the truth,” according to Soyinka, a product of the University College, Ibadan, Nigeria; Leeds University, UK; and the Royal Court Theatre, London. His well- garlanded distinction is validated by the stunning fact that in the almost 30 years since he won the Nobel at age 52, he has not gone cold creatively and remains warm politically.  In the course of of his career, he has blessed this earth with such high-powered works as A Dance of The forest, Death and the King’s Horseman, A Play of Giants, Opera Wonyosi, The Road, Madmen and Specialists, among other plays known for their deep roots in Yoruba and African culture, experimentation of form and at once complex and lucid language. Idanre and Other Poems, A Shuttle In the Crypt, Ogun Abibiman are works of poetry that also stand him out as a man of towering talent and creativity. We cannot forget the heft of his output in prose as novelist and memoirist. At 80, his juices are still in high ferment.

    He is a living proof that the academic can be practical and the public intellectual can make a profound social impact. His distinctive luxuriantly grey Afro and beard complement the substance of his erudition and wisdom; and it is safe to say that his heroic stature is assured.

  • Omisore’s masked marksmen

    Omisore’s masked marksmen

    •Call the Osun PDP candidate to order, if the path to the Osun August 9 election is not to be soaked with innocent blood

    The sight of hooded gunmen on campaign stumps is a sinister contradiction to the democratic ethos, which should alarm everybody. If elections are exercises in free and unfettered choices, then hooded gunmen on campaign grounds are ominous overhang on the electoral process.

    Yet, that is the unfortunate situation in Osun State, where the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Iyiola Omisore, among other candidates, squares up against Governor Rauf Aregbesola on August 9.

    From media alarm raised by the Osun State All Progressives Congress (APC), with a picture as proof, Mr. Omisore has provided himself the notoriety of hiring masked guards. Even the attempt by the Omisore camp to deny this charge was basically a hee-haw which carefully skirted the allegation on the hooded guards. That suggests there is no smoke without fire.

    But why would Mr. Omisore resort to hooded gunmen as guards? Every candidate on the stump has a measure of protection by the state in uniformed police personnel, plain-clothed police operatives, operatives of the Department of State Security and even members of the Civil Defence Corps. That much, the Omisore camp confirmed.

    So, why would Mr. Omisore prefer to supplement his state-provided security with hooded gunmen, even if, as other candidates would probably do, he needed to invest in private security people?

    If he is trailed by a battery of state security operatives, why has any of these not cautioned Mr. Omisore on his abnormal behaviour, or, better still report him to higher authorities? Or could it be a case of proper report but over-ruling “from the top”, given the fact that Jelili Adesiyan, Minister of Police Affairs, is a close ally of Omisore?

    If that is the case, it is yet another example of brazen impunity. It is clearly illegal for anybody bearing legal arms to be masked. A masked gunman connotes nothing but a dangerous felon ready to commit a crime and vamoose, since his or her identity is hidden.

    Despite the failed effort by the Omisore camp to explain away the existence of the masked gunmen, perhaps Mr. Omisore should be given the benefit of the doubt? Maybe.

    But that would be difficult, given Mr. Omisore’s controversial image; and the careless way Minister Adesiyan has been talking of late, of his regret, because he is a minister, for not thrashing Isiaka Adeleke, a former Governor of Osun State.

    That is clearly a language of violence.  If Mr. Omisore and Mr. Adesiyan are close allies, as they indeed are, it would be fair and reasonable projection to posit that Mr. Omisore has been emboldened to bring his hooded gunmen to town because he has assurances from the powers-that-be that his back is covered.

    It is a logical supposition. Still, it remains an allegation. That is why the Federal Government that controls the security forces must probe this allegation; and stop Mr. Omisore from this lawless path, if it finds the allegation true.

    But if it does nothing or acts dumb even after finding out the truth, it would have opened itself to grave allegation of rigging the processes leading to the Osun State election (in which Mr. Omisore is the candidate of the federal ruling party), and would be fairly and legitimately accused of aiding and abetting brazen illegality, unbefitting a government set up by law.

    Osun APC is screaming that Mr. Omisore, with his hooded gunmen, is introducing political terrorism into Nigeria’s electioneering at a time Nigeria is reeling from the destructive effects of Boko Haram terrorism. This is no crying wolf, if the hooded gunmen are matched with Mr. Omisore’s hardly dovish image. It is an alarm at a sinister development that nobody should ignore.

    That is why the Federal Government must call Mr. Omisore to order right away. We will not have Mr. Omisore use lawless means to harass and intimidate voters.

    We will not have hooded gunmen roaming free in campaign stumps; and pretend hideous violence, claiming innocent lives, would not be the inevitable result.

