Category: Editorial

Evil materialised in a shockingly unbelievable drama at a public maternity in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, prompting grave questions about the depth of degeneracy in the society. Reports said five gunmen stormed the hospital around 1.00am, and demanded that the staff should produce a day-old baby from the wards. The stunned workers were unprepared for what followed.

An official of Ado-Ekiti Local Government Council was quoted as saying, “The hospital workers tried to convince them that babies delivered in the last one week had been discharged, but their explanations fell on deaf ears … This angered them and they beat up the medical personnel. They ransacked the wards and left when they did not find any baby.”

Thankfully, the invaders were unsuccessful. It is unimaginable what might have transpired if there was a newborn in the facility at the time, for such desperadoes would probably have carried out their mission with heartlessness, possibly harming its mother and any other human obstacle.

The operation was weird, particularly on account of its object. It immediately triggers extremely disturbing thoughts. For what purpose did the men want an infant? Why did they go to such incredible lengths?  Were they commissioned to get a baby?  Who were they?

It is no surprise that the event has been seen in the context of the occult, given the cultural situation of the populace and the widespread belief in the use of humans for metaphysical ends, especially for money-making rituals. Unfortunately, it is precisely dark and mystifying incidents of this kind that not only encourage such logically unsupported theories, but also promote understandable fear.

However, beyond the inscrutability of the mystical, there are surely concrete dimensions to the happening that deserve to be addressed. It is heart-warming that the council chairman, Mr. Tope Olanipekun, who described the attack as “the height of callousness”, recognised the fact that physical solutions are evidently more urgently required to forestall a recurrence.  He reportedly ordered the suspension of night duty at the hospital until the completion of work on its fence, which the council plans to raise. Also, expectant mothers would be referred elsewhere while moves are on to tighten security at the centre.

More important, it is reassuring that the police have launched an investigation into the incident,  apparently acting out of a sense of duty ahead of a formal complaint by the centre’s  management.  It is curious that, according to police spokesman, Victor Babayemi, “No official report was made by the medical officials on the incident.”  If this claim is true, it is appropriate that the force intends to quiz the managers concerning such casualness, as indicated by reports.

It is, however, significant to note that the alleged negligence, although blameworthy, unfortunately mirrors the state of public confidence in the police.  It points to a communal cynicism about the capability of the police to investigate crime and apprehend wrongdoers. Such loss of faith in a vital apparatus of social security is undesirable and deserves to be corrected.

Without doubt, the force would improve its image by unravelling the repulsive plot, particularly because the evil men might still be on the prowl, considering the fact that their attempt failed. The arrest of these characters would be a huge relief indeed to the community, for they should have no accommodation in any decent society. Additionally, it would send a potent message to degenerate criminals of that ilk.

In the end, however, it is the responsibility of society to discourage bestial conduct of this kind by an unambiguous promotion of the right values, and an equally unequivocal condemnation of subhuman standards.

If witches were horses, at least four men would never ride. The four included two personnel of the Nigerian Air Force, corporals Michael Williams and Akwaowo William; Uduak William who works with the Nigeria Police and the fourth, Ekereobong William, a civilian. They are brothers. They stripped naked their uncle, Mr. Polycarp William, and his wife, Mrs. Anna William, after beating them up. The offence of the septuagenarians is ‘alleged witchcraft’.

The attackers reportedly drove the couple from Ediene Abak, Abak Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, after stripping them naked and made them walk on the streets. In their estimation, that was a just humiliation for the couple that they accused of being behind their stagnation in their chosen careers. As far as they are concerned, the couple deserve the punishment.

We wonder what the fate of the elderly couple would have been if not for civilisation and the law. Perhaps the septuagenarians would have been visited with the death penalty prescribed for witches in the Old Testament. The couple eventually relocated from the community to Ikot Obio Inyang village in Etinan Local Government Area of the state, where they are now taking refuge.

Mrs Williams put the issue in perspective: “We were stripped naked, ordered to sit on bare floor. They tied my neck with dried plantain leaves and hired a cameraman to take my pictures.” This corroborated an eyewitness account that: ”There were bruises on Anna’s knees as the men dragged her on the ground. She and her husband were ordered out of their home and community.” Her sister was not spared as she was also dragged out of the house. Not satisfied, the men reportedly destroyed some economic trees and a Volvo 740 saloon car belonging to their uncle.

It is a matter for regret that people who should know, are the very ones perpetrating this type of brutality with impunity. As air force personnel, Michael and Akwaowo represent the most scientific of all the armed forces. They belong to what we know as the elite force in the country. As for the policeman among them, Uduak, he is expected to enforce the law. If he too could be involved in this barbarity, what moral right would he have to enforce the law against anyone involved in such act? As they say, ‘if gold rusts, what would iron do’?

The four men manifested the worst in some of our uniformed personnel who see the arms they carry as mere toys that they can play with at any time. For instance, they were said to have threatened to shoot those who might have wanted to rescue the couple when they were assaulting them. “They beat them and threatened to shoot anyone who intervened in the matter. They cocked their guns to show their seriousness. It was a terrible Monday”, the eyewitness added.

With the matter now reported at the police station, we expect the law to take its course. Nothing should be done to give the impression that the case would be swept under the carpet because uniformed personnel are involved. It is regrettable that in some parts of the country, some people will, in this age, want to take the law into their hands because of some superstitious beliefs which are oftentimes unfounded or not supported by any scientific proofs.

If we must put a stop to the practice of people assaulting others on account of witchcraft, then we have to make scapegoats of those involved in such acts as well as continue to enlighten the people that such beliefs belonged in the realm of superstition.

One year ago, officials in the transition government in Libya spoke of making progress toward integrating rival militias into a cohesive security force that could stabilize the country as it seeks to become a democracy.

Today, the situation teeters toward civil war as rival militias provoke a rising tide of violence and Libya, awash in arms, continues to serve as a base for the smuggling of weapons into places like Mali. Militia fighters on Friday killed dozens of people in Tripoli when they fired on unarmed demonstrators protesting against the militias.

After the rebels helped oust Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011, they banded into hundreds, some say thousands, of militias, each with its own ideology and regional alliance. Riven by feuds, they have largely refused government pleas to disarm or integrate into the country’s official armed forces. On Monday, the militias from the anti-Qaddafi stronghold of Misurata, who were blamed for most of Friday’s violence, withdrew from Tripoli and the Libyan army took up positions around the capital. The government has announced plans to remove all militias from the capital and eventually integrate them into the official security forces.

Whether this can be accomplished remains unknown. Not only do the militias vastly exceed the army and police forces in size and arsenals, they have often been enlisted by the government to bolster its own security needs because the army and police are so weak. The withdrawal of the Misurata fighters still leaves other rival militias competing for influence in the city.

Gaining control of the militias is a huge challenge. Since last spring, the United States, Britain and Italy have been planning a multiyear program to train and equip a Libyan force of about 5,000 to 7,000 soldiers and a separate, smaller unit for specialized counterterrorism missions. This would give the government a core of strengthened forces around which to build its national security structure. On Saturday, however, the leader of the United States Special Operations Command, Adm. William McRaven, said no final decision on the training mission had been made. The project won’t deliver immediate results, but it needs to begin soon.

Despite the recent violence, hundreds of university students on Tuesday marched in Tripoli, chanting against the militias and demanding that the army and police assert themselves. There were reports that religious figures, including the grand mufti of Libya, has sided with the protesters and spoken out against the militias as well.

If such groups form the backbone of a national reconciliation movement that unifies Libya’s tribal, regional and political groups there might be hope for a permanent, democratic structure. Libya will need the United States and Europe as more active partners in that difficult task.

– New York Times

The convoy system is meant to protect selected public officials and facilitate their movement to their respective destinations. But that essence would no longer be served when such convoys turn murderous. That is what Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State’s convoy is notoriously becoming – a killer convoy. The convoy’s recent victim was Professor Festus Iyayi, renowned scholar, social crusader and award-winning novelist. His life was truncated when the bus conveying him and other executives of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to the union’s executive committee meeting in Kano had an avoidable collision with that of Wada’s reckless convoy.