  • No new states, please

    No new states, please

    •The confab’s recommendation of 19 additional states can only compound national problems

    The National Conference is getting to the end of its tenure and the knotty issues are now coming to the fore, with many failing the consensus test. One that has, however, been resolved in the wisdom of the members, is the huge demand for creation of more states. The conference has recommended the creation of 19 more, comprising three from each of the six geo-political zones, and one extra from the South East that currently has five.

    The agitators have argued that the creation could be justified on the need for equity, fair distribution of national resources, taking development to the grassroots, bringing government closer to the people and making public officers more accountable. They have also called attention to existing social and communal tension in parts of the country, and the need to douse such if there must be social, political and economic development.

    These are the same reasons that have been adduced over the years. When the departing colonial authorities set up the Henry Willink’s Commission to look into the fears of the minorities in Nigeria, these reasons were canvassed and the committee found them inadequate to accede to the demands for new regions, rather suggesting that leadership must be more open, fair and responsible to all.

    Despite the finding, one region was added to the existing three in 1963. Even then, the decision was more political than logical. The Mid-West was excised out of the West not because the request was more compelling than the agitation for a Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers State by the minorities of the Eastern Region, or the quest for establishment of a Middle Belt State by the ethnic and religious minorities of the North. The creation of the Mid-West  Region opened the floodgate for the unending quest for new federating units in other parts of the country.

    Needing platforms for legitimacy, the Gowon military administration, in addition to bringing on board popular political figures, chose to alter the structure of the country by replacing the three-region structure with a 12-state arrangement. It was meant to draw support for the Federal Government in the face of the discontent in the Eastern Region. The Murtala Muhammed government followed the template when it created seven more states in February, 1975.

    Twice, under the Babangida regime, states were created – in 1987 when Akwa Ibom and Katsina came into being, and 1991 when nine more brought the total to 30. Yet, the avalanche of demands continued. General Sani Abacha brought the total number of states to 36 in 1996 when six more states were created.

    But, the elites have kept the mill working, in quest of career and political advancement. It is our view that the pursuit of states creation is diversionary. What Nigerians want now is good governance. They want a country where their security and welfare are guaranteed. They want the governments, federal and states, to take steps to eradicate absolute poverty and reduce relative poverty. They want jobs for the young ones and life injected to the education system. These are basic needs that creation of states cannot address. If the movement from three regions to 36 failed to improve the lot of Nigerians, how would creating additional 19, with the bloated bureaucracy, increased recurrent expenditure and the intended or unintended consequence of a strengthened central government achieve the purpose?

    Only two of the existing states – Lagos and Rivers – could conveniently cover their recurrent needs from Internally Generated Revenue. Indeed, in recent times, the states have been struggling to meet the simplest task of paying wages of those in the public service owing to a 20 per cent drop in allocations from the Federation Account.

    If the desire is to bring government closer to the people, we suggest that each state be empowered to create more local government areas which could then be adequately funded Creation of more states can only compound Nigeria’s problems, it is not a solution.

  • The dangers of another intifada

    The dangers of another intifada

    –Israelis and Palestinians need to show restraint

    Over the past three weeks tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have erupted into violence in the West Bank and Gaza. It is too soon to say whether the clashes will spiral into the intifadas that erupted in the occupied territories after 1987 and 2000. But these tensions should prompt reflection on how to restore calm and, if possible, return both sides to talks on a two-state solution.

    The violence has been triggered by the murder last month of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank. Although Israel has accused the militant group Hamas of the killings, it has not claimed responsibility. One week ago, a Palestinian teenager was found dead in a forest in East Jerusalem in what was widely judged a revenge attack. Six Jewish suspects have been arrested by Israeli police. The focus of the tension has since shifted to Gaza where Palestinian militants have launched rocket attacks into southern Israel. The Israeli military has responded by launching an air and sea offensive against rocket sites.

    The hope must be that Israeli and Palestinian leaders – and their communities – show restraint. The great risk in this crisis is that a single incident brings mass casualties, making it impossible for both sides to hold back any longer. But Israeli and Palestinian leaders must also begin talking to one another again after the collapse in April of talks on a two-state solution. The absence of dialogue makes it all the more likely that the current clashes will erupt into something more serious.

    Last year John Kerry, US secretary of state, began a fresh attempt to forge a two-state solution, setting a nine-month deadline to achieve a deal that had eluded negotiators for decades. At first Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority president, looked like they might try to forge an agreement.

    But disillusionment soon spread. The Palestinians were angered by the relentless pace of Israeli settlement building in the occupied territories and by Mr Netanyahu’s insistence that a final agreement must see Israel retaining a long-term military presence in the Jordan valley. Mr Netanyahu, for his part, pulled the plug on the talks after Mr Abbas formed a unity government, joining his Fatah movement with Hamas, which Israel regards as a terrorist organisation.

    The breakdown of the negotiations has much to do with the total lack of trust between the two sides. Part of the blame lies with Mr Abbas. Israel and the US have objected to the way the Palestinians have attempted to gain recognition of statehood outside of the negotiations by going to the UN and applying to join international conventions.

    But Mr Netanyahu also needs to face up to his responsibilities. Israel’s determination to expand settlements in the West Bank was a humiliation for Mr Abbas and condemned as a land grab even as talks were continuing. Mr Netanyahu’s rejection of the Fatah-Hamas unity government was also a missed opportunity. Mr Abbas had pledged that the new government, despite the inclusion of Hamas, would follow his own commitment to non-violence and peaceful negotiation. The unity government was accepted by the US and EU, which recognised its enhanced legitimacy.

    Mr Netanyahu appears to believe that Israel’s powerful security grip on the West Bank can allow him to stall negotiations endlessly on a two-state solution. But this is not in Israel’s long-term interest. Israel declares itself to be a Jewish state and a democracy. But its founding principles will be imperilled the longer it remains in control of 2.5m Palestinian Arabs on the West Bank who have few civil rights and live under a system of military justice. Israel needs to recognise that the status quo is unsustainable.

    – Financial Times

     

  • Apapa’s inexcusable neglect

    Apapa’s inexcusable neglect

    •The Federal Government should step in urgently to free the most important port

    As a result of its clement climate, expansive beach and unique topography, Apapa was, once upon a time, one of the most serene and liveable parts of Lagos. Today, the story has turned tragic. Apapa has degenerated into a pitiable sight of perennial traffic congestion, environmental pollution, security vulnerability and abysmal infrastructural decay through inexcusable neglect, especially by the Federal Government. Apapa is one of the major reasons why Lagos is the industrial hub, commercial nerve-centre and economic capital of Nigeria.

    It is so easy to see why Apapa is a key pillar of the Nigerian economy. This area is one of the country’s most prominent industrial districts. It hosts the economically critical and strategic Apapa Quay as well as Tin Can Island Ports. As a result of its sea port, Apapa is an important centre for naval activities critical to the security of the nation. Major Federal Government establishments, including the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigerian Maritime Safety Agency (NIMASA) and military installations are located in Apapa.

    The NPA, NIMASA and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) generate billions of Naira to the national treasury from the Apapa ports. It is estimated, for instance, that the NCS alone contributes no less than N35 billion monthly to the national coffers from the ports at Apapa. Imported petroleum products are lifted and distributed to all parts of the country from Apapa. Similarly, goods are imported and transported to all parts of the country and even neighbouring African countries through the Apapa ports.

    Given its importance to the country’s economic well- being, we find it difficult to understand why, despite several unfulfilled promises, the Federal Government has completely neglected the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, which is the major route to Apapa. As a result of the deplorable condition of the road, living or working in Apapa has become a veritable hell.

    Several man hours are lost to daily protracted traffic congestions on this route, with damaging implications for the economy. This diminishes national productivity considerably. Exhaust fumes from vehicles trapped for hours in traffic gridlock worsen the challenge of environmental pollution. Of course, this inevitably impacts negatively on the health of the citizenry. Apart from inhaling polluted air, spending several frustrating hours in traffic will increase the stress levels of commuters with serious implications for their life span. The difficulty in accessing Apapa is a disincentive to working or living there. Inevitably, many businesses have relocated from Apapa to more conducive environments, the productivity and profitability of industries operating in the area is badly affected and the value of real estate has depreciated.

    The problem of Apapa is compounded by the indiscriminate issuance of tank farm licences to oil firms reportedly without consultation either with the Lagos State government or the Apapa Local Government. These tank farms increase the population pressure on Apapa and have created the menace of hundreds of petrol tankers parking indiscriminately on and blocking the highway as they await their turn to lift petroleum products to different parts of the country. These trucks conveying highly inflammable products make Apapa vulnerable to major fire disasters in a country with a poor record of effective response to emergencies.

    Again, the heavy traffic of thousands of articulated trucks and petroleum tankers moving to and from the Apapa ports takes a heavy toll on Lagos roads. We call on the Federal Government to urgently live up to its responsibility of fixing the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway as well as sanitising the licensing and functioning of tank farms in Apapa. Beyond this, since the Federal Government reaps such huge revenues from Lagos, particularly the Apapa ports, it is only just that the state be paid a reasonable percentage as derivation compensation to enable her effectively maintain the infrastructure and services from which the entire nation benefits.