The accident has shown that the Kogi State governor and his top men have learnt nothing from his previous fatal encounters during similar incidents. Some examples will suffice. On December 28, 2012, Wada suffered serious wounds from an accident involving his convoy along the Lokoja – Ajaokuta Road. Idris Mohammed, his Aide-de-Camp, died in that accident. The governor too spent several weeks in an Abuja hospital.

And, as if convoy lawlessness has become routine in Kogi State, the state’s deputy governor’s convoy was involved in another crash that injured five persons. Furthermore, Momoh Lawal, Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly’s convoy’s crash led to the death of Lamidi Akeem, a police corporal attached to him. In faraway Niger State, Ahmed Musa Ibeto, the state’s deputy governor’s convoy equally killed two people recently.

What makes this last incident more alarming is the fact that the situation is avoidably persisting among Kogi State top officials. For instance, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Corps Marshal, Ositadinma Benjamin Chidoka has said that the rampancy of convoy accidents compelled the commission to commence a training programme for convoy drivers. He said FRSC “…worked with the Governors’ Forum and many state governments submitted their drivers to training. …Interestingly, Kogi State convoy has not been involved in this training.’’

Does the governor place any premium on human lives? We doubt whether he does because it was after this last convoy crash that the FRSC corps marshal confirmed that he recently agreed to send drivers in his convoy and those of principal officers of the state for a training that most other states have acceded to long ago. The training obviously seems to be yielding positive dividends because all the reportedly trained 700 convoy drivers in the last two years have not been involved in any road crash. The convoy crashes that have so far occurred are, sadly, from convoy drivers that have not attended the training.

Generally, we are appalled that convoys of principal officers of states across the federation, especially those of elected and appointed persons, listed on the Order of Precedence Act, constitute serious nuisance on Nigerian roads. Their convoys are usually extensive. They show unabashed contempt for other road users in their unnecessary haste to get to their destinations. The convoys erroneously have the impression that nothing can happen to them while in the convoy.

It was in crass display of such excessive speed that Iyayi, the don of the University of Benin, was callously killed. Many other unknown Nigerians would have been killed in similar circumstances unreported. While we believe that some of those currently using convoys need them for security reasons, we want them to note that their lives are not more precious than those of ordinary road users that are daily harassed pointlessly on the roads by their overzealous security men and reckless drivers.

Henceforth, all convoy users must be more civil on the roads in tandem with what obtains in other climes. They were elected to give purposeful governance to the people and not to tyrannise them. The time to introduce compulsory installation of speed limiters in convoy vehicles is long overdue to curb their excessive speed.

President Goodluck Jonathan aptly demonstrated his understanding of the notion that a good labourer is worthy of ample recompense when he received the victorious national under-17 team, the Golden Eaglets, in Abuja.

The players were given N2 million each, while the coach got N3 million. The two coaching assistants received N2.5 million, and proportionate cash rewards were also bestowed upon the team’s back-room staff. The President also promised that members of the victorious squad would receive national awards at a later date.

This is a thoughtful way in which to appreciate the hard work, commitment and patriotism of a group of youths who have brought honour and glory to a nation which is not often associated with positive developments in the domestic and international media. It was appropriately modest, as befits a team of cadet players. Nothing was offered which could not be redeemed, such as the unfulfilled promise of houses in Abuja for the Super Eagles team which won the African Cup of Nations in 1994. The pending offer of national honours is a worthy acknowledgement of the fact that cash rewards are not the only method of celebrating deserving citizens.

However, now that presidential plaudits have been proffered, it is important that sustained efforts be made to ensure that the country is able to reap the full benefits of its awesome soccer talent. Unlike nations such as Argentina, Brazil, Spain and France, Nigeria is not adept at ensuring that its youth are able to translate their raw skills to the next level where it truly counts. Indeed, there is a notorious tradition of ignoring cadet and youth teams during their preparations and departure for major tournaments, only to hail them when they return with laurels.

Part of the reason why Nigeria has been unable to fully transform its youth talent has been the shameful tendency to utilise over-aged players who are naturally incapable of progressing to higher levels of achievements. Fortunately, changing policies have resulted in this becoming less of a problem; much more will have to be done to ensure that no player representing the country is older than the regulations allow.

If the country wishes to maximise the enormous potential that it undoubtedly has, it must begin to develop comprehensive monitoring processes through which every stage of the development of these players is carefully assessed and facilitated. In the specific case of the current Golden Eaglets squad, efforts must be made to resist the tempting offers that will inevitably be coming from foreign clubs, some of which may result in players taking up contracts that might not be conducive to their professional careers. As under-17 players, it must be remembered that they are still minors, and should therefore not be rushed into the professional game.

This is even more important, given the fact that many of the players are major considerations for the under-21 team, the Flying Eagles. Rather than rush outside the nation’s shores, they should be subject to a careful regimen of camping, education, nutrition, and physical development that will make them better-equipped to make the transition from the cadet level to fully-professional status. While it is not expected that the whole team will remain unchanged, there is nothing to stop it from becoming the nucleus of formidable youth and senior national teams in the near future. That can only come as a result of deliberate policy, not chance and happenstance.

As the nation justifiably revels in the accomplishments of its latest world-conquering cadet team, it should remember that the contest to become a truly formidable football power has only just begun.

THE RIFT between the United States and Israel over Iran, which some are describing as the worst dispute between the two countries in 30 years, might be seen as yet another chapter in the consistently rocky and sometimes poisonous relations between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That would be a misreading. In reality, the argument reflects a more profound divergence of U.S. and Israeli national interests.

For the war-weary United States, a deal that halts Iran’s progress toward a nuclear weapon in exchange for partial sanctions relief, which the Obama administration hopes to conclude this week, would greatly reduce the possibility that the United States would be forced to take military action against Iran in the coming months. That risk has been growing because of Tehran’s installation of a new generation of centrifuges for uranium enrichment and because of the approaching completion of a reactor that could produce plutonium. If a long-term accord can be struck during a planned negotiating period of six months, the dangers of a new Middle East war and an Iranian bomb could be alleviated.

Israel, of course, also wishes to avoid war. But Israeli leaders have more to fear than do Americans from a bargain that leaves the bulk of the Iranian nuclear infrastructure in place, even temporarily. If no final settlement were reached, and the larger sanctions regime began to crumble — as the Israelis fear it would — Iran could be left with a nuclear breakout capacity as well as a revived economy. From Israel’s point of view, keeping sanctions in place until Iran agrees to a definitive compromise — or its regime buckles — looks like a safer bet.

But even a permanent settlement would be unattractive to Israel if it meant that the United States would step back from the regional conflict spawned by Iran’s decades-old effort to gain hegemony over the Middle East. Like Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab governments, Israel does not wish to be left alone to face Iranian aggression in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon or its terrorist activities across the region.

In the short run, there’s probably no way to bridge the divide between Jerusalem and Washington — unless Iran turns down the generous offer the United States and a coalition of five other nations have put forward. The administration has flatly rejected Mr. Netanyahu’s objections to an interim deal, and Congress appears unlikely to respond to Israeli lobbying for additional sanctions before the next Geneva meeting. Mr. Netanyahu would be wise to accept that an interim accord is likely to go forward without his agreement and let Iran take the blame if it does not.

Rather than argue in public, U.S. and Israeli officials should be working to forge a consensus on the terms of an acceptable final settlement with Iran. There, differences may not be as great: While Mr. Netanyahu campaigns for a permanent end to Iranian enrichment, a large reduction in Iran’s nuclear capacity, combined with more intrusive inspections, would leave Israel far more secure than at present. At the same time, the Obama administration ought to be assuring Israel and Arab allies that it will continue to reject Iran’s regional ambitions, respond to its aggressive acts and support the aspirations of Iranians for a democratic regime that respects human rights. With such understandings in place, the U.S.-Israeli argument would be manageable.

– Washington Post